Kosakenland

Kosakenland in Norditalien Cossackia
The emblem of a Stanitsa, an entity in Kosakenland with a mixed military and civilian government, with two small flags symbolizing the dual division of Kosakenland (The flag in the emblem is shown on the right)
A map of Kosakenland
Status	Military government
Capital	Tolmezzo
Recognised national languages	Russian, Italian and Friulian
Ethnic groups	Cossacks, Caucasian peoples, Turkmen, Italian and Friulians
Religion	Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Church and Islam
Government
• Leader of the Cossacks	Timofey Domanov (July 1945 - February 1945) Pyotr Krasnov (February 1945 - May 1945)
• Leader of the Caucasians	Sultan Klych-Girey
History
• Established	July 1944
• Dissolved	May 1945
Currency	Italian lira
Time zone	CET
Today part of	Republic of Italy

Kosakenland (also known as Kosakenland in Norditalien or Cossackia ) ^[1] was a semi-independent military government subordinate to the Nazi Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral. ^[2] The political entity had dual leadership representing the Caucasian population and the Cossack population which had been settled by the order of Odilo Globocnik in Carnia, Friuli. The entity lasted from July 1944 to May 1945, when the Cossacks and Caucasians that had settled within it relocated to Austria in order to surrender to the British authorities.

Background

The Keitel-Rosenberg's edict

During the German invasion of the USSR, the German armed forces, alongside the Italian ones, incorporated within their armies thousands of Cossacks who volunteered to be part of the Wehrmacht, the Waffen-SS, and the Royal Italian Army. On 10 November 1943, when the USSR had already reconquered significant portions of their initially lost territories, an edict by the ministry of the occupied territories, Alfred Rosenberg, and the commander of the Wehrmacht Wilhelm Keitel, assured to the cossack soldiers from Don, Kuban, Astrakhan, Ural, Transbaikaila and Terek that, once the USSR was defeated, they would have been assured significant autonomy in their native territories, and, temporarily, in other parts of Europe if at any given time it was impossible for them to return to their native territories. ^{[3] [4]}

The grounds for the establishment

After the Armistice of Cassibile became effective on 8 September 1943, the Germans succesfully persued Operation Wolkenbruch, securing most of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia and the Italian occupied territories of Slovenia. The Germans would subsequently establish the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral, which they planned, for the most part, to incorporate in the Third Reich (incorporating it in a concept of a German-ruled "Greater Austria") following the end of World War II. ^{[5] [6]}

Due to this occupation, troughout the whole summer of 1944, the area of Northern Friuli was the protagonist of numerous partisan operations, which culminated on 26 September 1944 with the establishment of the Republic of Carnia. This was around the time the collaborationist Cossacks units arrived in Friuli. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

In order to further undermine partisan activities, in July 1944, the SS and Police leader which was assigned to Trieste by Nazi Germany, Odilo Globocnik, agreed to allow the procedure of a program in favour of the settlement of Cossack units loyal to Germany in the area: It was the start of what would be known as Operation Ataman, which in just a few week, would manage to settle up to 22,000 Cossacks (Including 9,000 soldiers, 6,000 elders, 4,000 of family members and 3,000 children) and 4,000 Caucasians (2,000 soldiers and 2,000 family members, not counting the Georgians) with the use of up to 50 military trains. ^[10] Amongst those defined as "Caucasians" by the authorities, there were also Turkmens. ^[1]

Initially, the settlers were temporarily stationed only in the valley in the proximity of Mont Amariana  [ it ], Osoppo, Gemona del Friuli, Tarcento, Artegna, Nimis and Spilimbergo and put under the command of Timofey Domanov. ^{[11] [2]}

History

Establishment of Kosakenland and local reprisals (July 1944 - October 1944)

Having defeated the Republic of Carnia, the Nazi-aligned Cossacks and Caucasians started to build what they called the "Kosakenland in Norditalien," which had been promised by the Germans. ^[12]

XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps in Carnia during Operation Ataman

The first action by the occupiers upon having the full control of the Carnia region was a campaign of reprisal on the population due to their collaboration with the Republic of Carnia, leading to mass indiscriminate killings, rapes and occupation of civilian houses starting from August 1944 up to October 1944. ^[2] One of the most infamous events during such acts of reprisals occured on 9 October 1944, when a catholic priest who lived in Tolmezzo, Don Giuseppe Treppo, was killed by the Cossacks after attempting to defend women and girls from being raped by them. ^{[2] [13] [14] [15]} The killing caused a diplomatic crisis between the Archdiocese of Udine and the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Litoral aswell as the Cossack command. ^[2] By the end of the first wave of reprisals, 62 women were sexually assaulted. ^[16]

