In the spring of 2014 at political map the world has changed. The Crimean Peninsula, which was part of Ukraine, became part of the Russian Federation. This is not the first time in history that coastal residents have changed their citizenship.
Whose Crimea was it originally?
Scientists have proven that the peninsula was inhabited in prehistoric times. In antiquity, ancient Greek colonies were located on the coast. IN new era the territory survived the invasion of the Goths, Huns, Turks and ethnic Bulgarians. In the Middle Ages, Crimea briefly became part of the Russian principality, and later came under the influence of the Golden Horde. In the 15th century, the Turks seized power on the peninsula. Up to Russian-Turkish war Crimea belongs to the Ottoman Empire.Who conquered Crimea for Russia?
Crimea became part of the Russian Empire after the victory in the war with the Ottomans. In 1783, Catherine the Great signed a document annexing the peninsula. At the same time, Kuban became part of Russia. After that Crimean Tatars(at that time a significant part of the population) emigrated. Losses were restored at the expense of immigrants from Russia and Ukraine.In the mid-19th century, Russia briefly lost the peninsula after losing the Crimean War. But during negotiations, the country managed to regain the coast. In 1921, Crimean Autonomy was created. During the Great Patriotic War, Crimea was occupied by the Nazis. After the end of the war, Joseph Stalin abolished autonomy and deported the Crimean Tatars for aiding the Germans.
Who gave Crimea to Ukraine?
In 1954, the Crimean region seceded from the RSFSR and became subordinate to the Ukrainian SSR. A decree on this was issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and signed by Secretary General Nikita Khrushchev. The official reason for the transfer of Crimea was post-war devastation. The territory was in decline. The deportation of the Crimean Tatars, who lived on this land for decades and knew how to run a household, played a role. In such circumstances, it was easier to do administration locally than to manage from Moscow. 
Some historians also talk about the personal interest of Nikita Khrushchev, who tried to win over the leadership of the Ukrainian SSR with the help of such a gift. Crimea existed as part of the Republic until perestroika.
In what year was Crimea given to Ukraine?
In 1991, Crimea became part of independent Ukraine. At the same time, a referendum on the restoration of autonomy was held in the region. Most residents supported the idea. For some time, Crimea had its own president and its own Constitution. Then they were abolished. Until 2014, Crimea was part of Ukraine.How many cities are included in Crimea?
Crimea includes 16 cities, 14 districts, as well as more than a thousand towns, villages and rural settlements. The largest cities are Sevastopol, Simferopol, Yalta, Feodosia, Kerch and Evpatoria. 
How much is the population in Crimea?
According to the 2001 population census, more than 2 million people live in Crimea. Almost half of the population lives in the 4 largest cities - Sevastopol, Simferopol, Kerch, Evpatoria.The national composition of the population is very diverse. The majority of residents are Russians, Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians.
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Participants in the conference: Kozlov Vladimir Fotievich
On March 16, a referendum on the status of autonomy was held in Crimea. Thanks to 96.77% of the votes, he, along with Sevastopol, became a subject of the Russian Federation. The history of the peninsula with its historical monuments and architectural masterpieces is fraught with a lot of interesting and difficult moments. The destinies of many peoples, states and civilizations are intertwined here.
Who owned the peninsula and when? Who fought for it and how? What is Crimea today? We talked about this and much more with the candidate historical sciences, Head of the Department of Regional History and Local History of the Historical and Archival Institute of the Russian State University for the Humanities Vladimir Kozlov.
Question: Igor Konstantinovich Ragozin 10:45 02/04/2014
Please tell me what peoples lived in Crimea historically? When did the Russians appear there?
Answers:
Kozlov Vladimir Fotievich 15:33 11/04/2014
Crimea is by far the most multinational region of Russia. For thousands of years, many peoples lived here, replacing each other. The first people appeared in Crimea about 150 thousand years ago, these were Neanderthals. Archaeologists have discovered ancient sites in the Kiik-Koba cave, Volchye and Chokurcha grottoes. Modern people appeared on the peninsula about 35 thousand years ago. Thanks to the Greeks, we know about some of the most ancient peoples of Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region - the Cimmerians (X-VII centuries BC), their neighbors the Tauri (X-I centuries BC), the Scythians (VII-III centuries BC). AD) Crimea is one of the centers of ancient Greek civilization, here in the 6th century. BC. Greek colonies appeared - Chersonesos, Paitikapei, Kerkinitida, etc. In the 1st century. BC. - III century AD Roman troops were also present in Crimea, conquering the Bosporus and fortifying themselves in other places on the peninsula. From the beginning of our era, various tribes began to invade Crimea and sometimes stay for a long time: Iranian-speaking Sarmatians (1st - 4th centuries AD), Germanic tribes of the Goths (from the 3rd century AD) Simultaneously with the Goths, they entered Crimea from the northern Caucasus Alan tribes migrate. The appearance of different tribes and peoples in Crimea was, as a rule, accompanied by conquest, and sometimes by the destruction or assimilation of other peoples. In the 4th century. AD part of the warlike nomadic tribes of the Huns invaded Crimea. Crimea existed from the 5th to the 15th centuries. part of the Byzantine civilization. The multinational state of Byzantium, which was based on the Greeks, acted as the heir to the Roman Empire in Crimea. In the 7th century AD most Byzantium's possessions in Crimea were captured by the nomadic Turkic Khazars (destroyed in the 10th century by the Slavs). In the 9th century. AD Turkic tribes of the Pechenegs appeared in Crimea, who in the 11th century. AD replaced by new nomads - the Polovtsians (Cumans). From the 13th century Crimea, which had largely become Christian, was invaded by nomads - the Mongol-Tatars, who eventually, having separated from the Golden Horde, created in the 15th century. his state - the Crimean Khanate, which quickly lost its independence and became a vassal of the Turkish Empire until the end of its history (1770s). The most important contribution to the history of Crimea was made by the Armenians (on the peninsula from the 13th century) and the Genoese (in the Crimea in the 13th - 15th centuries). Since the 15th century In Crimea, Turks appear on the southern coast - residents of the Turkish Empire. One of the ancient peoples of Crimea were the Karaites - Turks by origin, who appeared here earlier than the Mongol-Tatars. The multiethnic character of the population of Crimea reflected its history of settlement. The Slavs appeared in Crimea a long time ago: from the 10th century. the campaigns of the Kyiv princes against Byzantium, the baptism of St. Vladimir in Chersonesos are known; in this and other cities of Crimea there were Russian merchant colonies that existed in the 10th - 11th centuries. Principality of Tmutarakan. Russians were like slaves permanent element in the Middle Ages. Russians are constantly present in significant numbers in Crimea (from 1771 to 1783 - as the Russian army), and from 1783 the settlement of Crimea began by subjects of the Russian Empire, as well as by invited Germans, Bulgarians, Poles, etc.
Question: Ivanov DG 10:55 02/04/2014
What was the era of the Crimean Khanate like? Can we talk about it as an independent state with its own culture, or is it just a fragment of the Golden Horde, transformed into part of the Ottoman Empire?
Answers:
Kozlov Vladimir Fotievich 09:41 11/04/2014
The Crimean Khanate existed from 1443 to 1783. It was formed on the basis Crimean ulus, which broke away from the Golden Horde. However, the truly independent period of the Crimean Khanate did not last long - until the invasion of the troops of the Turkish Sultan in 1475, which captured Caffa, the principality of Theodoro (Mangup). A few years after this, the Crimean Khanate became a vassal of Turkey, the Crimean khans were appointed by the sultan from the Gerai clan, Crimean Khan had no right to start a war or make peace. Part of the peninsula became part of Turkey. The Crimean Khanate became formally sovereign in 1772, when, as a result of an agreement between Russia and the Crimean Khan, Crimea was declared independent from Turkey under the auspices of Russia. According to the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty in 1774, Türkiye recognized the independence of Crimea. In February 1783, the last Crimean khan, Shagin-Girey, abdicated the throne and placed himself under the patronage of Catherine II. On April 8, Catherine II announced a Manifesto on the acceptance of the Crimean Peninsula into the Russian Empire.
Question: Sergey Sergeich 11:48 02/04/2014
Is there historical continuity among the various civilizations that inhabited Crimea? Is it possible to say that Chersonesos, Tatar Crimea and Russian Crimea are links in one process or are we talking about eras isolated from each other?
Question: Irina Tuchkova 12:19 02/04/2014
Will it happen that Crimea will become an eternal sore point in relations between Ukraine and Russia? Will Ukraine be able to come to terms with his loss? (Now in the Ukrainian media we are talking exclusively about the occupation and the need to “liberate” the peninsula)
Question: Pavel Lvov 13:27 02/04/2014
Will Ukraine return Crimea? Are there any prerequisites for this? How will Russia behave if international courts oblige the Russian Federation to withdraw troops from Crimea and return it to Ukraine? Will the residents of Crimea, faced with Russian realities, want to go back? Is a reverse referendum possible? What is the likelihood of an armed confrontation with Ukraine?
