Novorossiya: ethnic history. Historical borders of Ukraine within the USSR

— 03.04.2014

Will Novorossiya reunite with Russia? I regard the likelihood of this as very high - Bandera’s supporters are doing everything to push the residents of the region to secede from the collapsing Ukraine.

I present to your attention a large review article about Novorossiya on Rukspert:

These are predominantly Russian-speaking industrialized regions of the South-East of modern Ukraine, historically part of Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. For a long time, these steppe lands off the coast of the Black and Azov Seas were an almost deserted Wild Field and were settled by Russians relatively recently, after Russia secured and annexed them in the 17th-18th centuries. Being part of Russia and the USSR in the 19th-20th centuries, Novorossiya experienced enormous growth in population and economy, which was interrupted after Ukraine left the USSR.

Most of the modern Russian-speaking southeast of Ukraine until 1917 was part of the Novorossiysk province, and then the Novorossiysk General Government, which united the Black Sea lands. Subsequently, these regions became part of Ukraine only by the will of the revolutionary authorities, indulging Ukrainian nationalism, in which they saw an ally in the destruction of the pre-revolutionary order. Part of Slobozhanshchina, which was annexed to Russia at the beginning of the 16th century, also became part of Ukraine - the Kharkov region, which is also often referred to as Novorossiya. (And not only in light of recent events - see, for example, the 2008 map).

At the moment, the Novorossiya region actually includes eight regions: Lugansk, Donetsk, Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Nikolaev and Odessa. In addition, the south-eastern districts of the neighboring Kirovograd region, which were once part of the Novorossiysk province, have repeatedly shown solidarity with them in internal Ukrainian elections. Historically and culturally, the Novorossiysk region is very close to the south of Russia, including the Rostov region and Crimea, which recently left Ukraine, as well as to the unrecognized Republic of Transnistria, which at one time separated from Moldova (these neighboring regions - Crimea, Transnistria, and Moldova - were also parts of historical Novorossiya).

During the ongoing this moment During the Ukrainian crisis, the regions of Novorossiya raised a massive protest against the oligarchic-Bandera forces that staged a coup and seized power in Kyiv. For 23 years as part of independent Ukraine, residents of Novorossiya were subjected to linguistic and cultural discrimination, and also faced the daily consequences of incompetent governance by the Ukrainian government, divided between oligarchs and nationalists, who brought the country to economic collapse and brought the country to the brink of civil war. Now residents of the South-East have a chance to change their lives for the better - either by achieving a referendum in their areas, as was done in the Crimea reunited with Russia, or by achieving the federalization of Ukraine, enshrining the state status of the Russian language in the Constitution and close economic integration with Russia : through joining the Russian Customs Union or other forms of interaction.

History of Novorossiya

(One of the excavations of the city of Olbia - an ancient Greek colony on the territory of modern Nikolaev region)

Ancient and ancient Russian history

* V-III millennium BC e. According to the Kurgan hypothesis, a Proto-Indo-European linguistic community is being formed in the space from the Urals to the Black Sea steppes, from which all Indo-European peoples descended.
* XII-VII centuries BC e. The northern Black Sea region is inhabited by the pre-Scythian population, known as the Cimmerians.
* VIII-VII centuries BC e. The Cimmerians are displaced by the Scythians, who supposedly came from the forest-steppes between the Dnieper and the Urals. The Scythians were ruled by several kings and represented an alliance of tribes, among which there were nomadic tribes and sedentary ones (Scythian plowmen). It was among the Scythians that, for the first time in the world, cavalry became the main branch of the army - they laid the foundations for the nomadic way of life and military affairs of the nomads of Eurasia, which then persisted for 2.5 thousand years.
* VII-VI centuries BC e. The Greeks founded their colonies in Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region. On the territory of modern Novorossia, the largest Greek cities are located near the Dnieper estuary Boristhenes (founded earlier than all around 647) and Olvia (both Nikolaev region), and near the Dniester estuary - Tire (now Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, Odessa region) and Nikonium (Odessa region). region).
* 512 BC uh. A huge army of the Persian king Darius I invades Scythia from the Danube. The Scythians retreat, using scorched earth tactics and luring the Persians deep into their territory far beyond the Don River. Having really achieved nothing, the Persians retreated with heavy losses the same way they came.
* IV century BC e. A single Scythian kingdom is formed, stretching from the Danube to the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov. The heyday of Scythian culture begins, the most famous artifacts of which are the magnificent gold jewelry of the Scythians - Scythian gold.
* III century BC e. From beyond the Don, nomads, the Sarmatians, related to the Scythians, come and push the Scythians into the Crimea.
* I-II centuries n. e. Greek cities at the mouths of the Dnieper and Dniester come under Roman control.
* IV century. During the Great Migration of Peoples, tribes of the Goths pass through the Northern Black Sea region, and then the Huns, who destroy Greek cities. The Alans - the strongest of the remaining tribes of Scythian-Sarmatian origin - leave the Azov region partly to Europe, and partly to the Caucasus (their descendants are the Ossetians).

(The borders of Novorossiya almost coincide with the border between the forest and the steppe, which is no coincidence - these lands were almost deserted several centuries ago until they were conquered by Russia from the nomads, after which the former “Wild Field” became Novorossiya).

* 5th century After the collapse of the Huns, the Turkic-speaking Bulgars became the strongest tribal union in the space from the Northern Black Sea region to the Caspian Sea.
* VI century. The Avars pass through the Northern Black Sea region into Europe, and for a short time they form a powerful Avar Khaganate, and in the area between the Dnieper and Dniester rivers near the Black Sea, the Slavs (Antes) first appear.
* Beginning of the 7th century The Northern Black Sea region becomes part of the Western Turkic Khaganate.
* 632 - approx. 671 In the steppes around the Sea of ​​Azov, the Bulgar tribes under the leadership of Khan Kubrat unite into a single state - Great Bulgaria. Under the onslaught of the Khazars, part of the Bulgars went to the territory of modern Bulgaria, where they mixed with the Slavs and formed the Bulgarian kingdom, and the other part went to the middle Volga, where a state was formed, later known as Volga Bulgaria.
* End of the 7th century The nomadic Khazars, originating from the lowland Dagestan, take power over the Northern Black Sea region, which becomes part of the Khazar Kaganate.
* VIII-IX centuries The lands along the northwestern shores of the Black Sea are inhabited by the Eastern Slavs - from the Dnieper to the Southern Bug the Ulichs settle, and from the Dniester to the Prut and Danube - the Tivertsy. One of the most important trade routes of Europe at that time passed through the Dnieper - “the path from the Varangians to the Greeks.”
* End of the 9th century The Hungarians (who previously lived on the Kama) pass through the Northern Black Sea region to Europe, and the Pechenegs who came from across the Volga occupy the Black Sea steppes. To the north of the Black Sea region, the Old Russian state was formed with its capital in Novgorod, and then in Kyiv.
* End of the 10th century After the defeat of the Khazar Kaganate by the Russians, the Pechenegs became the main force in the Black Sea steppes.
* XI century After the defeat of the Pechenegs by the Russians, the Polovtsians (Kipchaks) came to the Northern Black Sea region. Over the next two centuries, the vast territory from the mouth of the Danube to the Caucasus and southern Siberia, including almost all of present-day Kazakhstan, becomes known as the Polovtsian steppe. The Polovtsians fight with Russia, but sometimes the Polovtsian khans enter into alliances with Russian princes, and they take Polovtsian princesses as wives. There is a large Russian trading settlement of Oleshye in the lower reaches of the Dnieper.
* 1223. In the Battle of Kalka on the territory of the modern Donetsk region, the “reconnaissance” army of the Mongols defeats the combined army of the Cumans and the southern Russian principalities.
* 1236-1242. The Mongols of Batu Khan conquer Russian lands and the Northern Black Sea region. The Mongols subjugate some of the Polovtsians, and pursue others all the way to Hungary in Central Europe, simultaneously crushing the Polish, German and Hungarian armies. The Black Sea steppes, known among the Slavic peoples as the Wild Field, become part of the Golden Horde.

