On this memorable day, Crimea passed from one empire to another - from the Ottoman to the Russian
231 years ago (according to the new style) Empress Catherine II signed a manifesto on the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Taman Island and the Kuban Region to the Russian Empire. After that, Russia became a full-fledged Black Sea power. After annexation in 1783, the slave trade was abolished in the Crimea. By the way, on the same day, on another continent, the war for the independence of the States against the British colonial empire ended.
Russian military camp in the Crimea, 1783 M.M. Ivanov. 1783.
On August 7, 1782, a monument to Peter the Great, created by Falcone, was opened in St. Petersburg. The inscription on the pedestal - "To Peter the Great - Catherine the Second" - directly indicates the historical continuity of the policy of the empress, who continued the movement of Russia to the Black Sea. And the very next year, the Manifesto of Empress Catherine II was published "on the acceptance of the island of Taman, the Crimean peninsula and the entire territory of the Kuban under the power of Russia."
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The name of the peninsula probably comes from the Turkic word "kyrym" - rampart, wall, ditch.
By resolving the Crimean issue, Russia got rid of its aggressive southern neighbor. And if Peter the Great cut through a "window to Europe", then Catherine, one might say, "opened the doors" to the Black Sea. Then, officially, no country challenged this document. By the end of winter, news came to Tavrida (Crimea) about the reaction of Istanbul, its decision of February 24, 1784: “The Ottoman Port recognized the citizenship of Crimea and Kuban to the All-Russian Imperial Throne by a solemn act.”
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The oldest known population of the mountainous and southern coastal parts of the Crimea are the Taurians.
For the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the formation of the Tauride region, Prince G. Potemkin received the title of Tauride for his work.
After the victories of Field Marshal Count P. A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky in the second Russian-Turkish war of 1768–1774. between Russia and Turkey, the Kyuchuk-Kaynarji peace was concluded, as a result of which the territory between the Bug and the Dnieper, as well as the fortresses of Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn, were included in Russia. Russia was able to get access to the Black Sea, as well as confirm its rights to the territory of Kabarda, Azov and the Azov lands, conquered by Peter the Great. The task of ensuring the security of the southern borders of Russia and the development of newly acquired lands was entrusted by the Empress Potemkin.
At the end of 1782, assessing the advantages of annexing Crimea to Russia, Potemkin expressed his opinion in a letter to Catherine II: “Crimea is tearing our borders with its position ... You are obliged to elevate the glory of Russia ... The acquisition of Crimea cannot strengthen or enrich you, but only peace will bring. Shortly thereafter, Catherine II issued a manifesto on the annexation of Crimea, according to which the Crimean inhabitants were promised “holy and unshakably for themselves and the successors of our throne to support them on an equal footing with our natural subjects, to protect and protect their faces, property, temples and their natural faith. ..".
With the advent of the Russian administration in 1783, the slave trade was abolished in the Crimea, and the state administration of the European type began to develop. The government resettled here from the central and Ukrainian provinces of state peasants. Gradually, large landed estates also concentrated in the North-Western Crimea. Through the efforts of Potemkin, specialists were sent from England and France to arrange gardens and parks, and the prince himself wrote a special instruction for the work of the Office of Agriculture and Home Economics in the Crimea. On the basis of the “Institution on the Provinces” operating in the Russian Empire since 1775, G. A. Potemkin created a kind of management system with the involvement of the local multinational population, which contributed to the government policy for the settlement and economic development of the Crimean peninsula.
The accession of the Crimea to Russia was of great progressive significance: in a short time, new ports and cities sprang up in the Black Sea steppe. The Russian fleet then firmly established itself in the Black Sea.
However, on February 19, 1954, the Crimean region was transferred from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. The transfer was timed to coincide with the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada. The initiator of the transfer to the Ukrainian SSR of the Crimean region, as Vladimir Putin noted in his Crimean speech in March 2014, “was personally Khrushchev.”
According to the current president of Russia, only the motives that drove Khrushchev remain a mystery: "the desire to enlist the support of the Ukrainian nomenclature or to make amends for organizing mass repressions in Ukraine in the 1930s."
In turn, Khrushchev's son Sergei Nikitich, in an interview with Russian television via a teleconference from the United States on March 19, 2014, explained, referring to his father's words, that Khrushchev's decision was connected with the construction of the North Crimean water canal from the Kakhovka reservoir on the Dnieper and the desirability of conducting and financing large-scale hydraulic engineering work as part of one union republic.
And now, exactly 60 years later, on March 18, 2014, an agreement was signed on the entry of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol into the Russian Federation as subjects of the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, Ukraine does not recognize either the proclamation of the independence of Crimea, or its entry into Russia...
Copyleft sources: prlib.ru, history.scps.ru, litopys.net, wikipedia.org.
The fertile climate, the picturesque and generous nature of Taurida create almost ideal conditions for human existence. People have long inhabited these lands, so the eventful history of Crimea, which goes back centuries, is extremely interesting. To whom and when did the peninsula belong? Let's find out!
History of Crimea since ancient times
Numerous historical artifacts found by archaeologists here suggest that the ancestors of modern man began to settle in fertile lands almost 100 thousand years ago. This is evidenced by the remains of Paleolithic and Mesolithic cultures found in the site and Murzak-Koba.
