To annex Crimea, Russia had to wage long and exhausting wars - both with the Crimean Tatars and the Turks. And only in 1783 the peninsula became part of the Russian Empire.
Nightingales-robbers
At the end of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire subdued the Crimea and adjacent territories to its influence. The Turks retained the power of the khans and only annexed the lands inhabited by Christians to the personal possessions of the Sultan. The Crimean Khanate itself had the status of a state under the protection of the Port, that is, Turkey.
It was an amazing education in every respect. A whole people have long lived by robbery and robbery. Kafa (Feodosia) became the European capital of the slave trade. The Tatars gathered a huge cavalry army and invaded the neighboring lands across the wide plains.
Deeper two hundred kilometers, the horde was divided into small detachments and moved in the opposite direction, covering a wide strip of territory with its wings. The main goal was the capture of slaves - yasyr. The Tatars tried not to engage in battle with large enemy forces. According to some estimates, from 1571 to 1783 more than three million people were sold in the Kafa slave markets.
Every spring Moscow gathered up to 70 thousand warriors, who carried the security service on the Oka, but the Tatars still deceived the patrols over and over again. Ivan the Terrible set the task of ending the Tatar states. He coped with Kazan and Astrakhan, and the Crimean Khanate was too tough for him. Khan Devlet Giray in 1571 gathered a 120,000-strong army and burned Moscow.
The Tatars drove 50 thousand people to the Crimea, and the khan received the nickname Takht Algan - "who took the throne." Next year he planned a new campaign, but his horde was defeated by the army of Mikhail Vorotynsky and Dmitry Khvorostinin. This became a turning point in the history of the khanate. Almost the entire combat-ready male population was killed, and the guard line of the Russian state moved back to the south for 300 kilometers.
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a swan song
While Russia was waging the Northern War, Devlet II Girey restored the military potential of the khanate and even modernized the troops. During these years, cavalry commanders from all over Europe came to study the Crimean experience, and military experts vied with each other to call the Crimean cavalry a model for the whole world.
In 1710, the Khan agreed with the Cossacks about an alliance against Russia. The Turks came to their aid and decided to return Azov. Russian troops repelled the invasion, but the Prussian campaign of Peter I was unsuccessful. The Tatars continued their raids on the southern Russian lands, which forced Russia to spend huge money on defense and prevented the settlement of the Wild Field.
However, success on the Prut became the swan song of the khanate and their Ottoman patrons.
Anna Ioannovna decided to end the Crimea. She entered into a military alliance with Austria, and in 1735 the Russo-Turkish war broke out. The Russian command set the task of taking Azov and capturing the Crimea.
In the spring of 1736, the 62,000-strong army of Burkhard Minich took Perekop and invaded the peninsula. In June, Bakhchisarai fell, the khan's army was defeated. Minich used infantry squares and heavy cavalry against the Tatars, and relied on massive artillery fire in defense.
An order came from Petersburg: not to leave a stone unturned from the khanate. The population that did not have time to escape was mercilessly slaughtered. An exception was made only for Christians.
The following year, the army of Peter Lassi invaded the peninsula. Crimea was methodically devastated. Only intelligence data, according to which it was impossible to feed even a 5-thousandth corps on the peninsula, forced to abandon a new campaign.
But if the Russian troops won victory after victory, the Turks completely defeated the Austrian allies. The Belgrade Peace of 1739 kept the Crimean Khanate in its previous status, but it was impossible to restore it from the ruins. In St. Petersburg, this was considered a completely acceptable outcome.
The last foray
In 1768, another Russian-Turkish war began. And not because of the Crimea, but because of the intervention of St. Petersburg in Polish affairs. The Turkish sultan Mustafa III clearly exaggerated his capabilities, and therefore succumbed to the persuasions of France and provoked a war with Russia. In fact, the French were not going to help the Turks, but simply wanted to chop off Egypt from them on the sly. So the only allies of the Ottomans were the Tatars and the Polish confederates.
In January 1769, the Kyrym Giray horde set out on their last raid on the Russian lands. It was attended by the entire adult male population of the peninsula - about 70 thousand sabers. The horde managed to get through to Elizavetgrad, where they were greeted with artillery fire. Kyrym Girei turned back, but at home a conspiracy and deposition awaited him.
The Turks suffered defeat after defeat, and in 1770 the war again swept across the Crimea. Vasily Dolgorukov's army defeated the Tatars and occupied the entire peninsula in less than a month. In the summer of 1774, peace was concluded between Russia and Turkey, which renounced its claims to the Crimea.
But the peninsula still remained formally independent, although Sahib Girey, loyal to St. Petersburg, sat on the khan's throne. His power was fragile: the people did not want to give up their ties with the Ottoman Empire. The Tatars were also irritated by the Russian garrisons in Yenikala and Kerch.
In 1776, the last Crimean khan Shahin Girey ascended the throne. He also did not enjoy popularity, mainly due to attempts to reform the management on the European model. In 1781, an anti-Russian uprising began in the Kuban, which quickly spread to the Crimea. Shahin Giray fled, the Tatars everywhere attacked the Russian garrisons and the Christian population.
The rebels turned to Turkey for help and demanded that Russia guarantee the independence of the khanate. Turkey chose to remain silent, and Russia sent troops, which, under the leadership of Grigory Potemkin, brutally suppressed the riot. In 1783 Potemkin persuaded Shahin Giray to give up power, and Catherine II published a manifesto on the annexation of Crimea.
The revolution will write off everything
Crimea was a pitiful sight. The population barely reached 60 thousand people. Most of them roamed the mountainous areas. Armenians, Greeks and other Christians (about 40 thousand), who once formed the basis of the craft and commercial class, were resettled to Novorossiya.
Success in the war with Turkey turned the head of Catherine II, as well as her entourage. This is how the "Greek project" was born, which assumed the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the division of its territory. It was planned to revive the Byzantine state led by a representative of the Russian ruling house, and between Austria and Russia, the empress wanted to see a buffer state like modern Romania.
Naturally, no one in Europe liked such plans. England, France and Prussia immediately promised Turkey support and assistance in rebuilding the army. In addition, negotiations with the Austrians, where the "Greek project" was discussed, became a huge mistake of Russian diplomacy. Vienna, although it remained in alliance with Russia, flatly refused to support the creation of a pro-Russian "Byzantium".
In 1787, the Turks demanded that Russia return Crimea to the custody of the Port, but they were refused, and at the same time a declaration of war. As last time, the Ottomans inflicted several defeats on the Austrians, but were beaten by the Russians. Moreover, both on land and at sea.
Turkey agreed to sign a peace that secured Crimea, Kuban, Taman and Ochakov for Russia, as well as moved the border to the Dniester. Russia simply did not have enough time for more. The all-European alliance against St. Petersburg began to take on too real shape. Moreover, under pressure from France and Prussia, Austria was ready to abandon an alliance with Russia.
In London, they already dreamed of a pan-European campaign for the restoration of Poland, the Crimean Khanate and the return of the Baltic to the Swedes, but all the cards were confused by the French Revolution. The Europeans have no time for Crimea.
Artyom PROKUROROV