Carte de la Crimee et des Territoires voisins jusqu’a Odessa, Anapa, Kherson,

Title

Carte de la Crimee et des Territoires voisins jusqu’a Odessa, Anapa, Kherson,

Description

Map shows the Crimean peninsula.

ca. 1880

Artist

Gillet

Historical Description

In the 1st century BC Crimea, like all parts of the Greek world, came under Roman influence, but was not organized as a Roman province. They continued to give their name to the region, which was called Gotia by the Italians, until the 15th century. They were followed by the European Huns from the 5th century, the Bosporan Empire disintegrated in this period, but Eastern Roman bases were still in the Crimea for a long time. In the early Middle Ages the Khazars, Cumans and Tatars invaded Crimea one after another. In the 13th century, the Mongols of the Golden Horde, to whose sphere of influence the peninsula then belonged, maintained extensive trade relations. In particular, trade through the Crimea to Egypt was pronounced and can only be compared to the trade relations of the Mongols with the Italians, here especially Genoa and Venice. The latter often acted as middlemen and transporters of trade to Egypt. One of the main traded goods of this route were slaves, while in the direction of Europe, besides these, mainly grain, spices and fur products were exported. The basis for this great economic role of the Crimea was its strategically favorable location at the northern end of the Silk Road ("Mongolian Route"). The political history of the Crimea in the late Middle Ages is characterized by the disputes and competitive struggles of the various Christian powers (Genoa, Venice, Byzantium) among themselves, as well as the often problematic relations between them and the Golden Horde or the expanding Ottoman Empire, into whose hands the Crimea finally fell completely in the course of the 15th century. In the course of the dissolution of the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate emerged around 1430 under the rule of a collateral line of Mongol khans with Bakhchysaraj as its capital, bringing large parts of present-day Ukraine under its control. Although it came under Ottoman control as early as 1475, it retained some degree of autonomy. Until the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774), the Khanate of Crimea was a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. With the help of the Russian Empire, it succeeded in breaking away, and the Ottomans were forced to recognize Crimea's "independence" in the Peace of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774, but this simultaneously resulted in a creeping Russification. Many Crimean Tatars fled to the territory of present-day Turkey. Under Grigory Potyomkin, the Crimean Tatar state finally came under Russian rule through annexation. In 1783, Crimea was formally declared part of Russia "henceforth and for all time" by Catherine II. In the first half of the 19th century, Sevastopol was developed into the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet under the leadership of Admiral Mikhail Lazarev. From 1853 to 1856 Crimea and Sevastopol in particular were the scene of the Crimean War. Parts of the peninsula were temporarily occupied during this period by allied troops. In December 1917, after the October Revolution in Crimea, the Crimean Tatars proclaimed the People's Republic of Crimea, the first attempt at a secular democratic order in the Islamic world. White Guards occupied Crimea during the Russian Civil War. After the defeat of Wrangel, the Red Army invaded, and in 1921 Crimea was proclaimed an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) within Soviet Russia.