At the beginning of the XII century BC. e. tribes of Indo-European nomadic Cimmerians appeared on the peninsula, whom ancient historians considered the first people who tried to create in the beginnings of some kind of statehood.
At the dawn of the Bronze Age, they were forced out of the steppe regions by warlike Scythians, moving closer to the sea coast. The foothill areas and the southern coast were then inhabited by the Taurians, according to some sources, who came from the Caucasus, and in the north-west of the unique region Slavic tribes, who migrated from modern Transnistria, settled down.
Ancient heyday in history
As the history of the Crimea testifies, at the end of the 7th century. BC e. it began to be actively mastered by the Hellenes. Natives of the Greek cities created colonies, which eventually began to flourish. Fertile land gave excellent harvests of barley and wheat, and the presence of convenient harbors contributed to the development of maritime trade. Crafts actively developed, shipping improved.
Port policies grew and grew richer, uniting over time into an alliance, which became the basis for creating a powerful Bosporus kingdom with a capital in, or present-day Kerch. The heyday of an economically developed state with a strong army and an excellent navy dates back to the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC e. Then an important alliance was concluded with Athens, half of whose needs for bread were provided by the Bosporans, their kingdom includes the lands of the Black Sea coast beyond the Kerch Strait, Theodosius, Chersonesus flourish. But the period of prosperity did not last long. The unreasonable policy of a number of kings led to the depletion of the treasury, the reduction of military personnel.
The nomads took advantage of the situation and began to ravage the country. at first he was forced to enter the Pontic kingdom, then he became a protectorate of Rome, and then of Byzantium. The subsequent invasions of the barbarians, among which it is worth highlighting the Sarmatians and Goths, further weakened him. Of the once magnificent settlements, only the Roman fortresses in Sudak and Gurzuf remained undestroyed.
Who owned the peninsula in the Middle Ages?
From the history of the Crimea it can be seen that from the 4th to the 12th centuries. Bulgarians and Turks, Hungarians, Pechenegs and Khazars marked their presence here. The Russian prince Vladimir, having taken Chersonese by storm, was baptized here in 988. The formidable ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vytautas, invaded Taurida in 1397, completing the campaign in. Part of the land is included in the state, founded by the Goths. By the middle of the 13th century, the steppe regions were controlled by the Golden Horde. In the next century, some territories are redeemed by the Genoese, and the rest are submitted to the troops of Khan Mamai.
The collapse of the Golden Horde marked the creation here in 1441 of the Crimean Khanate, 
self-existing for 36 years. In 1475, the Ottomans invaded here, to whom the khan swore allegiance. They expelled the Genoese from the colonies, took by storm the capital of the state of Theodoro - the city, having exterminated almost all the Goths. The khanate with its administrative center in was called Kafa eyalet in the Ottoman Empire. Then the ethnic composition of the population is finally formed. Tatars are moving from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled one. Not only cattle breeding began to develop, but also agriculture, horticulture, small tobacco plantations appeared.
The Ottomans, at the height of their power, complete their expansion. They move from direct conquest to a policy of covert expansion, also described in history. The Khanate becomes an outpost for raids on the border territories of Russia and the Commonwealth. The looted jewels regularly replenish the treasury, and the captured Slavs are sold into slavery. From the 14th to the 17th centuries Russian tsars undertake several trips to the Crimea through the Wild Field. However, none of them leads to the pacification of a restless neighbor.
When did the Russian Empire come to Crimean power?
An important stage in the history of Crimea -. By the beginning of the XVIII century. it becomes one of its main strategic goals. Possession of it will allow not only to secure the land border from the south and make it internal. The peninsula is destined to become the cradle of the Black Sea Fleet, which will provide access to the Mediterranean trade routes.
However, significant progress in achieving this goal was achieved only in the last third of the century - during the reign of Catherine the Great. In 1771, the army led by General-General Dolgorukov captured Tauris. The Crimean Khanate was declared independent, and Khan Girey, who was a protege of the Russian crown, was elevated to his throne. Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774 undermined the power of Turkey. Combining military force with cunning diplomacy, Catherine II ensured that in 1783 the Crimean nobility swore allegiance to her.
After that, the infrastructure and economy of the region began to develop at an impressive pace. Here settle retired Russian soldiers. 
Greeks, Germans and Bulgarians come here en masse. In 1784, a military fortress was laid, which was destined to play a prominent role in the history of the Crimea and Russia as a whole. Roads are being built everywhere. Active cultivation of grapes contributes to the development of winemaking. The southern coast is becoming more and more popular among the nobility. turns into a resort town. For a hundred years, the population of the Crimean peninsula has increased by almost 10 times, its ethnic type has changed. In 1874, 45% of the Crimeans were Great Russians and Little Russians, about 35% were Crimean Tatars.
The dominance of the Russians in the Black Sea seriously worried a number of European countries. A coalition of decrepit Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, Austria, Sardinia and France unleashed. The mistakes of the command, which caused the defeat in the battle on, the lag in the technical equipment of the army, led to the fact that despite the unparalleled heroism of the defenders shown during the year-long siege, Sevastopol was taken by the allies. After the end of the conflict, the city was returned to Russia in exchange for a number of concessions.