Wild field and Cossack lands

(1523 - Kharkov region as part of Russia)

* 1362. The Russian-Lithuanian army of Prince Olgerd defeats the Tatars in a major battle on Blue Waters, as a result of which the Kiev and Pereyaslavl lands, as well as part of the Wild Field, come under the control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. IN end of the 14th century- at the beginning of the 15th century, the lands between the Dnieper and Dniester up to the Black Sea also temporarily fell within the Lithuanian borders, but the Lithuanian princes were unable to actually establish control over the territory of the Wild Field.
* 1441. The Crimean Khanate becomes independent from the Golden Horde. Crimean Tatars live in Crimea and roam the territory of the practically uninhabited Wild Field.
* 1475. After the conquest of the southern coast of Crimea by the Ottoman Turks, the Crimean Khanate became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Over the next three centuries, the Crimean Tatars constantly raided Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
* Late XV - early XVI centuries. Fugitive people from all over Rus' (both from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia, and from the Grand Duchy of Moscow) begin to settle on the Dnieper islands and beyond the Dnieper rapids - these settlers become known as grassroots Cossacks or Cossacks.
* 1523. The territory of the present Kharkov region is annexed to Russia.

(Southwestern borders of Russia in 1600)

* 1552. On the Dnieper island of Khortytsia, the Volyn prince Dmitry “Bayda” Vishnevetsky unites disparate groups of Cossacks and, using his own funds, builds a wooden fortress to protect against raids - the first Zaporozhye Sich. The Crimean Khan burns the fortress a few years later, and Vishnevetsky, without waiting for help from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, goes to serve the Russian Tsar John IV, who gifts Vishnevetsky with land and a salary and sends him back to the Dnieper. Since that time, for more than two centuries, replacing each other, fortified Cossack battles have been located in various places on the lower Dnieper.
* 1570. The Don Cossack Army emerges, controlling, among other things, the northeastern part of what is now the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. The Don Army was then a semi-autonomous structure in the service of the Tsars of Moscow. For foreign policy reasons, for some time the Don Army was even demonstratively controlled not through the Razdniy Prikaz (Ministry of Defense), but through the Ambassadorial Prikaz (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), since it was with the hands of the Cossacks that the “everyday” war was waged with the restless Crimean Khanate in conditions where military clashes were directly Russian troops with the Crimea was dangerous due to the intervention of the then powerful Ottoman Empire.
* 1572. The Polish king establishes the registered Cossacks - the first 300 registered Cossacks make up the Zaporozhian Army, the main function of which is protection from the raids of the Crimean Tatars. In subsequent decades, the number of the Zaporozhye Army increased significantly.
* 1599. Near the border of the present-day Kharkov, Lugansk and Donetsk regions, Tsarev-Borisov was built - the most important fortress and main outpost of Russia on the southern borders of that time. These border lands become known as Slobozhanshchina (Slobodskaya land, Slobodskaya Ukraine) - not only residents of Moscow Rus', but also Western Rus' begin to move here - Orthodox Cossacks, peasants and clergy are fleeing under the royal protection from the Polish gentry. Sloboda Cossacks close the “gap” between the Don and Cossacks in the perimeter of protecting Russian lands from raids.
* 1648-1654. There is an uprising of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, who led the Orthodox peasants and Cossacks of the Dnieper lands in the fight against the power of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish magnates and their supporters. Almost immediately, Khmelnitsky writes a letter to Moscow about his readiness to go into the service of the Tsar. In 1649, after the heavy defeat of the Poles, Khmelnytsky concluded the Zboriv Treaty with them, which meant the actual federalization of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the vast southeastern part of which became an autonomous territory - the Hetmanate, and the land of the Zaporozhye Army. However, in 1651, the Polish Sejm declared a new war on the southeast of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Internal chaos in the Dnieper lands leads to the departure of a significant part of the population to Slobozhanshchina. In 1653, at the Zemsky Sobor in Moscow, a decision was made to reunite with the Zaporozhye lands, which had repeatedly asked for protection from aggressive Catholics. All segments of the population expressed their readiness to enter into a difficult war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for this purpose.
* January 8 (18), 1654. Pereyaslavskaya Rada- a meeting of the Zaporozhye Cossacks led by Hetman Bogdan Khmelnytsky signs the Treaty of Pereyaslav, according to which the Zaporozhye army went into the service of the Russian Tsar along with all the lands controlled by the Cossacks (including also the steppe lands of the Zaporozhye Sich - now these are parts of the Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions). Since the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth continued to consider these lands as its own, a war began between it and Russia.
* 1654 First mention of Kharkov. The city of Kharkov appears for the first time in Russian official sources - the date of the first mention is considered the year of birth of the city. The city arose on the site of an ancient Russian settlement, which, according to some versions, in turn arose on the site of the 11th century Polovtsian city of Sharukan or the 5th century Hunnic city of Kharka. In the 18th century, a legend arose about the founder of the city - the mythical Cossack Kharko; in reality, Cossacks from the Dnieper region began to settle in the mid-17th century around the Russian fortress of Kharkov (another probable founding date is 1651, indicated on the historical emblem of the Kharkov Cossack Regiment). Along with neighboring Belgorod, the city of Kharkov soon became the most important center of the Russian Slobozhanshchina.

* 1654-1667. Russian-Polish war for Western Russian lands. The initial stage of the war turns out to be extremely successful for Russia - by 1655, Russian troops liberated almost all Ukrainian and Belarusian lands. In 1656, the Vilna Truce was concluded between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which allowed both the Russians and the Poles loyal to the king to oppose the Swedes, who invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the north (previously, some of the Polish magnates betrayed their king and signed the Keydan Union, agreeing to transfer power to the Swedish king over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including Ukrainian lands - because of which the conflict between Sweden and Russia arose). As a result, the Swedes were expelled from Poland and Lithuania, and the Russians and Poles began negotiations to conclude peace and delineate the border. However, in 1657, Bohdan Khmelnytsky died, and in 1658, the new Zaporozhye hetman Ivan Vygovsky betrayed Russia by concluding the Gadyach Treaty, according to which the Hetmanate was to become an autonomy within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. An uprising immediately breaks out among the Cossacks against Vygovsky, the period of Ruin begins in Ukraine, and the war between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is resumed as a result. As a result, by the end of the war in 1667, Russia, according to the Treaty of Andrusovo, retained Left Bank Ukraine, Kyiv, Smolensk and the lands of the Zaporozhye Sich on both banks of the Dnieper, while the Right Bank and White Rus' remained with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
* 1657-1687. On the lands of the Hetmanate, after the death of Khmelnytsky and the betrayal of Vygovsky, a split of the Cossacks occurs and a civil war has been going on for 30 years, which leads, according to some estimates, to a twofold reduction in the population. Right Bank Ukraine suffered in particular, where in 1672 a huge army of Turks and Tatars invaded, as a result of which the region was reduced to almost a desert state, and a significant part of the population fled to the Left Bank, which was under the protection of Russia. From 1687, under the rule of Hetman Mazepa, relative peace came to the Left Bank for two decades, but then, as a result of the Swedish invasion and Mazepa’s betrayal (not supported, however, by the majority of the Cossacks), war came here again, and as a result, Peter I actually eliminated the hetman’s autonomy, although Formally, the hetmanship remained until 1764.
* Late 17th - early 18th century. Russian settlers are completely displacing the steppe inhabitants from the northern part of the current Donetsk region and from most of the current Lugansk region. These lands become part of Slobodskaya Ukraine and the region of the Don Army within Russia.

