The recorded history of theCrimean Peninsula, historically known asTauris,Taurica (Greek:Ταυρική or Ταυρικά), and theTauric Chersonese (Greek:Χερσόνησος Ταυρική, "Tauric Peninsula"), begins around the 5th century BCE when severalGreek colonies were established along its coast, the most important of which wasChersonesos near modern-daySevastopol, withScythians andTauri in the hinterland to the north. The southern coast gradually consolidated into theBosporan Kingdom which was annexed byPontus and then became aclient kingdom ofRome (63 BC – 341 AD). The south coast remained Greek in culture for almost two thousand years including under Roman successor states, theByzantine Empire (341–1204), theEmpire of Trebizond (1204–1461), and the independentPrincipality of Theodoro (ended 1475). In the 13th century, some Crimean port cities were controlled by theVenetians and by theGenovese, but the interior was much less stable, enduring along series of conquests and invasions. In the medieval period, it was partially conquered byKievan Rus' whose princeVladimir the Great was baptised atChersonesus Cathedral, which marked the beginning of theChristianization of Kievan Rus'. During theMongol invasion of Europe, the north and centre of Crimea fell to theMongolGolden Horde, and in the 1440s theCrimean Khanate formed out of the collapse of the horde but quite rapidly itself became subject to theOttoman Empire, which also conquered the coastal areas which had kept independent of the Khanate. A major source of prosperity in these times wasfrequent raids into Russia for slaves for theCrimean slave trade.
In 1774, the Ottoman Empire wasdefeated byCatherine the Great. After two centuries of conflict, the Russian fleet had destroyed theOttoman navy and theRussian army had inflicted heavy defeats on the Ottoman land forces. The ensuingTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca forced theSublime Porte to recognize the Tatars of the Crimea as politically independent. Catherine the Great'sincorporation of the Crimea in 1783 from the defeated Ottoman Empire into the Russian Empire increased Russia's power in the Black Sea area. The Crimea was the first Muslim territory to slip from the sultan's suzerainty. The Ottoman Empire's frontiers would gradually shrink, and Russia would proceed to push her frontier westwards to the Dniester. From 1853 to 1856, the strategic position of the peninsula in controlling the Black Sea meant that it was the site of the principal engagements of theCrimean War, where Russia lost to a French-led alliance.
During theRussian Civil War, Crimeachanged hands many times and was whereWrangel's anti-BolshevikWhite Army made their last stand in 1920, with tens of thousands of those who remained being murdered as part of theRed Terror. In 1921, theCrimean ASSR was created as an autonomous republic of theRussian SFSR. DuringWorld War II, Crimea wasoccupied by Germany until 1944. The ASSR was downgraded toan oblast within the Russian SFSR in 1945 following theethnic cleansing of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet regime, and in 1954, Crimea wastransferred to theUkrainian SSR as part of celebrations of the 300th anniversary of theTreaty of Pereyaslav, called the "reunification of Ukraine with Russia" in the USSR.
Following thedissolution of the Soviet Union, theRepublic of Crimea was formed in 1992, although the republic was abolished in 1995, with theAutonomous Republic of Crimea established firmly under Ukrainian authority andSevastopol being administered as acity with special status. A 1997treaty partitioned theSoviet Black Sea Fleet, ending the protractedBlack Sea Fleet dispute and allowing Russia to continue basing its Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol with the leaseextended in 2010.Crimea's status is disputed. In 2014, Crimea saw intense demonstrations against theremoval of theUkrainian presidentViktor Yanukovych culminating in pro-Russian forcesoccupying strategic points in Crimea and theRepublic of Crimeadeclared independence from Ukraine following a disputedreferendum supporting reunification. Russia thenformally annexed Crimea, although most countries recognise Crimea as part of Ukraine.