Question: Ivan A 14:00 02/04/2014
Crimean Tatars claim their “historical right” to Crimea. Are there any people about whom we can say that they “created Crimea”?
Answers:
Each of the peoples who lived on the peninsula (including those that disappeared) made their contribution to the history of Crimea. It can be argued that today there is no people who “created” Crimea, or have been “indigenous” since its appearance as a people on the territory of the peninsula. Even the most ancient peoples that have survived to this day - the Greeks, Armenians, Karaites, Tatars, etc. were at one time newcomers to the peninsula. Crimea has almost never been the territory of a separate stable independent state. Long time its territory was part of the empires - Byzantine, Turkish and Russian.
Question: Otto 15:45 02/04/2014
Whether real threat the annexation of Crimea from Russia following the results Crimean War 1853-1856?
Question: Vitaly Titov 16:35 02/04/2014
What caused the Crimean War?
Answers:
Kozlov Vladimir Fotievich 15:34 11/04/2014
Crimean War ( Eastern War 1853-1856) - the war between Russia and the coalition of England, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia and Turkey for dominance in the Middle East. They were the reason for the start of the war. The immediate cause of the war was a dispute over the holy places in Jerusalem. In 1853, Turkey refused the demands of the Russian ambassador to recognize the rights of the Greek (Orthodox) Church regarding holy places; and Emperor Nicholas I ordered Russian troops to occupy the Danube principalities of Moldavia and Volachia, subordinate to Turkey. In October 1853, Turkey declared war on Russia; in February 1854, England and France took the side of Turkey, and in 1855, the Kingdom of Sardinia. According to one of the plans of the allies, Crimea was to be torn away from Russia, but thanks to the decisive operation of the Crimean War - the heroic 349-day defense of Sevastopol, the peninsula with Sevastopol remained with Russia. Russia was prohibited from having a navy, arsenals and fortresses in the Black Sea.
Question: Zizitop 16:54 02/04/2014
Is it true that the Ukrainian history of Crimea began with the site of Neanderthals in the Kiik-Koba cave? In general, is it possible to talk about some kind of “Ukrainian history of Crimea” before 1954?
Question: LARISA A 17:02 02/04/2014
Was it worth returning the CRIMEA at all?
Question: Victor FFadeev 17:07 02/04/2014
In 1954, Crimea was transferred to Ukraine as an internal transfer of territory within one state, i.e., the USSR. This is not some kind of geopolitical operation, but ordinary accounting. And why is there suddenly such a stir now around something that has been put in its place. Question: Ukraine is now wringing its hands over Crimea. What is this, Ukrainian ignorance or their political myopia? (L. Kravchuk, the first president of Ukraine, said in his interview that if B. Yeltsin had put then, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, I have before me a question about Crimea, I would return it without hesitation. But then, apparently, there was no time before that.)
Question: Shebnem Mammadli 17:25 02/04/2014
what was actually the main reason for the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944? Is the stated official reason, the alleged collaboration of the majority of the Crimean Tatar population with the occupiers during the German occupation of Crimea, really so plausible as to unreasonably attribute them to everything Tatar population Crimea?
Answers:
Justifying the impending deportation of the Crimean Tatars, L. Beria wrote to Stalin on May 10, 1944: “Taking into account the treacherous actions of the Crimean Tatars against the Soviet people and based on the undesirability of further residence of the Crimean Tatars on the border outskirts of the Soviet Union, the NKVD of the USSR is submitting a draft decision for your consideration State Committee Defense on the eviction of all Tatars from the territory of Crimea...” Since May 18, 1944, over the course of several days, more than 180 thousand Crimean Tatars were evicted from Crimea. The eviction of entire peoples, some of whose representatives collaborated with the occupiers, was quite widely practiced in 1943-1944, when Chechens, Karachais, Ingush, Balkars and others were evicted from their homeland. On April 26, 1991, the Supreme Council of the RSFSR adopted the law “On rehabilitation of repressed peoples."
Question: Gondilov Pavel 17:33 02/04/2014
For whom did the Crimean Tatars fight during the civil war?
Question: Alexander Simonyan 17:51 02/04/2014
What can you say about the contribution? Armenian people into the history and culture of Crimea.
Answers:
The contribution of Armenians to the history and culture of Crimea is very great. Armenians appeared in Crimea in the 11th-13th centuries. The resettlement came from Constantinople, Sinop, Trebizond. The second wave of resettlement of Armenians to the peninsula occurred in the 14th-15th centuries. Armenians are the oldest Christian people, they brought to Crimea high level crafts, they were skilled blacksmiths, builders, stone carvers, jewelers, and traders. Armenians constituted a significant stratum in medieval cities Caffe, Karasubazar, Gezleve. The most ancient monument Armenian culture is the Sudrb-Khach monastery and the city of Old Crimea. Almost all cities of Crimea had Armenian churches and historical necropolises: In Simferopol, Yalta, Old Crimea, Evpatoria, Belogorsk, Feodosia, etc. Armenians had a significant influence on the development of Feodosia. The outstanding marine painter I.K. Aivazovsky lived and worked here, who gave the city his home and his creative heritage. Big waves Armenian immigrants from Turkey followed in the 1890s and in 1915 in connection with the genocide unleashed there.
Question: Katerina Deeva 22:42 02/04/2014
Fierce battles and grandiose projects were implemented on the peninsula during the reign of Catherine the Great. What was the role of Grigory Potemkin in the annexation and reconstruction of Crimea. Is the name of Grigory Potemkin-Tauride rightly forgotten?
Answers:
Kozlov Vladimir Fotievich 15:34 11/04/2014
In modern historiography, the role of the outstanding Russian statesman and military figure G. A. Potemkin (1739 - 1791) in the development of the Black Sea region and the annexation of Crimea to Russia is underestimated. In 1776, he was appointed governor general of the Novorossiysk, Azov and Astrakhan provinces. It was he who was one of the main founders of new cities - Kherson (1778), Nikolaev (1789). Ekaterinoslav (1783), Sevastopol (1783). It was under his leadership that the construction of military and merchant fleets on the Black Sea was carried out. For his services in the annexation of Crimea, he received the title of “His Serene Highness Prince of Tauris.” It was Potemkin who developed and implemented the project of annexing Crimea to Russia, he took the Crimean population’s oath of allegiance to Russia, in fact organized Empress Catherine II’s visit to the newly annexed Crimea in 1787, and actively participated in the exploration and development of the peninsula. About the contribution of G. A. Potemkin to the annexation of Crimea to Russia, read the books by V. S. Lopatin “Potemkin and His Legend”, “The Serene Highness Prince Potemkin” and others.
Question: Rusinov YUT 01:36 03/04/2014
Was the transition of Crimea to Russia in 1783 accompanied by repressions against the Crimean Tatars? What happened to the elite of the former Crimean Khanate?
Question: VKD 01:50 03/04/2014
How many people actually became victims of the “Red Terror” after the defeat of the Whites in Crimea in 1920?
Answers:
Soon after the abandonment of Crimea by the troops of P. N. Wrangel (November 1920) Bolshevik power began mass arrests and executions of those who did not want to evacuate from Crimea. The “Red Terror” in Crimea was led by Bela Kun and Rosalia Zemlyachka, who arrived from Moscow. As a result of the “Red Terror” in 1920-1921. According to various sources, many tens of thousands of people were shot in Simferopol, Evpatoria, Sevastopol, Yalta, Feodosia, and Kerch. According to official data, 52 thousand people died without trial or investigation, according to Russian emigration - up to 100 thousand (the latest information was collected from materials former unions doctors of Crimea). The writer I. Shmelev also cited the number of victims at 120 thousand, he wrote: “I testify that in a rare Russian family in Crimea there was not one or more executed.” Monumental monuments to the victims of the “Red Terror” were installed in the vicinity of Yalta (in Bagreevka), in Feodosia, memorial signs and foundation stones were installed in the vicinity of Sevastopol (Maksimova Dacha), in Evpatoria.
Question: Zotiev 14:42 03/04/2014
Is it true that the historical baptism of Prince Vladimir Yasnoye Solnyshko took place in Crimea? How deep a mark did the Russian Tmutarakan principality leave in Crimea?
Answers:
Kozlov Vladimir Fotievich 09:40 11/04/2014
According to the majority modern historians, the baptism of Prince Vladimir took place in Kherson (Chersonese) between 988 and 990. Nowadays it is generally accepted to consider 988 as the date of baptism. There are versions that Vladimir was baptized not in Kherson, but in Kyiv or somewhere else. Some historians even suggested that the prince was baptized more than once, and last time in Kherson. In the 19th century, on the site of a medieval temple discovered by archaeologists in Kherson, where, according to some historians, baptism took place, the grandiose Cathedral of St. Vladimir was built. Tmutarakanskoye Old Russian principality did not exist for long (X-XI centuries). Its center was the city of Tmutarakan on the Taman Peninsula (near the modern Taman station). The city with the cathedral was surrounded by a powerful wall. In the 60s of the 11th century, the principality belonged to the possessions Prince of Chernigov Svyatoslav. In the 12th century. under the blows of the Polovtsians it loses its independence. The Tmutarakan principality included the city of Korchev (modern Kerch), located on the Crimean Peninsula.
