Introduction to Crimea
Sunset over the Crimean Peninsula
Crimea is a peninsula in the northern part of the Black Sea, bordering the throat of two continents in the Near East, so it has always been a place of contention. To the east is the Kerch Peninsula, across the Kerch Strait from the mainland. The Crimean Peninsula, also known as the Crimean Peninsula, covers an area of 25,500 square kilometers and has a population of about 2.5 million. Its name is derived from the Tatar word "Crimean", the name of the earliest Khan of the Tatars. Crimea's earliest name was Khazaria, as the Khazarians once lived there. The ancient Greeks called Crimea Tauris. There are now two administrative districts on the Crimean Peninsula, one is the Crimean (Autonomous) Republic and the other is the city of Sevastopol.
The course of Crimea's history
Ancient castle in Crimea
In the 9th century, the East Slavs (ancestors of Russians and Ukrainians) established their unified regime in the eastern European plains, Kievan Rus' . In the 10th century, the Grand Duke of Kievan Rus' Sviatoslavs occupied the Crimean Peninsula.
In the 13th century, with the mongol invasion, Rus gradually lost control of the Crimean Peninsula. In 1240, the Mongols destroyed Kievan Rus' and the Crimean Peninsula became part of the Mongol Golden Horde.
The Tatars, who originated in Central Asia, were so successful in following the Mongols to move west, the Golden Horde encouraged the Tatars to move into the Crimean Peninsula and form a new people, the Crimean Tatars.
In 1443, the local Tatar leader Haji-Gelai broke away from the Golden Horde and established the Crimean Khanate here. Since its founding, the Crimean Khanate has been a country with strong Islamic overtones.
Defensive walls of the Golden Horde
In 1480, the Rus' occupied by the Golden Horde became independent under the leadership of the Muscovite Principality. The Russian Empire, with the Principality of Moscow at its core, was born on this basis. At this time, Russia was far from the sea, and since then the process of finding a warm coastline has begun.
The Crimean Khanate was a stumbling block in Russia's search for a southern coastline. Poland, another Christian country in Eastern Europe, is also looking south for a coastline. The Crimean Khanate was now facing a joint strangulation of the Two Christian States of Russia and Poland.
At this time, the Ottoman Empire, which was also an Islamic state, became the dependency of the Crimean Khanate. In 1470, the Crimean Khanate chose to submit to the Ottoman Empire.
The Crimean Khanate, which relied on the support of the Ottoman Empire, blocked the barrier of Russians, Poles and other Christians from going south, and even took advantage of Russia's unstable foothold to send troops north many times, plundering Russians and Ukrainians from the north as slaves, and through the slave trade, it became one of the most prosperous regions on the north coast of the Black Sea.
In the face of the plundering behavior of the Crimean Khanate, in 1654, Ukraine signed the Treaty of Pereyaslav with Russia, inviting Russia to rule eastern Ukraine. Since then, Russia and Ukraine have begun to form an alliance.
Russia officially occupied the fertile eastern plains of Ukraine to jointly resist the invasion of the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. Russia and the Crimean Khanate began a more than 100-year-long standoff.
Russia seized Crimea
Russians living in Crimea
In the 18th century, when the ottoman Empire and Russia's national fortunes were reversed, the Crimean Peninsula became a key target for Russia. The destruction of the Crimean Khanate and the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula became the long-cherished wish of successive tsars.
In order to eliminate the Ottoman-affiliated Crimean Khanate, Russia and Austria fought several wars in the 18th century. Finally, after Russia captured Crimea in 1783 and occupied Crimea, Russia continued to change cages for birds by expelling the local Tatars and moving into the Russians. Since then, ethnic Russians have built ports such as Sevastopol and Yalta on the Crimean Peninsula. In particular, the establishment of the port of Sevastopol gave the Russians the conditions to sail freely into the Black Sea.
Crimea changed hands to Ukraine
Crimean beaches
In 1917, the October Revolution broke out in Russia and Soviet power was established. Soviet power inherited the territory of the former Russia. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries joined the Soviet Union in the form of republics. The Crimean Peninsula is classified as an autonomous republic of Russia.
