Military Annexation of the Crimean Khanate (1783)
The seizure of the Crimean Khanate and its forcible incorporation into the Russian Empire: "WE have resolved to take under OUR dominion the Crimean peninsula, the island of Taman, and the entire Kuban side"[1]. With regard to Ukraine, the annexation was secured through the forced mobilization of Cossacks as a military resource, the colonization of the adjacent southern steppes to create a loyal rear, and the erasure of Cossack toponyms: the lands of the destroyed Sich were assigned by Catherine II's manifesto of 3 August 1775 "as convenient to the Novorossiysk Governorate"[2]. For Crimea this meant the liquidation of the state and its ruling dynasty: "in the spring of 1782 Khan Shahin Girey was forced to flee under Russian protection"[3], the manifesto on the taking of Crimea was signed by Catherine II on April 8, 1783 (PSZRI, coll. 1, vol. XXI, no. 15,108)[4], and the khan was exiled to Kaluga; the indigenous population was being squeezed out in waves of emigration - "if before 1787 only 8 thousand had emigrated, by 1792 it was already tens of thousands"[3].
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0009 | Russian Empire | 3 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0008 | Government | 2 |
| S0010 | Regular Army | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
The use of Ukrainian Cossacks as a military resource for storming Turkish fortresses and consolidating imperial claims to Crimea: at Ochakiv "the 'loyal Cossacks' took part in the storming of the fortress"[5], and in the storming of Izmail "in total over 6 thousand Black Sea Cossacks took part in the battle"[6].
The colonization of the steppes adjacent to Crimea with settlers to create a loyal rear: as early as 1752, New Serbia was formed from Serbs – "officially – to guard the southern frontiers from Tatar and Turkish raids, but in fact – to subdue the Zaporozhians"[7], and in 1776 Potemkin directly ordered "not to return fugitives"[8], accelerating the settlement of the south.
The erasure of the historical names of the Cossack southern territories used as a springboard for the annexation of Crimea: Catherine II's manifesto of 3 August 1775 extirpated "the very name of the Zaporozhian Cossacks" and poured their lands into an imperial construct – "assigning them as convenient to the Novorossiysk Governorate"[2].
References
- Екатерина II (ПСЗРИ, т. XXI, № 15708). (1783). Манифест о принятии Крыма под Российскую державу.
- Екатерина II (ПСЗРИ, т. XX, № 14354). (1775). Манифест об уничтожении Запорожской Сечи.
- Редкол.: В. А. Смолій (голова) та ін. НАН України. Інститут історії України. (2008). Енциклопедія історії України: Т. 5.
- Российская империя (ПСЗРИ); Манифест Екатерины II №15108 от 8 апреля 1783 г. «О принятии полуострова Крымского, острова Тамана и всей Кубанской стороны под Российскую державу». (1830). Полное собрание законов Российской империи. Собрание первое. Том XXI (1781-1783).
- Редкол.: В. А. Смолій (голова) та ін. НАН України. Інститут історії України. (2010). Енциклопедія історії України: Т. 7.
- Редкол.: В. А. Смолій (голова) та ін. НАН України. Інститут історії України. (2005). Енциклопедія історії України: Т. 3.
- Редкол.: В. А. Смолій (голова) та ін. НАН України. Інститут історії України. (2012). Енциклопедія історії України: Т. 9.
- Редкол.: В. А. Смолій (голова) та ін. НАН України. Інститут історії України. (2011). Енциклопедія історії України: Т. 8.