Question: Best regards, Anton 16:50 03/04/2014
Good afternoon What was the point of transferring Crimea to Ukraine in 1954? Was this decision purely political or did it have some economic reasons?
Answers:
Kozlov Vladimir Fotievich 10:24 11/04/2014
By decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 19, 1954, the Crimean region of the RSFSR was transferred to the union republic - Soviet Ukraine. Official reasons The “gifts” were: “common economics, territorial proximity, close economic and cultural ties, anniversary - the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine and Russia.” In fact, these reasons were of secondary importance - Crimea existed safely as part of the RSFSR and was even quickly restored from ruins after the Great Patriotic War. Khrushchev’s voluntarism in donating Crimea to Ukraine was caused by the need to politically strengthen Khrushchev’s personal power and gain the trust of the Ukrainian party organization. At the shameful meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on February 19, 1954, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR D. Korotchenko expressed Ukraine’s “heartfelt gratitude to the great Russian people for an exceptionally wonderful act of fraternal assistance.” Unfortunately, the opinions of the “Russian people” of Russia and Crimea were not asked about this.
Question: Misailidi Evgeniya 19:00 03/04/2014
Good afternoon Please tell me, is the resettlement of the Greeks from Crimea to the Azov region connected with Catherine’s decision to weaken the economy of the Crimean Khanate, as the Greeks believe, or with the salvation of Christians, as they wrote in history textbooks? Also: in Kerch, a Russian fortress has been preserved from the time of Tsar Alexander II (I could be wrong) on Cape Ak-Burun (not Yenikale, which everyone knows), occupying a huge territory. Officially, it's not even a museum. What do you think is the future prospect of its existence?
Answers:
Kozlov Vladimir Fotievich 10:23 11/04/2014
The resettlement of Crimean Christians (about 19 thousand Greeks, more than 12 thousand Armenians), carried out by A. V. Suvorov from May to November 1778 outside the peninsula, pursued several political and economic goals: weakening the economy of the Crimean Khanate (Greeks and Armenians were important trade and craft element on the peninsula), preserving the lives of Christians in the event of unrest and hostilities in the Crimea, settling the desert regions of New Russia (Azov region) by evicted Crimeans. It is unlikely that Russia would have undertaken this action if it had plans for the immediate conquest of Crimea. On the outskirts of Kerch near Cape Ak-Burun on the seashore on huge territory(more than 400 hectares) there are numerous fortifications (underground and above ground), created in the second half of the 19th century, which are known as Fort “Totleben” (the famous engineer E.I. Totleben built the fortress in the 1860s) or fortress “ Kerch". Since the beginning of the 2000s. The fortress ensemble was liberated from the military units located there and transferred to the jurisdiction of the Kerch Historical and Cultural Reserve. Nowadays the museum conducts excursions around part of the fortress territory. Unique fortification has enormous excursion and tourism potential.
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Coordinates: 46°15’–44°23’N and 32°29’–36°39’E.
Area: 26.1 thousand km²
Population of Crimea federal district: 2,293,673 people
CRIMEA TODAY
The Crimean Peninsula... Or maybe it’s an island after all? From the point of view of a geologist or biologist, it is more likely the latter: Crimea, connected to the mainland only by a narrow isthmus, is characterized by many features characteristic specifically of islands. For example, there are a lot of endemic (living only in this area) plants and animals. The historian will also agree that Crimea is like an island: here, on the edge of the steppes, by the sea, nomadic routes ended, and the ancient steppe inhabitants, settling in blessed Tavria, created many distinctive cultures that sharply distinguish the civilization of the “Island of Crimea” from other cultural regions of the Northern Black Sea region . Greeks and Taurians, Scythians and Romans, Goths and Khazars, Turks, Jews, Crimean Tatars - they all contributed to the creation of this unique civilization. And along the sea, surrounding the peninsula on three sides, countless threads of trade and cultural ties stretched.
Crimean peninsula- perhaps the only region in the north of the Black Sea that has abundantly preserved traces of ancient and Byzantine culture. The ruins of Panticapaeum, the Church of John the Baptist in Kerch, Chersonesus, where the Kiev prince Vladimir, the future baptist of Rus', was baptized, Muslim missionaries who set off from Crimea to the pagan “wild steppe” - all these are precious bricks that formed the basis of the cultural building of Russia and neighboring countries . And it is not without reason that the beautiful Taurida was sung by Mitskevich and Pushkin, Voloshin and Mandelstam, Brodsky and Aksenov.
But, of course, Crimea is not only a cultural heritage and unique nature, but above all beach and health tourism. The first resorts appeared on the South Coast back in the 2nd half of the 19th century, and when the palaces of members grew here imperial family, Crimea quickly turned into the most fashionable resort of the Russian Empire. Elegant villas, dachas and palaces still define the appearance of many cities and towns in Crimea. The most famous tourist regions are the South Coast (regions of Yalta and Alushta), West Bank(Evpatoria and Saki) and the southeast (Feodosia - Koktebel - Sudak).
During Soviet times, Crimea was declared the “All-Union Health Resort” and became the first mass tourism site in the USSR; today it is one of the largest tourist centers of Eastern Europe, receiving millions of tourists a year
FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF PONTIUS
OK. 50 thousand years BC e.
The oldest traces of humans in Crimea are a site in the Kiik-Koba cave (8 km from the village of Zuya, 25 km east of Simferopol).
XV–VIII centuries BC e.
The territory of the Crimean peninsula and the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region is inhabited by Cimmerian tribes. It is not entirely clear what origin this nomadic people had; their self-name is also unknown. Homer first mentions the Cimmerians, but he settled these wild tribes at “the extreme borders of the inhabited world, at the entrance to the underground kingdom of Hades” - that is, somewhere off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Bronze weapons and jewelry were found in burial mounds of this era. The oldest iron objects were discovered in one of the mounds of the 8th century BC. e. near the village of Zolny.
VI century BC e. - I century n. e.
Crimea is mentioned in Greek sources as Tauris (named after the Taurian people who inhabited the mountainous regions of the peninsula). Greek and Roman authors write that the Tauri are bloodthirsty savages who sacrifice captives to their goddess the Virgin. Archaeologists, however, have not yet been able to find any traces of this cult.
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Ruins of the ancient Panticapaeum in KerchVII century BC e.
The first Greek colonies appear on the Crimean coast.
VII century BC e. - III century
Scythians settled in the steppes of Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region.
1st half VI century BC e.
Greek colonists from the city of Miletus founded Panticapaeum, the future capital of the Bosporan state.
OK. 480 BC e.
Independent Greek poleis of Eastern Crimea unite under the auspices Bosporan Kingdom, which occupies the entire Kerch Peninsula, the Taman coast of the Azov Sea and Kuban. Chersonesos (in the area of modern Sevastopol) becomes the second major Greek city in Crimea after Panticapaeum.
II century BC e.
The Sarmatians, Iranian-speaking nomads, appear in Crimea, displacing the Scythians from the Black Sea steppes.
120–63 BC e.
Reign of Mithridates VI Eupator. The ruler of the Pontic kingdom, located in the north of Asia Minor, Mithridates extended his influence to almost the entire Black Sea coast. However, after his death, the Black Sea region lost its political independence and by the end of the 1st century BC. e. entered the sphere of influence of Rome.
THE GREAT MIGRATION OF PEOPLES.
GREEKS, MONGOLS, GENOOES
III century
Tribes of Germanic Goths who came from the shores Baltic Sea, destroy all Scythian settlements, including Scythian Naples.
IV century
Christianity is spreading in Crimea, and the bishops of Bosporus (Kerch) and Chersonese (Sevastopol) participate in Ecumenical Councils. Meanwhile, the Turkic tribes of the Huns migrate from Asia, conquer the steppe and foothill Crimea and push them west. The Romans allowed the Goths to settle in the territory of the empire, and after a little over a hundred years Rome will fall under the blows of the barbarians.
Scythian gold: breast decoration from the Tolstaya Mogila mound, 4th century. BC e.
488
A Byzantine garrison is located in Chersonesus.
527
Emperor Justinian I builds the fortresses of Aluston (Alushta) and Gorzuvita (Gurzuf) on the coast.
7th century, 2nd half.
South-Eastern Crimea is captured by the Khazars, Byzantine settlements are destroyed. At the beginning of the 9th century, the elite of the Khazars adopted Judaism.
VIII century
The appearance of the first cave monasteries in Crimea.
IX–X centuries
Collapse of the Khazar Khaganate.
X century
Development of political, trade and cultural relations between Crimea and Russia.
988
Kyiv Prince Vladimir is baptized in Chersonesos.
XI century
New Turkic nomads appear in Crimea - the Polovtsians (Kypchaks). Having begun their raids on Rus' in 1061, the Cumans quickly captured the southern Russian steppes, and then the Crimea.
