In the framework of our cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, we have prepared material about the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire.

On April 19, 1783, the Russian Empire issued a manifesto by Empress Catherine II on the liquidation of the Crimean Khanate and its annexation to Russia.

It happened just 8 years after the Russians liquidated the Zaporozhian Sich as a Cossack autonomy, which resulted in the dissolution of the Zaporozhian Lowland Army.

Russia’s liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich and the annexation of the Crimean Khanate are parts of the same process. Both events took place within the framework of the same policy of the Russian Empire, the unification of imperial rule, and the elimination of any non-imperial centers in its sphere of influence. For example, Catherine set the following task: “to make them (the territories of Finland, the Baltic States, and Ukraine) become Russianized by the easiest means and stop looking like a wolf to the woods.” This was followed by the elimination of the Hetmanate, and the final destruction of the Cossack liberties and the Sich itself was only a matter of time.

The Crimean Khanate in the 18th century was heavily influenced by the Ottoman Empire, against which Russia was actively fighting. the Russian Empire sought to gain a foothold in the Black Sea to encroach on Istanbul in the future, which would open the way to the Mediterranean. More globally, Russia sought to take possession of the cultural heritage of Byzantium and become its “successor.” And the state of the Crimean Tatars stood in the way of these plans.

In 1774, another war between the Ottoman and Russian empires ended. The Treaty of Küçük-Kaynarca stipulated, among other things, that Crimea would become independent. Russia and the Ottoman Empire pledged to respect Crimea’s independence and not to interfere in its internal affairs. But in reality, the Russians turned Crimea into a puppet state. Despite the obligation to withdraw troops from the territory of the Crimean Khanate, which had been there since 1771, this did not happen, which is why Russia had a significant influence on the Khanate’s policy.

When this Russo-Ottoman War ended, the Cossacks of the Sich were no longer needed, they interfered with the imperial colonization of the entire Northern Prychornomoria region and did not fit into the concept of imperial governance.

Among the reasons for the abolition of the Zaporozhian Liberties were the unwillingness to tolerate a “state within a state”; Catherine II’s fears of a possible Sich alliance with the Crimean Khanate against Russia; the desire of Russian nobles to seize the fertile lands and natural resources of Zaporizhzhia; and the elimination of the center of anti-serfdom struggle and the unstable element.

The action was accompanied by an information campaign that the Sich had been destroyed “in its political ugliness.” In the best traditions of demagoguery, the “enlightened” empress presented the destruction of the Sich as the fulfillment of her royal duty to God, to the empire, and even “to humanity itself.” Russia would soon use similar narratives to justify the annexation of the Crimean Khanate.

In the annexed lands of Zaporizhzhia, the favorites and close associates of Catherine II acquired vast possessions. At the same time, the intensive colonization of “Novorosia,” as the steppe Prychornomoria region was renamed, began.

When the Zaporozhian Sich was liquidated, the Crimean Khanate remained the last obstacle to the Russian Empire’s full rule in the Northern Prychornomoria region.

From 1775, the Crimean Khanate was ruled by a Russian protege, Şahin Giray, who was installed to replace another protege, Sahib I Giray, who had been overthrown by the Russians.

Before the annexation of the Crimean Khanate, Russia undermined its economy by deporting all Christians from Crimea to its territory, who were mostly citizens and significant taxpayers to the Khan’s treasury.

The resettlement of Christians, mostly Greeks, Urums and Rumeians, and Armenians, from Crimea was upgraded to the rank of state policy and took place in 1778 under the command of Suvorov and Catherine’s direct control.

Despite the obvious motives, Russian propaganda presents this event as “voluntary resettlement” and “Russia’s rescue of Christians from the Tatars,” among whom the Christians had lived peacefully for centuries.

Crimean Tatars have staged several uprisings against Russian protege Şahin Giray, with the last major uprising taking place in 1782. Russian troops helped suppress each of them. Eventually, Şahin renounced the throne, and Russia switched to more aggressive actions.

In 1783, an independent state was de facto annexed by force, although, judging by the text of the 1783 manifesto, Catherine did not seem to think so.

During this process, familiar narratives could be seen: the Crimean Khanate was presented as a criminal formation under the auspices of the Ottoman Empire that had to be eradicated like a duty to God. At the same time, Potemkin was the first to plan to deport all Crimean Tatars from the peninsula, “so that they would not interfere with the development of the peninsula.”

Initially, the Russian Empire tried to gain the loyalty of the Crimean elites, and a Crimean Zemstvo government (body of rural self-government in the Russian Empire and Ukraine) was created, headed by representatives of the top officials of the former Crimean Khanate. However, in 1784 it was liquidated, and Crimea became part of the Tavriia region.

The year 1783 also marked the beginning of the first wave of emigration of the Crimean Tatar people, one of six that they survived. It was the beginning of an era in the history of the Crimean Tatars that many of them call the “Black Century.” It is difficult to calculate the number, but we are talking about thousands of residents who left Crimea because of the risks associated with the Russian occupation.

Shortly afterward, a new Russo-Ottoman War broke out (1787), in which the Ottoman Empire sought to regain control of Crimea and restore the Crimean Khanate. During this war, Russia resorted to further harassment of the Crimean Tatars: they were resettled from the coastal regions, sometimes outside Crimea, for fear of possible cooperation with the Ottomans.

The annexation of Crimea in 1783 became the future ideological basis for the myth of “Russian Crimea” as well as the occupation and attempted annexation in 2014. Russian leaders even tried to add April 19 to the list of memorial days and celebrate the “adoption of Crimea”. In addition, many parallels can be drawn. As in 1783, Russia’s current colonialist policy and occupation has led to violations of the rights of indigenous peoples, including Crimean Tatars, and has given rise to repression and harassment.