Explained: How the Crimea has been a battleground for centuries

The importance of Russia’s announcement that it is pulling out troops from Kherson cannot be understated. Without Kherson, a strategic port in southern Ukraine that it has held since February, Moscow will be hard-pressed to continue its offensive towards the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv and the Black Sea port of Odesa. The Ukrainian army, suspicious of falling into a trap, has neither confirmed nor denied the Russian withdrawal. However, military experts believe the Russian announcement is not a russe. “The battle of Kherson is not inherently over,” said The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think-tank. “But Russian forces have entered a new phase – prioritising withdrawing their forces across the river in good order and delaying Ukrainian forces, rather than seeking to halt the Ukrainian counteroffensive entirely.” Perhaps even more important to Russia is that Kherson is a gateway to the Crimea – which Moscow annexed in 2014 – and establishes a land bridge between Russia and the peninsula on the Black Sea. If Russia loses control of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River, the Crimea would lose access to a vast majority of its water supply.

Worse, Ukrainian troop could also hit the Crimea with long-range artillery.

Let’s take a closer look the Crimea and why it has been a battleground for centuries: What is Crimea? The Crimean Peninsula is a strategically vital location on the Black Sea. As per Washington Post, the region was previously called ‘Taurica’ by both the Greek and Roman empires who brought it into the fold at various points. The region has been conquered and governed by Gothic tribes, the Kievan Rus’ state, the Byzantium Empire, and the Mongols, and many others. It became a dominion of the famed Ottoman Empire from the mid-1400s when it was known as the Crimean Khanate.

Its modern name seemingly derives from the Crimean Tatars, a Turkish ethnic group.

In 1783, the Crimean Khanate was annexed by Empress Catherine II of Russia, widely known as Catherine the Great. While Russia attempted to restore the ‘Taurica’ name, it did not have much success. The Crimean War The Crimean War (1854-56)– fought between Russia on one hand and Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia on the other – has been the region’s most notable conflict. As per the UK National War Museum website, the conflict kicked off with Russia invading the Turkish Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (now Romania). Britain and France sided with Turkey as they wanted to counter growing Russian power in the Near East as well as support the declining Ottoman Empire. Allied troops touched down at Calamita Bay on the coast of the Crimea on 14 September, 1854. [caption id=“attachment_11612011” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The crimean War by Valentin Ramirez. Wikimedia commons[/caption] The Allies defeated the Russians at the Battle of the Alma six days later and then besieged Sevastopol. Perhaps the most famous event of the Crimean war occurred on a month later when British cavalry charged Russian troops at the Battle of Balaklava. Of the over 600 British troops who charged the Russians, 110 were killed, around 130 were wounded, and another 30 or so wounded and captured on 25 October, 1854.

It was this incident that was granted immortality by Alfred Lord Tennyson in his 1855 poem entitled The Charge of the Light Brigade.

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The battle saw the Russians take important positions to hinder the allies’ siege of Sevastopol, but the British gained a symbol around which they could rally themselves. In November 1854, the Battle of Inkerman saw Russia attempt to break British siege lines and grab their supply base without any success. In June 1855, Britain unsuccessfully attempted to capture Sevastopol, however in September France took the Malakoff fort. Russia was then forced to finally abandon Sevastopol defences. In March 1856, the Russia Tsar finally accepted peace terms after Austria threatened to join the alliance, as per Britannica. That led to the Treaty of Paris being signed in 1856 in which Russia pledged to honour the integrity of Ottoman Turkey and surrender southern Bessarabia,at the mouth of the Danube. The Black Sea was neutralised, and the Danube River was opened to the shipping of all nations, as per the website. In 1917, the region was officially named Crimea. World War II During World War II, the Crimea Peninsula yet again turned into a bloody battlefield as the Soviet Union took on Nazi Germany . According to RFEL.org, not only was the Crimea of vital strategic importance to both sides, but Hitler also had a personal fetish for capturing cities such as Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Sevastopol. The eight-month campaign by Axis forces to conquer the peninsula saw heavy casualties for German, Romanian, and defending Soviet troops. While the Axis side broke through and occupied most of Crimea by 1942, the tide began to turn with the German defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943. By April 1944, the Germans had been pushed back into Sevastopol and the Red Army began its assault on the port. [caption id=“attachment_11612021” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Soviet soldiers crossing the Syvash to the Crimea. Wikimedia commons[/caption]

By May 1944, the last pockets of Axis resistance on Crimea had been eliminated.

In May 1945, Soviet leader Josef Stalin rewarded Sevastopol for its resistance with the moniker of ‘hero city’ of the Soviet Union (alongside Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Odesa). Modern history In 1954, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, himself half-Ukrainian, ‘gifted’ Crimea to Ukraine. As Pravda put it at the time: “Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet transferring Crimea Province from the Russian Republic to the Ukraine Republic, taking into account the integral character of the economy, the territorial proximity and the close economic ties between Crimea Province and the Ukraine Republic, and approving the joint presentation of the Presidium of the Russian Republic Supreme Soviet and the Presidium of the Ukraine Republic Supreme Soviet on the transfer of Crimea Province from the Russian Republic to the Ukraine Republic.” On 12 December, 1991, representatives of the three original constituent republics of the USSR – Russia, Ukraine and Belarus – signed the Belavezha Accord. The accord denounced the 1922 pact to create the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and dissolved the Union.

On Boxing Day 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

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As Ukraine gained its independence, then Russian president Boris Yeltsin agreed to let Crimea remain within Ukraine – as long as Russia’s Black Sea fleet remained at Sevastopol under lease, as per BBC. In 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has publicly said he would reverse the collapse of the Soviet Union given the chance, annexed Crimea. Putin also previously called the collapse ‘a great tragedy of the 20th Century’. [caption id=“attachment_11308151” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Russian president Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014. AP[/caption] Robert Citino, Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian in the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, summed up the importance of the Crimea thus in a 2018 piece for Military History Magazine: “What emerges from the military story of the Crimea is more than a mere battle narrative. It is how crucial this little acre has been to so many contenders.” Citino added that while the many who died on the Crimean Peninsula during the numerous conflicts is out of proportion to its size, it is not out of proportion to its location, or its strategic significance. “Every single one of the generals who fought there would agree on that. And so, we can surmise, does Vladimir Putin,” Citino concluded. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.