Kireev, Felix S.
Kavkaz Forum. 2021. Issue 5.

Abstract:
The article analyzes the reasons for the restoration of the military system of
self-government of the Terek Cossacks and shows the very process of creating the
elective military power.
The relevance of the study of Cossack self-government is due to the need for
theoretical justification and practical implementation of the self-organization
of the Cossacks of Russia. Historical analysis of the process of organizing selfgovernment
of the Terek Cossacks at the military level can serve as a foundation
for better understanding and assessment of modern processes and phenomena in
the Cossack environment and will help to build state policy towards the Cossacks
in modern Russia.
In the Russian historiography, there are no works devoted specifically to the
restoration of the election of power in the Terek Cossack army. Therefore, the
scientific novelty of the research is determined by the fact that for the first time an
attempt was made to chronologically reconstruct the history of the creation of the
military system of self-government of the Terek Cossacks.
The methodological basis of the research is the principle of historicism, with
its focus on the study of the moment of occurrence of a historical event and the
stages of its development.
An analysis of the events on the Terek in 1917 shows that the Terek Cossacks
were able to organize themselves and create a full-fledged administrativeterritorial
entity and only a change in the socio-political situation in Russia as
a whole was placed, strengthened and continued this initiative. It should also
be noted that the Terek Cossacks, by the time of the restoration of military selfgovernment,
came up with ready-made drafts of relevant documents, which
allowed the Terek army to be the first among other troops to create their own
elected power. This indicates a high intellectual potential among the Terek
cossacks.

Keywords: the Russian empire, the North Caucasus, the Terek cossaks, the Terek region, M. A. Karaulov, election

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