The Presidential Library illustrates Grigory Potemkin. He "enriched the state with his victories and politics"

September 24, 2020 marks the 281th anniversary of the birth of the largest statesman and military leader during the reign of Catherine Grigory Potemkin (1739-1791). His name is associated with two victories in the Russian-Turkish wars and the annexation of the Crimea to Russia. The Presidential Library presents on its portal electronic copies of documents of the 18th century - "Papers of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky" for 1788-1789 and 1790-1793. These materials like orders, instructions, correspondence with the publication "Journal of the Sevastopol Fleet", as well as a number of studies and life stories of the military leader give a broad idea of ​​the personality of one of the most prominent companions of Catherine the Great.

""The darling of happiness" and "the magnificent prince of Taurida" - these are the epithets that most often accompany the name of Potemkin, - we read in the book of Peter Schebalsky "Potemkin and the settlement of the Novorossiysk Region". "All this has features that really belong to Potemkin".

His best qualities are truly revealed when Catherine, who has consolidated her power, appoints Potemkin in 1774 as vice-president of the Military Collegium and chief of the irregular troops with the rank of adjutant general. In 1775, he set about reforming the infantry, the main offensive force of the Russian army. Potemkin fundamentally changes the system of training recruits: from now on, soldiers are not taught a little of all military specialties, as before, but from the very beginning they are taught a specific military craft. Consequently, the emphasis is shifted from drill training to practical combat operations.

The empress's personal disposition, a high position at the court and in the state apparatus made Potemkin one of the most powerful people in the state. In the service under Catherine II, he had no equal in ebullient energy, generation and implementation of strategic projects. The book "The Life of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky", available in the electronic reading room of the Presidential Library, tells in detail how he distinguished himself in the Russian-Turkish wars of 1768-1774 and 1787-1791, proposing to pacify the Turks, he aims to add to Russia Crimea and the land adjacent to the peninsula.

After the successful completion of the first war with the Turks, Potemkin in 1776 received the post of governor of Novorossiya and immediately proceeded to reorganize the region and prepare residents to take the oath of allegiance to Russia. According to Pyotr Schebalsky in the publication ‘Potemkin and the Settlement of the Novorossiysk Territory’, one of the main measures of Grigory Alexandrovich after he took office was the disbandment of the Zaporozhye army. All members of the famous "partnership" were given the right to return to where each of them came from, or to remain in place as "a private person and in a position common to all residents of the region". The general military land was recognized as state land.

In addition, under the leadership of Potemkin, military and merchant fleets were being built on the Black Sea - they would later play a large role in the wars with Turkey.

In 1783, Grigory Potemkin managed to implement the project of Crimea's entry into Russia, for which he received the title of His Serene Highness Prince of Tauride from the hands of Catherine the Great. Thus, since 1783, the peninsula has historically become Russian territory. The digitized papers of Grigory Potemkin for the years 1788-1789 focus on the details of the stormy transformations in the Crimea.

February 1784 promulgated a manifesto, which proclaimed that all peoples who were in friendship with the Russian Empire were able to trade freely in Kherson, Sevastopol and Feodosia, and can also settle in the Novorossiysk Territory and enter into Russian citizenship.

Under the leadership of Potemkin, the Yekaterinoslav army successfully coped with an important task - the capture of Ochakov and access to the Danube. The victory came at a high price.

Prince Potemkin ordered all the ships and frigates of the Black Sea Fleet to go to sea and give battle to the Turks: “At least everyone should die, but he must show his fearlessness. <...> Where you see the Turkish fleet, attack it at any cost, even though everyone would be lost".

In 1787, Potemkin supervised the organization of the preparation and conduct of the trip of Catherine II to the Crimea, which explains the popular expression "Potemkin villages", which usually means fake houses, allegedly erected by him on the path of the Empress. However, in reality, Potemkin showed Catherine only real-life villages, and the emergence of the myth of the "Potemkin villages" is associated with rumors circulating at that time, which were spread by Potemkin's enemies.

Potemkin's main attention was drawn to Yekaterinoslav (now the city of Dnipro), "a city to which he would like to give priority importance in the entire southern region". “Most merciful sovereign”, - he wrote to the empress, “where, if not in a country dedicated to your glory, be a city of magnificent buildings? That is why I undertook projects to create a name worthy of this city. "Only death prevented Potemkin from realizing them, according to the study "Potemkin and the Settlement of the Novorossiysk Territory".

The authors of a number of sources of the Presidential Library note that Grigory Potemkin did no less in the South of Russia than Peter I did in the North.