Novorossiya in the Russian Empire

* 1721. On October 22 (November 2), 1721, following the results of the Northern War and by decree of Peter I, Russia became an empire, and at approximately the same time, at the end of 1721, the Russian ore explorer Grigory Kapustin discovered the first known deposits of coal in the Donetsk coal basin. From this moment, the industrial development of Donbass began (until the end of the 18th century, it was not very intensive).
* 1731-1742. Along the southern border of Russia between the Dnieper and the Seversky Donets, the Ukrainian fortified line is being built, which for the first time reliably protected the Little Russian (left-bank Ukrainian) lands from the raids of the Crimean Khanate. During the same period, the Russian-Turkish War of 1735-1739 took place, during which Russia regained Azov and small territories in Right Bank Ukraine.
* 1754 Founding of Elizavetgrad (Kirovograd). In the western part of the lands of the Zaporozhye Sich, the fortress of St. Elizabeth was founded, around which the city of Elizavetgrad was built - now Kirovograd (the center of the Kirovograd region). Around the same period, the administrative units New Serbia and Slavic-Serbia were created on the Zaporozhye lands, into which Serbs and Vlachs from the Austrian and Ottoman empires moved with the permission of the Russian authorities.
* 1764 Novorossiysk province formed on the lands of the former Slavic-Serbia (Ukrainian fortified line, 13th hundred of the Poltava and 2nd hundred of the Mirgorod regiment) and the “Transdnieper places” (Novoserbia and Novoslobodskaya Cossack regiment with a center in the fortress of St. Elizabeth). The administrative center of the province became the city of Kremenchug (now the south of the Poltava region).

(Kyuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty of 1774. The territories in the red-green shading passed to Russia, and in the yellow-green - they became independent from Turkey).

* 1768-1774. The Russo-Turkish War and Russia's access to the Black Sea. Thanks to the brilliant land victories of Pyotr Rumyantsev and Alexander Suvorov in the battles of Larga, Kagul and Kozludzhi, as well as the naval victories of Alexei Orlov and Grigory Spiridov in the Battle of Chios and Chesma, Russia wins the war against the many times superior forces of the Ottoman Empire. According to the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace, Russia annexed the lands at the mouth of the Dnieper, gaining access to the Black Sea there at the Kinburn fortress. The Crimean Khanate, Kuban Tatars and Kabardians become independent from the Ottoman Empire and fall under the influence of Russia. Russian troops are stationed in a number of fortresses in Crimea. The ruler of the southern territories of Russia for the next decade and a half becomes the favorite of Catherine II, Grigory Potemkin, who begins a large-scale colonization of Novorossiya and establishes many cities and settlements here.
* 1770 Founding of Alexandrovsk (future city of Zaporozhye). During the war with Turkey, starting in 1770, the Dnieper defensive line was built from the Dnieper to the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov. Founded in August 1770 on the banks of the Dnieper, the Alexander Fortress later became the city of Alexandrovsk (now Zaporozhye). As a result of the construction of the fortified line, the entire current Donetsk region and part of the Zaporozhye region actually become part of Russia.
* 1775 The Zaporozhye Sich, which was no longer needed after Russia reached the Black Sea, was liquidated. Its lands are divided between the Novorossiysk and the newly created Azov provinces (the latter also included the lands of the Don Army, including parts of the current Donetsk and Lugansk regions).
* 1778 Founding of Kherson and Mariupol. On October 19, 1778, the city of Kherson with a fortress and a shipyard was founded at the mouth of the Dnieper - the first base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is located here. In the same year, the city of Pavlovsk was founded in the Azov region, renamed a year later to Mariupol and soon became the largest port in the north of the Azov Sea.
* 1783 Entry of Crimea and the south of Novorossiya into Russia. On April 8, 1783, Crimea and the adjacent Azov steppes (Kherson and Zaporozhye regions) became part of Russia (in 1784 they became the Tauride region, since 1802 - the Tauride province). At the same time, Taman and all of Kuban are part of Russia. The Azov and Novorossiysk provinces are abolished and united into the Ekaterinoslav governorship. On May 23, 1783, the foundation of Simferopol was planned (construction began in 1784). On June 3 (14), 1783, Sevastopol was founded.
* 1787 Official foundation of Ekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk). Catherine II travels to Novorossiya and Crimea, admiring the “Potemkin villages” along the way - very real cities and villages, in as soon as possible founded by Potemkin and populated by immigrants from Great Russia and Little Russia. On May 9 (20), 1787, Empress Catherine officially founded the city of Yekaterinoslav (future Dnepropetrovsk) - the foundation stone was laid for the Transfiguration Cathedral (construction actually began even earlier after the decree of January 22, 1784 on the founding of the city - or rather, on the transfer of what was founded back in 1776 " first Ekaterinoslav" from the confluence of the Kilchen River into the Samara River to a more convenient place at the confluence of Samara and the Dnieper).
* 1787-1791. The Russian-Turkish War and the annexation of lands from the Southern Bug to the Dniester to Russia. The Ottoman Empire declares a new war on Russia in order to regain the Crimean Khanate and Georgia, but Russia wins this war thanks to new brilliant victories of Alexander Suvorov, Grigory Potemkin-Tavrichesky, Pyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky and Admiral Fyodor Ushakov. Potemkin takes the Ochakov fortress, and Suvorov takes Izmail, and according to the results of the Yassy Peace Treaty, the lands of the present Nikolaev and eastern part of the Odessa region go to Russia.
* 1789 Founding of Nikolaev. On April 27, 1789, Potemkin founded a new military shipyard at the mouths of the Ingul and Southern Bug, and on August 27, the city of Nikolaev was founded next to the shipyard. The Nikolaev Admiralty becomes the largest Russian military shipyard on the Black Sea - ships for the Black Sea Fleet are built here.
* 1792 Founding of Tiraspol. A fortified Dniester line is being built along the banks of the Dniester to protect the new borders of the empire established as a result of the war. Founded in 1792 on the personal instructions of Alexander Suvorov, the Sredinnaya fortress acquired the status of a city and the name Tiraspol in 1795. Nowadays it is the capital of the unrecognized republic of Transnistria.
* 1794 Founding of Odessa. On May 27 (June 7), 1794, Empress Catherine II issued a rescript on the founding of the city and harbor on the site of Turkish Hadzhibey, and on August 22 (September 2), 1794, the construction site was consecrated and the first piles were driven - this is how the city of Odessa was founded, which became the most important Russian port on The Black Sea already during the reign of its first mayor, Count (Duke) de Richelieu (great-great-great-grandnephew of the famous Cardinal Richelieu).
* 1795 Founding of Lugansk. On November 14, Catherine II issues a decree on the founding of the first iron foundry in the south of the Russian Empire, which was built during the reign of Paul I in the valley of the Lugan River - the village of Lugansky Zavod (the future Lugansk) appears around it.

