Today Crimea is perceived primarily as a resort region. But in the past it was fought for as a strategic foothold of special importance. For this reason, in the century, the smartest leaders in Russia spoke out for the inclusion of the peninsula in its composition. The annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire took place in an unusual way - peacefully, but as a result of wars.
Long history of association
From the end of the XV century. the mountainous Crimea and the coast belonged to Turkey, and the rest to the Crimean Khanate. The latter, throughout its existence, was to one degree or another depending on the Port.
Relations between Crimea and Russia were not easy. The southern lands were subject to Tatar raids (remember: "The Crimean Khan is disgraceful on the Izyum Way"), Russia even had to pay tribute to the khans. At the end of the 17th century, Prince Vasily Golitsyn made two unsuccessful attempts at military conquest of the khan's lands.
With the advent of the fleet, the importance of the Crimea for Russia has changed. Now it was important to be able to pass through, it was necessary to resist Turkish attempts to turn the Black Sea into its "inner lake" again.
In the 18th century, Russia fought several wars with Turkey. In all, the success was on our side, although to varying degrees. Crimea, dependent on the Turks, could no longer resist the empire on an equal footing, having become a bargaining chip. In particular, the Karasubazar Treaty of 1772 required the restoration of the full independence of the Khanate from the Ottomans. In fact, it turned out that Tavrida was not able to take advantage of independence. There was a crisis of power there.
Rich in throne permutations. A study of the lists of the ruling khans makes it possible to establish: many of them ascended the throne twice, or even three times. This happened due to the precariousness of the power of the ruler, who could not withstand the influence of the clergy and groups of the nobility.
Unsuccessful Europeanization in history
It was started by the Crimean Tatar ruler, acting as one of the prerequisites for the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 1783. Shahin-Girey, who previously ruled the Kuban, was appointed a leading person on the peninsula in 1776, not without the help of the imperial support. He was a cultured, educated person who lived in Europe for a long time. He also wanted to arrange a European order in his country. 
But Shahin-Girey miscalculated. His steps to nationalize the possessions of the clergy, reform the army and ensure the equality of supporters of all religions were perceived by the Tatars as heresy and high treason. A riot began against him.
In 1777 and 1781. Russian soldiers helped to suppress the uprisings, supported and inspired by the Turks. At the same time, Grigory Potemkin (then not Tavrichesky yet) specifically pointed out to the army commanders A.V. Suvorov and Comte de Balmain treat the locals who are not directly involved in the uprisings, perhaps softer. The ability to execute was passed on to the local leadership.
And the educated Europeanizer used this right so zealously that all hope of making his subjects submit to him voluntarily vanished.
Briefly about the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 1783
Potemkin correctly assessed the state of affairs and at the end of 1782 turned to Tsarina Catherine II with a proposal to include the Crimea in Russia. He referred to both clear military benefits and the existence of "generally accepted world practice", citing specific examples of annexations and colonial conquests. 
The empress heeded the prince, who was the main figure of the already accomplished annexation of the Black Sea region. He received from her a secret order to prepare the annexation of Crimea, but so that the inhabitants were ready to express such a wish themselves. On April 8, 1783, the tsarina signed a corresponding decree, and at the same time the troops moved to the Kuban and to Taurida itself. This date is officially considered the day of the annexation of Crimea.
Potemkin, Suvorov and Count de Balmain complied with the order. The troops showed goodwill towards the inhabitants, while at the same time preventing them from uniting to oppose the Russians. Shahin-Girey abdicated the throne. The Crimean Tatars were promised the preservation of freedom of religion and traditional way of life.
On July 9, the royal manifesto was promulgated to the Crimeans and an oath of allegiance to the empress was taken. From this moment on, Crimea is a part of the empire de jure. There were no protests - to all those who tried to object, Potemkin recalled their own colonial appetites.
Protection of new subjects of the Russian Empire
Did the Crimea win because of its annexation to Russia? Rather yes. Of the minuses, only significant demographic losses can be named. But they were the result not only of emigration in part of the Tatars, but also of epidemics, wars, uprisings that took place before 1783. 
If you briefly list the positive factors, the list will turn out to be impressive:
- The empire kept its word - the population could freely profess Islam, retained property and traditional way of life.
- The Tatar nobility received the rights of the nobility of Russia, except for one thing - to own serfs. But there were no serfs among the poor either - they were considered state peasants.