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Archaeological evidence of human settlement in Crimea dates back to theMiddle Paleolithic.Neanderthal remains found at Kiyik-Koba Cave have been dated to about 80,000BP.[1] Late Neanderthal occupations have also been found at Starosele (c. 46,000 BP) and Buran Kaya III (c. 30,000 BP).[2]
Archaeologists have found some of the earliestanatomically modern human remains in Europe in the Buran-Kaya caves in theCrimean Mountains (east ofSimferopol). The fossils are about 32,000 years old, with the artifacts linked to theGravettian culture.[3][4]During theLast Glacial Maximum, along with the northern coast of theBlack Sea in general, Crimea was an importantrefuge from which north-central Europe was re-populated after the end of the Ice Age. TheEast European Plain during this time was generally occupied byperiglacialloess-steppe environments, although the climate was slightly warmer during several briefinterstadials and began to warm significantly after the beginning of theLate Glacial Maximum. Human site occupation density was relatively high in the Crimean region and increased as early as c. 16,000 years before the present.[5]
Proponents of theBlack Sea deluge hypothesis believe Crimea did not become a peninsula until relatively recently, with the rising of the Black Sea level in the 6th millennium BC.
The beginning of theNeolithic in Crimea is not associated with agriculture, but instead with the beginning of pottery production, changes in flint tool-making technologies, and local domestication of pigs. The earliest evidence of domesticated wheat in the Crimean peninsula is from theChalcolithic Ardych-Burun site, dating to the middle of the 4th millennium BC[6]
By the 3rd millennium BC, Crimea had been reached by theYamna or "pit grave" culture, assumed to correspond to a late phase ofProto-Indo-European culture in theKurgan hypothesis.
EarlyIron Age Crimea was settled by two groups separated by theCrimean Mountains, theTauri to the south and theIranicScythians in the north.
Taurians intermixed with the Scythians starting from the end of 3rd century BC were mentioned as "Tauroscythians" and "Scythotaurians" in the works of ancient Greek writers.[7][8] InGeographica,Strabo refers to the Tauri as a Scythian tribe.[9] However,Herodotus states that the Tauri tribes were geographically inhabited by theScythians, but they are not Scythians.[10] Also, the Taurians inspired theGreek myths ofIphigenia andOrestes.
TheGreeks, who eventually establishedcolonies in Crimea during theArchaic Period, regarded the Tauri as a savage, warlike people. Even after centuries of Greek andRoman settlement, the Tauri were not pacified and continued to engage inpiracy on the Black Sea.[11] By the 2nd century BC they had become subject-allies of the Scythian kingScilurus.[12]
The Crimean Peninsula north of the Crimean Mountains was occupied byScythian tribes. Their center was the city ofScythian Neapolis on the outskirts of present-daySimferopol. The town ruled over a small kingdom covering the lands between the lowerDnieper River and northernCrimea. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, Scythian Neapolis was a city "with a mixed Scythian-Greek population, strong defensive walls and large public buildings constructed using the orders of Greek architecture".[13] The city was eventually destroyed in the mid-3rd century AD by theGoths.
Theancient Greeks were the first to name the regionTaurica after theTauri.[14] As the Tauri inhabited only the mountainous regions of southern Crimea, the name Taurica was originally used only for this southern part, but was later extended to refer to the whole peninsula.
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Greek city-states began establishingcolonies along the Black Sea coast of Crimea in the 7th or 6th century BC.[15]Theodosia andPanticapaeum were established byMilesians. In the 5th century BC,Dorians fromHeraclea Pontica founded the sea port ofChersonesos (in modernSevastopol).
The PersianAchaemenid Empire underDarius I expanded to Crimea as part ofhis campaigns against theScythians in 513 BCE.[citation needed]
In 438 BC, the Archon (ruler) of Panticapaeum assumed the title of theKing of Cimmerian Bosporus, a state that maintained close relations withAthens, supplying the city with wheat, honey and other commodities. The last of that line of kings, Paerisades V, being hard-pressed by the Scythians, put himself under the protection ofMithridates VI, the king ofPontus, in 114 BC. After the death of this sovereign, his son,Pharnaces II, was invested byPompey with theKingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus in 63 BC as a reward for the assistance rendered to theRomans in their war against his father. In 15 BC, it was once again restored to the king of Pontus, but from then ranked as a tributary state of Rome.
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In the 2nd century BC, the eastern part of Taurica became part of theBosporan Kingdom, before becoming a client kingdom of theRoman Empire in the 1st century BC.