(Novorossiysk province, 1800)

* 1802. The Novorossiysk province, newly established by Paul I in 1796, is again abolished and divided into Nikolaev, Ekaterinoslav and Tauride provinces. All of them, however, are part of the Novorossiysk General Government established in the same 1802 (since 1822 - Novorossiysk-Bessarabian General Government).
* 1806-1812. The Russo-Turkish War and the annexation of Bessarabia (Moldova) to Russia. Russian troops under the leadership of Mikhail Kutuzov defeat the Ottoman Empire in the next Russian-Turkish war, as a result of which, according to the Treaty of Bucharest, Bessarabia - the territory between the Prut, Dniester and Danube rivers (the future Moldova) - goes to Russia. Victory in this war secured the southern borders of Russia during the war with Napoleon in 1812-1814. In 1822, Bessarabia became part of Novorossiya (Novorossiysk-Bessarabian General Government). The southern steppe part of Bessarabia - known as Budjak - is now the southwestern part of the Odessa region.
* 1828-1829. The Russo-Turkish War and the annexation of the Danube Delta to Russia. During the next war with the Ottoman Empire, Russian troops under the command of Ivan Paskevich and Ivan Dibich-Zabalkansky cross the Balkans for the first time and help secure the independence of Greece. According to the Treaty of Adrianople, the entire Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, as well as the Danube delta with islands, which became part of Novorossiya, including Zmeiny Island, goes to Russia.
* 1869 Foundation of Yuzovka (Donetsk). The Welsh metallurgist and industrialist John James Hughes, who settled in Russia, founded the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant on the banks of the Kalmius River in the Ekaterinoslav province. It was at this time, at the end of the 19th century, that large-scale industrial development of the entire region of the Donetsk coal basin (Donbass) began. The village of Yuzovka, which arose at the Donetsk plant, gradually grew into Big City, now known as Donetsk, which has become the most important industrial center of Donbass.
* Late 19th - early 20th centuries. Novorossiya is one of the most dynamically developing regions of the Russian Empire - the population here and in Little Russia is growing at the highest rates in Europe, and significant economic growth is taking place. Odessa and Ekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk) are among the largest cities in Russia, Donbass is becoming an industrial region of global importance, and Crimea is beginning to turn into a resort area popular among the general public. The cities of Novorossiya are populated mainly by Russians and (in the western part of the region) Jews, while in the rural areas live peasant colonists from Great Russia and Little Russia, as well as Crimean Tatars, Moldovans, Armenians, Greeks and descendants of Serbian settlers.

Transfer process to Ukraine

After the February Revolution of 1917, approximately the same thing happened in Russia that could be observed in February 2014 in Ukraine (coup d'etat). A completely illegitimate Provisional Government, composed of parliamentarians who personally prepared the coup, came to power. The chaos in the country that arose after the February Revolution of 1917 gave rise to more than 100 local councils on Russian territory, which were very conditionally subordinate to the Provisional Government.

Among these councils was the Ukrainian Central Rada in Kyiv, which immediately laid claim not only to all of Little Russia, but also to the entire southwest of the country. In the end, busy maintaining its own power, the Provisional Government sent a delegation to Kyiv led by ministers Tereshchenko and Tsereteli, which on July 3, 1917 recognized the autonomy of the Ukrainian Central Rada in exchange for its own recognition. At the same time, the delegation, without coordination with Petrograd, agreed with the demands of the Central Rada and agreed to include all the southwestern provinces of Russia in the autonomy. Subsequently, this became one of the reasons for the July crisis, since on July 2 (15), 1917, all the cadet ministers left the government as a sign of protest against this decision.

In reality, however, the Central Rada did not control Novorossiya at that time, nor did it control Central Ukraine.

Soon after October revolution at the beginning of 1918, the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog and Odessa Soviet republics, separated from Kyiv, were formed on this territory, in fact were part of the RSFSR as separate entities.

However, the subsequent entry of German troops in the spring of 1918 led to the re-transfer of these areas to German-occupied Ukraine. On the Soviet side of the barricades, in turn, the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic was annexed to the previously proclaimed Ukrainian Soviet Republic. This decision finally gained force in February 1919, when the decision was made to liquidate the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic.

Subsequently, Soviet power was almost completely expelled from Ukraine, but later the Novorossiysk regions also became part of the Ukrainian SSR with its capital in Kharkov (where it remained until 1934), since they were formally liberated by the forces of the Ukrainian SSR.

Subsequent transfers of the Novorossiysk territories of the RSFSR to Ukraine

The process continued further until the transfer of Crimea in 1954. In particular. The following were transferred to Ukraine:

* 1920: the Azov part of the Don Army Region (later in 1924, part of the territory, including the cities of Shakhty and Taganrog, was returned to the RSFSR).
* 1923: Stanitsa Luganskaya, Don region of the RSFSR (the center of the modern Stanichno-Lugansk district of the Lugansk region) and surrounding areas.
* 1925: Putivlsky district (without Krupetsky volost), Krenichansky volost of Grayvoronsky district and two incomplete volosts of Grayvoronsky and Belgorod districts of Kursk province.
* 1926: Troitskaya volost of Valuysky district of the Voronezh province and part of the Donetsk district of the North Caucasus region - the east of the modern Stanichno-Lugansk district of the Lugansk region.
Separately, it should be noted the transfer of part of Crimea - the northern tip of the Arabat Spit - to the Kherson region in 1954 (link) Crimea returned to Russia in March 2014 without this part, since the referendum was not held there.

The politics of indigenization and Ukrainization during the USSR

In the 1920s - early 1930s, the USSR played up to the feelings of the local elites so much that in Ukraine, including Novorossiya, despite the declared war on illiteracy, not a single Russian school was opened for many years, and all new educational institutions were created only Ukrainian. This was especially facilitated by the fact that even such odious figures as Grushevsky were recruited into the Soviet authorities. This “historian,” who, using Austro-Hungarian grants, created almost the entire set of Baneder’s pseudo-historical myths and, to a large extent, “Ukrainianism” itself, nevertheless became an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences under Soviet rule.

Later, the policy of Ukrainization continued. This was especially clearly expressed in the censuses of the Soviet era, when the nationalist-minded Kyiv authorities registered as Ukrainians everyone they could, often simply on the basis of the fact that they lived in Ukraine, or even just next to it. For example, it is widely known that the Black Sea cities were formed as Russian and, in fact, remained so. However, on Soviet maps of nationalities, Ukraine was entirely populated by Ukrainians. An exception was made only for completely unattractive cases like the southern coast of Crimea, although on many maps Crimea was designated as almost entirely populated by Ukrainians. (link) And on some maps (for example, from the 1984 Atlas of the USSR), Sevastopol was populated specifically by Ukrainians. (link) However, it was not only the Ukrainian authorities who were guilty of this - in general, on maps of the Soviet era, the boundaries of the settlement of peoples were widely adjusted to the borders of the corresponding republics.