- Russia has invested in the development of the peninsula. Construction is called the most important achievement, trade and industries were stimulated.
- Several cities have received the status of open. As they would say now, this has caused an inflow of foreign investments.
- The annexation to Russia caused an influx of foreigners and compatriots to Crimea, but they did not have any special preferences in comparison with the Tatars.
On the whole, Russia fulfilled its promise - the new subjects were treated here no worse, if not better, than the original ones.
In the past, political values \u200b\u200bdiffered from the current ones, so the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire in 1783 was considered normal and rather a positive phenomenon. At that time, states recognized that the methods that were acceptable to them could be applied by others. And he did not become a powerless colony, turning into a province - no worse than others. In conclusion, we offer a video clip about the above-described historical event in the life of the Crimean peninsula, pleasant viewing!
signed and issued a manifesto on the annexation of Crimea to Russia ...
Catherine Crimea.
The long-term geopolitical struggle for the possession of Crimea between Turkey and Russia ended in favor of the Russian Empire. This struggle was accompanied by numerous wars for almost a thousand years. At the time of the signing of the manifesto, the Crimean Khan was forced to abdicate. The Crimean Khanate ceased to exist. Part of the Crimean Tatar nobility fled to the Ottoman Turks, part, together with the deposed khan, asked for protection from Russia.
The manifesto on the annexation of the Crimea was prepared by His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin, who was secretly married to Catherine. Potemkin is known to history, rather not as the secret husband of the empress, but as a wise statesman and her right hand. He, as the governor of the southern lands of Russia, was in charge of the Crimean issue.
Old Russian history of the Crimea.
Although April 19, 1783 was considered the official date of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to Russia, in fact Crimea was Russian long before that, during the time of Ancient Kievan Rus. The princes of Kiev, distributing appanage principalities to their numerous offspring and close relatives, uncles and brothers, put them on the reign in Tmutarakan, which was conquered in the Khazar campaign by Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich in 965. Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich owns the famous phrase "I'm going to you."
According to handwritten chronicles in 988, the Tmutarakan principality, which included a part of the Black Sea region and the Crimea, was owned by Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich. The capital, the city of Tmutarakan, was located in the area of \u200b\u200bpresent-day Taman. These territories were annexed to Ancient Rus as a result of its defeat of the Khazar Kaganate in the 10th century. Then Tmutarakan was ruled by Prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavovich and alternately by his sons Oleg and Roman. After Oleg's reign, Russian chronicles mention Tmutarakan as a Russian principality for the last time in 1094. Then from the main Russia it was cut off by the nomadic camps of the Polovtsians, who, however, shared their influence on Tmutarakan and the Crimean peninsula with the Byzantines. The Byzantine Greeks and Genoese settled in the Crimea and brought the Christian religion with them to the peninsula.
Tatar-Mongols and Russian-Turkish wars.
The next period in the history of Crimea is associated with the Tatar-Mongol conquests, when, after several victorious centuries, Genghis Khan and his descendants crushed most of Asia and Europe. Further, when the Tatar-Mongols split into many states: the Great, White, Blue and Golden Hordes, the Tatars settled in the Crimea. For several centuries, the Crimean Khanate tried to pursue an independent policy, maneuvering between the interests of stronger neighbors, either falling under the protectorate of Turkey, or befriending Moscow against it. For example, under Ivan the Terrible, the Crimean khans sometimes acted together with the Lithuanians and Poles against the Moscow principality, then they went to allies to the Moscow Tsar, sending their sons to serve him. Then they suddenly turned 180 degrees and tried to recapture Astrakhan from Moscow. Under Peter the Great, the Crimean Khanate firmly opposed Russia on the side of the Turks. The Russian-Turkish war of 1686-1700, most likely, began because of the frequent devastating raids of the Crimean Tatars on the southern borders of Russia. The Tatars plundered villages and took the Russians into captivity, then selling them into slavery. The strongest Slavic men of the Ottomans joined the ranks of the Janissaries. An episode of this war is widely known - the capture of the Turkish fortress of Azov by Peter the Great. Below is a reproduction of Azov taken by the troops of Peter:
The war with the Ottoman Empire ended with the Bakhchisarai peace, which did not bring a full-fledged return to Russia of its ancestral ancient lands. Crimea, Podolia and part of Western Ukraine remained under the Turks, and the Poles took possession of the other part of Western Ukraine. Such a precarious position of the southern borders of Russia remained for a long time, before the campaigns of Catherine the Great.
