Military expeditions of the Starodub regiment in 1654–1764

The Starodub Regiment is a military-administrative unit of the Zaporizhian Host, the center of which was the city of Starodub (today Bryansk Oblast of the Russian Federation). The border position of the regiment predetermined the uniqueness of the processes that took place on its territory. The chronological framework of the article from 1654 to 1764 covers the entire historical period of the hetman's administration functioning in the region. The purpose of the work is to analyze the mobilization capabilities and features of the military organization of the Starodub Regiment in connection with the transformation of "center-periphery relations" in the region. To carry out the research in accordance with the set goal, the author used a wide range of historical sources from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv, as well as the achievements of both modern and pre-revolutionary and foreign historiographies. The subject of the study is the transformation of the military organization of the Starodub regiment, including changes in its mobilization capabilities, as well as forms of using Cossacks, both in the immediate theater of military operations and for fortification work, depending on the change in the degree of influence exerted on the region by the Russian government, the hetman administration and local elites. The article provides a description of the position of the Starodub Cossacks at various stages of the historical period under consideration. It is noted that as a result of a change in the center or when one of them acquired a prevailing importance, the forms and methods of using Cossacks in military expeditions changed. At the same time, tangible reforms of the military organization of the Zaporozhian Host were first carried out only in the mid-1730s on the initiative of the Russian government. They were caused by a significant decrease in the combat effectiveness of the Cossack units, which were clearly manifested during the War of the Polish Succession of 1733-1735. Although the reforms turned out to be useful, they were insufficient. The combination of various factors led the Zaporozhian Host to the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763 in an even more depressing state. In conclusion, a conclusion is made that the military organization of the Cossacks required immediate radical reform. The subsequent reforms, carried out under the supervision of Count P.A. Rumyantsev, were not a whim of Empress Catherine II, but a necessity that was able to preserve the malorussian Cossacks as a separate class.