NOVOROSSIYA, a territory that included n. XX century historical Russian provinces: Kherson, Ekaterinoslav and Tauride (except Crimea) - cut through by the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Dniester and Bug. This flat steppe space imperceptibly merges with the steppes of Eastern Russia, turning into the Asian steppes, and therefore has long served as the home of tribes moving from Asia to the West. In ancient times, a number of Greek colonies were founded on the same Black Sea coast. The constant change of population continued until the Tatar invasion (see: Tatar-Mongol yoke). In the XIII-XVI centuries. the Tatars dominated here, making the peaceful colonization of the country by neighboring peoples impossible, but in the middle. XVI century Military colonization began. Below the rapids on the Dnieper island Khortitsa, the Cossacks (see: Cossacks) founded the Sich. All R. XVIII century new settlers appear here - people from Slavic lands, Bulgarians, Serbs, Volokhs. The government, intending to create a military border population, gave them benefits and various privileges. In 1752 two districts were formed: New Serbia and Slavyanoserbia. At the same time, fortification lines were created. After the 1st Russian-Turkish War, fortified lines captured new spaces. The annexation of Crimea in 1783, making Novorossiya unsafe from the Tatars, gave a new impetus to the colonization of the region. The 2nd Russian-Turkish War gave the Ochakov region into Russian hands. (i.e., the western part of Kherson province). From 1774, the prince was placed at the head of the administration of the Novorossiysk region. G. A. Potemkin, who remained in this position until his death (1791). He divided the country into provinces: Azov to the east of the Dnieper and Novorossiysk to the west. Potemkin's concern was the settlement and comprehensive development of the region. In terms of colonization, benefits were given to foreigners - immigrants from Slavic lands, Greeks, Germans and schismatics; huge land holdings were distributed to dignitaries and officials with an obligation to populate them. Simultaneously with government colonization there was free colonization from Great Russia and Little Russia. Russian colonists did not, like foreigners, benefit from help from the treasury, but they did not encounter any obstacles to settling in new places; there was a lot of land, and its owners willingly allowed people to settle on it. They also looked condescendingly at the settlement of runaway peasants in the region, the number of whom with the development of serfdom in the 18th century. XIX century everything increased. Under Potemkin, a number of cities were founded in Novorossiya - Ekaterinoslav, Kherson, Nikolaev, etc. Later Odessa was founded. Administratively, Novorossiya was reshaped several times. In 1783 it was named the Ekaterinoslav governorship. In 1784 the Tauride region was formed, in 1795 - Voznesensk province. Under Paul I, part of the Ekaterinoslav governorship was separated, and the Novorossiysk province was formed from the rest. Under Alexander I, the provinces of Ekaterinoslav, Kherson and Tauride were established here, which, together with the Bessarabian region annexed from Turkey, formed the Novorossiysk Governor-General. The administrative center of Novorossiya, as well as industrial and cultural, in the 19th century. Odessa became. S. Yu.

The border of Ukraine before 1917 more than once became a stumbling block between venerable history professors, famous politicians and cultural figures. The formation of a modern state lasted for centuries, during which ancient cities and peoples were replaced more than once or twice.

Arrival of the Cimmerians

The first people on Ukrainian territory were the Cimmerians, who were mentioned in the reflection of the era - “The Odyssey”.

Ancient nomads, who spoke one of the dialects of the Iranian language group, visited the Black Sea region around the 9th century BC. It is assumed that the tribes of Cimmerians-Cimmerians from the Lower Volga region roamed, and the favorable climate forced them to stay in the wild steppes for two hundred years . The historical borders of Ukraine before 1917 were constantly changing, and this began almost 3000 years ago, and since that time the territory has repeatedly expanded, decreased and taken on unimaginable shapes.

Since the nomads did not know letters, they left no information about themselves, with the exception of archaeological sites and rare mentions in the chronicles of that time. Contemporaries had something to say about the terrible savages - most historians described the Cimmers as ruthless and skillful warriors, and the customs of the tribes awed enlightened peoples.

Wild Scythians

Herodotus in his works mercilessly went through the customs and social system of the nomads and described in vivid colors the merciless extermination of the Black Forest aborigines by the Cimmerians. We know what the border of Ukraine was before 1917, but it could have been anywhere if the steppe horsemen had not driven out the less developed forest inhabitants.

However, the fate of the Black Foresters very quickly befell the Cimmerians. They, in turn, were unable to repel the Scythians, who raided the sites, plundered homes and stole horses in herds.

The next wave of nomads (Scythians) reached its greatest prosperity in the 5th-4th centuries BC.

The first centralized stronghold of culture on the territory of Ukraine - Great Scythia - was described by Herodotus. The borders of Ukraine before 1917, since the time of the Scythians, took the form of an expanded rectangle around the Northern Black Sea region from the Danube in the west to the eastern part of the Sea of ​​​​Azov.

From the north, the space is limited by Pripyat and a line that runs through modern Chernigov, connecting Kursk and Voronezh. In the 3rd century BC, the Scythians finally replaced the Sarmatians in the Black Sea steppes. On the Black Sea plains, the tribes survived for about six centuries (until the first millennium BC), until they were driven away by the Goths and Huns. After their invasion, the territory of Ukraine was dominated by the Slavic tribes of the Antes and related Sklavins.

The border of Ukraine changed a huge number of times before 1917: at a slower pace during the time of the nomads, and then changes in the shape of the territory began to occur at cosmic speeds.

Sklavins, Antes, Wends

The Gothic historian Jordan writes and often mentions the Sklavins. According to him, the Slavic Slavs had a common ancestor, and they live in three Vendian tribes - the brave Wends, the strong Antes, and their smaller brothers - the Sklavins. But in the 7th century, the French chronicler and historian Fredegar said that “the Slavins are Wends.”

Archaeologists often find Antian treasures consisting of gold and silver obtained during campaigns and raids in nearby territories. Ant warriors were armed with bows and arrows, shields, and long swords were also part of the standard equipment. The Antes were considered the most powerful Slavic tribe: they were mercenary soldiers in the Byzantine army.

Prisoners were often used as slaves; selling them or taking ransom from nearby neighbors was a kind of etiquette of that time. Nevertheless, after some time, a captured slave could become a free and full member of the community. The main deity of the Ants - Perun - was considered relatively flexible. Bloodless sacrifice is a fundamental principle of belief; among the offerings on the altars of idols, archaeologists found only prepared food, herbs and jewelry. During the times of the Antes, the process of the emergence of Kyiv and Volyn began, which once again changed the borders of Ukraine. However, 1917 was still a long way off.

The origins of Kievan Rus

The next milestone in the history of the development of the modern state was Kievan Rus. The city, which became the cultural and social center of a vast territory, was rebuilt, burned and destroyed many times. Until 1917, the border of Ukraine changed along with it - it either covered nearby lands, or narrowed to the suburbs of Kyiv.

The state around the Kyiv settlement arose in the 9th century, when the distant Eastern Slavs and tribes of the Finno-Ugric group united under the rule of the prince of the Rurik dynasty. The history of Kyiv as an independent city-state begins with the capture of the capital by Oleg, who brought with him the Eastern Slavic tribes.

The rise of the state

The border of Ukraine before the revolution of 1917 (somewhere at the end of the 10th century, at the time it was beyond the Dniester and in the upper reaches in the west, covered the Taman Peninsula in the southeast and was lost in the upper reaches of the Northern Dvina. Geography also helps to imagine the cities of Kievan Rus and understand her territorial structure. The oldest of the ancient settlements is Kyiv, and behind it came Chernigov, ancient Pereyaslavl, famous Smolensk, promising Rostov, new Ladoga, fabulous Pskov and new Polotsk.

The reign of princes Vladimir (960-1015) and Yaroslav (1019-1054) was the time of greatest prosperity for the state. It’s amazing what the border of Ukraine was like before the 1917 revolution! The territories expanded incredibly: from the Carpathians to the Baltic steppes and the Black Sea region.

By the middle of the 12th century, a dark era of feudal fragmentation began in the powerful Kievan Rus, with turmoil breaking into a dozen separate principalities ruled by various branches of the Rurikids. The beginning of 1132 is considered the official beginning of intra-family squabbles, when after the death of Mstislav the Great, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, the power of the Prince of Kyiv ceased to be recognized by Polotsk and Novgorod at the same time. Kyiv was not officially considered the capital until the Tatar-Mongol invasion (1237-1240). What would have been the border of Ukraine before the 1917 revolution if there had been no Troubles? Perhaps Kievan Rus would have grown to the size of Rome and Carthage, only to fall ingloriously under the burden of problems beyond the reach of huge empires.