During the Civil War in the Crimea, there were many tragic events that were reflected in history. Since the spring of 1918, German and French expeditionary corps have been operating here, supported by the Tatars. The puppet government of Solomon Samoilovich of Crimea was replaced by the military power of Denikin and Wrangel. Only the troops of the Red Army managed to take control of the peninsular perimeter. After that, the so-called Red Terror began, as a result of which from 20 to 120 thousand people died.
In October 1921, the creation of the Autonomous Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic in the RSFSR was announced from the regions of the former Taurida province, renamed in 1946 into the Crimean region. The new government paid great attention to her. The policy of industrialization led to the emergence of the Kamysh-Burun shipyard and, in the same place, a mining and processing plant was built, and in a metallurgical plant.
Further equipment was prevented by the Great Patriotic War. 
Already in August 1941, about 60 thousand ethnic Germans who lived on a permanent basis were deported from here, and in November the Crimea was left by the forces of the Red Army. Only two centers of resistance to the Nazis remained on the peninsula - the Sevastopol fortified area and, but they also fell by the autumn of 1942. After the retreat of the Soviet troops, partisan detachments began to actively operate here. The occupying authorities pursued a policy of genocide against "inferior" races. As a result, by the time of liberation from the Nazis, the population of Taurida had almost tripled.
The invaders were expelled from here. After that, the facts of mass cooperation with the Nazis of the Crimean Tatars and representatives of some other national minorities were revealed. By decision of the USSR government, more than 183 thousand people of Crimean Tatar origin, a significant number of Bulgarians, Greeks and Armenians were forcibly deported to remote regions of the country. In 1954, the region was included in the Ukrainian SSR at the suggestion of N.S. Khrushchev.
The latest history of Crimea and our days
After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Crimea remained in Ukraine, having received autonomy with the right to have its own constitution and president. After long negotiations, the basic law of the republic was approved by the Verkhovna Rada. Yuri Meshkov became the first president of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 1992. Subsequently, relations between official Kiev escalated. The Ukrainian parliament adopted in 1995 a decision to abolish the presidency on the peninsula, and in 1998 
President Kuchma signed a Decree approving the new Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, with the provisions of which far from all the inhabitants of the republic agreed.
Internal contradictions, coinciding in time with serious political exacerbations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, split the society in 2013. One part of the inhabitants of Crimea was in favor of returning to the Russian Federation, the other part was in favor of staying in Ukraine. On this occasion, on March 16, 2014, a referendum was held. Most of the Crimeans who took part in the plebiscite voted for reunification with Russia.
Back in the days of the USSR, many were built on Taurida, which was considered an all-Union health resort. had no analogues in the world at all. The development of the region as a resort continued both in the Ukrainian period of the history of Crimea and in the Russian one. Despite all the interstate contradictions, it still remains a favorite vacation spot for both Russians and Ukrainians. This land is infinitely beautiful and ready to welcome guests from any country in the world! We offer in conclusion a documentary film, enjoy watching!
Annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire (1783)- the inclusion of the territory of the Crimean Khanate into Russia after the abdication of the last Crimean Khan Shahin Giray. In 1784, the Tauride Region was formed on the annexed territory.
Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire
In the summer of 1475, the coastal cities and the mountainous part of Crimea became part of the Ottoman Empire. The Crimean Khanate, which owned the rest of the territory of Crimea, became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire in 1478. For the next three centuries, the Black Sea became the Turkish "inland lake".
By the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire switched to strategic defense, the main components of which were the construction of fortresses at the mouths of rivers, the creation of a kind of buffer zone - the deserted territory of the "Wild Field", the transfer of armed struggle with the northern neighbors - Poland and Russia - deep into the Polish and Russian possessions, using for this the Crimean Khanate dependent on it.
In the 15th century, the Turks, with the help of Italian specialists, built the Or-Kapu fortress on Perekop. Since that time, the Perekop shaft has a different name - Turkish shaft.
From the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on the Russian state and the Commonwealth. The main purpose of the raids is the capture of slaves and their resale in Turkish markets. The total number of slaves who passed through the Crimean markets is estimated at three million people.
Russian expansion
With the deliverance of the Russian state from the yoke of the Golden Horde, it again faced the task of access to the Black Sea, carried out during the period of Kievan Rus. Having defeated the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, Russia directed the vector of expansion to the south, towards the Turkish-Tatar threat. Zasechny lines, being built on the Russian borders, were advancing on the Wild Field. The conquered lands were developed by farmers, built up with cities, which put pressure on the defensive lines of the Ottoman Empire, despite the unsuccessful Crimean campaigns of Russian troops in the 16th and 17th centuries. The failure of these military enterprises made us realize the place and role of Crimea as a key territory that ensures dominance in the Northern Black Sea region. The Azov campaigns of Peter I (1695-1696), which did not solve the Black Sea problem, once again emphasized the importance of the Crimean direction. The capture of the Crimean peninsula became one of the most important foreign policy tasks of the Russian Empire in the 18th century.
18th century
Russian-Turkish war (1735-1739)
During the Russian-Turkish war (1735-1739), the Russian Dnieper army, numbering 62 thousand people and commanded by Field Marshal Burchard Christopher Munnich, stormed the Ottoman fortifications near Perekop on May 20, 1736, and occupied Bakhchisaray on June 17. However, the lack of food, as well as outbreaks of epidemics in the army, forced Minich to retreat to Russia. In July 1737, an army led by Field Marshal Peter Lassi invaded the Crimea, inflicting a number of defeats on the army of the Crimean Khan and capturing Karasubazar. But she was soon forced to leave the Crimea due to lack of supplies. The only result of the invasions of the Russian armies was the devastation of the peninsula, since the gap between the territory of the Wild Field already developed by the Russians and the lands occupied during military expeditions was too great to ensure their economic development and effective defense and thus count on the inclusion of Crimea in the Russian possessions.