XII century
In the southwest of Crimea, a small Christian principality of Theodoro is formed, founded by Byzantine aristocrats from the Gavras family.
1204
The Crusaders capture Constantinople and subject it to a terrible defeat; the Byzantine Empire breaks up into several independent parts. Kherson and some other regions of Taurica (the southern coast of Crimea) begin to pay tribute to one of them - the Trebizond Empire in the northeast of Asia Minor.
1230s
The steppe Crimea and the Black Sea region are conquered by the Mongol-Tatars. Only mountain fortresses inaccessible to cavalry can maintain their independence.
1250s
Crimea becomes an ulus of the Golden Horde and is governed by governor-emirs.
1267
Under the Golden Horde Khan Mengu-Timur, the first Crimean coins were minted.
XIII century
Almost simultaneously with the Mongols, the Genoese began to explore Crimea. The Mongol emirs place the port city of Feodosia at their disposal and provide significant trade privileges. Kafa, as the Genoese call the city, becomes the largest trading port of the Northern Black Sea region.
1357
The Genoese captured Balaklava, and in 1365 they captured the coast from Kafa to Gezlev and created a colony on this territory called the “captaincy of Gothia”. The colony retains formal independence from the Tatars, but this independence is constantly under threat.
1427
The Principality of Theodoro builds the Kalamita fortress on the site of the cave city of Inkerman (near Sevastopol), protecting the only sea port principality - Avlita at the mouth of the Chernaya River. Avlita is a serious competitor to the Genoese ports.
XV century, 1st half.
The Golden Horde breaks up into separate khanates, each of which establishes its own dynasty. True legitimacy, however, belongs only to the Genghisids - the direct descendants of Genghis Khan.
Polovtsy. Miniature from the Radziwill Chronicle. 15th century manuscript
CRIMEAN KHANATE
1441–1466
The reign of the first Crimean Khan - Genghisid Hadji-Girey (Gerai). The future khan was brought up at the court of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was enthroned with the support of local Crimean nobility. Crimea leaves the Golden Horde, and the Gireyev (Geraev) dynasty will rule in Crimea until 1783, when the peninsula comes under the rule of the Russian Empire.
1453
Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II storms Constantinople. End Byzantine Empire.
1474
Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III enters into an alliance with the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey against Lithuania. In subsequent years, the Crimean Tatars, with the active support of Moscow, made several predatory campaigns against the Polish-Lithuanian lands.
1475
Ottoman troops seize the Genoese possessions in Crimea and the principality of Theodoro - the last fragment of the Byzantine Empire in the Northern Black Sea region. Mengli-Girey tried to resist the Ottomans, for which he was deprived of the throne, taken to Constantinople as a hostage and released only in 1478 after he took the vassal oath to Sultan Mehmed.
1571
Khan Devlet-Girey's raid on Moscow. The Tatar army numbered up to 40,000 horsemen. The Tatars burned the city (only the Kremlin survived), killed, according to some estimates, several hundred thousand people and took another 50,000 captive. Ivan the Terrible was forced to agree to pay tribute to Crimea. During the 2nd half XVI century, the Crimean Tatars made 48 raids on the Moscow state, and, although they were defeated more than once, the payment of tribute in one form or another continued until the reign of Peter I.
1572
The Battle of Molodi near Moscow. Despite the significant numerical advantage of the army of the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray, which, in addition to the Crimean troops themselves, included Turkish and Nogai detachments, the battle ended in a convincing victory for the Russian troops led by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky and Dmitry Khvorostinin. The Khan's army fled. As a result, devastated by previous Crimean raids of 1566–1571. The Russian state was able to survive and maintain its independence.
1591
Invasion of Khan Kazy-Girey. According to Moscow legend, the city was saved by the Don Icon Mother of God: when the khan’s army was already on the Sparrow Hills, the icon was taken around the walls of Moscow - and the next day the Tatars left. In memory of this event, the Donskoy Monastery was founded.
XVII century
Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks make retaliatory raids on the Crimea (or, together with the Krymchaks, on Poland and Lithuania). IN different time Kafa, Gezlev, Sudak and other cities of the peninsula were taken and destroyed.
1695–1696
Azov campaigns of Peter I. For the first time in Russian military history, the fleet was widely used. As a result of the campaigns, the Turkish fortress of Azov was taken, which, however, did not completely secure the southern Russian steppes from Crimean raids. Access to the Black Sea is still impossible for Russia.
Capture of Azov, July 19, 1696. Engraving by Adrian Schonebeck
1735–1739
Russian-Turkish war. Field Marshal Minikh takes Gezlev and the capital of the Khanate, Bakhchisarai, by storm, but in the end Russian troops are forced to leave Crimea and leave for Russia with heavy losses.
1774
The Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty proclaims the independence of Crimea from the Ottoman Empire. Kerch is transferred to Russia and free access to the Black Sea and the right of passage through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles are ensured. The Turkish Sultan remains only the spiritual head of the Muslims of Crimea; in fact, Crimea comes under the protectorate of Russia.
AS PART OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
1783
Manifesto of Catherine II on the inclusion of the territory of the Crimean Khanate into Russia. Founding of Sevastopol - the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
1784
The Tauride region was formed (Crimea, Taman and lands north of Perekop; in 1802 it will be transformed into a province). Founding of Simferopol.
1787
Travel of Catherine II to Novorossiya and Crimea. The queen visits Old Crimea and Feodosia. In memory of this, some cities installed special mile markers, the so-called Catherine Miles. Several of them have survived.
XIX century, beginning
Rapid development of the peninsula, construction of new and improvement of old cities. New roads connect the southern coast of Crimea with the main centers of the peninsula - Simferopol and Sevastopol.
1825
Emperor Alexander I acquires a plot of land in Oreanda - the first Romanov estate in Crimea.
1838
Yalta receives city status.
1853–1856
Crimean War. Initially, hostilities began between Russia and Turkey, but then England and France entered the war on the side of the latter. In June 1854, the Anglo-French squadron approached Sevastopol, and in September the landing began ground forces allies in Yevpatoria.
In the Battle of Sinop, the first battle of the Crimean War (November 1853), the Russian fleet defeated Turkish squadron. But Russia still lost the war
Battle of the Alma River: the allies defeat the Russian army, which tried to block their path to Sevastopol.
1854–1855
Siege of Sevastopol. The city's defenders defended from September 1854 to August 1855. During the bombing, Russian losses amounted to up to a thousand people per day. All attempts to lift the siege were unsuccessful, and in the end Russian troops were forced to abandon the city.
1855, March 28.
The Anglo-French fleet occupies Kerch, the Russian garrison retreats to Feodosia.
1856, March 18
Signing of the Paris Peace Treaty. The Black Sea is declared neutral: neither Russia nor Turkey were allowed to have military fleets there.
1871
The London Convention lifts the ban on Russia from having a fleet in the Black Sea. Construction of the steam-powered armored Black Sea Fleet begins.
1875
Opening of the Kharkov - Sevastopol railway connection.
The queen goes to Crimea
In 1787, Empress Catherine II visited Novorossiya and Taurida, which had recently been annexed to the empire.
The empress's retinue consisted of about 3,000 people, including foreign envoys and Austrian Emperor Joseph II incognito. In total, there were more than 150 carriages on the imperial train, while Catherine herself rode in a carriage, which was a whole house on wheels: it had an office, a living room for 8 people with a gambling table, a bedroom, a small library and a restroom. The carriage was harnessed by 40 horses, and, according to one of the queen’s companions, its movement “was as smooth and calm as the movement of a gondola.”
All this luxury amazed the minds of contemporaries, but the myth about the incredible ostentation that accompanied the trip appeared much later. Catherine was indeed shown new cities that were built in recently deserted places, but the famous “Potemkin villages” - luxurious fake settlements, allegedly built by order of Count Potemkin-Tavrichesky along the road - were most likely the invention of one of the participants in the trip, the secretary of the Saxon embassy Georg von Gelbig. In any case, none of the contemporaries (and there are dozens of descriptions of the journey) confirm these inventions.
XX CENTURY, XXI CENTURY
1917–1920
Civil War. On the territory of Crimea, white and red governments replace each other several times.
1920, April
Baron Peter Wrangel becomes commander-in-chief of the White Guard troops in southern Russia.
1920, November
Invasion of Crimea by units of the Red Army under the command of Mikhail Frunze. Wrangel's "Russian Army" is forced to retreat to the coast and begin evacuation. On November 12, Dzhanka was taken, on November 13 - Simferopol, by November 15 the Reds reached the coast. Mass extrajudicial reprisals begin against the White Army servicemen remaining in Crimea and civilian population. The exact numbers are unknown, but according to some estimates, up to 120,000 people were shot and tortured between November 1920 and March 1921.
1920, November 14–16
Evacuation from Crimea. Thousands of refugees boarded 126 ships: the remnants of General Wrangel’s army, the families of officers and simply those who were lucky enough to get on board - about 150,000 people in total. The squadron leaves for Constantinople.
