Several different governments controlled the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

during the period of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, from the 1920s to 1991. The government of Crimea from 1921 to 1936 was the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, which was an

Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic An Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR, ) was a type of administrative unit in the Soviet Union (USSR), created for certain ethnic groups to be the titular nations of. The ASSRs had a status lower than the constituent union republics of t ...

within the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

(SFSR); the name was altered slightly to the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from 1936 to 1945. Due to alleged collaboration of

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, all Crimean Tatars were deported by the Soviet regime in 1944 and the peninsula was resettled with other peoples, mainly Russians and Ukrainians, leaving the autonomous republic without its

titular nationality The titular nation is the single dominant ethnic group in a particular state, typically after which the state was named. The term was first used by Maurice Barrès in the late 19th century. Soviet Union The notion was used in the Soviet Union to ...

. It was thus downgraded to an

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

within the Russian SFSR on 30 June 1945. The oblast was

transferred to the Ukrainian SSR In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union transferred the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. The territory had been recognized within the Soviet Union as having "close ties" to the Ukrainian SSR, an ...

in 1954. Following a state-sanctioned referendum in 1991, it became again an autonomous republic, within the Ukrainian SSR, and then within independent Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

History

Crimea within the Russian SFSR (1921–1954)

Crimean ASSR (1921–1945)

On 18 October 1921, after a successful military campaign by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

on the Southern Front of the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

led to the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

evacuation Evacuation or Evacuate may refer to: * Casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), patient evacuation in combat situations * Casualty movement, the procedure for moving a casualty from its initial location to an ambulance * Emergency evacuation, removal of pers ...

from Crimea in late 1920, the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic was created within the Russian SFSR by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. It was renamed the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 5 December 1936 by the Eighth Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the USSR. There were two unsuccessful attempts to establish Jewish autonomy in Crimea. The first attempt, conducted by the Soviet government with the support of the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Advert Where and how does this article resemble an WP:SOAP, advert and how should it be improved? See: Wikipedia:Spam (you might trthe Teahouseif you have questions). American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a J ...

, ended in the creation of the

Jewish Autonomous Oblast The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO) is a federal subject of Russia in the far east of the country, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast in Russia and Heilongjiang province in China. Its administrative center is the town of Birobidzhan. ...

Birobidzhan Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджан, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; , ), also spelt Birobijan ( ), is a town and the administrative centre of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, near the China–Russia bord ...

, as the Soviet government feared establishing it in Crimea would provoke antisemitic sentiments. The second attempt, by the

Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, abbreviated as JAC, was an organization that was created in the Soviet Union during World War II to influence international public opinion and organize political and material support for the Soviet fight against ...

between 1943 and 1944, led to the

Night of the Murdered Poets Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...

and heightened persecution of Jews as Stalin feared the establishment of a Jewish republic in Crimea with American support. Crimea was under ''de facto'' control of

from September 1942 to October 1943, administratively incorporated into as .

Alfred Frauenfeld Alfred Eduard Frauenfeld (18 May 1898 – 10 May 1977) was an Austrian Nazi leader. An engineer by occupation, he was associated with the pro-German wing of Austrian Nazism. Early life Frauenfeld was born in Vienna, the son of a privy councill ...

was appointed as General Commissar (although it seems that Frauenfeld spent most of his time in Crimea researching the peninsula's Gothic heritage and the actual government was in the hands of

Erich von Manstein Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a Germans, German Officer (armed forces), military officer of Poles (people), Polish descent who served as a ''Generalfeld ...

). During the war, there was also widespread resistance to the German occupation. In 1944, under the pretext of alleged collaboration of the Crimean Tatars with the Nazi occupation regime, the Soviet government deported the Crimean Tatar people from Crimea, according to GKO Order No. 5859ss of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...

. Actual collaboration in the military sense had been rather limited, with a recorded 9,225 Crimean Tatars serving in anti-Soviet

Tatar Legions The Tatar Legions were auxiliary units of the Waffen-SS formed after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. It included: # Crimean Tatar Legion, comprising Crimean Tatars, Qarays, Nogais # Volga Tatar Legion, which included also Bash ...

and other German formed battalions, but there was in fact a surprisingly high degree of co-operation between the occupation government and the local administration; this has been significantly due to Frauenfeld's unwillingness to implement the policy of brutality towards the local population pursued by

Erich Koch Erich Koch (; 19 June 1896 – 12 November 1986) was a ''Gauleiter'' of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in East Prussia from 1 October 1928 until 1945. Between 1941 and 1945 he was Chief of Civil Administration (''Chef der Zivilverwaltung'') of Bezi ...