Russian-Turkish war (1768-1774)
Such a practical opportunity appeared only after the necessary bridgehead had been prepared in the newly developed spaces. Despite the attempts of the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire to prevent the Russian colonization of the Northern Black Sea region by armed force, it actually began even before the army of General-General V. M. Dolgorukov captured Crimea in 1771, for which he subsequently received a sword from Empress Catherine II diamonds, diamonds for the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and the title of Crimean.
Prince Dolgorukov forced the Crimean Khan Selim to flee to Turkey. In his place, the Crimean beys chose a supporter of the Crimean-Russian rapprochement, Khan Sahib II Girey, who signed an agreement with Prince Dolgorukov, according to which Crimea was declared an independent khanate under the auspices of Russia, Kerch, the fortresses of Kinburn and Yenikale passed to Russia. Leaving the garrisons in the Crimean cities and freeing more than ten thousand Russian prisoners, Dolgorukov's army left the peninsula.
On July 15, 1774, the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi peace treaty was signed, which ended the Russian-Turkish war. The treaty ended Ottoman rule over Crimea. The fortresses of Kerch and Yenikale retreated to Russia, blocking the exit from the Azov to the Black Sea. The Kerch Strait became Russian, which was of great importance for the southern trade of Russia. The Crimean Khanate was declared independent from Turkey. The former Ottoman possessions on the peninsula (Southern and South-Eastern Crimea) passed to the Crimean Khanate. The historical task of Russia's access to the Black Sea was half solved.
The situation in Crimea, however, was uncertain and complex. Turkey, having agreed to recognize the independence of Crimea, was preparing for a new war. The Turkish sultan, being the Supreme Caliph, retained religious power in his hands and approved new khans, which left the possibility of real pressure on the Crimean Khanate. As a result, the Crimean Tatars in the Crimea were divided into two groups - Russian and Turkish orientation, clashes between which reached real battles.
At the beginning of 1774, the Turkish group appointed Devlet Giray as khan, who was immediately approved by the Turkish sultan-caliph. In July 1774, the Turkish troops under the command of Devlet Giray landed in Alushta. Russian troops, however, did not allow the Turks to go deep into the Crimea. In the battle near Alushta, the commander of the grenadier battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Kutuzov, lost his eye.
Sahib II Giray meanwhile fled from the Crimea.
At this time, the text of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji Treaty was received from Constantinople. But the Crimeans even now refused to accept independence and cede to the Russians the cities in the Crimea, determined by the agreement, and the Porte considered it necessary to enter into new negotiations with Russia.
1776 - 1783
In November 1776, taking advantage of the fact that the Turkish troops did not leave the Crimea, as prescribed by the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi agreement, but remained in Kaffa, the Russian corps of Lieutenant General Alexander Prozorovsky entered the Crimea and, without meeting resistance, fortified in Perekop. At the same time, a new Russian protege from the Girey family - Shahin Girey, who became the Khan of the Kuban, established himself on the Taman Peninsula. Prozorovsky negotiated with Devlet-Girey in the most conciliatory tone, but the Murzas and ordinary Crimeans did not hide their sympathy for the Ottoman Empire. Devlet-Giray even demanded from the Ottoman sultan that he terminate the agreement on the independence of Crimea concluded with Russia, return the peninsula under his rule and take Crimea under his protection, but Porta, fearing a new war with Russia, did not dare to do this.
Devlet Giray concentrated his detachments at Karasubazar and on the Indole River. He was opposed by Lieutenant General Alexander Suvorov, who arrived in the Crimea on December 17, 1776 with the regiments of his Moscow division under the command of Prozorovsky and on January 17, 1777, took temporary command of the twenty-thousandth Russian corps. In early March 1777, detachments of Suvorov troops approached Karasubazar and Indol. Upon learning of this, the Tatar troops dispersed. Devlet-Giray with a small retinue went to Bakhchisaray, where he again began to gather an army. At this time, Shahin Giray landed in Yenikal. Most of the local Tatar nobility went over to his side. On March 20, the Ryazhsky Infantry Regiment occupied Kaffa. Devlet-Giray with the Turkish landing went to Istanbul. Shahin Giray was elected Crimean Khan. At his request, Russian troops remained in the Crimea, stationed at the Ak-Mechet.
Shahin Giray became the last Crimean Khan. Having studied in Thessaloniki and Venice, who knew several languages, Shahin Giray ruled, ignoring the national Tatar customs, tried to carry out reforms in the state and reorganize administration according to the European model, equalize the rights of the Muslim and non-Muslim population of Crimea, and soon turned into a traitor for his people and an apostate. The possessions of the Tatar nobility, previously almost independent of the khan, were transformed by him into 6 governorships-kaimakams - Bakhchisaray, Ak-Mechet, Karasubazar, Gezlev (Evpatoria), Kafa (Feodosia) and Perekop. Shahin Giray confiscated the vaqfs - the lands of the Crimean clergy.
