Zaporizhzhya Sich is a fortified cell of the unregistered Zaporizhzhya army (lower) from the second half of the 16th to the end of the 18th century. It was located beyond the thresholds of the Dnieper on the island of Khortytsya. Its creation was an impetus for the consolidation of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Zaporizhzhya Sich greatly influenced the formation of the Cossacks identity and the approval of their organizational structure. Information has been preserved about the seven Sichs, which successively replaced each other. We will try to figure out what other influence on the course of history the Zaporizhzhya Sich had, what it is and for what purpose it was created.
Device
Zaporizhzhya Sich is an island fortress, which was surrounded by ramparts with a picket fence. There were guns around the perimeter. Between the ramparts there was a wide area, on the edge of which stood the smoking barracks, where the Cossacks-Cossacks lived. In the Sich they read a few thousand. Sometimes the number reached ten thousand. The permanent composition was called the cat. On the territory there was also a church, a school, houses of senior ranks, military buildings. The Sich Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and his clergy obeyed the Kiev-Mezhigorsk Archimandria. An open place near the church was the center of the social and political life of the Zaporizhzhya Sich. There were councils and meetings.
Behind the ramparts was a bazaar where merchants came with their goods. Sachets sold their products there. As a rule, it was game, fish. Zaporizhzhya Sich - a territory that was originally completely free from landlord power. There were no males or serfs there. Mutual relations between Seviks were not built under ordinary coercion, but on contractual terms. Everyone was free. The top of the Zaporizhzhya Sich, of course, had privileges. Senior ranks often became the owners of large winter houses, water mills, herds of cattle, etc.
Power election
Zaporizhzhya Sich is a militarized organization with a clear hierarchy of power. Despite the fact that every Cossack was free, there were social differences. The rich foreman obeyed the mass of poor Seviks. Between these class groups was a layer of small proprietors - the middle class. From among the wealthy Cossacks, the elite was elected by universal suffrage, which concentrated administrative power in its hands. She led the army and controlled finances, and also represented Sich in diplomatic relations.
Despite the suffrage of each Cossack, the foreman almost always sought favorable decisions for himself. Zaporizhzhya Sich is an entity called the Cossack Republic.
Sich society was divided into smokers. The supreme authority was the Cossack Council, which addressed the most important issues. All the sechiks took part in it. It was there that the ataman of the cat was chosen. Rada could also remove him from his post. Sachevs had their own court. There was a judicial code and a punishment system. For stealing from his brethren, disobeying orders and impudence in relation to a higher command, for raping a woman during a campaign (there were no women in Sich), sodomy and other misconduct, one could lose his head by court order.
Education
Zaporizhzhya Sich is a place where a lot of attention was paid to education. Schools functioned for the children of the Cossacks at the churches. There they were taught literacy, music, singing, etc. Another indicator of the cultural development of the Sich was a respectful attitude to books, which were considered of great value. Affluent only Cossacks could afford to buy them. The book was considered one of the best gifts. It is believed that the origin of the word “slash” is Slavic. This is a derivative of the "battle" - a battle, a battle with swords. The meaning of the word “slaughter” for the Ukrainian Cossacks was inextricably linked with their fortress on the island of Khortytsya and in other places. It has become synonymous with home.
Cossack Campaigns
The Cossacks carried out sea and land campaigns against the Poles, Turks, Tatars, and Muscovites. For Russia and Poland, Sich was for a long time a convenient counterweight and at the same time a barrier from the Crimean Tatars and Turks. However, freedom-loving Cossacks often fought with them. For the Ukrainian peasantry, which languished under the yoke of the Poles, Sich became a symbol of the struggle against the oppressors.
The Cossacks led all the peasant uprisings against the Polish gentry. They were a military and driving force. In the land campaigns of the Cossacks, cavalry prevailed. They went to sea in small vessels - the so-called gulls. Each of them accommodated 50-70 warriors. Ahead was the ship of the ataman with a flag. Each Cossack was armed with a saber, had two guns, carried six pounds of gunpowder, falconet kernels, and had one Nuremberg quadrant for orientation.
Elimination of Sich
After the Russo-Turkish wars of the 18th century, in which the Cossacks also took part on the side of Russia, Crimea was annexed and the Black Sea coast was conquered. The immediate threat from the Turks and Tatars to the empire disappeared. In the same period there was a devastating uprising of Pugachev, which greatly frightened Catherine the Second. The Zaporizhzhya Sich, which had lost its geopolitical significance, with its freemen was a potential source of danger for the ruler. It is these reasons that led to its elimination. After the capture of the fortress on Khortitsa, most of the Cossacks were relocated to the Kuban and Don.