1921, October 18
The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as part of the RSFSR.
1927
Strong earthquakes occur in Crimea on June 26 and on the night of September 11-12.
1941–1944
Hitler's occupation of Crimea.
1944
On Stalin’s personal instructions, all Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Armenians and Greeks were deported from Crimea. The pretext is the massive support that these peoples allegedly provided to the Germans during the years of occupation.
1945, February 4–11
Yalta conference. The heads of government of the USSR, USA and Great Britain determine the post-war structure of the world. Decisions were made on the future division of Germany into occupation zones, on the USSR's entry into the war with Japan and on the creation of the UN.
1954
On the initiative of Nikita Khrushchev, the Crimean region was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR.
1965
Awarding the title of “hero city” to Sevastopol.
1980s, end
Mass return of deported peoples to Crimea.
1991, August
The State Emergency Committee putsch in Moscow, Mikhail Gorbachev was arrested by the conspirators at his dacha in Foros.
1991 December
The collapse of the Soviet Union. Crimea becomes an autonomous republic within independent Ukraine.
1991–2014
The Crimean region is part of Ukraine, first as the Republic of Crimea, and since 1994 as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
1995
The electronic music festival “KaZantip” is being held in Crimea for the first time.
2000
Kerch turned 2600 years old.
2001
The first water park in Crimea has been opened in Blue Bay.
2003
Evpatoria turned 2500 years old.
2014, March 11
The Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council adopted a declaration of independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. 2014, March 16.
Historical referendum in Crimea on the status of the republic. The turnout for the referendum was 83.1%. 96.77% of Crimeans who came to the referendum voted for the annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to Russia.
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Flags of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea
2014, March 18
A historic day for Crimea and Russia. An agreement was signed on the entry of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol into the Russian Federation as subjects.
2014, March 21
President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin signed a federal constitutional law on the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation and the formation of new entities in the country - the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol.
On January 8, 1783, the Russian envoy extraordinary, Yakov Bulgak, received written consent from the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid to recognize Russian power over the Crimea, Kuban and Taman. This was a significant step towards the final annexation of the Crimean Peninsula to Russia. Today about the main milestones in the intricacies of the history of Russia and Crimea.
Crimean Tatars came to Rus' to rob and capture slaves
The Crimean Khanate broke away from the Golden Horde in 1427. Since the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Tatars made constant raids on Rus'. About once a year, bypassing the steppe posts, they went 100–200 km deep into the border region, and then turned back, sweeping away everything in their path in an avalanche, engaging in robberies and capturing slaves. The Tatars had a special tactic: they divided into several detachments and, trying to attract the Russians to 1-2 places on the border, attacked a place left unprotected. Quite often, the Tatars mounted stuffed people on horses to make their army seem larger.
The slave trade was the main source of income for the Crimean Khanate. Captives captured in Rus' were sold to the Middle East, Turkey and even to European countries. After the raids, 3-4 ships with Russian slaves arrived in Constantinople. And in just 200 years, more than 3 million people were sold in Crimean slave markets.
The fight against the Crimean Tatars was the main item of Russian military spending
A significant part of the Russian treasury was spent on military expenses necessary to fight the Tatars. It is worth noting that this struggle had varying degrees of success. At times the Russians managed to recapture the prisoners and defeat the Tatars. So, in 1507, Prince Kholmsky and his army defeated the Tatars on the Oka. In 1517, a Tatar detachment of 20 thousand people reached Tula, where it was defeated by the Russian army, and in 1527 the Crimeans were defeated at Oster River. It is worth saying that it was very difficult to track the movement of the Crimean army, so most often the Tatars went to Crimea with impunity.
In 1571 the Tatars sacked Moscow
As a rule, the Tatars were unable to take any large city. But in 1571, Khan Davlet-Girey, taking advantage of the fact that the Russian army went to the Livonian War, destroyed and plundered Moscow.
Then the Tatars took away 60 thousand prisoners - almost the entire population of the city. A year later, the khan decided to repeat his raid, hatching ambitious plans to annex Muscovy to his possessions, but failed crushing defeat at the Battle of Molodi. In that battle, Davlet-Girey lost almost the entire male population of the Khanate. But at that time the Russians were unable to undertake a campaign against the Crimea to finish off the enemy, since the principality was weakened by a war on two fronts. For 20 years, until a new generation grew up, the Tatars did not disturb Rus'. In 1591, the Tatars again raided Moscow, and in 1592 Crimean troops plundered the Tula, Kashira and Ryazan lands.
Ivan the Terrible planned to secure Crimea for Russia
Ivan the Terrible understood that the only way to eliminate the Tatar threat was to capture Tatar territories and assigning them to Russia. This is what the Russian Tsar did with Astrakhan and Kazan. And Ivan the Terrible did not have time to “deal” with Crimea - the West imposed the Livonian War on Rus', which began to increase its power.
Field Marshal Minich was the first Russian to enter Crimea
On April 20, 1736, a Russian army of 50 thousand people, led by Minikh, set out from the town of Tsaritsynka. A month passed, and the army entered Crimea through Perekop. The Russians stormed the fortifications, advanced deeper into the peninsula, and 10 days later they took Gezlev, where a month's supply of food for the entire army was stored. At the end of June, the Russian army had already approached Bakhchisarai, and after two strong Tatar attacks, the Crimean capital was taken and completely burned along with the Khan's palace. The Russians stayed in Crimea for a month and returned back in the fall. Then the Russians lost 2 thousand people in combat and half the army from local conditions and diseases.
And again, after 2 decades, the Crimean raids resumed. The Russians, unlike many eastern peoples, never killed children and women in the enemy camp. In February 1737, the grown-up sons decided to avenge their murdered fathers. The Crimeans launched a retaliatory raid across the Dnieper, killed General Leslie and took many prisoners.
Prince Dolgorukov received a sword with diamonds and the title of Crimean for the Crimea
The next time the Russians went to Crimea was in the summer of 1771. Troops under the command of Prince Dolgorukov defeated the 100,000-strong army of Crimean Tatars in the battle of Feodosia and occupied Arabat, Kerch, Yenikale, Balaklava and Taman Peninsula. On November 1, 1772, the Crimean Khan signed an agreement, under the terms of which Crimea became an independent khanate under the protection of Russia, and the Black Sea ports of Kerch, Kinburn and Yenikale passed to Russia. The Russians freed more than 10 thousand Russian prisoners and left, leaving garrisons in the Crimean cities.
On July 10, 1775, Vasily Mikhailovich Dolgorukov received from the Empress a sword with diamonds, diamonds for the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and the title of Crimean.
Potemkin conquered Crimea for Russia bloodlessly
The final conquest of Crimea became possible only after the conclusion of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace between Russia and Turkey in 1774. The main merit in solving this problem belongs to Grigory Potemkin.
« Crimea, with its position, is tearing apart our borders... Now assume that Crimea is yours, and that this wart on the nose is no longer there - suddenly the position of the borders is excellent: along the Bug the Turks border directly on us, therefore they must deal with us directly themselves, and not under the name of others... You are obliged to raise the glory of Russia...“,” Potemkin wrote at the end of 1782 in a letter to Catherine II. Having listened to the opinion of the favorite, on April 8, 1783, Catherine II issued a manifesto on the annexation of Crimea. In the manifesto local residents the empress promised " sacredly and unshakably for ourselves and the successors of our throne to support them on an equal basis with our natural subjects, to protect and defend their persons, property, temples and their natural faith...».
Thus, thanks to the foresight of Grigory Potemkin, they bloodlessly “pacified the last nest of Mongol rule.”
Nikita Khrushchev donated Crimea to Ukraine
In the early years of the USSR, Crimea was part of the RSFSR. In 1954, Crimea was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR by decision. In 1990, after the collapse of the USSR and Ukraine gained independence, autonomy was formed in Crimea.
Yuri Meshkov became the president of the autonomous republic. He adhered to a pro-Russian orientation. But soon Meshkov was removed from power, and the autonomy of Crimea was significantly curtailed.
History of the Crimean Peninsula from ancient times to the present day.
Prehistoric period
Paleolithic and Mesolithic
The oldest traces of hominid habitation on the territory of Crimea date back to the Middle Paleolithic - this is a Neanderthal site in the Kiik-Koba cave, 100 thousand years old. Much later, during the Mesolithic era, the Cro-Magnons settled in Crimea (Murzak-Koba).
According to the Ryan-Pitman hypothesis, up to the 6th millennium BC. e. the territory of Crimea was not a peninsula, but was a fragment of a larger land mass, which included, in particular, the territory of the modern Sea of Azov. Around 5500 BC e., as a result of the breakthrough of water from Mediterranean Sea and the formation of the Bosphorus Strait, in a fairly short period significant areas were flooded, and the Crimean Peninsula was formed. The flooding of the Black Sea roughly coincides with the end of the Mesolithic cultures and the onset of the Neolithic.