When Shahin Giray tried to create an army of the European type in November 1777, a riot began. In December 1777, Khan Selim Giray III, appointed in Istanbul, landed in the Crimea, which led to an uprising that engulfed the entire peninsula. The uprising was crushed by Russian troops.
On March 23, 1778, Alexander Suvorov replaced Prince Prozorovsky as commander of the Crimean and Kuban troops. He divided the Crimea into four territorial districts, extended a line of posts along the coast. Russian garrisons were stationed in fortresses and forty fortifications-retrenchments, feldshants, redoubts, armed with 90 guns.
Suvorov managed to force all the Turkish warships remaining off the Crimean coast to leave the Crimea, starting to build fortifications at the exit from the bay in which they were located, and forbidding the Turks to take fresh water on the shore from the Belbek River. Turkish ships left for Sinop.
In 1781, another uprising took place in the Crimea, led by Shahin Giray's brother Batyr Girey and the Crimean mufti. The uprising was crushed, but after a series of executions, a new rebellion began, forcing Shahin Giray to flee to the Russian garrison in Kerch. In Feodosia, Mahmut Giray was proclaimed the new Crimean Khan. The uprising of Mahmut Giray was also suppressed, and Shahin Giray was restored to the khan's throne, but by February 1783, the situation of Shahin Giray again became critical: mass executions of political opponents, hatred of the Tatars for the ongoing reforms and policies of Shahin Giray, the actual financial bankruptcy of the state, mutual distrust and misunderstanding with the Russian authorities led to the fact that Shahin Giray abdicated and went with his supporters under the protection of Russian troops, and part of the local nobility hostile to Russia fled to the Turks.
Accession
In 1783 Crimea was annexed to Russia. Accession was bloodless. April 8 of the old style (when transferring from the old (Julian) style to the new according to the secular method - April 19, when translating according to the church method - April 21), 1783, Empress Catherine II signed the "Manifesto on the acceptance of the Crimean Peninsula, Taman Island and the entire Kuban side under the power of Russia", which "in the duty of the proposed care for the good and greatness of the Fatherland" and "suggesting a means to permanently distance unpleasant causes that disturb the eternal peace between the All-Russian and Ottoman Empires<…>no less, and in exchange for and satisfaction of losses, "the empress decided to" take under power "the Crimean peninsula, the island of Taman and the entire Kuban side. On December 28, 1783, Russia and Turkey signed the "Act on the Accession of the Crimea, Taman and Kuban to the Russian Empire", which canceled article (article) 3 of the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi peace treaty on the independence of the Crimean Khanate. In turn, by this act, Russia confirmed the Turkish ownership of the fortresses of Ochakov and Sudzhuk-Kale.
On April 19, 1783, Russia officially notified the European powers about the annexation of Crimea. Only France protested. In response to French protests, the President of the College of Foreign Affairs, I. A. Osterman, reminded the French envoy that Catherine II looked through her fingers at the capture of Corsica by France in 1768.
Adaptation within Russia
Peace came to Crimea after a long turmoil. In a short time, new cities grew up, including Sevastopol. The peninsula began to quickly turn into the most important cultural and commercial region of the Black Sea region for Russia, and the creation of the Russian Black Sea Fleet began in Sevastopol.
In 1784, the Crimea became part of the Tauride region with the center in the city of Simferopol. According to the decree “On the compilation of the Tauride region from seven counties and on the opening of official places in the cities thereof”, the region was made up of 7 counties: Simferopol, Levkopol, Evpatoria, Perekop, Dnieper, Melitopol and Fanagoria.
After the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791, the Russian belonging of the Crimea was confirmed for the second time by the Iasi peace treaty, which secured the entire northern Black Sea region for Russia.
By decree of Paul I of December 12, 1796, the Taurida region was abolished, the territory, divided into 2 districts - Akmechetsky and Perekopsky, was annexed to the Novorossiysk province, ( "... divided simply into counties, according to the number of inhabitants and the vastness of the area."). In 1802, the Tauride Governorate was formed, which existed until the Civil War in Russia.
As an independent state unit, the Crimean Khanate arose in the middle of the 15th century - after the collapse of the Golden Horde. However, the declared independence lasted a little more than three decades: already in 1478, the khanate fell into vassal dependence on, and the Black Sea became the Turkish “inland lake” for three centuries.
The Crimean Khanate was of interest to the Ottomans primarily from a strategic point of view: it was a stronghold for the fight against the Russian state and the Commonwealth, as well as a major trade hub of the Black Sea area. The slave trade flourished on the territory of the peninsula, and the subjects of the khan often “visited” the border lands for new “resources” for this market. As a result of numerous raids, about 4 million Russians and Poles were captured and then sold on the slave market of the Ottoman Empire.
“Turkey was a powerful Muslim state, so the Crimean Khanate felt quite confident in foreign policy. Relations with Russia were very difficult, since the Crimean Khanate constantly carried out raids on Russian lands and on Moscow, the last of them in the 16th century was carried out by Khan Kazy Giray under Tsar Fedor Ioannovich. But until the end of the 17th century, Russian sovereigns paid the Crimean khans “commemoration” - a kind of ransom for the fact that the Crimeans did not attack Russian lands, ”Yevgeny Pchelov, head of the department of auxiliary and special historical disciplines of the Historical and Archival Institute of the Russian State Humanitarian University, said in an interview with RT.
