[b] Ivan Kononov was appointed the corps commander with the title Ataman of All Cossack Forces, but this change was not implemented before the end of World War II in Europe.

The Cossack Corps, led by Pannwitz, retreated from occupied Yugoslavia with the rest of the Wehrmacht's Army Group F and surrendered to the Western Allies in Austria in May 1945.

After the Soviets emerged victorious in the civil war, a policy of de-Cossackisation was instituted between 1919 and 1933, aimed at the elimination of the Cossacks as a separate cultural and political group.

[3] Cossacks in exile joined other Russian émigré groups in Central and Western Europe, while those in Russia endured continual repression.

[4] In the summer of 1944, Heinrich Himmler and the SS became interested in gaining control of the 1st Cossack Division under Helmuth von Pannwitz.

The Cossacks fought an engagement against the Red Army on 25 December 1944 near Pitomača to prevent them from crossing the Drava River.

The commander of the 5th Don Cossack Cavalry Regiment, Ivan Kononov, was awarded the Iron Cross, first class, after the battle.

[9][10] According to Samuel J. Newland, the corps, composed of the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Brigades and the 1st and 2nd Division, was actually formed on 25 February 1945, when it was officially created by the High Command.

[14] As of February 1945:[15][16] The regiments of the corps each had a patch with two main colors, a black border, and Cyrillic letters that represented each Cossack host.