During the AD 1st, 2nd and 3rd centuries, Taurica was host to Roman legions and colonists inCharax, Crimea. The Charax colony was founded underVespasian with the intention of protectingChersonesos and other Bosporean trade emporiums from theScythians. The Roman colony was protected by avexillatio of theLegio I Italica; it also hosted a detachment of theLegio XI Claudia at the end of the 2nd century. The camp was abandoned by the Romans in the mid-3rd century. This de facto province would have been controlled by thelegatus of one of the Legions stationed in Charax.
Throughout the later centuries, Crimea was invaded or occupied successively by theGoths (AD 250), theHuns (376), theBulgars (4th–8th century), theKhazars (8th century).
Crimean Gothic, an East Germanic language, was spoken by the Crimean Goths in some isolated locations in Crimea until the late 18th century.[16]
In the 9th century CE, Byzantium established theTheme of Cherson to defend against incursions by theRus' Khaganate. The Crimean peninsula from this time was contested between Byzantium, Rus' andKhazaria. The area remained the site of overlapping interests and contact between the early medieval Slavic, Turkic and Greek spheres.
It became a center ofByzantine slave trade.Slavs (saqaliba) were sold to Byzantium and other places in Anatolia and the Middle East during this period.[citation needed]
In the mid-10th century, the eastern area of Crimea was conquered by PrinceSviatoslav I of Kiev and became part of the Kievan Rus' principality ofTmutarakan. The peninsula was wrested from the Byzantines by theKievan Rus' in the 10th century; a major Byzantine outpost,Chersonesus, was taken in 988 CE. A year later,Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev accepted the hand of EmperorBasil II's sisterAnna in marriage, and wasbaptized by the local Byzantine priest at Chersonesus, thus marking the entry of Rus'into the Christian world.[17]Chersonesus Cathedral marks the location of this historic event.
During the collapse of the Byzantine state some cities fell to its creditor[citation needed] theRepublic of Genoa who also conquered cities controlled by its rival theVenice. During the entirety of this period, the urban areas were Greek-speaking andeastern Christian.
Throughout the ancient and medieval period the interior and north of Crimea was occupied by a changing cast of invadingsteppe nomads, such as theTauri,Cimmerians,Scythians,Sarmatians,Crimean Goths,Anglo-Saxons,[18][19]Alans,Bulgars,Huns,Khazars,Kipchaks andMongols.
TheBosporan Kingdom had exercised some control of the majority of the peninsula at the height of its power, withKievan Rus' also having some control of the interior of Crimea after the tenth century.
The overseas territories ofTrebizond,Perateia, had already been subjected to pressure from the Genoese and Kipchaks by the timeAlexios I of Trebizond died in 1222, before theMongol invasions began its western sweep throughVolga Bulgaria in 1223.
Kiev lost its hold on the Crimean interior in the early 13th century due to theMongol invasions. In the summer of 1238Batu Khan devastated the Crimean peninsula and pacifiedMordovia, reaching Kiev by 1240. The Crimean interior came under the control of theTurco-MongolGolden Horde from 1239 to 1441. ThenameCrimea (via Italian, from TurkicQirim) originates as the name of the provincial capital of theGolden Horde, the city now known asStaryi Krym.
Trebizond's Perateia soon became thePrincipality of Theodoro andGenoese Gazaria, respectively sharing control of the south of Crimea until theOttoman intervention of 1475.