- The unsuccessful campaign of V.V. Golitsyn against the Crimean Khanate. Miniature from the manuscript of the 1st half. 18th century "History of Peter I", Op. P. Krekshina.
- Wikimedia Commons
In the 16th-17th centuries, the foreign policy of the Moscow sovereigns in the southern direction was undergoing a radical change: realizing the strategic importance of the Northern Black Sea region, as well as the importance of sea trade routes, Russia moved from defense to offensive. However, the advantage for a long time remains on the side of the Ottomans. The first Russo-Turkish war of the 16th century ended with the Bakhchisaray peace treaty. During the second war with the Ottoman Empire, both campaigns of Prince Vasily Golitsyn ended in failure. And only at the beginning of the reign of Peter I, the situation begins to change.
“Under Princess Sophia, two campaigns in the Crimea were unsuccessfully undertaken, commanded by her favorite Vasily Golitsyn. The Azov campaigns of Peter the Great allowed him to capture the fortress of Azov - thus Russia approached the Black Sea. The Prut campaign of Peter ended unsuccessfully, Azov had to be returned to Turkey. Then there was the Russian-Turkish war under Anna Ioannovna, which did not end very successfully for Russia, and only the Russian-Turkish wars under Catherine II finally decided the issue of Russia's access to the Black Sea, ”Pchelov noted.
Path to dominance
In the second half of the 18th century, the struggle for the Crimean peninsula and access to the Black Sea became one of the priorities of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire.
“Before the accession to the throne of Catherine II, the issue of merchant shipping on the Black Sea did not advance a single step. However, the foreign maritime trade of Russia at that time did not flourish at all, the fleet was in the saddest position, to which the empress paid special attention. One of her first government actions was to send sailors and craftsmen from abroad to build ships and to train Russians in seafaring. Already at the very beginning of her reign, the issue of achieving freedom of Russian navigation in the Black Sea was one of the main concerns, ”wrote Vladimir Teplov, a historian of the late 19th century, in the essay“ Russian Representatives in Constantinople ”.
The Kyuchuk-Kaynarji peace treaty, signed in 1774, marked the victory of the Russian Empire in the First Russo-Turkish War. As a result, Russia lost the first lands on the peninsula - Kerch and Yenikale. Also, our country received the right to trade and have a navy on the Black Sea. The Crimean Khanate was proclaimed independent and received a protectorate from the Russian Empire. As historians note, from that moment on, the annexation of the peninsula was only a matter of time.
- Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky and Catherine II
- Wikimedia Commons
Nevertheless, despite the peace treaty, the threat of attack from Turkey still remained - this was well understood by the governor of Catherine II in the southern territories of the empire, Prince Grigory Potemkin. In 1782, he addressed the Empress with a memorandum stating that “the acquisition of the Crimea will only bring peace. With Crimea, dominance will also be obtained. It will depend on you whether to block the Turks and feed them or starve them.”
Catherine listened to Potemkin's arguments: in December 1782, she approved his plan, and on April 19, 1783, the empress signed the corresponding manifesto.
The process of joining the peninsula to the empire was personally led by Grigory Potemkin. After the principled consent of Catherine, the most serene prince assessed the situation in the territory entrusted to him and came to the conclusion that the khan's power would clearly not contribute to political stability in the Crimea. In June 1783, troops under the command of Alexander Suvorov entered the Crimean Khanate. The local dynasty of khans lost their throne, but the nobility retained their status by swearing allegiance to the Russian empress.
- “Meeting A.V. Suvorov and F.F. Ushakov in Sevastopol"
- V.D. Ilyukhin
“Such a change, with God's blessing, will bring countless usefulness... Prospects for service in a powerful empire opened up for the Tatar nobility. Potemkin prepared an unprecedented celebration: the Tatar nobility swore allegiance on the Ak-Kaya rock, fireworks thundered, refreshments were put up everywhere. The entire Crimean region willingly resorted to the power of Your Imperial Majesty, ”reported the general-in-chief of His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin to Catherine II about the entry of Crimea into the Russian Empire.
In 1784, the Empress allowed foreigners to settle in the Crimea, and in 1787 Catherine II herself made a trip to the peninsula, which later became part of the Taurida province.
“Catherine II wanted to rule Russia without conspiracies and coups. To do this, she wanted to show herself the most Russian in the Russian Empire. She, a German by birth, really needed foreign policy successes so that the state elite and the common people saw that the country was ruled by a Russian monarch who continued the work of Peter the Great to establish Russia in the Black and Azov Seas, ”said the doctor of historical sciences in an interview with RT. Professor of St. Petersburg State University Pavel Krotov.
According to Krotov, by that historical moment, all the prerequisites for annexing the peninsula had developed: Crimea was a weak province of the Ottoman Empire, which was opposed by the formidable military machine of the Russian Empire.
The annexation of Crimea to Russia was an important event for Catherine II for ideological reasons, the expert believes, since Vladimir I the Saint was baptized in Chersonese in 988. For the Orthodox, the return of the "same" land was of great importance.
Doctor of Historical Sciences Ilya Zaitsev gave a lecture at the Library of Foreign Literature on the history of relations between Russia and the Crimean Khanate from 1772 to 1783, when Crimea declared independence, and 10 years later became part of the Russian Empire. Lenta.ru recorded the main theses of the lecture.