Collapse and Troubles

In the battle with the Mongols on the Kalka River (in the territory of the modern Donetsk region) at the end of May 1223, almost all the southern Russian princes took part, many of them, as well as many noble boyars, fell in the battle. Close relatives, servants and older descendants died with the princes, which led to the bleeding of the best families of the country. Victory went to the Mongols, and the survivors faced captivity and shame. With the weakening of the southern Russian principalities, the Hungarian and Lithuanian feudal lords intensified their offensive, but the influence of the princes of the Chernigov, Novgorod and Kyiv regions also increased. What would the border of Ukraine have been like before 1917, if everything had worked out in favor of the Russians? Historians suggest that the petty princes would have quarreled with each other with the same result - the most noble and well-born people of Kievan Rus would have died in the battles for power and land.

Fall of Kyiv

In 1240, the Mongols (led by Batu Khan, grandson of the formidable Genghis Khan) turned Kyiv to ashes. The remains of the city were received by Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, whom the Mongols recognized as the main one, as well as his son Alexander Nevsky. But they did not transport the capital city to Kyiv and remained in Vladimir - away from the wild nomads with their arrows, herds and incomprehensible customs.

Before the revolution in 1917, where was the border? Where battles raged during the times of Kievan Rus. Then the tendency was firmly and finally established that every inch must be taken by force.

Principality of Galicia

In 1245, during a battle in Yaroslav (in modern Poland, the city of Yaroslav on the San River), Danila Galitsky and his army defeated the regiments of Hungarian and Polish feudal lords. Danila Galitsky, on the basis of a Western alliance against the Golden Horde, received the title of king from the pope in 1253. The reign of Danil Romanovich was the period of the greatest rise of the Galicia-Volyn principality. The strength of the state caused concern in the Golden Horde. The principality was forced to pay tribute to the Horde constantly, and the rulers undertook to send troops for joint campaigns with the Mongols. Nevertheless, the Galicia-Volyn principality managed to successfully resolve many foreign policy issues in its favor.

The border of Ukraine before the revolution in 1917 changed rapidly. This happened during the time of Danila Galitsky. In the second half of the 13th century, the Galician-Volyn principality did not control the south of the territory, but then regained control over these lands and gained access to the Black Sea. After 1323, all newly acquired territories were again lost for many centuries. Polesie was annexed by Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century in a series of wars between the Kingdom of Poland and the territories ceded to Poland in 1349 became a kind of symbol of the end of the heyday. From this year, the Galicia-Volyn principality was in official decline.

New territories

The border of Ukraine before the revolution of 1917, as already noted, changed countless times, and at the time when Lithuania was able to resist the Mongols on the territory of modern Kirovograd, the outlines again changed beyond recognition.

Many Orthodox princes were not against rapprochement with Poland, although in 1381-1384, 1389-1392 and 1432-1439. there were three civil wars. Many cities, including, for example, Lviv, Kyiv, Vladimir-Volynsky, received their own government according to

In the 90s of the XIV century. Jagiello's cousin Vytautas, thanks to an alliance with the Mongols, managed to peacefully annex the entire vast territory south of the vast Wild Field. This is how the historical borders of Ukraine developed; before the revolution of 1917, they subsequently changed little. New areas allowed the economy and society of that time to gradually acquire recognizable features.

Hetmans and Ruins

The next reformer and landmark ruler was Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Revolt 1648-1654 under his leadership led to the emergence of an autonomous hetman. It is not known for certain where the Ukrainian border lay before the intervention of the Cossack chieftain. Until 1917, the state experienced many more significant events. Vague and fragmentary information was often based only on ancient, long-lost statutes and documents. In Khmelnitsky, the Rada made a number of decisions, the consequence of which was the Russian-Polish War of 1654-1667. Its course contributed to the outbreak of civil wars between various hetmans. Left-bank Ukraine wanted to be part of Russia, and Right-bank Ukraine sought to create a strong union with Poland.

The beginning of Novorossiya

Now you know where the border of Ukraine was before 1917 at different historical stages. During the Northern War, Hetman Mazepa unexpectedly took the side that was defeated in the battle of Poltava. As a result, the autonomy and rights of the Hetmanate were limited, and the administration of the vast territory was under the jurisdiction of the Little Russian Collegium. The period after the collapse of the Russian Empire did not produce any special territorial acquisitions.

The way the Ukrainian border was formed before the 1917 revolution depended on the foreign and domestic policies of the state. The territory of the country acquired the name “Novorossiya” and the corresponding outlines at the end of the 18th century.

Education of Novorossiya

The beginning of the 18th century was marked by large-scale modernization of Russia in the military-political, administrative and other spheres of life. The most important directions of this modernization were the elimination of the military-political and economic blockade, not only in the Baltic, but also in other directions - the Caspian and Black Sea.

As a result of the Northern War, Russia established itself in the Baltic as one of the leading European states, whose interests “old” Europe already had to take into account.

During the Caspian campaign (1722 - 1724) Peter I thwarted an attempt to seize the Caspian territories by Turkey and ensured the safety of navigation and trade in the region. Thus, a “window to Asia” was cut. Symbolically, this was done in a dugout in the city of Petrovsk (now Makhachkala).

In the Black Sea direction, attempts to break the blockade were less successful. During Peter’s time, Russia failed to establish itself in the Black Sea and Azov regions. This was due to a number of reasons, one of the most important of which was the shortage of human resources in in this direction. The region, in essence, represented the so-called "Wild Field"- a deserted abandoned region.

The raids of the Crimean Tatars on Rus' were systematic in the second half of the 16th century. Almost the entire adult male population of the Khanate took part in these raids. The goal was one robbery and capture of prisoners. At the same time, hunting for live goods was the main branch of the khanate’s economy, and slaves were its main export product.

Prisoners captured in raids were mostly bought right there in Crimea by merchants, predominantly of Jewish origin, who later resold their “goods” for a large profit. The buyer of slaves was mainly the Ottoman Empire, which widely used slave labor in all spheres of economic life.

In addition, in the 14th and 15th centuries, Slavic slaves were bought by merchants of the Italian city republics that were experiencing the Renaissance, as well as by France. Thus, neither the “most Christian” monarchs, nor the pious bourgeoisie, nor the humanists of the Renaissance saw anything wrong in buying Christian slaves from Muslim rulers through Jewish intermediaries.

The interests of ensuring the security of Russia required the elimination of the Crimean Tatar and Turkish threats and the return of access to the Black Sea. This, in turn, implied the need to attract large human resources to the region, capable of not only developing wild fertile lands, but also protecting them from raids and invasions.

This process was started by Peter I. Having failed to find allies in the fight against Turkey in Europe, he decided to find them among the population of the peoples she enslaved. To this end, he issued a series of decrees calling for the resettlement of representatives of the South Slavic and other Orthodox peoples of the Balkans with the aim of their participation in the defense of the southern borders of Russia from attacks by the Crimean Tatars and Turks.

This was facilitated by the position of the Balkan peoples themselves, who saw in Russia a force capable of crushing the Ottoman Empire and freeing them from Turkish domination. Belief in the power and messianism of the “God-crowned state” came at the end of the 17th century to replace the hope for a Catholic leader in Eastern Europe - the degrading Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This belief was reinforced by statements by Russian officials. In particular, for example, the representative of Russia at Peace Congress of Karlowitz (1698)) P.B. Voznitsyn pointed out that “if the Sultan is the patron of the entire Islamic world, and the Austrian emperor is the patron of Catholics, then Russia has the right to stand up for the Orthodox in the Balkans.”

Subsequently, until the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, this became the leitmotif of its foreign policy.

Because of this, since the end of the 16th century, representatives of the highest Orthodox clergy, as well as the political and military elite of the Balkan peoples, have been sent to Russia with requests for patronage in the fight against the Ottoman Empire and proposals for a joint fight against it.

