The issue of decossackization in modern historiography: history of studying, legal and political aspects, bibliography and statistics of publications

Introduction. Decossackization is a complex issue of modern historiography of the Cossacks. The scientific relevance of the decossackization issue is caused by shortage of generalizing studies. The social and political relevance is connected with the Cossack Renaissance in modern Russia. It is possible to see a major boundary in decossackization, which divided traditional and modern history of the Cossacks. Methods. The author uses the method of analytical historiography, complex, structural and comparative analysis of historiographic sources, quantitative analysis of the nomenclature of studies. The bibliography statistics is received on the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI) database. Analysis . Defining Decossackization: definitions, approaches, periodization. Soviet and post-Soviet historiography. The newest historiography of the 21st century. Alternative and expanded renderings of Decossackization. Approaches to how Decossackization should be determined in the legal systems of Russia and the USA. Determining Decossackization as the genocide of the Cossacks. Considering V.V. Putin and Patriarch Kirill’s expressed opinions on Decossackization; the influence of these opinions on the historiography in question. Emphasizing the topicalityof researching Decossackization in the historical memory of the Cossacks. Most works on Decossakization were published already in the 21st century, but they amount to only about 1 % of the whole number of studies devoted to the Cossacks, which means that new studies into the question will be both topical and necessary. Results. The scholastic research into Decossackization stems from Soviet historiography. The post-Soviet period saw a wide range of opinions and suggested approaches to the problem of Decossackization. In the 21st century politicians, church leaders, lawyers, historians and the Cossacks themselves have reached a consensus on that Decossackization must be viewed as a tragedy. New researchers agree with the definition of Decossackization as genocide or a kind of cruel mass repression in the Soviet Russia.