, which led to a series of public conflict between the two men. The constitutional rights of the forcibly-resettled Tatars were restored with a

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

dated September 5, 1967, but they were not allowed to

return Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or t ...

until the last days of the Soviet Union.

Crimean Oblast (1945–1954)

The Crimean ASSR was converted into the

Crimean Oblast * oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often tr ...

of the Russian SFSR on June 30, 1945, by a

of the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...

(published as a

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

on June 25, 1946). It was stripped of its autonomous status as a result of the alleged crimes of

during

. 90% of toponyms were changed in 1944–1949 from mostly Crimean Tatar to Russian.

Crimea within the Ukrainian SSR (1954–1992)

Crimean Oblast (1954–1991)

On 19 February 1954, the oblast was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR jurisdiction, on the basis of "the integral character of the economy, the territorial proximity and the close economic and cultural ties between the Crimea Province and the Ukrainian SSR" and to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Ukraine's union with Russia.

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

was a

closed city A closed city or town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied. Historically, the construction of closed cities became increasingly common after the beginning of the Cold War, particularly in the Soviet Union. Since t ...

due to its importance as the port of the Soviet

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

, and was attached to the Crimean Oblast only in 1978.

Crimean ASSR (1991–1992)

On 12 February 1991, the status of Crimea Oblast was changed to that of autonomous republic, the

Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Several different governments controlled the Crimean Peninsula during the period of the Soviet Union, from the 1920s to 1991. The government of Crimea from 1921 to 1936 was the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, which was an Autonomo ...

, by the

Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR (; ) was the Supreme Soviet, supreme soviet (main Legislature, legislative institution) and the highest organ of state power of Ukraine when it was known as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukra ...

as the result of a state-sanctioned

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

held on 20 January 1991. 4 months later, on June 19, appropriate changes were made to the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR. With effect from 6 May 1992, the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was transformed into the Republic of Crimea within

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. On 21 September 1994 it was renamed the

Autonomous Republic of Crimea The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is a ''de jure'' administrative division of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

. This name was used for Crimea (with the exception of the city of

) in the new Ukrainian Constitution of 1996. The status of Sevastopol, due to its strategic importance as the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, remained disputed between Ukraine and Russia until 1997 when it was agreed that it should be treated as a "

city with special status A city with special status (), formerly a "city of republican subordinance", is a type of first-level administrative division of Ukraine. Kyiv and Sevastopol are the only two such cities. Their administrative status is recognized in the Ukrain ...

" within Ukraine.

Administrative divisions

With the establishment of the autonomous republic in 1921, Crimea was divided into seven ''

okrugs An okrug is a type of administrative division in some Slavic-speaking states. The word ''okrug'' is a loanword in English, alternatively translated as area, district, county, or region. Etymologically, ''okrug'' literally means ' circuit', der ...

'', which in turn were divided into 20 ''

raions A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...

'': *

Dzhankoy Dzhankoi or Jankoy is a city of regional significance in the northern part of Crimea, internationally recognized as part of Ukraine, but since 2014 occupied by Russia. It also serves as administrative centre of Dzhankoi Raion although it is not a ...

* Yevpatoriya *

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

Feodosiya Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into w ...

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

In November 1923, the ''okrugs'' were abolished and 15 ''raions'' were created instead, but in 1924, five of these were abolished. On 30 October 1930, the remaining ten ''raions'' were reorganized into 16 new ones, and four cities under direct republican control. In 1935, 10 new ''raions'' were added and one abolished. In 1937, one more ''raion'' was established. The ''raions'' had national status as for Crimean Tatars, Russians, Jews, Germans and Ukrainians. By the beginning of World War II, all of these ''raions'' had lost their national status.

Heads of state

Russian SFSR

;Central Executive Committee * 7 November 1921 – August 1924

Yuri Gaven Yuri Petrovich Gaven (; ; 18 March 1884 – 4 October 1936), born Jānis Daumanis (), was a Latvian revolutionary and Soviet politician and Chekist. He was a key figure in the defeat of the Crimean People's Republic and the establishment of the ...

(Janis Daumanis) * August 1924 – 28 January 1928

Veli İbraimov Veli İbraimov (; 1888 – 9 May 1928), also written as Veli Ibrahimov (), was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar revolutionary and Soviet politician who served as the second Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Crimea in the Soviet ...

* 28 January 1928 – 20 February 1931

Memet Qubayev Memet İsmail Qubayev (; 1885 – after 1937) was a Soviet Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar politician who served as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Crimea in the Soviet Union, Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from ...

* 20 February 1931 – 9 September 1937

İlyas Tarhan İlyas Ümer oğlu Tarhan (; 1900 – 17 April 1938) was a Soviet Crimean Tatar journalist, playwright, and politician who served as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Crimean ASSR from 1931 to 1937. He was also an editor of th ...