Neolithic and Chalcolithic
Unlike most of Ukraine, Crimea was not affected by the wave of Neolithic cultures that came from Anatolia through the Balkans during the Neolithic era. The local Neolithic was of a different origin, associated with the cultures of the Circumpontic zone (steppes and plains between the Black and Caspian seas).
In 4-3 thousand BC. e. through the territories north of Crimea, migrations to the west of tribes, presumably carriers, took place Indo-European languages. In 3 thousand BC. e. The Kemi-Oba culture existed on the territory of Crimea.
Bronze and early Iron Age
The first inhabitants of Crimea, known to us from ancient sources, were the Cimmerians (XII century BC). Their presence in Crimea is confirmed by ancient and medieval historians, as well as by information that has come down to us in the form of toponyms of the eastern part of Crimea: “Cimmerian crossings”, “Cimmeric”.
In the middle of the 7th century. BC e. Some of the Cimmerians were forced out by the Scythians from the steppe part of the peninsula to the foothills and mountains of Crimea, where they created compact settlements.
In the foothills and mountains of Crimea, as well as on the southern coast, there lived Tauris associated with the Kizil-Koba archaeological culture. The possible Caucasian origin of the Taurs is indicated by traces of the influence of the Koban culture. From the Taurians comes the ancient name of the mountainous and coastal part of Crimea - Tavrika, Tavria, Tavrida. The remains of the fortifications and dwellings of the Tauri, their ring-like fences made of vertically placed stones and Taurus tombs “stone boxes” have been preserved and studied to this day.
New period The history of Taurica begins with the capture of Crimea by the Scythians. This period is characterized by qualitative changes in the composition of the population itself. Archaeological data show that after this the basis of the population of northwestern Crimea were peoples who came from the Dnieper region.
Antiquity
In the VI-V centuries. Before the birth of Christ, when the Scythians dominated the steppes, immigrants from Hellas founded their trading colonies on the Crimean coast. Panticapaeum or Bosporus (the modern city of Kerch) and Theodosius were built by colonists from the ancient Greek city of Miletus; Chersonesus, located within the boundaries of present-day Sevastopol, was built by the Greeks from Heraclea Pontic.
In the first half of the 5th century. BC e. Two independent Greek states emerge on the shores of the Black Sea. One of them is the democratic slave-owning republic of Chersonese Tauride, which included the lands of western Crimea (Kerkinitida (modern Evpatoria), Kalos-Limeni, Black Sea). Chersonesus was located behind mighty stone walls. It was founded on the site of a Taurus settlement by Greeks from Heraclea Pontus. The other is the Bosporus, an autocratic state whose capital was Panticapaeum. The Acropolis of this city was located on Mount Mithridates, and the Melek-Chesmensky and Tsarsky mounds were excavated not far from it. Stone crypts were found here, unique monuments Bosporan architecture.
Greek colonists brought shipbuilding, viticulture, cultivation of olive trees and other crops to the shores of Chimeria-Taurica, and built temples, theaters, and stadiums. Hundreds of Greek settlements - policies - appeared in Crimea. The ancient Greeks created great historical and literary monuments about Crimea. Euripides wrote the drama “Iphigenia in Tauris” using Crimean material. The Greeks who lived in the Tauric Chersonese and the Cimmerian Bosporus know the Iliad and the Odyssey, in which Cimmeria is unreasonably characterized as “a sad region covered with ever-damp fog and clouds.” Herodotus in the 5th century BC e. wrote about religious beliefs Scythians, about the Tauri.
Until the end of the 3rd century. BC e. The Scythian state was significantly reduced under the onslaught of the Sarmatians. The Scythians were forced to move their capital to the Salgir River (near Simferopol), where Scythian Naples arose, also known as Neapolis (Greek name).
In the 1st century, the Romans tried to settle in Crimea. They build the fortress of Charax, which was abandoned in the 3rd century. During the Roman period, Christianity began to spread in Crimea. One of the first Christians in Crimea was the exiled Clement I - the 4th Pope.
Middle Ages
The Scythian state in Crimea existed until the second half of the 3rd century. n. e. and was destroyed by the Goths. The stay of the Goths in the Crimean steppes did not last long. In 370, the Balamber Huns invaded Crimea from the Taman Peninsula. The Goths established themselves in the mountainous Crimea until the 17th century (Crimean Goths). By the end of the 4th century, only one ancient city of Tauride Chersonesos remained in Crimea, which became an outpost of Byzantine influence in the region. Under Emperor Justinian, the fortresses of Aluston, Gurzuf, Simbolon and Sudak were founded in Crimea, and the Bosporus was revived. In the 6th century, the Turks walked through Crimea. In the 7th century, nomadic Bulgarians settled here. At the beginning of the 8th century, Crimea was divided between Byzantium and Khazaria, from the latter what remained on the peninsula government system(khan, beklerbek, kurultai), Crimean Armenians from the former Nestorians - first the Khazars, then the Polovtsians and Cossacks, the Cossacks, first mentioned here, the Crimean ethnic group. In connection with the resettlement of the Karaites from Egypt to the Crimea (Chufut-Kale), they adopted the language of the Crimeans. In the 8th century, an iconoclasm movement began in Byzantium; icons and paintings in churches were destroyed. Monks, fleeing persecution, moved to the outskirts of the empire, including Crimea. Here in the mountains they founded cave temples and monasteries: Uspensky, Kachi-Kalyon, Shuldan, Chelter and others.
In the VI-XII centuries in the South-Western Crimea, the development of feudal relations and the formation of fortified settlements on the cuestas of the Inner Ridge - “cave cities” - took place.
In the 9th century, Kirill, the creator of the Glagolitic alphabet, the first common Slavic alphabet, came to Crimea while passing through Sarkel. in the creation of which a significant role was played by his study of Russian letters in the Crimea from a local Rus merchant - “devil and rez”. In honor of Kirill, his letter was named “Cyrillic”. In the same century, the Pechenegs and Russes appeared in Crimea (Bravlin). At the beginning of the 10th century, Crimea became the scene of a battle between the armies of the Rus (Helgu) and the Khazars (Passover). After the murder of the ruling dynasty of Khagans of Khazaria by the Oghuz Turks, power passes to the rightful heir from another branch of the autochthonous dynasty of the South of Rus', possibly dating back to the Massagets, judging by the common aidar between the Khazars and Massagets - to the prince of Kyiv Svyatoslav Igorevich. In 988, in Korsun (Chersonese), Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavovich was baptized and married the sister of the Byzantine emperor. Korsun at this time was in the possession of Rus'. During feudal fragmentation In Rus', the Khazar part of Crimea comes under the rule of the Russian Tmutarakan principality. Korchev became a significant city during this period.
After the weakening of Byzantium in its former Crimean possessions, the Gotalans (Crimean Goths) founded the Orthodox Christian principality of Theodoro with its capital in the largest “cave city” in the city of Mangup. The first Turkish landing in Sudak dates back to 1222, which defeated the Russian-Polovtsian army. Literally the next year, the Tatar-Mongols Jebe invade Crimea. The steppe Crimea becomes the possession of the Golden Horde - the Jochi ulus. Administrative center The peninsula becomes the city of Crimea. The first coins issued in Crimea by Khan Mengu-Timur date back to 1267. Thanks to the rapid flourishing of Genoese trade and the nearby Kafa, Crimea quickly turned into a large trade and craft center. To others big city The Crimean ulus becomes Karasubazar. In the 13th century, significant Islamization of the formerly Christian Crimea took place.
In the 14th century, part of the territories of Crimea was acquired by the Genoese (Gazaria, Kaffa). By this time, the Polovtsian language was already widespread in Crimea, as evidenced by the Codex Cumanicus. In 1367, Crimea was subject to Mamai, whose power also relied on the Genoese colonies. In 1397, the Lithuanian prince Vytautas invades Crimea and reaches Kaffa. After the pogrom of Edigei, Chersonesus turns into ruins (1399).
Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire
After the collapse of the Golden Horde in 1441, the remnants of the Mongols in Crimea were Turkified. At this moment, Crimea is divided between the steppe Crimean Khanate, the mountain principality of Theodoro and the Genoese colonies on the southern coast. The capital of the Principality of Theodoro is Mangup - one of the largest fortresses of medieval Crimea (90 hectares) and, if necessary, takes under protection significant masses of the population.
In the summer of 1475, the Ottoman Turks, who had captured the territories of the former Byzantine Empire, landed a large force of Gedik Ahmed Pasha in the Crimea and the Azov region, capturing all the Genoese fortresses (including Tana on the Don) and Greek cities. In July Mangup was besieged. Having burst into the city, the Turks destroyed almost all the inhabitants, plundered and burned buildings. On the lands of the principality (and also the conquered Genoese colonies of the captaincy of Gothia), a Turkish kadilik (district) was created; The Ottomans maintained their garrisons and bureaucrats there and strictly collected taxes. In 1478, the Crimean Khanate became a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire.