In practice, this manifested itself during the Russian-Turkish war of 1711–1713. To help Russia, a 20,000-strong Serbian militia was formed in the Balkan provinces of Austria, but it could not unite with the Russian army because it was blocked by Austrian troops. As a result, into the building Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev Because of the Austrian blockade in the summer of 1711, only 148 Serbs under the command of Captain V. Bolyubash managed to break through.

Subsequently, the number of Serb volunteers increased, amounting to about 1,500 people by 1713.

Volunteers from Hungary (409 people) and Moldova (about 500 people) turned out to be equally small in number.

At the end of the campaign, most of the volunteers returned to their homeland. At the same time, some of them could not return, since in Austria they would inevitably be subjected to repression. Therefore, at the end of the war, they were stationed in the cities of Sloboda Ukraine: Nizhyn, Chernigov, Poltava and Pereyaslavl. And on January 31, 1715, the Decree of Peter I was issued “On the allotment of lands to Moldavian, Voloshki and Serbian officers and soldiers for settlement in the Kyiv and Azov provinces and the payment of salaries to them.” At the same time, special attention was paid in the Decree to the settlement of Serbian officers and privates, who were determined not only places to live, but also annual salaries. In addition, the Decree of Peter I contained a call “to attract other Serbs - to write to them and send special people to Serbia who would encourage other Serbs to enter the Russian service under the command of Serbian officers.”

Thus, the 150 Serbs who remained in Russia after the war became, in fact, the first settlers in the region, which would later be called Novorossiya. The significance of this act lies in the fact that it actually marked the beginning of attracting volunteer settlers to the region, capable of not only developing it, but also protecting the southern borders of Russia from Tatar-Turkish aggression.

Subsequent events related to the consolidation of Russia's position in the Baltic delayed the implementation of this plan for some time. But after the conclusion of the Nystad Peace Treaty (1721), which marked the victory of Russia in the Great Northern War, in preparation for the next Russian-Turkish war, Peter I, who by this time had become Emperor at the request of the Senate and Synod of Russia, returned to the idea of ​​strengthening the borders of the state in the Azov-Black Sea direction by involving volunteers - migrants from the Balkan Peninsula. This position of Peter I was largely determined, on the one hand, by his skeptical attitude towards the Ukrainian Cossacks after the betrayal of Hetman I. Mazepa, and on the other, by his high assessment of the fighting qualities and loyalty to Russia of the Serbian volunteers.

For this purpose, on October 31, 1723, it was published “Universal of Peter I with a call to the Serbs to join the Serbian hussar regiments in Ukraine,” providing for the creation of several mounted hussar regiments consisting of Serbs.

For this purpose, it was planned to create a special commission headed by Major I. Albanez, which was supposed to recruit volunteers for the regiments from the Serbian ethnic territories of Austria. A number of privileges were provided for - maintaining the rank they had in the Austrian army; promotion to the rank of colonel if they lead an entire regiment; issuance of land for settlement and food if they move as families, etc. With the funds issued, Major I. Albanez manages to attract, according to the College of Foreign Affairs dated November 18, 1724, 135 people, and by the end of the year - 459. Among them were not only Serbs, but also Bulgarians, Hungarians, Volokhs, Muntians and others. In 1725, another 600 Serbs moved to settle in the Azov province.

Subsequently, the idea of ​​​​Peter I on the formation of a Serbian hussar regiment was confirmed by the Decree of Catherine I of 1726, and by the Decree of Peter II of May 18, 1727, the “Serbian military command” was renamed "Serbian Hussar Regiment".

By a decree of the Supreme Privy Council of May of the same year, the Military Collegium was obliged to resolve the issue of the settlement of Serbs in the Belgorod province.

Thus, Russia begins a policy of settling the southern regions and ensures the protection of the country from Tatar-Turkish invasions. However, at that time, a centralized policy for the resettlement of Balkan settlers had not yet been implemented, and Peter’s idea did not lead to mass migration of representatives of the South Slavic peoples to Russia.

A new campaign to attract Serbs to Russia began on the eve of the next Russian-Turkish war (1735 - 1739). To implement this task, the consent of the Austrian Emperor Charles VI was obtained to recruit 500 people from Austrian possessions to replenish the Serbian Hussar Regiment.

Thus, by the beginning of 1738, the number of Serbs serving in the Russian army was about 800 people. It remained so until the beginning of the 50s of the 18th century, when the next stage of the resettlement of Serbs to Russia began.

Paradoxically, this was to a certain extent facilitated by the policy of the Austrian authorities to Germanize the Serbian population of the territories bordering Turkey, the so-called borderlands. This was expressed, on the one hand, in the inculcation of Catholicism, as a result of which a significant part of the border Serbs became Croats, and on the other, in the approval German language as official in all territories of their residence. In addition, the leadership of the Holy Roman (Austrian) Empire decided to gradually resettle border Serbs from sections of the Military Border on the Tisza and Maros rivers to other areas, or to turn them into subjects of the Kingdom of Hungary (which was part of the Austrian Empire).

This provoked an increase in interethnic tension in the region and stimulated the outflow of Serbs to other places, including outside the Holy Roman Empire.

At the same time, this was exactly the contingent that Russia needed to arrange its border lines in the Azov-Black Sea direction. The “border guards” had extensive experience in organizing military settlements and combining agricultural activities with military and border service. In addition, the enemy from whom they had to protect the borders of the Russian Empire in the Azov-Black Sea direction was the same one they faced in the Austrian borderland - Turkey and its vassal Crimean Khanate.

The process of resettlement of the “border guards” to Russia began with a meeting of the Russian Ambassador in Vienna M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumina with a Serbian colonel I. Horvat(Horvat von Kurtić), who presented a petition for the resettlement of border Serbs to the Russian Empire. At the same time, I. Horvat, according to the ambassador, promised to bring a hussar regiment of 1,000 people to Russia, for which he demands to receive the rank of major general for life, and to appoint his sons as officers of the Russian army. Subsequently, he promised, if possible, to create an infantry regiment of regular pandurs (musketeers), numbering 2,000, and to deliver them to the Russian borders.

This, of course, was in line with Russia's interests. Therefore, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna granted Colonel I. Horvat’s request, declaring on July 13, 1751 that not only Horvat and his closest associates from among the border guards, but also any Serbs who wanted to become Russian citizens and move to the Russian Empire would be accepted as fellow believers. The Russian authorities decided to give the land between the Dnieper and Sinyukha, in the territory of the modern Kirovograd region, for settlement. The resettlement began in accordance with the Decree of December 24, 1751, which laid the foundation for New Serbia - a Serbian colony on the territory of the Russian state. At the same time, it was initially autonomous, subordinate in military-administrative terms only to the Senate and the Military Collegium. I. Horvat, promoted to major general for organizing the resettlement of Serbs, became the de facto leader of this autonomy.

At the same time, I. Horvat’s intention to transfer 600 people to Russia at the same time was not realized. The first group of settlers, or, as it was called, the “team,” arrived in Kyiv, through which their path to their future destinations passed, on October 10, 1751. Its composition, according to the “Gazette of headquarters and chief officers who arrived from Hungary to Kyiv of the Serbian nation,” consisted of 218 people. In total, by the end of 1751, only 419 people arrived in New Serbia, including military personnel, their families and servants.

This, of course, was far from the number of frontier settlers that the Russian leadership was counting on. Therefore, to staff the regiments, I. Horvat was allowed to recruit not only Serbs, former Austrian subjects, but also Orthodox immigrants from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Bulgarians and Vlachs, as well as representatives of other peoples. As a result, I. Horvat managed to create a hussar regiment staffed with settlers, for which he received the following military rank- Lieutenant General.