The exact date of the annexation and the modern history of Crimea.
Considering the above, the date of the Catherine Manifesto April 19 should be considered not the date of the annexation of Crimea to Russia, but the date of its first reunification with it. The date of the annexation of Crimea, I think, should be considered 988, when Tmutarakan was first mentioned in the annals as a Russian principality and its appanage prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, or even the date of the defeat of the Khazar kingdom (kaganate) by prince Svyatoslav Igorevich in 965. In that year, Prince Svyatoslav successively conquered the Khazar cities of Sarkel, Samkerts, named after the capture, respectively, of Belaya Vezha and Tmutarakan. Then Semender and the capital of the Khazars Itil were conquered. There are also many dramatic twists and turns in the modern history of Crimea. First, the Crimea, with a voluntarist stroke of the pen of Nikita Khrushchev, was presented to Ukraine, beloved by this ruler. Then, with the criminal Treaty of Belovezh, he moved to another state. Finally, in 2014, by the will of the people, he returned to Russia, thus restoring historical and humanitarian justice.
About nutritional problems and elimination.
Crimea has joined Russia twice already. And both accessions have one thing in common: it was the result of conflicts and violence, but itself was relatively peaceful and voluntary.
Turkish satellite
In the 18th century, the Crimean Khanate owned the territory of Crimea (with the exception of the mountainous and coastal parts). This state, which arose in the 15th century, throughout its history was in a more or less rigid vassalage to Turkey. Turkey officially owned the coastal zone of the peninsula.
The Crimean Khanate was even less one of the advanced and strong states than its suzerain. Russia, after the appearance of the Black Sea Fleet at the end of the 17th century, was interested in the safety of navigation and the right of unhindered passage through the Kerch Strait. At that time, no one considered Crimea an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" due to the absence of aircraft carriers in general, but its military-strategic importance was clear to everyone. And the weak, backward Crimean Khanate was not a serious enemy.
Suvorov miracle heroes
Monument to Potemkin in Crimea
They are most directly related to the results of the Russian-Turkish wars of the 18th century. To understand the issue of the annexation of Crimea, the war of 1768-1774 is especially important. Crimea in it acted as an ally of Turkey and was captured by the army of V.M. Dolgorukov. The khan fled, and the nobility chose a new one, who preferred to negotiate with the strongest of the two fighters. Then it was already obvious that this was Russia.
The Karasubazar Treaty of 1772 declared the Khanate an independent state. The Kyuchuk-Kainardzhi peace with Turkey two years later consolidated this position. But it turned out that the khans were no longer able to rule the Crimea without reliance on Russian bayonets.
This is especially true of the last khan, Shahin-Giray. He lived in the West for a long time, received a European education, and tried to act in the Crimea as a “European integrator”. The local clergy and ordinary Tatars were categorically opposed, and the khan was glad to receive Russian help in suppressing the uprisings.
In this case, the political genius of G.I. Potemkin (deservedly nicknamed Tauride for these exploits). He sent troops to help the khan, led by Suvorov and de Balmain, but severely ordered them to treat the Tatar population extremely politely, excluding the obvious and stubborn rebels. The right to judge and punish should have been transferred to the khan and his entourage.
The enlightened Europeanizer Shahin-Girey so zealously used the right of trial and execution that Suvorov and de Balmain immediately seemed like relatives to most of the Tatars. Potemkin took advantage of this, having managed to reasonably prove that Crimea should be admitted to the empire "at the request of the population."
Prosperous province
The corresponding decree was signed on April 8, 1783. This date is considered the official day of the annexation of Crimea to Russia. At the same time, the “desire of the population” is not Potemkin's invention. Most Tatars really calmly and even favorably accepted the change in their citizenship. The hated Shahin-Girey abdicated the throne, and on July 9 the Crimeans already swore allegiance to their mother-empress.
Several factors contributed to the positive attitude of the Crimean population towards joining the empire. Some were active even before the signing of the decree, others came into force after it.
- Russian troops on the peninsula behaved in a friendly and respectful manner in their relations with local residents.
- In the eyes of the Tatars, a strong Russia looked preferable to a weakened Turkey and their own contradictory khanate - they were never truly independent.
- Russia guaranteed a number of privileges to new subjects. There were no serfs among the Tatars, the noble beys were equal in rights with the Russian nobility, the Tatars retained the right to practice Islam and the traditional way of life. And all these norms were strictly followed!