Because the Crimean Tatars cooperated with the Nazis in the Soviet Union during World War II, the Supreme Leader of the Soviets after World War II relocated them to Central Asia on the grounds that the Crimean Tatars cooperated with the Nazis, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was also reduced to a state. With the forced migration of the Tatars, a large number of Ethnic Russians and Ethnic Ukrainians moved into them, and ethnic Russians eventually became the dominant ethnic group in Crimea.
In 1954, Russia and Ukraine signed the Pereyaslav Peace Treaty, the 300th anniversary of the merger of Russia and Ukraine. In order to commemorate this important day and stabilize the granary of Ukraine, Khrushchev assigned Crimea, which originally belonged to Russia, to Ukraine.
But apparently Khrushchev did not think so much about it, because in 1954 Russia and Ukraine were all members of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev believed that this time it was only an adjustment of the territorial division within the Soviet Union. Throughout the Soviet period, russia and Ukraine did not have much controversy over the division of the Crimean Peninsula.
In 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine and other member states broke away from the Soviet Union, and independent Ukraine inherited sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula.
According to the Russian-Ukrainian agreement, russia's Black Sea Fleet was stationed on the peninsula, which was also a precondition for Russia to agree to the division of Ukraine in Crimea when it separated. But post-independence Ukraine has been the hardest hit area for the West to export "color revolutions."
Ukraine's "look west" has caused uneasiness in Russia. Because once Ukraine falls to the West, the Russian garrison will be replaced by the Western garrison, which is impossible for Russians to accept in terms of strategic values and national plot, which aggravates the uneasiness of Russia and the local population. The contradictions between Russia and Ukraine and the residents of the peninsula are becoming increasingly tense.
Crimea returns to Russia
Russian architecture in Crimea
In 2014, the pro-Russian Yanukovych was overthrown by a coup-d'état that completely broke Russian-Ukrainian relations, and this time pro-Western factions implemented a comprehensive "de-Russification policy" that made Ukrainian the only official language, and Russian schools were required to teach in Ukrainian. This hurt the feelings of the people of Crimea, which broke out in the conflict between pro-Russian and pro-Western factions.
After the pro-Western came to power, it also turned to NATO in terms of policy. Ukraine's membership in NATO means that Ukraine is highly likely to clear Russia from the Crimean Peninsula. Important ports such as Sevastopol and Kerch will become NATO naval bases. Once the Crimean Peninsula falls into NATO hands, Russia will face the most dire geostrategic landscape since World War II. Therefore, for Russia, only by firmly holding the Crimean Peninsula in its hands can it protect national security.
Since the crimean peninsula was incorporated into Russia in 1783, after several generations of ethnic Russian development, the Russian ethnic group has become the main ethnic group in the local area. This facilitated the referendum.
When conflict broke out in Crimea in February 2014, Russia stationed its troops on the Crimean Peninsula under the pretext of protecting its own diaspora. In early March, with the support of Russia, the Crimean Parliament declared the independence of the Crimean Autonomous Republic and Sevastopol from Ukraine.
On March 16, Crimea held a referendum on whether to leave Ukraine and join Russia. The results of the vote showed that the overwhelming majority of residents supported it. On March 21, Russia announced its takeover of Crimea and Sevastopol. After the incorporation of Crimea into Russia, Russia took over Crimea and Sevastopol, retaining the name of its autonomous republic. In 2016, Putin signed a presidential decree merging the southern federal jurisdiction of Russia and Crimea into a "southern federal district" to administratively strengthen Moscow's control over Crimea.
The tragedy of Ukraine
Look out over the Crimean Peninsula in the distance
The loss of Crimea and Ukraine's geopolitical operation errors are closely related, Ukraine is known as the "granary of Europe" has good geographical resources, but also located in the heart of Europe, is a natural barrier between traditional Europe and Russia, if you make good use of your natural geographical advantages, you can enjoy the economic welfare of Europe while enjoying Russia's rich resources, because of the value of Ukraine, no one dares to easily offend it, but it is one-sided to the West. Eventually push yourself into the abyss. The best way for small countries caught between large countries is to meet the source left and right.