(1/2) The Cossacks are a uniquely interesting group, with a distinct history from the various other national and ethnic groups in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and modern Russian Federation. Cossacks began as an informal group, the word originally from a Turkic language meaning "free people" and first appearing in the 14th century, of nomadic people and serfs who had fled their masters estates and lived on the southern borders of the Russian State of Muscovy. Though a significant portion of the Cossacks had deliberately left the early Russian state they still held loyalty to Russia and especially to the figure of the Tsar, who was seen by peasants as a divine and benevolent father who guided the nation and would ultimately protect the Russian people from the threats of over-taxation, corrupt nobles, and foreign enemies that were more present in the minds of peasants than the palace intrigues and squabbles that actually occupied the Tsar in most periods of Russian history. As such, Cossacks spoke Russian, were overwhelmingly and fervently Orthodox Christian, and saw their allegiance as lying with the Tsar as a the representative of God on earth.

Expansion of Russian borders brought the Tsar's government into contact with the Cossacks and while at times there was hostility the Cossacks were generally incorporated into Russia as an autonomous group. Peasants who had fled were not returned to their masters' estates and Cossacks were given privileges not afforded to other groups in exchange for their loyalty and military service in Russian armies. The nomadic people of southern Russia who formed part of the Cossack origin had brought a storied tradition of horsemanship to Cossack culture, a tradition similar to that of the mongols and the nomadic people of Central Asia and the Caucasus. As such, Cossack units within the Tsar's forces were almost always cavalry units and were especially employed on the frontiers of the young empire as frontiersmen and scouts. In conventional battles, the power of Cossacks units was less than that of formally trained Russian cavalry squadrons but Cossacks nevertheless saw combat in many of Russia's wars of expansion against Ottoman forces in the south and against indigenous people to the east in Siberia.

Because of this unique origin and relationship to the Tsar and the Russian military Cossacks thought of themselves as Russian but in Moscow and later St. Petersburg they still held an exotic flair for the urban Russians in those cities - they were simultaneously compatriots and foreigners. Cossacks in modern day Ukraine were even more fiercely independent than those in southern Russia and held on to that independence and autonomy more resolutely. The Zaporozhian Host, a large group of Cossacks based west of the Dnieper river on the plains of central Ukraine, kept a delicate balance, fighting alternatively for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsar's Russia. The Zaporozhians joined in each of these alliances, always as a temporary measure, to protect their independence as best as they could. In 1648, Russia extended it's support to Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the current leader of the Zaporozhian Host, in a revolt that won the complete independence of much of Ukraine from Polish-Lithuanian dominion and the Ukrainian Cossacks came under the suzerainty of Russia though they enjoyed complete autonomy and would still fight against Russia with the Ottomans and Crimean Tatars. Under Peter the Great, Russia pursued war with Sweden to secure northern territory and then with Poland-Lithuania for western lands and the Zaporozhians were soon forced to chose as Russia surrounded them and had its eyes clearly set to the south for continued conquest. By 1733, the Ukrainian Cossacks had been incorporated into the Russian Empire and military as the Russian Cossacks had been and by the end of the 18th century they were granted lands in the new province of Novorossiya (southern Ukraine) and on along the Don river in southern Russia, just north of the Caucasus.

Integration did not mean complete submission - most famously in 1775 (Pugachev's Rebellion) and a handful of other times (Stenka Razin in 1671), Cossack leaders led peasant rebellions that sought to travel all the way to St. Petersburg, killing nobles and ultimately with the Tsar's head as their goal. Though this independent spirit brought some retribution onto the Cossacks they still generally enjoyed autonomy and now were adopting a new role as a kind of military police for the non-Russian areas of the Empire. In the 19th century, this became perhaps the most iconic image of the Cossack; mounted on a tremendous horse, tall, black leather boots, a black fleece hat, and a whip in hand to be used indiscriminately on the enemies of the Tsar (though these were becoming overwhelmingly internal enemies rather than external ones). This brings me (finally) to the first point that is directly related to your question; in the second half of the 19th century Cossacks became infamous for their brutal suppression of early socialist uprisings, especially among Polish and Jewish socialists who noted the particular cruelty with which Cossacks treated them. Cossack troops held a special animosity towards the Catholic Poles and Jews as oppressors of Orthodox Cossacks and "sellers of Christ," respectively. Cossacks put down socialist and other uprisings in Russian Poland, the Baltics, Belorussia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and elsewhere, occasionally seeking some extrajudicial justice while Russian Tsarist troops looked the other way. The abortive 1905 Revolution and the resulting unrest through the years 1905-1908 saw the Cossacks sweep across Russia in their function as the Tsar's number one choice against disobedience and Cossack whips claimed the lives of many people, including people killed in anti-Jewish Pogroms that were tolerated or even supported by the central authorities. All this leads to the First World War where Cossacks served the Tsar with honor and distinction in great numbers until the November 1917 revolution.

