Myth: Russia granted independence to the Crimean Khanate.
Fact: Although the Crimean Khanate, de jure, got rid of its vassalage to the Ottoman Empire, it became utterly dependent on the Russian Empire de facto.

The Russo-Turkish war began in 1768 and was caused by the invasion of Russian troops in Right-Bank Ukraine to suppress the Koliivshchyna rebellion and the Bar Confederation, which had sought help from the Turks. The outcome of this war was successful for St. Petersburg and created favorable conditions for implementing the Russian strategy to access the Black Sea, conquer the Northern Nadchornomoria, and eventually annex the Crimean Khanate. Based on the victories gained in 1770-1771, Russian diplomats offered the Turks to grant the Crimean Khanate independence, that is, to de facto renounce the possession of Crimea, but the Ottoman Empire rejected this offer.

On the other hand, St. Petersburg also used its military successes to intensify diplomatic efforts aimed at causing an internal split in the Crimean Khanate and creating a pro-Russian lobby there. Separate negotiations with the Crimean Tatar leadership representatives were “stimulated” by generous gifts, promises of a brilliant career, and money. As a result of P. Rumiantsev’s victories in Moldova in July 1770 and the capture of Bender in September, the Nogai hordes of the Yedisans and Budjaks cut off from access to the steppes were forced to ally with Russia. The Yedychkuls and Camboyluqs also could not resist Russian agents’ persuasion and renounced their Ottoman Porte citizenship.

To split the Crimean Tatars’ unity, the Russian army commander, Prince V. Dolhorukov, resorted to bribing a group of influential Tatars in the Crimean direction. St. Petersburg’s ally in Crimea was a representative of the Khan family, Shahin Giray, who, with the support of Russian troops, hoped to take the Khan’s throne and advocated for cooperation. In July 1771, V. Dolhorukov’s 30,000-strong army, supported by 60,000 Nogai, entered the Crimea. Dolhorukov enthroned Sahib I Giray on the throne, and his brother Şahin Giray was appointed the kalga. Russian troops occupied Crimea.
V. Dolhorukov was assigned the task of agreeing with the Khan. However, negotiations with the Tatars were fruitless. Then, to conclude an alliance agreement, the Russians resorted to violating the disobedience: executions and burning of settlements lasted for several weeks. Under the threat of mass terror, Tatar representatives were forced to agree to sign a treaty on the independence of the Khanate.

On November 12, 1772, a treaty of alliance was signed in Karasubazar, where the elders of the Bey dynasties, the Murza and Nogai representatives, gathered. The treaty declared the independence of the Crimean Khanate, proclaimed an “eternal alliance” with Russia, and transferred the fortresses of Kerch and Yeni-Kale to the Russian Empire. Thus, the so-called independence of the Crimean Khanate was initiated by St. Petersburg and was exclusively in the interests of the Russian Empire.
The course of the war and the Turks’ diplomatic failures (their hopes for the support of European powers, in particular France and the Austrian Empire, did not materialize) allowed Russia to claim further strengthening of its positions in Crimea.

Influenced by unfavorable external as well as internal factors (the death of Sultan Mustafa III in early 1774), the Ottoman Empire was forced to agree to negotiate with Russia. On July 21 (10, O.S.), 1774, in a military camp near the Bulgarian village ofKüçük Kaynarca, a peace treaty was signed between the Ottoman and Russian empires (Points of Eternal Reconciliation and Peace between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Porte…). On July 26 (15, O.S.), 1774, the treaty was signed by Field Marshal Count P. Rumiantsev on behalf of the Russian Empire and Grand Vizier Mussun-zade Mehmet Pasha on behalf of the Ottoman Empire. The document is written in Latin, Russian, and Turkish and contains a preamble and 28 articles.

In particular, according to Article 3 of the treaty, the Crimean Khanate, including the mainland of its possessions, was declared an independent state, and the Ottoman Empire renounced its suzerainty rights over it. Only religious dependence was preserved: the population of the Khanate was subordinated to the sultan of the Ottoman Empire as the caliph of all Muslims, and the newly elected Khan (who was to be elected by the population of the Crimean Khanate only from the Genghis Khan’s descendants) became legitimate after receiving the sultan’s blessing. The Crimean Khanate received the Ottoman territories on the southern coast of Crimea and the Northern Prychornomoria region between the Southern Buh and the Dniester, except for the fortress of Ochakiv and its district. The Russian Empire was obliged to withdraw its troops from the territory of the Crimean Khanate and return to the Khan all “cities, fortresses, settlements, lands and wharves in the Crimea and Kuban, acquired by its arms” except for Kerch and Yeni-Kale. The Ottoman possessions in the east of the Kerch Peninsula (the district of the Kerch Fortress) and the west of the Taman Peninsula (the district of the Yeni-Kale Fortress; the fortress itself was located on the Kerch Peninsula) were transferred to the Russian Empire, thus placing the Kerch Strait under Russian control.

The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was a turning point on the way to the complete conquest of Crimea by the Russian Empire. The independence “granted” to the Crimean Tatars by the treaty of 1774 clearly showed that Russia sought to assert its exclusive supremacy in Crimea; Russia was in no hurry to withdraw its troops from the peninsula and was justifiably accused of inciting conflicts in the Khanate. Russia’s neglect of the provisions of the treaty (in particular, its failure to withdraw its troops from Crimea), systematic interference in the internal affairs of the Khanate, including the process of electing a khan (installing its protege Shahin Giray), deportation of the local Christian population to the Azov Governorate in 1778, weakened and exhausted the Crimean Khanate, and laid the groundwork for the elimination of Crimean Tatar statehood in 1783.

The publication is based on materials by historian Bohdan Korolenko.