- Russian domination contributed to the economic recovery - Potemkin built not only "Potemkin villages", but also cities and roads.
As a result of the loss of formal statehood, Crimea became not a powerless colony, but first the Tauride region, and then (since 1802) a part of the Tauride province, where its inhabitants were not worse, but rather better than the inhabitants of other Russian provinces, truly Russian and Orthodox.
Accession of Crimea to the Russian Empire (1783) - the inclusion of the territory of the Crimean Khanate in Russia after the abdication of the last Crimean Khan Shahin Giray. In the annexed territory in 1784 the Tauride region was formed.
Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire
In the summer of 1475, the coastal cities and the mountainous part of the Crimea became part of the Ottoman Empire. The Crimean Khanate, which owned the rest of the Crimea, became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire in 1478. For the next three centuries, the Black Sea became a Turkish "inland lake".
By the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire switched to a strategic defense, the main components of which were the construction of fortresses at river mouths, the creation of a kind of buffer zone - a deserted territory of the "Wild Field", the transfer of armed struggle with its northern neighbors - Poland and Russia - deep into 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 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.
Russian expansion
With the deliverance of the Russian state from the yoke of the Golden Horde, it again faced the task of reaching 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. The notch lines being built on the Russian borders were moving towards 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 undertakings made one realize the place and role of the Crimea as a key territory providing domination 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.
XVIII century
Russian-Turkish War (1735-1739)
During the Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739), the Russian Dnieper army, numbering 62 thousand people and under the command of Field Marshal Burkhard Christopher Minich, on May 20, 1736, stormed the Ottoman fortifications near Perekop, and on June 17 occupied Bakhchisarai. 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 under the leadership of Field Marshal Peter Lassi invaded Crimea, inflicting a series of defeats on the Crimean Khan's army 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 on the newly reclaimed areas. 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-in-Chief V.M.Dolgorukov took possession of Crimea in 1771, for which he subsequently received a sword from Empress Catherine II diamonds, diamonds to 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 of Khan Sahib II Girey, who signed an agreement with Prince Dolgorukov, according to which Crimea was declared an independent khanate under the patronage of Russia, Kerch, the fortresses of Kinburn and Yenikale were transferred to Russia. Leaving garrisons in the Crimean cities and freeing more than ten thousand Russian captives, Dolgorukov's army left the peninsula.
On July 15, 1774, the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty was signed, which ended the Russian-Turkish war. The treaty ended the Ottoman rule over the Crimea. The fortresses of Kerch and Yenikale, which blocked the exit from the Azov to the Black Sea, went to Russia. The Kerch Strait became Russian, which was of great importance for the southern trade of Russia. The Crimean Khanate was declared independent from Turkey. Former Ottoman possessions on the peninsula (South and South-East Crimea) passed to the Crimean Khanate. The historical task of Russia's entry into the Black Sea was half completed.
The situation in Crimea, however, was uncertain and complex. Turkey, having agreed to the recognition of the independence of the Crimea, was preparing for a new war. The Turkish sultan, being the supreme caliph, retained religious power in his hands and established new khans, which left the possibility of real pressure on the Crimean Khanate. As a result, the Crimean Tatars in Crimea were divided into two groups - Russian and Turkish, clashes between which reached real battles.
At the beginning of 1774, the Turkish group installed Devlet-Girey as Khan, who was immediately approved by the Turkish Sultan-Caliph. In July 1774, a Turkish landing under the command of Devlet-Girey 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 Girey, meanwhile, fled from the Crimea.
At this time, the text of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy treaty was received from Constantinople. But the Crimeans now refused to accept independence and cede to the Russians the cities in the Crimea, determined by the treaty, and the Porta 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 Crimea, as prescribed by the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi treaty, but remained in Kaffa, the Russian corps of Lieutenant-General Alexander Prozorovsky entered the Crimea and, without encountering 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-Giray in the most conciliatory tone, but the Murzas and ordinary Crimeans did not hide their sympathy for the Ottoman Empire. Devlet-Girey even demanded that the Ottoman Sultan terminate the agreement on the independence of Crimea concluded with Russia, return the peninsula to his rule and take Crimea under his protection, but Porta, fearing a new war with Russia, did not dare to do so.
