Lot Essay
The Zaporozhian Sich was the military and administrative centre of the Zaporozhian Cossacks in the 17th-18th centuries, based below the rapids of the Dnepr.
On the 5 August 1775 Empress Catherine II signed the manifesto 'On the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich and its addition to the New Russian province'. The Cossacks' fate was determined.
The destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich resulted in the government taking over the lands and distributing it amongst Catherine the Great's entourage. Many of the Cossacks were made serfs. Over 5,000 Cossacks fled to the Danube Delta under Turkish protection, where they formed a new Danube Sich (1775-1828).
In 1787 the Cossacks' ex-elders sent a petition to the Empress, expressing their will to serve in the army. The new 'Black sea Cossack Host' was formed. It took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1792. When the war was over they were transferred to the Kuban and became the Cossack army of Black sea.
On the 5 August 1775 Empress Catherine II signed the manifesto 'On the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich and its addition to the New Russian province'. The Cossacks' fate was determined.
The destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich resulted in the government taking over the lands and distributing it amongst Catherine the Great's entourage. Many of the Cossacks were made serfs. Over 5,000 Cossacks fled to the Danube Delta under Turkish protection, where they formed a new Danube Sich (1775-1828).
In 1787 the Cossacks' ex-elders sent a petition to the Empress, expressing their will to serve in the army. The new 'Black sea Cossack Host' was formed. It took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1792. When the war was over they were transferred to the Kuban and became the Cossack army of Black sea.