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 another name - Turkish. Since the end of the 15th century, the Tatars in Crimea gradually moved from nomadic forms of farming to settled agriculture. The main occupation of the Crimean Tatars (as they began to be called much later) in the south became gardening, viticulture, and tobacco cultivation. In the steppe regions of Crimea, livestock farming was developed, primarily the breeding of sheep and horses.
Since the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on the Russian state and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The main purpose of the raids was to capture slaves and resell them in Turkish markets. The total number of slaves who passed through the Crimean markets is estimated at three million.
The Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 ended Ottoman rule, and the Küçük-Kaynardzhi Peace Treaty of 1774 gave up the Ottomans' claims to Crimea.
Russian empire
Starting from November 14, 1779, Suvorov, fulfilling the decree of Catherine II, removed the entire Christian population from Crimea for a year. The Greeks, who inhabited mainly the western and southern shores of Crimea, were resettled by Suvorov on the northern shore of the Sea of Azov, where they founded the city of Mariupol and 20 villages in the area. The Armenians, who inhabited mainly the eastern and southeastern shores of Crimea (Feodosia, Old Crimea, Surkhat, etc.), were resettled in the lower reaches of the Don, near the fortress of Dmitry of Rostov, where they founded the city of Nakhichevan-on-Don and 5 villages around it (on place of modern Rostov-on-Don). This resettlement was organized with the aim of weakening the economy of the Crimean Khanate, since the Armenians and Greeks, unlike the nomadic Crimean Tatars, were predominantly farmers and artisans who controlled all trade of the Crimean Khanate and the Khan's treasury was based on their taxes. With the exodus of Christians, the Khanate was drained of blood and devastated. On April 8, 1783, Catherine II issued a manifesto on the acceptance of the “Crimean Peninsula”, as well as the Kuban side, into the Russian Empire. Russian troops of Suvorov entered the territory of Crimea, and the city of Sevastopol was founded near the ruins of ancient Chersonesus, where Vladimir the Saint was baptized. The Crimean Khanate was abolished, but its elite (over 300 clans) joined the Russian nobility and took part in the local government of the newly created Tauride region. At first, the development of the Russian Crimea was in charge of Prince Potemkin, who received the title of “Tauride”. In 1783, the population of Crimea numbered 60 thousand people, mainly engaged in cattle breeding (Crimean Tatars). At the same time, under Russian jurisdiction, the Russian as well as the Greek population from among retired soldiers began to grow. Bulgarians and Germans come to explore new lands. In 1787, Empress Catherine made her famous trip to Crimea. During the next Russian-Turkish war, unrest began among the Crimean Tatars, due to which their habitat was significantly reduced. In 1796, the region became part of the Novorossiysk province, and in 1802 it was again separated into an independent one. administrative unit. At the beginning of the 19th century, viticulture (Magarach) and shipbuilding (Sevastopol) developed in Crimea, and roads were laid. Under Prince Vorontsov, Yalta begins to develop, the Vorontsov Palace is founded, and the southern coast of Crimea is turned into a resort.
Crimean War
In June 1854, the Anglo-French flotilla began shelling Russian coastal fortifications in the Crimea, and already in September the Allies (Great Britain, France, Ottoman Empire) began landing in Yevpatoria. Soon the Battle of Alma took place. In October, the siege of Sevastopol began, during which Kornilov died on Malakhov Kurgan. In February 1855, the Russians unsuccessfully tried to storm Evpatoria. In May, the Anglo-French fleet captured Kerch. In July, Nakhimov died in Sevastopol. On September 11, 1855, Sevastopol fell, but was returned to Russia at the end of the war in exchange for certain concessions.
Crimea at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries
In 1874, Simferopol was connected to Aleksandrovsk by railway. The resort status of Crimea increased after the summer royal residence of the Livadia Palace appeared in Livadia.
According to the 1897 census, 546,700 people lived in Crimea. Of these, 35.6% Crimean Tatars, 33.1% Russians, 11.8% Ukrainians, 5.8% Germans, 4.4% Jews, 3.1% Greeks, 1.5% Armenians, 1.3% Bulgarians , 1.2% Poles, 0.3% Turks.
Crimea in the Civil War
On the eve of the revolution, 800 thousand people lived in Crimea, including 400 thousand Russians and 200 thousand Tatars, as well as 68 thousand Jews and 40 thousand Germans. After the February events of 1917, the Crimean Tatars organized themselves into the Milli Firka party, which tried to seize power on the peninsula.
On December 16, 1917, the Bolshevik Military Revolutionary Committee was established in Sevastopol, which took power into its own hands. On January 4, 1918, the Bolsheviks took power in Feodosia, knocking out the Crimean Tatar units from there, and on January 6 - in Kerch. On the night of January 8-9, the Red Guard entered Yalta. On the night of January 14, Simferopol was taken.
On April 22, 1918, Ukrainian troops under the command of Colonel Bolbochan occupied Yevpatoria and Simferopol, followed by the German troops of General von Kosch. According to an agreement between Kiev and Berlin, on April 27, Ukrainian units left Crimea, renouncing claims to the peninsula. The Crimean Tatars also rebelled, concluding an alliance with the new invaders. By May 1, 1918, German troops occupied the entire Crimean peninsula. May 1 - November 15, 1918 - Crimea de facto under German occupation, de jure under the control of the autonomous Crimean regional government (from June 23) Suleiman Sulkevich
- November 15, 1918 - April 11, 1919 - Second Crimean regional government (Solomon Crimea) under the patronage of the Allies;
- April-June 1919 - Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the RSFSR;
- July 1, 1919 - November 12, 1920 - Governments of the South of Russia: VSYUR A. I. Denikin
In January-March 1920, 4 thousand soldiers of the 3rd army corps The AFSR of General Ya. A. Slashchev successfully defended Crimea from the attacks of two Soviet armies with a total number of 40 thousand soldiers with the help of the ingenious tactics of their commander, over and over again giving Perekop to the Bolsheviks, crushing them already in Crimea, and then expelling them from it back to the steppes . On February 4, the White Guard captain Orlov with 300 soldiers rebelled and captured Simferopol, arresting several generals Volunteer Army and governor of the Tauride province. At the end of March, the remnants of the white armies, having surrendered the Don and Kuban, were evacuated to the Crimea. Denikin's headquarters ended up in Feodosia. On April 5, Denikin announced his resignation and transfer of his post to General Wrangel. On May 15, the Wrangel fleet raided Mariupol, during which the city was shelled and some ships were withdrawn to the Crimea. On June 6, Slashchev's units began to quickly move north, occupying the capital of Northern Tavria - Melitopol - on June 10. On June 24, the Wrangel landing force occupied Berdyansk for two days, and in July, Captain Kochetov’s landing group landed at Ochakov. On August 3, the Whites occupied Aleksandrovsk, but the next day they were forced to leave the city.
On November 12, 1920, the Red Army broke through the defenses at Perekop and broke into Crimea. On November 13, the 2nd Cavalry Army under the command of F.K. Mironov occupied Simferopol. The main Wrangel troops through port cities left the peninsula. In the captured Crimea, the Bolsheviks carried out mass terror, as a result of which, according to various sources, from 20 to 120 thousand people died
At the end Civil War 720 thousand people lived in Crimea.
Crimea within the USSR
Starvation in 1921-1922 claimed the lives of more than 75 thousand Crimeans. The total number of deaths in the spring of 1923 may have exceeded 100 thousand people, of which 75 thousand were Crimean Tatars. The consequences of the famine were eliminated only by the mid-1920s.
Crimea in the Great Patriotic War
In November 1941, the Red Army was forced to leave Crimea, retreating to the Taman Peninsula. Soon a counter-offensive was launched from the same place, but it did not lead to success and Soviet troops were again thrown back Kerch Strait. In German-occupied Crimea, a general district of the same name was formed as part of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. The occupation administration was headed by A. Frauenfeld, but in fact the power belonged to the military administration. In accordance with Nazi policy, communists and racially unreliable elements (Jews, Gypsies, Krymchaks) were destroyed in the occupied territory, and along with the Krymchaks, the Karaites recognized by Hitler as racially reliable were also killed en masse. On April 11, 1944, the Soviet army began an operation to liberate Crimea, and Dzhankoy and Kerch were recaptured. By April 13, Simferopol and Feodosia were liberated. May 9 - Sevastopol. The Germans held out for the longest time at Cape Chersonesus, but their evacuation was disrupted by the death of the Patria convoy. The war sharply aggravated interethnic contradictions in Crimea, and in May-June 1944, Crimean Tatars (183 thousand people), Armenians, Greeks and Bulgarians were evicted from the territory of the peninsula. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR No. 493 of September 5, 1967 “On citizens of Tatar nationality living in Crimea” recognized that “after the liberation of Crimea from fascist occupation facts of active cooperation with the German invaders of a certain part of the Tatars living in Crimea were unreasonably attributed to the entire Tatar population of Crimea.”