In the 13th century theRepublic of Genoa seized the settlements that their rivals, theVenetians, had built along the Crimean coast and established themselves atCembalo (present-day Balaklava),Soldaia (Sudak),Cherco (Kerch) andCaffa (Feodosiya), gaining control of the Crimean economy and the Black Sea commerce for two centuries.[citation needed] Genoa and its colonies fought aseries of wars with the Mongol states between the 13th and 15th centuries.[20]
In 1346 theGolden Horde army besieging GenoeseKaffa (present-day Feodosiya) in thesiege of Kaffa catapulted the bodies of Mongol warriors who had died ofplague over the walls of the city. Historians have speculated that Genoese refugees from this engagement may have brought theBlack Death to Western Europe.[21]
AfterTimur destroyed a Mongol Golden Horde army in 1399,[citation needed] the Crimean Tatars founded an independentCrimean Khanate underHacı I Giray (a descendant ofGenghis Khan) by 1443.[22] Hacı I Giray and his successors reigned first atQırq Yer, then – from the beginning of the 15th century – atBakhchisaray.[23]
The Crimean Tatars controlled the steppes that stretched from theKuban to theDniester River, but they were unable to take control of the commercialGenoese towns in the Crimea. In 1462,Kaffa recognizedPolish suzerainty, though this suzerainty was only nominal.[24] After the Crimean Tatars asked for help from theOttomans, an Ottoman invasion of the Genoese towns led byGedik Ahmed Pasha in 1475 brought Kaffa and the other trading towns under their control.[25]: 78
After the capture of the Genoese towns, the Ottoman Sultan held KhanMeñli I Giray captive,[26] later releasing him in return for accepting Ottoman suzerainty over the Crimean Khans and allowing them rule astributary princes of the Ottoman Empire.[25]: 78 [27] However, the Crimean Khans still had a large amount of autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, and followed the rules they thought best for them.
Crimean Tatars introduced the practice ofraids into Eastern Slavic lands (theWild Fields), in which they capturedslaves for sale.[25]: 78 For example, from 1450 to 1586, eighty-sixTatar raids were recorded, and from 1600 to 1647, seventy.[25]: 106 In the 1570s close to 20,000 slaves a year went on sale inKaffa.[28]
Slaves and freedmen formed approximately 75% of the Crimean population.[29] In 1769 a last major Tatar raid, which took place during theRusso-Turkish War of 1768-1774, saw the capture of 20,000 slaves.[30]
TheCrimean Tatars as an ethnic group dominated the Crimean Khanate from the 15th to the 18th centuries. They descend from a complicated mixture ofTurkic peoples who settled in the Crimea from the 8th century, presumably also absorbing remnants of theCrimean Goths and theGenoese. Linguistically, the Crimean Tatars are related to theKhazars, who invaded the Crimea in the mid-8th century; theCrimean Tatar language forms part of theKipchak or Northwestern branch of theTurkic languages, although it shows substantialOghuz influence due to historical Ottoman Turkish presence in the Crimea.
A small enclave ofCrimean Karaites, a people of Jewish descent practisingKaraism who later adopted a Turkic language, formed in the 13th century. It existed among the Muslim Crimean Tatars, primarily in the mountainousÇufut Qale area.
In 1553–1554CossackHetmanDmytro Vyshnevetsky (in office: 1550–1557) gathered together groups of Cossacks and constructed a fort designed to obstruct Tatar raids into Ukraine. With this action, he founded theZaporozhian Sich, with which he would launch a series of attacks on the Crimean Peninsula and the Ottoman Turks.[25]: 109
In 1774, the Ottoman Empire wasdefeated byCatherine the Great. After two centuries of conflict, the Russian fleet had destroyed theOttoman navy and theRussian army had inflicted heavy defeats on the Ottoman land forces.
TheTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca signed in June 1774 forced theSublime Porte to recognize the Tatars of the Crimea as politically independent, meaning that the Crimean Khans fell underRussian influence.[25]: 176
The Crimea was the first Muslim territory to slip from the sultan's suzerainty. The Ottoman Empire's frontiers would gradually shrink, and Russia would proceed to push her frontier westwards to the Dniester.
The Khanate subsequently suffered a gradual internal collapse, particularly after apogrom created a Russian aided exodus of Christian subjects who were overwhelmingly among the urban classes and created cities such asMariupol.
On 28 December 1783 theSublime Porte negotiated a trade agreement with the Russian diplomatBulgakov that recognised the loss of Crimea and other territories that had been held by the Khanate.[31][32] This increased Russia's power in the Black Sea area.[33]
Crimea went through a number of administrative reforms after Russian annexation, first as theTaurida Oblast in 1784 but in 1796 it was divided into two counties and attached it to theNovorossiysk Governorate, with a newTaurida Governorate established in 1802 with its capital at Simferopol. The governorate included both Crimea as well as larger adjacent areas of the mainland. In 1826Adam Mickiewicz published his seminal workThe Crimean Sonnets after travelling through theBlack Sea Coast.[34]
The Crimean War (1853–1856), a conflict fought between theRussian Empire and an alliance of theFrench Empire, theBritish Empire, theOttoman Empire, theKingdom of Sardinia, and theDuchy of Nassau,[35] was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of thedeclining Ottoman Empire. Russia and the Ottoman Empire went to war in October 1853 over Russia's rights to protectOrthodox Christians. To stop Russia's conquests, France and Britain entered in March 1854. While some of the war was fought elsewhere, the principal engagements were in Crimea.
