Annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire

For the 2014 annexation, see Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

Annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire
Arrival of Catherine II in Feodosia, painting by Ivan Aivazovsky (1883)
Date19 April [O.S. 8 April] 1783
LocationCrimea, Ottoman Empire
OutcomeCrimean Khanate annexed by Russian Empire

The territory of the Crimean Khanate was annexed by the Russian Empire on 19 April [O.S. 8 April] 1783.[1] Russia had wanted more control over the Black Sea, and an end to the Crimean slave trade, and as such, waged a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire and its Crimean vassal. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed in 1774, following the Russian victory against the Ottoman Empire. The treaty granted the Crimean Khanate independence from the Ottoman Empire but in reality, placed the khanate under Russian influence. The period before the annexation was marked by Russian interference in Crimean affairs, a series of revolts by Crimean Tatars, and Ottoman ambivalence. In March 1783, Grigory Potemkin made a persuasive appeal to Catherine the Great to annex the Crimean Khanate. He had just returned from a trip to Crimea and reported to the Empress that the Crimean people would "happily" accept Russian rule. Motivated by this information, Empress Catherine officially proclaimed the annexation on April 19, 1783.

The annexation of Crimea brought an end to the centuries long Crimean slave trade. After the annexation, Russia began a long-term policy of de-Tatarisation, colonising the lands of the former Crimean Khanate, pushing out the Crimean Tatar population and settling Slavs.[2][3]

  1. ^ M. S. Anderson (December 1958). "The Great Powers and the Russian Annexation of the Crimea, 1783–4". The Slavonic and East European Review. 37 (88): 17–41. JSTOR 4205010.
  2. ^ Potichnyj, Peter J. (January 1975). "The Struggle of the Crimean Tatars". Canadian Slavonic Papers. 17 (2–3): 302–319. doi:10.1080/00085006.1975.11091411. ISSN 0008-5006.
  3. ^ Vardys, V. Stanley (April 1971). "The Case of the Crimean Tartars". Russian Review. 30 (2): 101–110. doi:10.2307/127890. JSTOR 127890.