Devlet-Girey concentrated his troops at Karasubazar and on the Indol 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, who entered the temporary command of the twenty thousandth Russian corps. In early March 1777, detachments of Suvorov's troops approached Karasubazar and Indol. Upon learning of this, the Tatar troops dispersed. Devlet-Girey with a small retinue went to Bakhchisarai, where he again began to gather an army. At this time, Shahin Girey landed in Yenikal. Most of the local Tatar nobility went over to his side. On March 20, the Ryazhsky Infantry Regiment occupied Kaffa. Devlet-Girey with a Turkish landing went to Istanbul. Shahin Giray was elected as the Crimean Khan. At his request, Russian troops remained in Crimea, stationed at the Ak-Mosque.
Shahin Giray became the last Crimean khan. Studied in Thessaloniki and Venice, who knew several languages, Shahin Girey ruled, disregarding the national Tatar customs, tried to carry out reforms in the state and reorganize management according to the European model, to equalize the rights of the Muslim and non-Muslim population of Crimea, and soon turned into a traitor for his people and apostate. The possessions of the Tatar nobility, previously almost independent of the khan, were transformed by him into 6 governorships-kaymakamstvo - Bakhchisarai, Ak-Mechet, Karasubazar, Gezlevskoe (Evpatoria), Kafinskoe (Feodosiyskoe) and Perekopskoe. Shahin Girey confiscated the vakfs - the lands of the Crimean clergy.
When Shahin Giray tried to create an army of the European type, a riot began in November 1777. In December 1777, Khan Selim Girey III, appointed in Istanbul, landed in the Crimea, which led to an uprising that engulfed the entire peninsula. The uprising was suppressed by Russian troops.
On March 23, 1778, Prince Prozorovsky was replaced by Alexander Suvorov as commander of the Crimean and Kuban troops. He divided Crimea into four territorial districts, stretched out a line of posts along the coast. Russian garrisons were stationed in fortresses and forty fortifications-rent-trenchments, field officers, redoubts, armed with 90 guns.
Suvorov managed to force all the Turkish military ships that remained off the Crimean coast to leave 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 bank from the Belbek River. Turkish ships left for Sinop.
In 1781, another uprising took place in Crimea, led by Shahin Giray's brother Batyr Girey and the Crimean mufti. The uprising was suppressed, but after a series of executions, a new revolt began, forcing Shahin Giray to flee to the Russian garrison in Kerch. In Feodosia, Mahmut Girey was proclaimed the new Crimean khan. The uprising of Mahmut Girey was also suppressed, and Shahin Girey was restored to the khan throne, but by February 1783, Shahin Girey's position again became critical: mass executions of political opponents, Tatars' hatred of the reforms and policies of Shahin Girey, the actual financial bankruptcy of the state, mutual mistrust and misunderstanding with the Russian authorities led to the fact that Shahin Girey abdicated the throne and went over with his supporters under the protection of the Russian troops, and part of the local nobility hostile to Russia fled to the Turks.
Accession
In 1783, Crimea was annexed to Russia. The accession was bloodless. On April 8 of the old style (when transferring from the old (Julian) style to the new according to the secular way - April 19, when transferring according to the church way - April 21), 1783 Empress Catherine II signed the "Manifesto on the acceptance of the Crimean Peninsula, Taman Island and all the Kuban side under the Russian state ", which" on duty of the present concern for the welfare and greatness of the Fatherland "and" considering the means forever alienating the unpleasant reasons that disturb the eternal peace between the All-Russian and Ottoman Empires<…> no less and in exchange and satisfaction of losses "the empress decided to" take under the power "of the Crimean Peninsula, Taman Island and the entire Kuban side. On December 28, 1783, Russia and Turkey signed the "Act on the annexation of Crimea, Taman and Kuban to the Russian Empire", which canceled article (article) 3 of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy 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 the French protests, the President of the College of Foreign Affairs I.A.Osterman reminded the French envoy that Catherine II turned a blind eye to the capture of Corsica by France in 1768.
Adaptation as part of Russia
After a long turmoil, peace came to Crimea. In a short time, new cities have sprung 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 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 of seven counties and the opening of public places in the cities thereof" the region was made up of 7 counties: Simferopol, Levkopolsky, Evpatoria, Perekop, Dnieper, Melitopol and Fanagoria.
After the Russo-Turkish war of 1787-1791, the Russian ownership of Crimea was reaffirmed by the Yassy Peace Treaty, which secured the entire northern Black Sea region to Russia.
