Cossacs for Independence

In the late 16th-early 17th centuries a very special social group of Ukrainain population usually referred to as COSSACKS appeared in Ukraine. The Cossacks were mostly descendants of serfs who had run away from their masters and settled down at the unoccupied and unclaimed lands. With the passage of time their numbers grew so significantly that they formed what amounted to an independent state with self-government bodies and an elected head called Hetman. The Cossacks were fiercely independent by nature and fought hard to preserve their free ways from the Tartars of Crimea, Ottoman Turks and Poles. Constant fighting made excellent foot soldiers and cavalrymen out of them. In the middle of the 17th century, headed by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, an astute statesman and daring general, the Cossacks fought a war of independence against Poland. It was the time of growing national identity but Bohdan Kmelnytsky realized too well that he did not have enough forces to overpower all the enemies on all the fronts and he was forced to bring Ukraine under the protection of the Russian Czar. Unfortunately, the insatiable appetites of the imperial Russia were such that Ukraine was gobbled up whole and by the end of the 18th century was turned into a backwater province. Even the Ukrainian language came under danger of extinction, but thanks to the efforts of prominent Ukrainian literati with the national revival on their minds - among whom Taras Shevchenko stands as the most distinguished figure - the Ukreinian language and literature did nit die and continued their development despite the hard pressure aimed at their suppression.