The Presidential Library spotlights the 240-year history of Russian Crimea

On March 18 our country celebrates another anniversary of the reunification of the Crimean peninsula with the Russian Federation. April 19 will mark 240 years since the Crimean Khanate, the Taman Peninsula and the Kuban became part of the Russian Empire.

Digitized rarities from the Presidential Library’s collections spotlight the time when Crimea first became Russian and how its territory, economy and culture developed thanks to the Russian Empire. The collection of unique documents Republic of Crimea: Pages of History contains research, essays, archival materials, rare books and photographs of the peninsula of the 19th-20th centuries.

The Cimmerians, Taurians, Scythians, Greeks, Mongol-Tatars, Turks and other peoples left their mark on the history of the peninsula. “The history of Taurida, or Crimea, is older than the history of Rome. Almost twenty centuries before the birth of Christ, the Tauris lived on our peninsula, on whose behalf the peninsula itself was named Taurida, and later the province, which included the peninsula, was named Tauride”, - says the historical essay On the centennial anniversary of the annexation of Crimea (1883).

The manuscript of a Turkish official, the translation of which was published in the publication Crimea in the middle of the 18th century (1867) provides the following description: “Crimea is an island that looks like a triangle and is 700 miles in volume and is connected with solid land through the is one and a half miles wide. It is inhabited by Tatars. Their main city, the residence of the khans, is called Bakhchisarai. All cities and towns are subordinate to the khan, with the exception of Kaffa and the Yenikale fortress, where Ottoman pashas are in command”.

The Crimean Khanate was of interest to the Ottoman Empire: it was a stronghold for the fight against the Russian state and the Commonwealth, as well as a major trading hub on the Black Sea. The slave trade flourished on the territory of the peninsula, and the subjects of the Crimean Khan often "visited" the border lands.

Russo-Turkish War 1768–1774 led to the refusal of the Ottoman Empire from claims to Crimea. After the military campaigns of Prince Grigory Potemkin, on April 8 (19), 1783, Empress Catherine II issued a manifesto on the inclusion of the Crimean Khanate, the Taman Peninsula and the Kuban into the Russian state.

The Empress sent Field Marshal and His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, to manage and develop the territories, and then she herself visited new Russian territories. Details about the historic visit and colossal transformations on the peninsula by the time of this visit are available in the book by Mikhail Kovalensky Journey of Catherine II to the Crimea (1916).

According to the author, Potemkin "took to the colonization and organization of Novorossiya with great fervor". Moreover, according to the historian, he cared not only about the settlement of the region, but also about its enrichment, about the development of the economy. The resulting silk was sent to Catherine's dresses.

Thanks to his efforts, the richest lands of the southern Russian steppes were being developed. Peasants and workers were sent to build canals, embankments, fortifications, shipyards, and enterprises. At the beginning of 1784, a port and a fortress were founded, which Empress Catherine II named Sevastopol - "The Majestic City".

In 1787, Catherine II went on a trip to the peninsula through Perekop, visiting Karasubazar, Bakhchisaray, Laspi and Sevastopol. Potemkin thought over and arranged the route of the empress. He had something to brag about. For several years, fortresses and ports have grown here, the number of villages and cities, stone buildings has constantly increased. So, for example, only for the construction of Kherson, three regiments of soldiers and 500 ship carpenters were issued. This new city surprised even the foreigners who accompanied Catherine.

But Potemkin prepared the main surprise for the Empress in Sevastopol. He became the master of the situation on the Black Sea and won a series of brilliant victories over the Turkish fleet under the command of Admiral Ushakov. Russia had to once again clash with the Ottoman Empire in a new war of 1787-1791 for strengthening its presence on the coast.

For his services, Field Marshal Potemkin received the honorary title of Tauride. The book On the Opening of the Monument to Prince Potemkin-Tauride in Kherson (1836) tells about the perpetuation of the memory of the founder of the city. The monument was made according to the model of the sculptor Ivan Martos and installed in the city center in 1836, marking the 45th anniversary of the burial of the prince in the city cathedral. (In October 2022, along with several other monuments, as well as the ashes of Potemkin, he was taken out of Kherson).   

The lands of the Crimean peninsula continued to be actively populated. From the second half of the 19th century, the southern coast of Crimea turned into a flourishing resort: palaces and mansions of members of the imperial family and representatives of the privileged strata of Russia were built here.

The hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, Count Mikhail Vorontsov, later became the successor of Potemkin's work. Having been appointed to the post of Governor-General of Novorossia and governor of Bessarabia, he continues the development of the Crimean peninsula and acquires new lands: Gurzuf, Massandra, Alupka, Martyan, Ai-Danil, Ai-Vasil, Ak-Mechet. This southern part of the empire, sometimes deserted and wild, Vorontsov turned into a region with a growing economy, he developed communication routes and vehicles, established steamship communications, development and mining of coal in the Donbass. It was thanks to Vorontsov that Crimea and all of Novorossia experienced a real boom in economic development.

The Presidential Library has publicly filmed and posted on the portal the documentary film The Vorontsov Memorial Library: what is hidden behind the spines of the books of the Vorontsov Palace, dedicated to the activities of Count Vorontsov in Novorossia and his famous book collection. Part of it, by the way, has already been digitized and is also available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

The most beautiful nature is captured in unique photographs of Crimea of the century before last and the beginning of the last century, available on the Presidential Library’s portal. Crimea in Postcards collection involves more than 800 photographs of the sights and landscapes of the peninsula, which explain why Crimea has always been a place of pilgrimage for creative people.

Artists Aivazovsky, Levitan, Korovin painted their paintings here. In 1820 Alexander Pushkin visited Crimea during his southern exile. Nikolai Gogol visited Crimea in 1838. Soon after the launch of the Crimean War, the young lieutenant Leo Tolstoy was transferred to Sevastopol at his personal request. He described his experience of being at the front in “Sevastopol Tales”, which glorified the future classic. Anton Chekhov moved to Yalta in 1898 and it was here that he created the plays “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard” that glorified him throughout the world, the famous “Crimean” story “The Lady with the Dog”. Bunin, Gorky, Kuprin, Korolenko, Chaliapin visited Chehov in his Yalta’s house. Writer Alexander Kuprin lived in Balaklava. In Feodosia, most of part of the novel "Running on the Waves" by Alexander Grin, who went to visit Maximilian Voloshin in Koktebel, was written. Thanks to the efforts of Voloshin, the charm of his personality, the remote village became one of the spiritual and cultural centers of Russia in the Silver Age.

With the establishment of Soviet power on the peninsula in March 1918, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida was formed on the territory of Crimea, then the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the RSFSR. During the Great Patriotic War, fierce battles were fought on the peninsula with the Nazi invaders. Sevastopol and Kerch received the title of Hero Cities. Feodosia - the city of military glory. In 1945, instead of the Crimean ASSR, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Crimean Region was created as part of the RSFSR, and in 1954, the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev transferred Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR. Under Soviet rule, Crimea became an all-Union health resort. In December 1998, Republic of Crimea became part of Ukraine.

In 2014, a referendum in Crimea and Sevastopol was held, as a result of which, on March 18, an agreement on the admission of Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia was signed. The historical document On the ratification of the Treaty between the Russian Federation and Republic of Crimea is available on the Presidential Library’s portal.