Kuban Cossacks in the Civil War: about the reasons for the “red” choice of Cossacks

By 1917, the Kuban Cossacks numbered 1.4 million people - 43 % of the 3.2 million population of the Kuban region. A significant rise in the Kuban economy in the last third of the 19th century was provided primarily by the labor of the nonresident population who settled in the region. By 1917, the number of nonresidents was about 1,5 million people. There was considerable antagonism between Cossacks and nonresidents, reaching “open hostility and armed clashes”. During the Civil War, the nonresident population overwhelmingly chose the side of the Soviet government. The Cossacks split: many thousands of Cossacks stood up for the Reds. The article highlights a number of factors that influenced the red-eyed choice, and shows the results of the latter.