War for Crimea: 8 significant historical events in the fate of Crimea from Muscovite Rus and Russia to modern Ukraine

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On January 8, 1783, the Russian envoy extraordinary Yakov Bulgak received a written consent from the Turkish Sultan Abdul-Hamid on the recognition of Russia's authority 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 Russia to plunder and capture slaves

The Crimean Khanate broke away from the Golden Horde in 1427. From the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Tatars made constant raids on Russia. Approximately once a year, they, bypassing the steppe posts, went deeper into the border area for 100-200 km, and then turned back, sweeping away everything in their path with an avalanche, plundering 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 the place left without protection. Quite often, the Tatars put 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 Russia were sold to the Middle East, to Turkey and even to European countries. After the raids, 3-4 ships with Russian slaves came to Constantinople. And in just 200 years more than 3 million people were sold on the Crimean slave markets.

The fight against the Crimean Tatars was the main item of Russian military spending

A significant part of the Rus treasury was spent on military expenditures necessary to fight the Tatars. It is worth noting that this struggle had varying success. At times, the Russians managed to recapture the prisoners and defeat the Tatars. So, in 1507, Prince Kholmsky with 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 on the Oster River. It should be said that it was very difficult to track the movement of the Crimean army, so most often the Tatars left for Crimea with impunity.

In 1571 the Tatars plundered Moscow

As a rule, the Tatars could not 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 60 thousand prisoners away - almost the entire population of the city. A year later, the khan decided to repeat his raid, nursing ambitious plans to annex Muscovy to his possessions, but suffered a 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 could not undertake a campaign against the Crimea in order to finish off the enemy, since the principality was weakened by the war on two fronts. For 20 years, until a new generation grew up, the Tatars did not disturb Russia. In 1591, the Tatars again raided Moscow, and in 1592 the Crimean troops plundered the Tula, Kashira and Ryazan lands.

Ivan the Terrible planned to secure Crimea for Russia

Ivan the Terrible understood that there was only one way to eliminate the Tatar threat - by capturing the Tatar territories and securing them for Russia. So the Russian tsar did with Astrakhan and Kazan. And Ivan the Terrible did not have time to "deal" with the Crimea - the West imposed on Russia, which began to build up its power, the Livonian War.

Field Marshal Minich was the first of the Russians 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 through Perekop the army entered the Crimea. The Russians stormed the fortifications, advanced deep into the peninsula, and 10 days later 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 strongest Tatar attacks, the Crimean capital was taken and completely burned down 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 hostilities and half of 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's 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 for the Crimea a sword with diamonds and the title of Crimean

The next time the Russians went to the Crimea in the summer of 1771. The troops under the command of Prince Dolgorukov defeated the 100,000-strong army of the Crimean Tatars in the battle of Feodosia and occupied Arabat, Kerch, Yenikale, Balaklava and the Taman Peninsula. On November 1, 1772, the Crimean Khan signed an agreement, according to which the Crimea became an independent khanate under the auspices 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.

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-Kainardzhiyskiy peace between Russia and Turkey in 1774. The main merit in solving this problem belongs to Grigory Potemkin.

"", - wrote Potemkin 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 the Crimea. In the manifesto, the empress promised the local residents "".

So thanks to the foresight of Grigory Potemkin bloodlessly "pacified the last nest of Mongol rule."

Nikita Khrushchev donated Crimea to Ukraine

In the first years of the existence of the USSR, Crimea was part of the RSFSR. In 1954 Crimea decision Nikita Khrushchev was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR. In 1990, after the collapse of the USSR and the acquisition of independence by Ukraine, 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.