Editing Cossacks (section)

====Cossacks between 1900 and 1917====
[[File:Stanisław Masłowski, Świt 1906 (Wiosna 1905).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|''Wiosna roku 1905'' ([[Revolution of 1905|Spring of 1905]]) by [[Stanisław Masłowski]], 1906 – Orenburg Cossacks patrol at [[Ujazdów Avenue|Ujazdowskie Avenue]] in [[Warsaw]] ([[National Museum in Warsaw]])]]

In 1905, the Cossack hosts experienced deep mobilization of their menfolk amid the fighting of the [[Russo-Japanese War]] in Manchuria and the outbreak of [[1905 Russian Revolution|revolution]] within the Russian Empire. Like other peoples of the empire, some Cossack [[stanitsa]]s voiced grievances against the regime by defying mobilization orders, or by making relatively liberal political demands. But these infractions were eclipsed by the prominent role of Cossack detachments in stampeding demonstrators and restoring order in the countryside. Subsequently, the wider population viewed the Cossacks as instruments of reaction. [[Tsar Nicholas II]] reinforced this concept by issuing new charters, medals, and bonuses to Cossack units in recognition for their performance during the Revolution of 1905.<ref name=ORourke_2007>{{cite book |first1=Shane |last1=O'Rourke |title=The Cossacks |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2007 |pages=194–201}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Robert |last1=McNeal |title=Tsar and Cossack, 1855-1914 |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1987}}</ref>{{rp|81–82}}

In September 1906, reflecting the success of the Cossacks in putting down the Revolution of 1905, ''Polkovnik'' (Colonel) [[Vladimir Liakhov]] was sent to Iran to command the train and lead the Persian Cossack Brigade.<ref name=":5">{{cite book |last=Cronin|first=Stephanie|chapter=Deserters, convicts, Cossacks, and revolutionaries: Russians in Iranian service, 1800-1920|page=164|title=Iranian-Russian Encounters: Empires and Revolutions Since 1800|editor=Stephanie Cronin|publisher=Routeldge|location=London|date=2013|isbn=978-0-415-62433-6}}</ref> Liakhov had led a Cossack squad in putting down the revolution in the Caucasus, and following the outbreak of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran he was sent to Tehran to recognize the Cossack Brigade as a force for power to the shah.<ref name=":5"/> The Persian Cossack Brigade had not been paid for months and proved to be dubious loyalty to the House of Qajar during the Constructional revolution while its Russian officers were uncertain what to do with Russia itself in revolution.<ref name=":5"/> Liakhov, a vigorous, able, and reactionary officer firmly committed to upholding absolute monarchies whatever in Russia or Iran, transformed the Persian Cossack Brigade into a mounted para-military police force rather than as a combat force.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cronin|first=Stephanie|chapter=Deserters, convicts, Cossacks, and revolutionaries: Russians in Iranian service, 1800-1920|pages=164–167|title=Iranian-Russian Encounters: Empires and Revolutions Since 1800|editor=Stephanie Cronin|publisher=Routeldge|location=London|date=2013|isbn=978-0-415-62433-6}}</ref> Liakhov was close to the new Shah, Mohammed Ali, who ascended to the Peacock Throne in January 1907, and it was due to the shah's patronage that Liakhov transformed the Persian Cossack Brigade into the main bulwark of the Iranian state.<ref name=":5"/> In June 1908, Liakhov led the Cossack Brigade in bombarding the ''Majlis'' (Parliament) while being appointed military governor of Tehran as the shah attempted to do away with the constitution his father had been forced to grant in 1906<ref>{{cite book |last=Cronin|first=Stephanie|chapter=Deserters, convicts, Cossacks, and revolutionaries: Russians in Iranian service, 1800-1920|pages=167–168|title=Iranian-Russian Encounters: Empires and Revolutions Since 1800|editor=Stephanie Cronin|publisher=Routeldge|location=London|date=2013|isbn=978-0-415-62433-6}}</ref> Reza Khan, who became the first Iranian to command the Cossack Brigade led the coup d'état in 1921 and in 1925 deposed the Qajars to found a new dynasty.

After the outbreak of [[World War I]] in August 1914, Cossacks became a key component in the cavalry of the Imperial Russian Army. The mounted Cossacks made up 38&nbsp;regiments, plus some infantry battalions and 52&nbsp;horse artillery batteries. Initially, each Russian cavalry division included a regiment of Cossacks in addition to regular units of [[hussar]]s, [[lancer]]s, and [[dragoon]]s. By 1916, the Cossacks' wartime strength had expanded to 160 regiments, plus 176 independent [[sotnia]]s (squadrons) employed as detached units.<ref>{{cite book |title=Russian Hussar |author=Littauer, Vladimir |publisher=The Long Riders' Guild Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-59048-256-8 |pages=296–297}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=DiMarco, Louis |title=War Horse |location=Yardley |publisher=Westholme Publishing |year=2008 |page=310}}</ref>

The importance of cavalry in the frontlines faded after the opening phase of the war settled into a stalemate. During the remainder of the war, Cossack units were dismounted to fight in trenches, held in reserve to exploit a rare breakthrough, or assigned various duties in the rear. Those duties included rounding up deserters, providing escorts to war prisoners, and razing villages and farms in accordance with Russia's [[scorched earth]] policy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seaton |first1=Albert |title=The Horsemen of the Steppes |date=1985 |publisher=The Bodley Head |location=London |pages=205–216}}</ref>