Editing Cossacks (section)

===February Revolution, 1917 ===

====In Greater Russia====
At the outbreak of the disorder on 8&nbsp;March 1917 that led to the [[February 1917 Revolution|overthrow of the tsarist regime]], approximately 3,200&nbsp;Cossacks from the Don, Kuban, and Terek Hosts were stationed in Petrograd. Although they comprised only a fraction of the 300,000&nbsp;troops in the proximity of the Russian capital, their general defection on the second day of unrest (10 March) enthused raucous crowds and stunned the authorities and remaining loyal units.<ref name=ORourke_2000/>{{rp|212–215}}

In the aftermath of the February Revolution, the Cossacks hosts were authorized by the War Ministry of the [[Russian Provisional Government]] to overhaul their administrations. Cossack assemblies (known as ''krugs'' or, in the case of the Kuban Cossacks, a ''[[rada]]'') were organized at regional level to elect atamans and pass resolutions. At national level, an all-Cossack congress was convened in Petrograd. This congress formed the Union of Cossack Hosts, ostensibly to represent the interests of Cossacks across Russia.

During the course of 1917, the nascent Cossack governments formed by the ''krugs'' and atamans increasingly challenged the Provisional Government's authority in the borderlands. The various Cossack governments themselves faced rivals, in the form of national councils organized by neighboring minorities, and of [[Soviet (council)|soviets]] and ''zemstvos'' formed by non-Cossack Russians, especially the so-called "outlanders" who had immigrated to Cossack lands.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mueggenberg |first1=Brent |title=The Cossack Struggle Against Communism, 1917-1945 |year=2019 |publisher=McFarland & Company |location=Jefferson |isbn=978-1-4766-7948-8 |pages=32–36}}</ref>

====In Ukraine====

Similarly to the events in imperial Cossack hosts, a revival of Cossack self-organization also took place in Ukraine, inspired by the traditions of the Zaporozhian Sich and Cossack Hetmanate. In April 1917 a congress in [[Zvenyhorodka]], [[Kyiv Governorate]], established [[Free Cossacks]] as a volunteer militia in order "to defend the liberties of the Ukrainian people" and maintain civil order. 

The revived Cossack structure in Ukraine was organized according to the territorial principle, with villages providing companies of volunteers, which were grouped into a [[kurin]] (battalion) on the [[volost]] level, subordinate to a regiment led by [[polkovnyk]], which was itself part of a ''kish'' (division) led by an Ottoman. All officers of Free Cossacks were elected, and funds were provided from taxation. Most volunteers the organization were peasants, but industrial workers did also enlist themselves, especially in cities. 

During 1917 the Free Cossack movement spread around Kyiv, [[Volhynia]], [[Kherson Governorate|Kherson]], [[Poltava Governorate|Poltava]] and [[Chernigov Gubernia|Chernihiv]] governorates. At the All-Ukrainian Congress of Free Cossacks in [[Chyhyryn]] on 16-20 October 1917 [[Pavlo Skoropadskyi]] was elected otaman of the movement.<ref>{{cite web |title=Free Cossacks |url=https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/F/R/FreeCossacks.htm}}</ref>