Донские казаки против венгерских гусар: скифская война в Центральной Европе

Abstract

The article is devoted to the confrontation of 1849 between the Don Cossacks and the Hungarian Hussars, who were considered the best cavalry in Europe. The author shows that in contrary to the well-established and still replicated opinion about the significant loss of combat capability by the Don Cossacks in the second quarter of the 19th century, their combat losses during that period were minimal, sanitary losses exceeded them many times. During the campaign of 1849, the Cossacks encountered the Hungarian cavalry, the organization of which and the combat techniques used were sufficiently similar to those applied by the Cossacks. The article compares the principles of the organization of Cossacks and Hungarian Hussars, the principles of their training and tactics. The author believes that the Hungarians, formerly nomadic people, having integrated into the European military system, retained some skills of steppe warfare, but meanwhile their cavalry was losing in battles against the Cossacks. The article concludes with the statement of the problem – for what time period, and in what circumstances, the military qualities of nomads fade away, and which of the se qualities persists the longest.