The immediate cause of the war involved the rights of Christian minorities in Palestine, which was part of the Ottoman Empire. The French promoted the rights of Roman Catholics, and Russia promoted those of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Longer-term causes involved the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the expansion of the Russian Empire in the preceding Russo-Turkish Wars, and the British and French preference to preserve the Ottoman Empire to maintain the balance of power in the Concert of Europe. It has widely been noted that the causes, in one case involving an argument over a key, had never revealed a "greater confusion of purpose" but led to a war that stood out for its "notoriously incompetent international butchery".
Following action in theDanubian Principalities and in the Black Sea, allied troops landed in Crimea in September 1854 andbesieged the city of Sevastopol, home of the Tsar's Black Sea Fleet and the associated threat of potential Russian penetration into the Mediterranean. After extensive fighting throughout Crimea, the city fell on 9 September 1855. The war ended with a Russian loss in February 1856.
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The war devastated much of the economic and social infrastructure of Crimea. The Crimean Tatars had to flee from their homelanden masse, forced by the conditions created by the war, persecution, and land expropriations. Those who survived the trip, famine, and disease, resettled inDobruja,Anatolia, and other parts of theOttoman Empire. Finally, the Russian government decided to stop the process, as agriculture began to suffer due to the unattended fertile farmland. By the late 19th century,Crimean Tatars continued to form a slight plurality of Crimea's still largely rural population[36] and were the predominant portion of the population in the mountainous area and about half of the steppe population.[citation needed]
There were large numbers ofRussians concentrated in the Feodosiya district and Ukrainians as well as smaller numbers of Jews (includingKrymchaks andCrimean Karaites),Belarusians,Turks,Armenians, andGreeks and Roma.Germans andBulgarians settled in the Crimea at the beginning of the 19th century, receiving a large allotment and fertile land and later wealthy colonists began to buy land, mainly in Perekopsky and Evpatoria uyezds.[citation needed]
Following theRussian Revolution of 1917, the military and political situation in Crimea was chaotic, as in much of Russia. During the ensuingRussian Civil War, Crimea changed hands numerous times and was for a time a stronghold of the anti-BolshevikWhite Army. It was in Crimea that the White Russians led byGeneral Wrangel made their last stand againstNestor Makhno and theRed Army in 1920. When resistance was crushed, many of the anti-Bolshevik fighters and civilians escaped by ship toIstanbul. Approximately 50,000 White prisoners of war and civilians were summarily executed by shooting or hanging after Wrangel's defeat at the end of 1920,[37] in one of the largestmassacres of the Civil War.[38] Between 56,000 and 150,000 of the civilian population were then murdered as part of theRed Terror, organized byBéla Kun.[39]
Crimea changed hands several times over the course of the conflict and several political entities were set up on the peninsula, including the following.