On November 1, 1772, in the city of Karasubazar, the Russian ambassador to the Crimean Khanate Evdokim Shcherbinin and Khan Sahib Giray signed a peace treaty; On January 29, 1773, in St. Petersburg, this treaty was ratified by the Russian side. It began with the proclamation of "alliance, friendship and power of attorney between Russia and the Crimean Khanate" and guaranteed the independence of the Khanate from both the Russian and the Ottoman Empire. However, 10 years later, on April 8, 1783, Crimea became part of the Russian Empire.
This event is the first experience in the history of Russia of joining not just an Islamic territory, but a highly developed Islamic state. The conquests of Islamic kingdoms took place in the history of Russia before (one can cite textbook examples of Kazan and Astrakhan), but before the annexation of Crimea there were no cases of appeal to the Muslim socio-political doctrine at the state-legal level.
"Ideal" Islamic device
This doctrine does not imply any boundaries between the sacred and the secular, the secular and the religious, which is a very important difference from the European understanding of the state. The ideal Islamic state is a community of believers that follows the Sharia. From the point of view of fiqh, (the Muslim doctrine of the rules of conduct - approx. "Tapes.ru") the state is not a legal entity and a participant in any disputes, and God himself becomes the only source of sovereignty.
Here one cannot do without the figure of the caliph, which will be the key to understanding the situation in the Crimea that had developed by the 18th century. The caliph is not a state person, as European researchers often believe, the caliph is the guarantor of Sharia in the community. When a person pays taxes or serves in the army, he does not fulfill obligations to the state, but demonstrates his attitude towards God. The Russian Empire faced such an “ideal” Islamic system when it came to solving the Crimean issue.
Karasubazar world
There were many treaties between Russia and the Crimean Khanate, but from a modern point of view, they were signed not between countries, but between individuals - for example, between the Crimean Khan and the Moscow Tsar. These were interpersonal agreements that, after the death of one of the counterparties, ceased to be valid, and they had to be signed again.
The Treaty of Karasubazar dated November 1, 1772 was the first interstate agreement signed in accordance with all European secular rules. On the part of Russia, he was assured by Yevdokim Shcherbinin, who had previously ruled Sloboda Ukraine, and on the part of the khanate, by the newly elected Khan Sahib-Giray. It was a peace treaty on good neighborly relations. It declared that “neither the Russian Empire, nor the Ottoman Porte and other outsiders, no one and no one has to interfere in anything, but, by the election and decision of the khan, it will be reported to the highest Russian court.”
The eternal dilemma between the choice of the khan and his appointment by the Porte was rejected in this case. The Russian side insisted that in no case should the khan be approved by the Ottoman Empire - this should only be reported to St. Petersburg without prior notice.
The Crimeans did not fully understand and did not realize what kind of document they signed, since it was a purely European category, inaccessible to their understanding and in no way compatible with Sharia norms. Russia operated with European legal concepts and spoke in a secular language, while Crimea spoke from the point of view of religious law. By signing the document, the parties, obviously, meant completely different things.
This agreement, in addition to the already mentioned independence, had several important consequences: it confirmed the citizenship of Greater and Lesser Kabarda (vassals of the Crimean Khanate), which was then the subject of a dispute between the Ottoman Empire and Russia; in addition, the Crimean Khanate undertook not to help the opponents of Russia with its troops.
Kerch and Yeni-Kale (a fortress founded at the very beginning of the 18th century near Kerch) were to remain with the Russian Empire, since Russian troops led by Vasily Dolgorukov were on the Crimean peninsula at the time of the signing of the treaty - they were imposed on the Crimean side by force. This agreement brought to naught all the achievements of the Crimean diplomacy.
The peace treaty included another important point: guarantees of the former possessions of the khan on the Kuban side and beyond Perekop (part of the Kherson region and land closer to Odessa). No economic activity was carried out there, but this land was important for the Crimea as the pastures of the Nogais - subjects of the Crimean Khan. The treaty also allowed free trade for citizens of both countries; a separate article stipulated the presence of the Russian consul and guarantees of his safety from the khans.
Since the 60s of the 18th century, Russia has sought the presence of a permanent representative of the Russian Empire under the Khan, but the Crimeans did not see the need to send their consul to St. Petersburg and did not understand why a Russian consul was needed in the Crimea. In addition, the Crimean Khan quite reasonably suspected that this mission of the Russians could turn into a hotbed of state decay. To some extent, it did.
ahead of time
A key role in the events of that time was played by Khan Shahin-Girey, brother of Sahib-Girey, who signed an agreement with the Russians. He held the position of kalga (the second most important person after the khan in the hierarchy of the Crimean Khanate).
Portrait of I. B. Lumpy the Elder
To resolve issues related to the future status of the Crimea, Shahin Giray was sent to St. Petersburg, where he spent more than a year. Upon arrival, he refused for a long time to go to Nikita Panin (Russian diplomat, chief foreign policy adviser under Catherine II - approx. "Tapes.ru") and demanded that he come to him first, and then refused to take off his hat at an audience. At first, Catherine treated the future Khan well and even mentioned him in her correspondence with Voltaire, calling him the “Crimean Dauphin” (this title was worn by the heirs to the French throne - approx. "Tapes.ru"), "a nice fellow", with whom "the deal, apparently, will work out."