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So the Cossacks are a symbol of Russia/Ukraine but the relationship to the two and the wax and wane of politics should be considered at every point of their history also while considering which Cossacks you're looking at. There were multiple groups of Cossacks which typically originated geographically and each group had different relationship with the other powers in the area (eg Russia, Poland, Ottamans). An important thing to note also is that "Cossack" is not strictly an ethnic title, think of how you might consider a "Frontiersman" for example - it's almost a role, a class of society, but with geographical connotations. It's who you are and what you do and it over time defines a cultural Identity. But when you say just "Cossack" you group a lot people together that did live in discrete groups.

You can find all the big events and dates on Wikipedia but I'd rather help you understand what Cossacks "are" because that would almost allow you to understand and answer your own question, but, to summarize it; the Cossacks typically had loyalties to the Czar. There were times when Cossack leaders emerged and fought against the Czar because they were not, let's say, big fans of that authority looming over them and slowly taking away freedoms they had enjoyed but over centuries, again, typically loyal to the Czar.

When the revolution/civil war happened, it's not hard to see how many Cossacks would see a faction that aimed to overthrow the Czar they were loyal to as an enemy and because of that many Cossacks joined the White Army. Post war - it's not like the two sides would just hold hands and sing songs together. The communists confiscated property/wealth from (well basically anyone who had it and didn't support them / didn't leave Russia) the Cossacks in the following years. If you look at WWII (which was only ~30 years after the revolution) you can see that there was still strong resentment against Stalin in Cossack regions; some joined the Germans and fought the Red Army. (But many more Cossacks fought in the Red Army.) Most regions had their own internal conflicts around the time of the revolution also - including whether or not to join the Soviets or to try for independence.

You need to make sure you don't (and the Cossacks being a prime example of this) think of a nation's government and have it represent all of its' people throughout all of its' history. Sort of like saying "why would the US federal govt fight a war against the South to preserve the union and then in 2018 send hurricane aid to some southern state?"

After the revolution many people had to choose how to move forward and since the Bolsheviks won there weren't exactly many choices that weren't communist. My great-great-grandfather for example was pretty much as Cossack as you got at that time and he was shot so his son had to start cooperating (or at least, not resist) as the communists took over. How are you going to fight for your family when they're all dead? Those kind of choices had to be made by every single family, especially those of means or those supporting private efforts over communism. Cossacks were also generally distinct, socially and economically, from the typical "revolutionary peasant" of that time. That's not to say there were no Cossacks on the Soviet side but this is a situation where it's hard to give one consistent explanation for everything across the board. But honestly the whole revolution was such a mess, neither side was pure and good - like that anecdote where the red army invades a village, steals everything, then the whites take the village and steal everything for themselves, and then the reds retake it ... and steal everything again. Everyone suffered.

Different things happened to each major group of Cossacks but for the most part it was (very unpleasant) integration into the new Soviet system. During the early years of this system Stalin targeted basically anyone who showed any resistance and since Cossacks had some unity of their own and did not support him / the party, I'm sure they were an easy target. After that, if you're wondering how they're "still there" or fought for the Soviets in WWII it comes down to a "these are your people" thing, you need to survive and live and you just happen to be in the USSR now. Also when you're a Russian and live in Russia and Russia is invaded, what do you do?

I guess I'm not a historian but I'm from Mariupol, half Kuban and half-ish Zaporozhian. edit: that turned out longer than I thought, hopefully I shared something useful and didn't ramble.

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