(arrested on September 8, 1937) * 9 September 1937 – 21 July 1938 Abdulcelâl Menbariyev ;Supreme Soviet * 21 July 1938 – 18 May 1944 Abdulcelâl Menbariyev ( expelled from Crimea in 1944 with the rest of Crimean Tatars) * 18 May 1944 – 30 June 1945 Nadezhda Sachyova (acting)

Ukrainian SSR/Ukraine

* 22 March 1991 – 9 May 1994 Mykola Bahrov

Heads of government

Chairmen of ''Revkom''

* 16 November 1920 – 20 February 1921

Béla Kun Béla Kun (, born Béla Kohn; 20 February 1886 – 29 August 1938) was a Hungarian communist revolutionary and politician who in 1919 governed the Hungarian Soviet Republic. After attending Franz Joseph University at Kolozsvár (today Cluj-N ...

* 20 February 1921 – 7 November 1921

Mikhail Poliakov Michael is a common masculine given name derived from the Hebrew phrase ''mī kāʼēl'', 'Who slike-El', in Aramaic: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ (''Mīkhāʼēl'' ). The theophoric name is often read as a rhetorical question – "Who slike he Hebrew Go ...

(become the one of

NKVD troika NKVD troika or Special troika (), in Soviet history, were the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD which would later be the beginning of the KGB) made up of three officials who issued sentences to people after simplified, speedy inve ...

)

Council of People's Commissars

* 11 November 1921 – 16 May 1924 Sakhib-Garey Said-Galiyev * 16 May 1924 – May 1924 I. Goncharov (acting) * May 1924 – 21 March 1926 Osman Deren-Ayerly * 21 March 1926 – May 1929 Emir Shugu * May 1929 – 16 September 1937 Abduraim Samedinov (arrested September 17, 1937) * 1937 – 5 April 1942 Memet Ibraimov * 5 April 1942 – 18 May 1944 Ismail Seyfullayev (under ''de facto'' control of

during 1 September 1942 to 23 October 1943) * 18 May 1944 – 30 June 1945

Aleksandr Kabanov Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kabanov (, 14 June 1948 – 30 June 2020) was a Soviet and Russian water polo player and head coach of the Russian water polo team. He is one of a few sportspeople who won Olympic medals in water polo as players and head co ...

Council of Ministers

* 22 March 1991 – 20 May 1993 Vitaliy Kurashik

Principal chekists

;Cheka * until April 1921 Mikhail Vikhman (later in Chernihiv) * April 1921 – June 1921 Smirnov * 20 June 1921 – 1921 Fyodor Fomin (transferred to Kiev) * 11 November 1921 – February 1922 Aleksandr Rotenberg ;Crimea GPU * February 1922 – 11 September 1922 Aleksandr Rotenberg * 11 September 1922 – 25 April 1923 Stanislav Redens ;Merged GPU * 25 April 1923 – 9 June 1924

Stanislav Redens Stanislav Frantsevich Redens (, ; 17 May 1892 – 12 February 1940) was a Soviet NKVD official, one of those responsible for conducting mass repressions under Joseph Stalin. Redens was executed in 1940 after his arrest at the conclusion of the Gr ...

* 20 May 1924 – 29 July 1925

Sergei Szwarz Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honour of Saint Sergius, or in Kyivan Rus', of Sergius of the Holy Caves ...

(transferred to the Special department of the Black Sea Navy) * 1925 Aleksandr Toropkin (transferred to Ural) * October 1926 – 26 April 1928 Ivan Apeter (transferred to the Special department of the Black Sea Navy) ;OGPU * 26 April 1928 – December 1929

Grigoriy Rapoport Grigory, Grigori and Grigoriy () are Russian masculine given names. Russian version of Gregory (given name). Grigory * Grigory Baklanov (1923–2009), Russian novelist * Grigory Barenblatt (1927–2018), Russian mathematician * Grigory Bey-Bien ...

(transferred to Belarus Military District) * 23 January 1930 – 10 July 1934 Eduard Salins (Eduards Saliņš) ;Narkom of State Security * 26 February 1941 – 31 July 1941 Major Grigoriy Karanadze * 5 October 1943 – 5 July 1945 Commissar of the 3rd rank Pyotr Fokin

Notes

References

External links

{{Authority control Early Soviet republics Autonomous republics of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Autonomous republics of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic * States and territories established in 1921 States and territories disestablished in 1945 States and territories established in 1991 States and territories disestablished in 1992 Former socialist republics 1921 establishments in Russia 1945 disestablishments in the Soviet Union 1991 establishments in the Soviet Union 1992 disestablishments in Ukraine Post–Russian Empire states Political history of Crimea