By the decree of Paul I of December 12, 1796, the Tauride region was abolished, the territory, divided into 2 counties - Akmechetsky and Perekopsky, annexed to the Novorossiysk province, ( "... divided simply into counties, according to the number of inhabitants and the vastness of the area."). In 1802, the Taurida province was formed, which existed until the Civil War in Russia.
As an independent state unit, the Crimean Khanate emerged in the middle of the fifteenth 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 a 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 Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as a large trading hub of the Black Sea water area. The slave trade flourished on the territory of the peninsula, and for new "resources" for this market, the Khan's subjects often "visited" the border lands. 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 confident enough in foreign policy. Relations with Russia were very difficult, since the Crimean Khanate constantly raided the Russian lands and Moscow, the last of them in the 16th century was carried out by Khan Kazy-Girey under Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich. But until the end of the 17th century, Russian sovereigns paid the Crimean khans "commemorations" - a kind of payment for the fact that the Crimeans did not attack the Russian lands, "said Evgeny Pchelov, head of the department of auxiliary and special historical disciplines at the Historical and Archival Institute of the Russian State Humanitarian University, in an interview with RT.
- VV Golitsyn's unsuccessful campaign against the Crimean Khanate. Thumbnail from the manuscript 1st floor. 18th century "History of Peter I", Op. P. Krekshina.
- Wikimedia Commons
In the XVI-XVII centuries, the foreign policy of the Moscow sovereigns in the southern direction undergoes a radical change: realizing the strategic importance of the Northern Black Sea region, as well as the importance of sea trade routes, Russia moves from defense to offensive. However, the advantage remains with the Ottomans for a long time. The first Russian-Turkish war of the 16th century ended with the compromise Bakhchisarai 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 to 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. Peter's Prut campaign ended unsuccessfully, Azov had to be returned to Turkey. Then there was the Russian-Turkish war under Anna Ioannovna, which ended not very effectively for Russia, and only the Russian-Turkish wars under Catherine II finally resolved the issue of Russia's access to the Black Sea, "Pchelov noted.
The 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 priority directions 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 sea trade of Russia at that time did not flourish at all, the fleet was in the most sad situation, to which the empress paid special attention. One of her first government measures was to send sailors and craftsmen from abroad to build ships and teach the Russians to sail. Already at the very beginning of her reign, the question of achieving freedom of Russian navigation in the Black Sea was one of the main concerns, ”wrote the late 19th century historian Vladimir Teplov in his essay“ Russian Representatives in Constantinople ”.
The Kucuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty, signed in 1774, marked the victory of the Russian Empire in the First Russian-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 in 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 Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky and Catherine II
- Wikimedia Commons
Nevertheless, despite the peace treaty, the threat of an attack from Turkey still remained - this was perfectly understood by the governor of Catherine II in the southern territories of the empire, Prince Grigory Potemkin. In 1782, he turned to the empress with a memorandum, which said that “the acquisition of the Crimea will only bring peace. With Crimea, domination of c. It will depend on you whether to block the passage of 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 annexing the peninsula to the empire was personally led by Grigory Potemkin. After Catherine's agreement in principle, His Serene Highness 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 Crimea. In June 1783, troops under the command of Alexander Suvorov entered the Crimean Khanate. The local dynasty of khans lost the throne, but the nobility retained their status, 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 benefits ... For the Tatar nobility, the prospects of service in a powerful empire opened up. Potemkin prepared an unprecedented celebration: the Tatar nobility swore allegiance on the Ak-Kai rock, fireworks thundered, food was displayed everywhere. The entire Crimean region eagerly came running under the power of Your Imperial Majesty, ”the General-in-Chief of His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin reported to Catherine II about the Crimea's entry into the Russian Empire.
In 1784, the empress allowed foreigners to settle in the Crimea, and in 1787, Catherine II herself traveled to the peninsula, which later became part of the Tauride province.
“Catherine II wanted to rule Russia without conspiracies and coups. To do this, she wanted to show herself as 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 see that the country is ruled by a Russian monarch who continues the affairs of Peter the Great, according to Russia, in the Black and Azov Seas, "the doctor of historical sciences said in an interview with RT. Professor of St. Petersburg State University Pavel Krotov.
According to Krotov, by that historical moment, all the prerequisites for the annexation of 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 was baptized in Chersonesos in 988. For the Orthodox, the return of "that very" land was very important.