As part of the Ukrainian SSR: 1954-1991
In 1954, due to severe economic situation on the peninsula, caused by post-war devastation and labor shortage after the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, the Soviet leadership decided to transfer Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR with the following wording: “Taking into account the common economy, territorial proximity and close economic and cultural ties between the Crimean region and the Ukrainian SSR.”
On February 19, 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a Decree “On the transfer of the Crimean region from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.”
On January 20, 1991, a general Crimean referendum took place in the Crimean region of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The question was put to a general vote: “Are you for the restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a subject USSR and a participant in the Union Treaty? The referendum questioned the decisions of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1954 (transferring the Crimean region to the Ukrainian SSR) and in 1945 (on the abolition of the Krasnodar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the creation of the Crimean region in its place). 1 million 441 thousand 19 people took part in the referendum, which is 81.37% of the total number of citizens included in the lists to participate in the referendum. 93.26% of Crimean residents of the total number of those who took part in the vote voted for the re-establishment of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
On February 12, 1991, based on the results of the all-Crimean referendum, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law “On the restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic”, and 4 months later made corresponding changes to the 1978 Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR. However, the second part of the question put to the referendum - on raising the status of Crimea to the level of a subject of the USSR and a party to the Union Treaty - was not taken into account in this law.
As part of independent Ukraine
On August 24, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR adopted the Act of Independence of Ukraine, which was subsequently confirmed at an all-Ukrainian referendum on December 1, 1991.
On September 4, 1991, an emergency session of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Republic, which states the desire to create a legal Democratic state within Ukraine.
On December 1, 1991, at the All-Ukrainian referendum, residents of Crimea participated in the vote on the independence of Ukraine. 54% of Crimeans spoke in favor of preserving the independence of Ukraine, a founding state of the UN. However, this violated Article 3 of the USSR Law “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the exit of union republic from the USSR,” according to which a separate (all-Crimean) referendum was to be held in the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on the issue of its stay within the USSR or as part of the seceding union republic - the Ukrainian SSR.
On May 5, 1992, the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea adopted the declaration “Act on the Declaration of State Independence of the Republic of Crimea,” but then, under pressure from Ukraine, canceled this decision. According to the recollection of Ukrainian President Kravchuk in an interview given to the Ukrainian program, at that time official Kyiv was considering the possibility of war with the Republic of Crimea.
At the same time, the Russian parliament voted to cancel the 1954 decision to transfer Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR.
On May 6, 1992, the seventh session of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea adopted the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea. These documents contradicted the then legislation of Ukraine; they were canceled by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine only on March 17, 1995 after protracted conflicts in Crimea. Subsequently, Leonid Kuchma, who became President of Ukraine in July 1994, signed a number of decrees that determined the status of the authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Also, on May 6, 1992, by decision of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the post of President of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was introduced.
In May 1994, the situation escalated when the Crimean parliament voted to restore the 1992 constitution, effectively making Crimea independent from Ukraine. However, the leaders of Russia and Ukraine prevented violence from breaking out.
Elections two months later, which installed the pro-Russian Leonid Danilovich Kuchma as Ukraine's president, dampened Crimea's desire for secession. However, the same presidential elections simultaneously increased the likelihood of the eastern part of the country separating from Ukraine, which was moving closer and closer to Russia.
In March 1995, by decision of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine, the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Crimea was abolished and the presidency in Crimea was abolished.
On October 21, 1998, at the second session of the Verkhovna Rada of the Republic of Crimea, a new Constitution was adopted.
On December 23, 1998, President of Ukraine L. Kuchma signed a law, in the first paragraph of which the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decided: “To approve the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.” Pro-Russian sentiments intensified in Crimea, since more than 60% of the population of the autonomy are Russians.
Political crisis of 2014. Joining the Russian Federation
On February 23, 2014, the Ukrainian flag was lowered over the Kerch city council and the state flag of the Russian Federation was raised. The mass removal of Ukrainian flags took place on February 25 in Sevastopol. The Cossacks in Feodosia sharply criticized the new authorities in Kyiv. Residents of Yevpatoria also joined the pro-Russian actions. After the new Ukrainian authorities dissolved Berkut, the head of Sevastopol, Alexei Chaly, issued an order.
On February 27, 2014, the building of the Supreme Council of Crimea was seized armed men without insignia. The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs officers guarding the building were expelled, and the Russian flag was raised over the building. The captors allowed the deputies of the Supreme Council of Crimea inside, having previously taken away their mobile communications equipment. Deputies voted to appoint Aksenov as head of the new government of Crimea and decided to hold a referendum on the status of Crimea. According to the official statement of the VSK press service, 53 deputies voted for this decision. According to the speaker of the Crimean parliament Vladimir Konstantinov, V.F. Yanukovych (whom parliamentarians consider the President of Ukraine) called him and agreed on Aksenov’s candidacy over the phone. Such approval is required by Article 136 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
On March 6, 2014, the Supreme Council of Crimea adopted a resolution on the republic’s entry into the Russian Federation as a subject and scheduled a referendum on this issue.
On March 11, 2014, the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
On March 16, 2014, a referendum was held in Crimea, in which, according to official data, about 82% of voters took part, of which 96% voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation. On March 17, 2014, according to the results of a referendum, the Republic of Crimea, in which the city of Sevastopol has a special status, asked to join Russia.
On March 18, 2014, an interstate Agreement was signed between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on the admission of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation. In accordance with the agreement, new entities are formed within the Russian Federation - the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. On March 21, the same name was formed in Crimea federal district with its center in Simferopol. After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, the question arose about the fate of Ukrainian military units located on the territory of the peninsula. Initially, these units were blocked by local self-defense units, and then taken by storm, for example Belbek and the marine battalion in Feodosia. During the assaults on units, the Ukrainian military behaved passively and did not use weapons. On March 22, Russian media reported a rush among Crimeans who sought to obtain Russian passports. On March 24, the ruble became the official currency in Crimea (the circulation of the hryvnia was temporarily preserved).
On March 27, 2014, as a result of an open vote at the 80th plenary meeting of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly, resolution 68/262 was adopted, according to which the UNGA confirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and does not recognize the legality of any there was no change in the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea or the city of Sevastopol based on the results of the all-Crimean referendum held on March 16, 2014, since this referendum, according to the resolution, has no legal force.
Population of Crimea in the 18th-21st centuries
After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, a census was not carried out; the data of Shagin-Girey was used; there were six kaymakams on the territory (Bakhchisaray, Akmechet, Karasubazar, Kozlov, Kefin and Perekop).
Since April 2, 1784, the territory was divided into counties, there were 1,400 populated villages and 7 cities - Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, Evpatoria, Alushta, Feodosia, Kerch.
In 1834, Crimean Tatars dominated everywhere, but after the Crimean War their resettlement began.
By 1853, 43 thousand people were Orthodox; in the Taurida province among the “non-believers” were Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Reformed, Armenian Catholics, Armenian Gregorians, Mennonites, Talmudic Jews, Karaites and Muslims.
IN late XIX century, according to ESBE, there were 397,239 people living in Crimea. With the exception of the mountainous region, Crimea was sparsely populated. There were 11 cities, 1098 villages, 1400 hamlets and villages. The cities have 148,897 inhabitants - about 37% of the total population. The ethnographic composition of the population was diverse: Tatars, Ukrainians, Russians, Armenians, Greeks, Karaites, Crimeans, Germans, Bulgarians, Czechs, Estonians, Jews, Gypsies. The Tatars made up the predominant part of the population (up to 89%) in the mountainous region and about half in the steppe region. The steppe Tatars are direct descendants of the Mongols, and the mountain Tatars, judging by their type, are the descendants of the original inhabitants of the southern coast (Greeks, Italians, etc.), who converted to Islam and the Tatar language. They introduced so many Turkish and corrupted words into this language Greek words, that it is often incomprehensible to the steppe Tatars. There are most Russians in Feodosia district; these are either peasants, or soldiers allocated land, or various newcomers who lived with landowners as tithes. Germans and Bulgarians settled in Crimea at the beginning of the 19th century, receiving extensive and fertile lands; later, wealthy colonists began to buy land, mainly in Perekop and Evpatoria districts. Czechs and Estonians arrived in Crimea in the 1860s and took over some of the land left behind by the emigrating Tatars. The Greeks partly remained from the time of the Khanate, partly settled in 1779. Armenians entered Crimea back in the 6th century; in the 14th century there were about 150,000 Armenians in Crimea, which accounted for 35% of the population of the peninsula, including 2/3 of the population of Feodosia. The ethnic group formed as a result of mixing with the Christian Polovtsians managed to preserve the Armenian-Kipchak language and faith. Jews and Karaites, very ancient inhabitants of Crimea, retained their religion, but lost their language and adopted the Tatar costume and way of life. Otatari Jews, the so-called Krymchaks, live mainly in Karasubazar; Karaites lived under the khans in Chufut-Kale (near Bakhchisarai), and are now concentrated in Evpatoria. Some of the gypsies remained from the time of the Khanate (sedentary), some recently moved from Poland (nomadic).