After becoming Khan, Shahin-Giray began to carry out reforms that played a cruel joke on him and turned most of the Crimean population against him. But if we look at the transformations of Shahin Giray through the prism of European society, we are faced with the image of a not entirely lost person - the creator of a program that was clearly ahead of its time.
He unified the tax system, tried to approve the classes of the Crimean nobility, built according to the Russian model (which was obviously impossible), carried out reforms in the army, focusing on Russian experience, and began to mint coins in a new way.
Before Shahin Giray, the Crimean army was a feudal militia headed by a bey (the highest military rank is approx. "Tapes.ru"), which was joined by Nogai nomads. The Ottomans loved to throw the Crimean army in their campaigns (both to the West and to Persia) into the thick of it. Shahin introduced a regular army and recruitment service, slightly different from the Russian one: he took one person from five yards.
To create a regular army, he used Russian advisers, who, of course, worked for money, and among them there were many rogues. When the khan decided to dress the entire army in Russian uniform, the army rebelled.
Shahin Giray also tried to change the tax system. Before the reform, it was simple: one poll tax was taken from non-Muslims, the other from jamaats, free Muslim community members, that is, non-serf peasants who cultivated common land. Both non-Muslims and the jamaat paid a fixed tax to their bey, in whose administrative subordination they were. Shahin, on the European model, introduced the same poll tax for everyone, and also streamlined fees for weddings, wine making, and so on. It was an attempt to reform the traditional Crimean way of life under European norms.
The new khan also carried out an administrative reform: in the newly acquired southern lands of the khanate, he made about 40 kaymakans (an administrative-judicial unit, which in turn was divided into kadylyks - districts headed by judges). Shahin-Girey introduced for the first time a system of payouts, which also did not please everyone. Spheres of activity that brought a certain income, for example, customs, drinking establishments, or any production, were given to a person who was able to contribute money to the treasury in advance. Of course, the amount of the ransom came out less than the timely payment, but the advantage of this scheme was the rapid replenishment of the treasury.
The reforms also affected the Khan himself. He was not afraid to shave his beard, ate meals sitting on a chair, used appliances and, which was absolutely fantastic, went out in a carriage. His activities, contrary to Islamic law, caused strong discontent among the population.
"Salvation" of Christians
A convenient moment for the overthrow of Shahin-Girey arose when the Russian government took out almost all Christians (Russians, Armenians and Greeks) from Crimea. It was supposed to be a blessing, but it turned out to be a tragedy. For a long time in Russia, it was believed that Christians should not live under Islamic rule, so Russian diplomats first tried to include a clause on the eviction of Christians from Crimea in the Karasubazar treaty, but the khan opposed, and this clause remained only in the drafts of the agreement. Then it was decided to evict Christians from Crimea on their own to the newly acquired lands in the Mariupol region by Russia. This operation was organized and commanded by Count Alexander Suvorov, representatives of the Greek clergy agitated for leaving the Crimea.
Image: public domain
The mobilization of Christians was carried out successfully, but when people arrived at a new place, it turned out that there was not enough money for housing construction, and the land they were allocated was unsuitable for gardening and growing grapes - people were evicted to the bare steppe. As a result of crop failure and bad weather conditions in the winter of 1778-1779, people died from hunger and frost. The exact number of deaths is unknown, a plausible figure is about 50 thousand people. This operation undermined the number of Crimean Christians who succumbed to propaganda.
By 1781-1782, a crisis erupted on the peninsula: the khan's reforms caused discontent among almost all the inhabitants of Crimea, they refused to obey his orders and went to the mountains. Initially, the rebels even turned to the Russian government with a request to remove the khan, but the Russian Empire did not want to support anyone other than representatives of the official authorities. All this time, the complex issues of interaction between Crimea, Russia and the Ottoman Empire were decided by Count Nikita Panin, who led the foreign policy of the Russian Empire, but in 1781 he resigned, and Alexander Bezborodko, who replaced him, had a completely different idea of the fate of Crimea.
In 1782, it became clear that the khan could not cope with the unrest, and Bezborodko decided that it was necessary to act tough: Russian troops were brought to the peninsula. At the same time, the first written references appeared in St. Petersburg that it would be good to include Crimea in the Russian Empire, so as not to mess around with dummy khans, who, moreover, cannot control the situation on the peninsula. By the spring of 1783, a manifesto was prepared on the inclusion of Crimea into Russia. More than three hundred years of history of the Crimean Khanate ended here. Who is to blame for this - Shahin Giray or international politics? It is very difficult to answer this question unambiguously.
Death on Rhodes
The fate of the reformer Shahin Giray was tragic. After the publication of Catherine's April manifesto in 1783, it became clear that he would never return to the Crimea. The Russians thought for a long time what to do with it. After the annexation of Crimea, he lived in Russia for four years - in Voronezh, Kaluga and Kyiv, and then he asked to leave.
First, he went to the Bulgarian city of Karnabad, from there the Ottomans exiled him to the island of Rhodes, where many khans spent their last days. Shahin Giray lived for some time on the island, and then he was reminded of the oppression of Muslims in the Crimea and an attempt to defect to Russia, and in 1787 he was executed. According to legend, in the 20s of the 19th century, they dug a pit in Rhodes to build barracks for the Janissaries, and stumbled upon an old cesspool, in which they found the head of the former khan.