By October 1944, the Cossacks, the Caucasian and German troops had managed to solidify their control over Carnia, and the Cossacks started to deport the local Italian and Friulian population living in Alesso, Bordano, Forni Altrovi and in most areas of Trasaghis in order to settle them with Cossacks and Caucasians. The only remaining active partisan forces at the time were the Brigate Garibaldi and the 1st division of the Stalin Batallion. ^{[2] [17] [18]} The Stalin Batallion was formed by Georgian settlers who had been brought to Carnia by the Germans, who, however, opposed Germany, their reprisals against the local population and the discrimination of Georgians in Kosakenland. ^[19]

The Domanov government (November 1944- February 1945)

Sultan Klych-Girey was put in charge of the areas settled by Circassians and other Caucasian ethnic groups, specifically northern Kosakenland. Whilst the southern part, settled by the Cossacks, was under the rule of Timofey Domanov and then Pyotr Krasnov. ^[20]

The comune of Verzegnis had become the general headquarters of the Cossacks' forces' supreme leader, Pëtr Nikolaevič Krasnov, whilst other villages and towns were renamed with Russian city names (Alesso was renamed after Novočerkassk, Trasaghis was renamed after Novorossijsk , and Cavazzo in Krasnodar). Tolmezzo (Renamed "Don") had also become the headquarters of the Cossack autonomous council and the capital of the puppet state. ^{[12] [21]}

There was a campaign of replication of the Cossack's and the Caucasus social organizations, style of life and religious rituals within the newly settled territories. ^[12] For example, the state established a national holiday to be held during Orthodox christmas, which was only officially held once on 7 January 1945. ^[22]

By the end of February 2025, mass reprisal had come to an end, ^{[23] [24]} and due to the need of supplies, the leaders of the Cossacks and the Caucasians decided to forcefully incite the local population to guest the Cossacks and Caucasians in their house in order to share their food with them and their much needed supplies. ^[25]

Start of the Krasnov government (15 February 1945 - 21 March 1945)

Lydia, Krasnov's wife, in 1940.

Up until 14 February 1945, Timofey Domanov was the leader of the Cossack districts in Kosakenland, however, following the arrival of Pyotr Krassnov, alongside his wife Lydia Fedeorovna, Timofey had to give the charge of the districts to him. He would officially start to live in Carnia itself starting from 27 February 1945, when he and his wife started to inhabit the Savoy Hotel in Villa di Verzegnis, which would be renovated by his orders to resemble a 19th Century Russian noble residence. Timofey had become the leader of the armed forces, whilst Pyotr handled the rest. ^{[6] [26]}

His return not only decreased the level of violence towards the local population, but also increased the morale of the Cossacks which started to actively hunt for the partisans of the Brigate Garibaldi and the Stalin Batallion. ^{[6] [26]}

The Vlasvov-Naumenko plot attempt (22 March 1945 - 27 March 1945)

When Krasnov had moved to Carnia, Vyacheslav Naumenko served as the acting director of the Main Directorate of Cossack Forces in Berlin. ^[27] Andrey Vlasvov, chairman of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, authorized to establish such committee by Heinrich Himmler, ^[28] proposed a military takeover of the forces stationed in Carnia to repurpouse them in the Committee and under Vlasvov's control. Naumenko supported such initiative and used his power as an ataman (title he had gained back in 1920) as to take away Krasnov's authority over the Cossack units and under his command with a decree on 22 March 1945. ^{[2] [26]}

Krasnov reacted the following day upon hearing the news. He annulled Naumenko’s order transferring the Kuban troops to the ROA. He argued that Naumenko’s 1920 election as ataman was invalid because it had been conducted by only 35 members of the rada instead of the required 580, that no official records had been signed, and that Naumenko had never received a formal decree of appointment. ^[26]

On 24 March 1945, he convened all senior Cossack military leaders in Tolmezzo to condemn Naumenko’s actions and to confirm that the order transferring Kuban units from Domanov to Vlasov was null and void. The following day, he ordered the Cossack gendarmerie to investigate possible links between Kuban officers and Naumenko. A colonel was arrested for pro-Vlasov propaganda, and a Kuban Cossack general was removed and reassigned for the same reason. The plot came to an end when Vlasvov downplayed the event on a letter dated 27 March 1945. ^[26]