| Country | Jurisdiction | Period | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| RussianRevolution andCivil War (1917–1921) | Crimean People's Republic | December 1917 – January 1918 | Crimean Tatar government |
| Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic | 19 March – 30 April 1918 | Bolshevik government | |
| Ukrainian State | May – June 1918 | ||
| FirstCrimean Regional Government | 25 June – 25 November 1918 | German puppet state under Lipka Tatar GeneralMaciej (Suleyman) Sulkiewicz | |
| SecondCrimean Regional Government | November 1918 – April 1919 | Anti-Bolshevik government underCrimean Karaite formerKadet memberSolomon Krym | |
| Crimean Socialist Soviet Republic | 2 April – June 1919 | Bolshevik government | |
| South Russian Government | February – April 1920 | Government ofWhite movement's GeneralAnton Denikin | |
| Government of South Russia | April (officially, 16 August) – 16 November 1920 | Government of White movement's GeneralPyotr Wrangel | |
| Bolshevikrevolutionary committee government | November 1920 – 18 October 1921 | Bolshevik government underBéla Kun (until 20 February 1921), thenMikhail Poliakov | |
| Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic | 18 October 1921 – 30 June 1945 | Autonomous republic of theRussian SFSR | |
| Soviet era (1921–1991) |
Crimea became part of theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on 18 October 1921 as theCrimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.[27] The Russian SFSR founded theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics in1922, with the Crimean ASSR retaining a degree of nominal autonomy and run as a Crimean Tatar enclave.[40] However, this did not protect the Crimean Tatars, who constituted about 25% of the Crimean population,[41] fromJoseph Stalin's repressions of the 1930s.[27] TheGreeks were another cultural group that suffered. Their lands were lost during the process ofcollectivisation, in which farmers were not compensated with wages. Schools which taughtGreek were closed andGreek literature was destroyed, because the Soviets considered the Greeks as "counter-revolutionary" with their links tocapitalist stateGreece, and their independent culture.[27]
From 1923 until 1944 there was an effort to createJewish settlements in Crimea. There were two attempts to establishJewish autonomy in Crimea, but both were ultimately unsuccessful.[42]
Crimea experienced two severe famines in the 20th century, theFamine of 1921–1922 and theHolodomor of 1932–1933.[43] A large Slavic population (mainly Russians and Ukrainians) influx occurred in the 1930s as a result of the Soviet policy of regional development. These demographic changes permanently altered the ethnic balance in the region.
DuringWorld War II, Crimea was a scene of some of the bloodiest battles. The leaders of theThird Reich were anxious to conquer and colonize the fertile and beautiful peninsula as part of their policy of resettling the Germans in Eastern Europe at the expense of the Slavs. In theCrimean campaign, German and Romanian troops suffered heavy casualties in the summer of 1941 as they tried to advance through the narrowIsthmus of Perekop linking Crimea to the Soviet mainland. Once the German army broke through (Operation Trappenjagd), they occupied most of Crimea, with the exception of the city of Sevastopol, which wasbesieged and later awarded the honorary title ofHero City after the war. TheRed Army lost over 170,000 men killed or taken prisoner, and three armies (44th, 47th, and 51st) with twenty-one divisions.[44]
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Sevastopol held out from October 1941 until 4 July 1942 when the Germans finally captured the city. From 1 September 1942, the peninsula was administered as theGeneralbezirk Krim (general district of Crimea)und Teilbezirk (and sub-district)Taurien by the NaziGeneralkommissarAlfred Eduard Frauenfeld (1898–1977), under the authority of the three consecutiveReichskommissare for the entire Ukraine. In spite of heavy-handed tactics by the Nazis and the assistance of theRomanian andItalian troops, the Crimean mountains remained an unconquered stronghold of the native resistance (the partisans) until the day when the peninsula was freed from the occupying force.
TheCrimean Jews were targeted for annihilation during the Nazi occupation. According toYitzhak Arad, "In January 1942 a company of Tatar volunteers was established in Simferopol under the command ofEinsatzgruppe 11. This company participated in anti-Jewish manhunts and murder actions in the rural regions."[45] Around 40,000 Crimean Jews were murdered.[45]
The successfulCrimean offensive meant that in May 1944 Sevastopol came under the control of troops from theSoviet Union. The so-called "City of Russian Glory" once known for its beautiful architecture was entirely destroyed and had to be rebuilt stone by stone. Due to its enormous historical and symbolic meaning for the Russians, it became a priority for Stalin and the Soviet government to have it restored to its former glory within the shortest time possible.[46][self-published source?]
The Crimean port ofYalta hosted theYalta Conference of Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill which was later seen as dividing Europe between the Communist and democratic spheres.
On 18 May 1944, the entire population of theCrimean Tatars wereforcibly deported in the "Sürgün" (Crimean Tatar for exile) to Central Asia byJoseph Stalin's Soviet government as a form ofcollective punishment on the grounds that they allegedly had collaborated with theNazi occupation forces and formed pro-GermanTatar Legions.[25]: 483 On 26 June of the same yearArmenian,Bulgarian andGreek population was also deported to Central Asia, and partially to Ufa and its surroundings in the Ural mountains. A total of more than 230,000 people – about a fifth of the total population of the Crimean Peninsula at that time – were deported, mainly toUzbekistan. 14,300 Greeks, 12,075 Bulgarians, and about 10,000 Armenians were also expelled. By the end of summer 1944, theethnic cleansing of Crimea was complete. In 1967, the Crimean Tatars were rehabilitated, but they were banned from legally returning to their homeland until the last days of the Soviet Union. The deportation was formally recognized as a genocide by Ukraine and three other countries between 2015 and 2019.
