The Don Cossacks of the Late 19th – Early 20th c. in Shane O’Rourke’s Book “Warriors and Peasants: The Don Cossacks in Late Imperial Russia” (Shane O’Rourke. Warriors and Peasants: The Don Cossacks in Late Imperial Russia. – New York : St. Martin’s, in Association with St. Antony’s College, Oxford, 2000. – 200 p.)

Abstract

Introduction. The article analyzes the contents of the monograph “Warriors and Peasants: The Don Cossacks in Late Imperial Russia” of modern English historian Shane O’Rourke, who is the prominent representative of western English-language historiography. Discussion. The authors note that researches of western (English-language) historiography are the most productive in studying the history of the pre-revolutionary era Cossacks abroad. Analysis. Shane O’Rurk reveals not only political and military plots from Cossacks’ history, but also everyday life of the Don Cossack Host in his book. The author focuses attention on such key elements of Cossack history as the mechanism of consolidation of the Cossack world, Cossack motivation, relations between men and women in Cossack stanitsas, organizing Cossack landed property etc. The conclusions Shane O’Rurk made studying the Don Cossacks during its transformation of the late 19th – early 20th centuries are important for the historiography of the Cossacks. In this period he emphasizes on the idea of inevitable, but, perhaps, nevertheless not final disintegration of Cossacks as estates. Shane O’Rurk recognizes country essence of the Cossacks and therefore it seems to him that there is good reason for the parallel between “accident of the peasantry” and inevitable accident of the Cossacks. Shane O’Rurk, developing the myth about special relationships of the imperial power with the Cossacks, focuses attention on the fact that traditionalism became an ideological and practical base of existence of the Don Cossack Host. Shane O’Rurk comes to the conclusion that Don Cossacks nevertheless had chances to avoid final disintegration as the class component of Cossack “nature” had a unique phenomenon of ethno-social identity which was improving in cultural interaction with other people. Results. The authors of the article come to the conclusion that the main value of Shane O’Rurk’s work consists in representing the history of the Don Cossacks, which appears not closed on itself, but placed in the general context of Russian history.