The fall of Kosakenland (April 1945 - May 1945)

The Cossacks and the Caucasians started to realise that, upon the fall of the Gothic Line and the success of the Red Army in Eastern Europe, that the chances of a German victory were becoming increasingly slim. ^[2] Krasnov and Vlasvov met up in Campoformido and decided to head towards Carinthia. The evacuations started on 27 April 1945, two days after the call by the CLN for the population of Carnia to rise against the Germans and the Cossacks. ^{[26] [29]} Atrocities against the local population significantly increased once again in this period. ^[9] The partisans and the representatives of the Georgian population in Kosakenland both suggested that the Cossacks should have surrendered to the partisans, however, the Cossacks and the Caucasians both opted to continue their evacuations towards Austria and surrender to the Anglo-American forces. ^[30] The Georgians would soon after mostly join the side of the Italian partisans, playing a key role in battles such as the Battle of Ovaro (one of the last battles of WW2 in Italy). ^{[31] [32]} What would follow would be numerous civilian casualties during the fights between the partisans and the Cossacks, resulting in 152 civilian casualties amongst Italian, Friulian and Georgian civilians and around 110 Cossack and Caucasian civilians. ^{[2] [30] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]}

On 9 May 1945, the Cossacks and Caucasians surrendered to British troops upon crossing the border into Austria, in Lienz. Most of them were sent to the soviets for trial, which in turn deported them to the gulags. ^[38] Most of them would die. ^[39]

Government

Southern Carnia (Cossack-controlled Carnia)

The area, had been divided in 54 principals (the equivalent of a primary administrative division). ^{[2] [40]} The districts (which functioned as secondary administrative division) were divided by the place of origin of the Cossacks. Each district had numerous "stanicy" (third level administrative division) which were governed either by a marshal (called "Vojskvoj Staršina") or by an ataman. ^{[2] [26] [41]}

There was a national hospital, a national bank called "Feldsbank" and a military tribunal that acted as a judiciary organ (which also functioned as a civic one). In most of the districts there were primary schools, and even one Cossack highschool in Chiaulis. ^{[2] [26]}

Northern Carnia (Caucasian-controlled Carnia)

The Caucasian controlled area had less of a strict administrative division system and focused more in dividing areas by the ethnicity of the people living in said cities. Clans and families had a prominent role. The Caucasians pretty much like the Cossacks had a military tribunal (which also functioned a civic one). ^[2]

Economy

Southern Carnia (Cossack-Controlled Carnia)

During their occupation of the Carnia region, the Cossack population developed an economic system which combined informal trade, subsistence agriculture, military wages, and limited wage labor. Markets were held in major cities within Carnia, where Cossacks exchanged handicrafts and abundant supplies of rock salt for forage, goods that came from other parts of Europe (mostly Eastern Europe) and Asia, and sometimes horses. Military pay, despite being relatively high, had not crippled the economy, but rather introduced a significant monthly cash flow into the local economy, with an estimated 15,000 soldiers receiving on average 700 lire, and thus overall producing roughly 11,5 million lire of circulating money. Cossack women also contributed to the economy through the sale of milk and products harvested from occupied fields that had been stripped from Italian and Friulian families, while groups of Cossack refugees worked seasonally in the local timber industry, transporting logs from forests to sawmills. Tolmezzo, the main command and transit center, became crowded with troops and transformed into a noisy, disorderly commercial hub where Cossack civilians operated requisitioned or rented bazaars, selling military items and religious objects. The Cossacks also began persuing an agrarian reform of the Tagliamento river valley, planning the acquisition or requisition of farmland, surveying arable land and vineyards, and introducing improved methods of potato agriculture. ^{[2] [18] [22] [26]}

Northern Carnia (Caucasian-controlled Carnia)