The peninsula was resettled with other peoples, mainly Russians and Ukrainians. Modern experts say that the deportation was part of the Sovietplan to gain access to theDardanelles and acquire territory inTurkey, where the Tatars had Turkic ethnic kin, or to remove minorities from the Soviet Union's border regions.[47]
Nearly 8,000 Crimean Tatars died during the deportation, and tens of thousands perished subsequently due to the harsh exile conditions.[48] The Crimean Tatar deportation resulted in the abandonment of 80,000 households and 360,000 acres of land.
The autonomous republic without its titular nationality was downgraded toan oblast (province) within theRussian SFSR on 30 June 1945. A process ofde-Tatarization of Crimea was started to remove the memory of the Tartars, including a massive name change of the vast majority of toponyms, which were given Slavic and communist names. Very few localities –Bakhchysarai,Dzhankoy,İşün,Alushta,Alupka, andSaky – were given their original names back after the fall of the Soviet Union.[49][50][51]
On 19 February 1954, the oblast wastransferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR jurisdiction,[52] on the basis of "the integral character of the economy, the territorial proximity and the close economic and cultural ties between the Crimea Province and the Ukrainian SSR"[53] and to commemorate the 300th anniversary ofUkraine's union with Russia.[54][55]
Sevastopol was aclosed city due to its importance as the port of the SovietBlack Sea Fleet and was attached to the Crimean Oblast only in 1978.[citation needed]
The construction ofNorth Crimean Canal, a land improvement canal for irrigation and watering of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine, and the Crimean peninsula, was started in 1957 soon after the transfer of Crimea. The canal also has multiple branches throughout Kherson Oblast and the Crimean peninsula. The main project works took place between 1961 and 1971 and had three stages. The construction was conducted by the Komsomol members sent by the Komsomol travel ticket (Komsomolskaya putyovka) as part of shock construction projects and accounted for some 10,000 "volunteer" workers.
In the post-war years, Crimea thrived as atourist destination, with new attractions and sanatoriums for tourists. Tourists came from all around the Soviet Union and itssatellite countries, particularly fromEast Germany.[27] In time the peninsula also became a major tourist destination for cruises originating in Greece and Turkey. Crimea's infrastructure and manufacturing also developed, particularly around the sea ports atKerch andSevastopol and in the oblast's landlocked capital,Simferopol. Populations ofUkrainians andRussians alike doubled as a result of assimilationist policies, with more than 1.6 million Russians and 626,000 Ukrainians living on the peninsula by 1989.[27]
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With thedissolution of the Soviet Union andUkrainian independence the majorityethnic RussianCrimean peninsula was reorganized as theRepublic of Crimea,[56][57] after a1991 referendum with the Crimean authorities pushing for more independence from Ukraine and closer links with Russia.
In 1992 the Supreme Council of Crimea affirmed the peninsula's "sovereignty" as a part of Ukraine.[58][59][57] The Crimean parliament proclaimed self-government on 5 May 1992[60][61] and passed thefirst Crimean constitution together with a declaration of conditional independence[62] on the same day.[63] There was stiff resistance from Ukraine and a day later, on 6 May, the same parliament inserted a new sentence into this constitution that declared that Crimea was part of Ukraine.[63] A referendum to confirm the decision was not helduntil 1994 due to the opposition from theKyiv government.
