Cossack Self-Government in Zaporozhya Sich as a Component of the State Tradition of Ukraine

Problem statement. Zaporizhzhya Sich and the Hetmanate became an important link between the early feudal states of Kievan Rus and the Galicia-Volyn principality and modern state-building processes in Ukraine. Therefore, it is especially important to study the experience of Cossack self-government in the formation of Ukrainian statehood as a component of the state tradition of Ukraine.

Recent research analysis. Cossack self-government was studied by M. Kostomarov, V. Antonovych, M. Hrushevsky, D. Yavornytsky, V. Smoliy, V. Shcherbak, V. Stepankov, M. Lazarovych, N. Atamanova, D. Beresta, A. Gurbyk, D. Nalyvayko, O. Bosak, O. Krasivsky, Berdy, I. Yerokhin, K. College, K. Manuilova and others, who considered the Zaporozhian Sich and the Hetmanate as the second form of Ukrainian statehood. However, the Cossack self-government in the Zaporozhian Sich XVI–XVII centuries. needs its study in the broader context of the development of state-building traditions of Ukraine and its importance in the processes of Ukrainian state-building and nation-building.

Highlighting previously unresolved parts of the common problem. The problems of the interrelations of the Cossack self-government of the Zaporozhian Sich in the XVI– XVII centuries remain unexplored in domestic science. and the formation of modern Ukrainian statehood and nation-building, in which the Christian Cossack Republic plays a particularly important role.

The purpose of the article is clarifying the content and features of the Cossack self- government of the Zaporozhian Sich in the context of continuing the state-building traditions of Ukraine in the Polish-Lithuanian era and its importance in building a modern independent Ukrainian state.

Statement of basic materials. After the decline of Kyiv as the center of Russia and the Galicia-Volyn principality, and as a result of the Union of Lublin in 1569, all Ukrainian lands became part of the Polish state. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth established severe national, social and religious oppression of the Ukrainian people. During the period of Polish-Lithuanian rule in the Ukrainian lands (XIV–XVII centuries),  the Cossacks became the leading national force of Ukraine, which created a unique system of self- government.

Zaporizhzhya Sich became the military and political center of the Cossacks. Cossack (military) council – the General Cossack Assembly, the founding institute of the Cossack Christian Republic and the highest governing body. All major issues of domestic and foreign policy, administrative, judicial, and military affairs were discussed and resolved here. and also a Cossack sergeant was elected (Kosh Ataman, judge, clerk, osavul, etc.). All Cossacks, regardless of their origin and property status, who had equal political rights, took  part  in  the  Cossack  Council.  The  Kosh  Ataman  united  military,  administrative, judicial and spiritual authorities in his hands, and was subordinated only to the Cossack Council. The military judge was a legal instance to which chicken atamans with unresolved disputes or conflicting parties among the Cossacks appealed. The military clerk was in charge of the office and kept records and all written records in the Sich. The military osavul monitored discipline and law and order among the Cossacks. The atamans of hut managed the huts of the Zaporozhian Sich, and first of all performed the role of quartermasters, supervised the order of service, and could play the role of judges among the Cossacks of their smokehouse. The territory around the Zaporozhian Sich, which was 5–8 palanquins. Power and administrative powers were exercised by the palanquin colonel and the local foreman (osavul, clerk, podosavul and podclerk). Going on a campaign, all the Cossacks were divided into regiments of 500 people. Regiments were commanded by elected colonels. The hetman, who led the united Cossack army, was elected to organize the military campaign. Thus, the Zaporozhian Sich was a well-developed institution of self-government, which served as a state union.

Conclusions. The Cossacks created a unique system of self-government, which was based on the Chamber as a form of local self-organization of the masses. The organization of the Cossack self-government gives grounds to claim that the embryos of the future Ukrainian statehood – the Hetmanate – were laid in the Zaporozhian Sich. Cossack self- government continued and developed the state tradition inherited from Kievan Rus and the Galicia-Volyn principality, reviving the veche system in the form of regular convening of Cossack (military) councils as the highest body of public administration. The Zaporozhian Cossacks developed their own state organization, which took the form of a democratic republic. Democracy guaranteed the vitality of the Cossack state in the extreme conditions of existence in the struggle against foreign enslavement. Zaporizhzhya Sich was a Christian Cossack republic, where the deep democracy of the socio-political system was sanctified by the relevant ideology based on Orthodox Christianity.

The Cossacks began the process of forming a modern Ukrainian nation. After the liquidation of the Cossack state by the Russian Empire in the 18th century, the historical experience of state formation during the Zaporozhian Sich and the Hetmanate was the basis for the formation of a separate Ukrainian national identity different from the Russian identity. This later became the basis for the proclamation and creation of an independent state of Ukraine in the late twentieth century.