The Caucasian groups stationed within Northern Carnia settled in and maintained an economic life that was largely autonomous but limited in scope. Except for dairy products and small amounts of forage, which they had managed to obtain through German supply channels coming from Austria, they relied mainly on their own resources. Commercial exchange between the Caucasians and the Cossacks aswell as the other groups in Carnia was minimal and based almost entirely on barter, while the production of artisanal products was low and restricted to essential needs, such as small shoemaking and blacksmith workshops in Sutrio and Paluzza. There was also a recorded presence of a printing shop in Paluzza, which produced the biweekly newspaper Severokavkazec, but broader economic organization failed to take shape. Despite appeals from their own portion of government within Kosakenland, which kept urging the community to learn trades and cultivate artistic skills to improve living conditions in Carnia and to preserve knowledge useful for an eventual return to their homeland, the Caucasians were neither able nor willing to create more complex or collective economic structures and thus kept to themselves up until they left Carnia. ^{[18] [22]}

Religion

In every occupied district of Carnia there were what the Cossacks called "pope". The Cossacks were mostly Orthodox. They repurposed various churches during their occupation, such as the ones located in Chiaulis di Verzegnis, Alesso, Trasaghis, Braulins, Interneppo, Mena and San Martino. The majority of the Caucasian settlers were instead muslim. This meant they did not need to repurpose churches unlike the Cossacks, and they could instead simply transform private properties in cultural and religious sites. ^{[10] [18]}

Demographics

The 1941 census in Carnia identified that there were 58,549 people living within it. ^[42] Assuming that the population did not dramatically change between 1942 and 1943 ^[10] , we can say that the population in Kosakenland at its height was only around 65,50% natives.

Conditions of other ethnic groups

Life for the Italians and Friulians in Kosakenland

Despite the fact that the first wave of reprisals against the local population had come to an end around February 1945, the local Italian and Friulian population faced significant discrimination and indiscriminate physical and sexual violence on a daily basis. ^{[23] [24]}

Both of the populations considered each others as "uncivilized", which caused tension. This was especially true in regards to their perception of private property and property rights. ^[2]

The Cossacks would regularly entered Italian and Friulian houses without any permit, examined the building, ordered the owners to leave as well as offering them another place to stay and, by the end of the process, settling the previous owner's house. ^{[2] [25]}

In the settlement areas, the Caucasian and Cossacks implemented a strict control of the inhabitants which involved a strong limitations on movement, inspections and arrests which were followed by new looting and thefts. ^[9]

Multiple Italian and Friulian women and girls that were found having a relation with the Cossacks or the Caucasians had their head shaved and were humiliated amongst their peers. ^[43]

Life for the Georgians in Kosakenland

The Georgian troops came from Austria and the Balkans and were around 4,800 soldiers. They were led by a Georgian princess known as "Miriam". ^{[3] [31]} They were part of a wider Georgian movement called "Giorgio Bianco" which had been supported by Himmler and composed of elements of the Georgian nobility that was previously located in France and also, a minority of them, were POWs from Operation Barbarossa. ^{[6] [22]} They mostly settled in the town of Arta Terme and lived a noble-like lifestyle, which was seen as negative by the Germans, other Caucasians and the Cossacks, who discriminated against them. The Georgians were also polyglots and thus had an easier time communicating with the local population in Carnia. ^[18] This made them more aliked by the locals and the Georgians also had a favourable relation with the population of Carnia, warning them in advance whenever a reprisal was coming, hiding some of them in their homes and even telling Italian partisans whenever a search against them was coming and where to evacuate to reorganize. ^{[6] [18]} Most of the Georgians started to develop a favourable opinion of Joseph Stalin due to their discrimination in Carnia, and also started to idolize the Italian partisans; Multiple would join the Stalin batallion, whilst some joined the Brigate Osoppo. ^{[25] [31]}

Stalin batallion

The Stalin batallion had two divisions, the first division which operated in Carnia, and the second one which operated in most of Friuli. Both co-operated and fought togheter with the CLN as early as July 1944. The batallion was made of both Georgians, Russians, Ukrainians, Poles and Cossacks. ^[44] A few of the most famous members of such batallion were a Russian, Daniil Varfolomeevič Avdeev  [ it ], ^[45] an Ukrainian, Jaroslav Javney, ^{[46] [47]} and a Georgian, Pore Mosulishvili. ^[48]

A few days after the end of the war, on 14 May 1945, 150 partisans of the batallion departed towards the Allied-occupied Austria where they joined the Soviet forces and were pardoned, also bringing along two willing Carnese women. ^[49]

Relations with the Italian Social Republic

The Italian Social Republic, whilst complacent on the surface, opposed such an initiative, and some parts of the RSI even co-operated with partisans as to undermine the existence of Kosakenland upon learning that the establishment of the military government was to become a long-term if not permanent reality. ^{[25] [50]}

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