The Crimean parliament voted to bring in aPresident in 1993, which the Kyiv government denounced as unconstitutional.[64]: 198 In 1994 Crimeaelected the pro-Russian and anti-establishmentYuriy Meshkov. The pro-Russian parties also won the parliamentary election that year.[65] However the president quickly alienated the parliament by asserting strong presidential powers.[66]
In 1995 theUkrainian Parliament intervened in the political crisis in Crimea, scrapping the Crimean Constitution, removing the president and scrapping the office of President.[67] Almost 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers and police officers were sent to Crimea.[68] Meshkov was removed from power[69] afterUkrainian special forces had entered his residence, disarmed his bodyguards and put him on a plane toMoscow.[70] Meshkov was replaced by Kyiv-appointedAnatoliy Franchuk, with the intent to rein in Crimean aspirations of autonomy.[57][64] TheVerkhovna Rada, the parliament of Crimea, voted to grant Crimea "extensive home rule" during the dispute.[71][62][70]
There were also intermittent tensions with Russia over the Soviet Fleet, although a 1997treaty partitioned theSoviet Black Sea Fleet allowing Russia to continue basing its fleet in Sevastopol with the leaseextended in 2010. After theoverthrow of the relatively pro-RussianpresidentYanukovych,Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014.
During theRevolution of Dignity in Kyiv that ousted Ukrainian presidentViktor Yanukovych, pro- and anti-Euromaidandemonstrations were happening in Crimea.[72] At the same time Russian presidentVladimir Putin discussed Ukrainian events with security service chiefs remarking that "we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia".[73] On 27 February,Russian troops[74] captured strategic sites across Crimea, including Crimean parliament and government buildings.[75][76] Russia then installed the pro-RussianAksyonov government in Crimea, which organized theCrimean status referendum and declaredCrimea's independence on 16 March 2014.[77][78][79] Although Russia initially claimed their military was not involved in the events,[80] it later admitted that they were.[81] Russia formally incorporated Crimea on 18 March 2014.[82][81] Following the annexation,[83] Russia escalated its military presence on the peninsula and madenuclear threats to solidify the new status quo on the ground.[84]
Ukraine andmany other countries condemned the annexation and consider it to be a violation ofinternational law and Russian agreements safeguarding theterritorial integrity of Ukraine. The annexation led to the other members of the then-G8 suspending Russia from the group[85] and introducingsanctions. TheUnited Nations General Assembly also rejected the referendum and annexation, adoptinga resolution affirming the "territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders".[86][87]
According to survey carried out byPew Research Center in 2014, the majority of Crimean residents say they believed the referendum was free and fair (91%) and that the government in Kyiv ought to recognize the results of the vote (88%).[88]
The Russian government opposes the "annexation" label, with Putin defending the referendum as complying with the principle of theself-determination of peoples.[89][90]
Within days of the signing of the accession treaty, the process of integrating Crimea into the Russian federation began with theRussian ruble going into official circulation[91] and later to be the sole currency for legal tender[92] with clocks also moved to Moscow time.[93] A revision of theRussian Constitution was officially released with the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol added to thefederal subjects of the Russian Federation,[94] and the Russian Prime MinisterDmitry Medvedev stated that Crimea had been fully integrated into Russia.[95] Since the annexation Russia has supported large migration into Crimea.[96][97][98]
Once Ukraine lost control of the territory in 2014, it shut off the water supply of theNorth Crimean Canal which supplies 85% of the peninsula's freshwater needs from theDnieper river, the nation's main waterway.[99] Development of new sources of water was undertaken, with huge difficulties, to replace closed Ukrainian sources.[100] In2022, Russiaconquered portions of Kherson Oblast, which allowed it to unblock the North Crimean canal by force, resuming water supply into Crimea.[101][full citation needed]
Beginning in July 2022, a series of explosions and fires occurred on theRussian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from where the Russian Army had launched itsoffensive on Southern Ukraine during thefull-scale invasion of Ukraine. Occupied Crimea was a base for the subsequentRussian occupation of Kherson Oblast andRussian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The Ukrainian government has not accepted responsibility for all of the attacks.[102]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Before dawn on Feb. 27, at least two dozen heavily armed men stormed the Crimean parliament building and the nearby headquarters of the regional government, bringing with them a cache of assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades. A few hours later, Aksyonov walked into the parliament and, after a brief round of talks with the gunmen, began to gather a quorum of the chamber's lawmakers.
Only a week after gunmen planted the Russian flag on the local parliament, Aksyonov and his allies held another vote and declared parliament was appealing to Putin to annex Crimea
