Hotmail  |  Gmail  |  Yahoo  |  Justice Mail
powered by Google
WWW http://www.JusticeForNorthCaucasus.com

Add JFNC Google Bar Button to your Browser Google Bar Group  
 
 
Welcome To Justice For North Caucasus Group

Log in to your account at Justice For North Caucasus eMail system.

Request your eMail address

eMaill a Friend About This Site.

Google Translation

 

 

Window On Eurasia: Cossacks Increasingly See Themselves As Moscow’s Victims, Not Its Agents

posted by eagle on October, 2009 as Imperialism


MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009

Window on Eurasia: Cossacks Increasingly See Themselves as Moscow’s Victims, Not Its Agents

Paul Goble

Vienna, October 26 – Most non-Russians and many Russians as well think of the Cossacks as little more than a paramilitary force of the Russian state, but many Cossacks have defined themselves as a separate nation and argue that Moscow has oppressed them in many ways just as harshly as it has other ethnic communities.
Because the Russian government has co-opted most of the leadership of Russia’s 13 Cossack hosts – in much the same way that it has the leaderships of that country’s non-Russian nationalities – and because the Cossacks share many elements of Russian nationality, including attachment to the Orthodox Church, such attitudes are typically ignored by the media.
But articles in the Russian blogosphere suggest both that an increasing number of Cossacks view themselves as victims and are prepared to act as an independent force and that the Russian government is increasingly concerned about that possibility, something that could undermine Moscow’s control of the North Caucasus and other parts of the Russian periphery.
One such article, posted online over the weekend, provides some indication of just how far these interrelated trends have gone. Written by a Cossack named A. Temerev and entitled “In Occupation,” the article argues that Soviet oppression of the Cossacks is continuing under the post-Soviet government (community.livejournal.com/prisud/47116.html).
At the dawn of the Soviet period, Temerev notes, the communist authorities pursued the physical liquidation of the leaders of the Cossack hosts, many of which fought on the side of the anti-Bolshevik White Russian movement, and of ordinary Cossacks, whose fiercely independent stance put them at odds with Moscow.
These actions, he continues, were in fact “instruments of genocide” intended to eliminate the Cossacks as a people. Now, in post-Soviet Russia, acts of physical violence are no longer needed to achieve that goal: media “brain washing” is sufficient “to cut people off from their native cultural milieu” and make them part of “the culture and traditions of the conquerors.”
Among the mechanisms “the occupiers” use is the church. Most Cossacks are Orthodox, Temerev notes, but “among the clergy, there are very few Cossacks, and those who are typically are entirely assimilated – or more simply russified – and do not represent any danger” for the Russian government.
The Cossacks need their own Orthodox church in order to block Moscow’s policy of “cultural genocide,” Temerev says. He notes that in July 2009, Greeks in the Don were able to lay the foundation for their own Orthodox church without any particular problem and thus are more likely to survive as a community. 
There is another factor limiting the actions of the Russian powers that be against its own people, a factor that Moscow pays a great deal of attention to even if those who are responsible for making it important often do not. It is this: Moscow wants to portray itself as a democracy and thus is “limited in the means of suppressing the Cossack national movement.”
And that limitation entails another: “it is impossible [for Moscow] to conduct ‘anti-Cossack’ propaganda without explaining the essence of ‘Cossackness.’ And if the powers that be begin to explain this, it will become obvious for many Cossacks male and female the value of possibility of independent national development.”
Many Cossacks, Temerev argues, “Will want to recover the independence that was taken from them and get involved in the struggle for the restoration of the Cossack state.” And as a result, almost anything Moscow does do regarding the Cossacks will have just the opposite effect the powers that be hope for.
And that is something the latter are beginning to understand. “In Moscow, they know very well that many supporters of the rebirth of a Cossack state link their hopes to the weakening and collapse of the Russian Federation,” and as a result, these Russian officials are trying to prevent any discussion of Cossack issues at all.
But that lack of any discussion in the central media does not mean that the processes of the restoration of Cossack identity are not proceeding quickly. And Moscow’s failure to address that reality, Temerev says, means that many Cossacks, including clearly himself, are hoping to “receive from other hands” what the government of the Russian Federation will not yield.

comments (0)


1 - 1 of 1

Post comment

Your name*

Email address*

Comments*

Verification code*







 RSS FEED


New Posts



Search Imperialism



Imperialism



Archive


 january 2015

 march 2014

 november 2013

 september 2013

 july 2013

 march 2013

 february 2013

 january 2013

 december 2012

 november 2012

 september 2012

 july 2012

 april 2012

 february 2012

 july 2011

 june 2011

 april 2011

 march 2011

 february 2011

 january 2011

 december 2010

 november 2010

 october 2010

 september 2010

 august 2010

 july 2010

 june 2010

 may 2010

 april 2010

 march 2010

 february 2010

 january 2010

 december 2009

 november 2009

 october 2009

 september 2009

 august 2009

 july 2009

 june 2009

 may 2009

 april 2009

 march 2009

 february 2009

 december 2008

 november 2008

 october 2008

 september 2008

 august 2008

 july 2008

 june 2008

 may 2008

 april 2008

 march 2008

 february 2008

 january 2008

 december 2007

 november 2007

 october 2007

 september 2007

 august 2007

 july 2007

 june 2007

 may 2007

 april 2007

 march 2007

 february 2007

 january 2007

 december 2006

 november 2006

 october 2006

 september 2006

 august 2006

 july 2006

 june 2006

 may 2006

 april 2006

 march 2006

 february 2006

 january 2006

 december 2005

 november 2005

 october 2005

 september 2005

 august 2005

 july 2005

 june 2005

 may 2005

 april 2005

 january 2005

 july 2000





Acknowledgement: All available information and documents in "Justice For North Caucasus Group" is provided for the "fair use". There should be no intention for ill-usage of any sort of any published item for commercial purposes and in any way or form. JFNC is a nonprofit group and has no intentions for the distribution of information for commercial or advantageous gain. At the same time consideration is ascertained that all different visions, beliefs, presentations and opinions will be presented to visitors and readers of all message boards of this site. Providing, furnishing, posting and publishing the information of all sources is considered a right to freedom of opinion, speech, expression, and information while at the same time does not necessarily reflect, represent, constitute, or comprise the stand or the opinion of this group. If you have any concerns contact us directly at: eagle@JusticeForNorthCaucasus.com


Page Last Updated: {Site best Viewed in MS-IE 1024x768 or Greater}Copyright © 2005-2009 by Justice For North Caucasus ®