Following the creation of New Serbia, by a decision of the Senate on March 29, 1753, another administrative-territorial entity was established for Serbian volunteer settlers - Slavic-Serbia- on the right bank of the Seversky Donets, in the Lugansk region.

The origins of its creation were the Serbian officers Colonel I. Šević and Lieutenant Colonel R. Preradovich, who served in the Austrian military service until 1751. Each of them led his own hussar regiment. I. Shevich's regiment was located on the border with the modern Rostov region, and R. Preradovich's regiment was located in the Bakhmut area. Both of them, like I. Horvat, received the rank of major general. Moreover, the composition of these regiments was also multi-ethnic, like that of I. Horvat in New Serbia.

The central points of the new settlements were Novomirgorod and the fortress of St. Elizabeth (modern Kirovograd) in New Serbia, Bakhmut (modern Artemovsk) and the Belevskaya fortress (Krasnograd, Kharkov region) in Slavic-Serbia.

Thus, in the 50s of the 18th century, two colonies of military settlers were created, who, together with the Cossacks (Don and Zaporozhye), ensured the security of the southwestern borders of Russia. The Serbian hussar regiments also performed excellently during the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763) between Russia and Prussia.

At the same time, the current situation in the regions of compact settlement of Serb border guards did not fully satisfy the Russian leadership. This was especially true for the direct management of settlements. After Catherine II, who became Empress in 1762, heard rumors about I. Horvath’s financial and official abuses, she decided to immediately remove him from his position. To analyze the situation in the region and develop measures to better effective management two special committees were created (on the affairs of New Serbia, as well as Slavic-Serbia and the Ukrainian fortified line).

In the spring of 1764, Catherine II was presented with their conclusions. As the main obstacle to effective development region, the fragmentation and lack of control of the actions of the heads of local administrations and military command bodies were recognized.

The term “Novorossiya” was officially enshrined in the legal acts of the Russian Empire in the spring of 1764. Considering the project of Nikita and Peter Panin for the further development of the province of New Serbia, located in the Zaporozhye lands (between the Dnieper and Sinyukha rivers), the young Empress Catherine II personally changed the name of the newly created province from Catherine to Novorossiysk.

In accordance with the Decree of the EC To Atherina II dated April 2, 1764, the Novo-Serbian settlement and the military corps of the same name were transformed into the Novorossiysk province under the single authority of the governor (chief commander). In the summer of the same year, the Slavic-Serbian province, the Ukrainian fortified line and the Bakhmut Cossack regiment were subordinated to the province.

To ensure better controllability of the province, it was divided into 3 provinces: Elisabeth (with its center in the fortress of St. Elizabeth), Ekaterininskaya(with its center in the Belevskaya fortress) and Bakhmutskaya.

Belev Fortress. XVII century: 1 - Kozelskaya passage tower, 2 - Likhvinskaya passage tower, 3 - Bolkhovskaya passage tower, 4 - Bolkhovskaya (Polevaya) passage tower, 5 - Lyubovskaya corner tower, 6 - Spasskaya corner tower, 7 - Moscow (Kaluga) passage tower tower, 8 - Vasilyevskaya corner tower, 9 - Secret tower.

In September 1764, at the request of local residents, a Little Russian town was included within the boundaries of Novorossiya Kremenchug. Subsequently, until 1783, it was the center of the Novorossiysk province.

Thus, Peter’s idea of ​​settling the Azov-Black Sea region with representatives of the Slavic peoples was not realized, but it marked the beginning of the implementation of a larger-scale project - Novorossiya, which became not only an outpost of Russia in the southwestern direction, but also one of its most developed in socio-economic plan of the regions. And this despite the fact that a significant part of the Novorossiysk province at the stage of its formation was still a Wild Field - uninhabited, wild spaces. Therefore, one of the most important priorities of the Russian leadership was the economic development of these spaces and, accordingly, their protection from various types of invasions.

Solving this problem involved attracting human resources to the region, both from other regions of the country and from abroad.

Significant in this regard was manifesto Catherine II dated October 25, 1762 “On allowing foreigners to settle in Russia and the free return of Russian people who fled abroad.” The continuation of this document was the manifesto of July 22, 1763 “On the permission of all foreigners entering Russia to settle in different provinces of their choice, their rights and benefits.”

Catherine II, in her manifestos, called on foreigners to “settle mainly for the development of our industries and trade,” that is, in other words, she actually formed the country’s human capital through the influx of “brains.” This was the reason for such significant preferences provided to new settlers, from paying expenses for moving to Russia at the expense of the treasury, to exemption for a long period (up to 10 years) from various types of taxes and duties.

The program for attracting people from abroad took on a comprehensive nature, and the military and civil administration of the region were involved in participation in it. Along with land plots, military and civil officials received permission (“open sheets”) to withdraw from abroad free “people of every rank and nationality, for inclusion in regiments or installation on their own or government lands.” Upon successful completion of this task, officials were entitled to significant incentives. For the withdrawal of 300 people, the rank of major was awarded, 150 - captain, 80 - lieutenant, 60 - ensign, 30 - sergeant.

The most important provision of Catherine's manifestos was the declaration of freedom of religion. This permission was also actively used by Old Believers who lived in Poland, Moldova and Turkey. The resettlement of Old Believers became so massive that in 1767 the government was forced to impose restrictions on this process.

In 1769, resettlement to the Novorossiysk region began Talmudic Jews from western Russia and Poland.

At the same time, minor benefits were established for this category of settlers: they had the right to keep distilleries; benefits from billets and other duties were given to them for only a year, they were allowed to hire Russian workers, freely practice their faith, etc. Despite minor benefits, their resettlement in cities was successful. Attempts to establish Jewish agricultural colonies were unsuccessful.

The most numerous were immigrants from Little Russia, both the Left Bank (which was part of Russia) and the Right Bank or Trans-Dnieper, which was the property of Poland. Migrants from the central regions of Russia were represented mainly by state (non-serf) peasants, as well as Cossacks, retired soldiers, sailors and artisans. Another important resource for replenishing the population of the Novorossiysk region was the resettlement of their own serfs from the central provinces of Russia by the nobles who acquired lands in the south.

Taking into account the lack of women at the initial stage of development, measures were developed to stimulate their recruitment for resettlement in Novorossiya. Thus, “one Jewish recruiter was paid 5 rubles. for every girl. Officers were awarded ranks - whoever collected 80 souls at his own expense was given the rank of lieutenant.”

Thus, the necessary conditions were created for multinational, but predominantly Great Russian-Little Russian (or Russian-Ukrainian) colonization Novorossiya.

The result of this policy was rapid population growth in the southern reaches European Russia. Already in 1768, excluding regular troops stationed in the region on a temporary basis, about 100 thousand people lived in the Novorossiysk region (at the time of the formation of the province, the population of Novorossiya was up to 38 thousand). The Russian Empire literally before our eyes was acquiring the most important stronghold for the struggle for dominance in the Black Sea.

A new stage in the development of the former steppes of the Wild Field, which became Novorossiya, and the expansion of the southern borders of the Russian Empire was associated with the successful end of the Russian-Turkish war (1768 - 1774).

As a result, the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty was signed, under the terms of which the territory of the Black Sea estuary between the Southern Bug and the Dnieper, where the Turkish fortress of Kinburn was located, was transferred to Russia. In addition, Russia secured a number of fortresses on the Kerch Peninsula, including Kerch and Yeni-Kale. The most important result of the war was Turkey's recognition of the independence of the Crimean Khanate, which became a protectorate of the Russian Empire. Thus, the threat to the southern regions of the country from the raids of the Crimean Tatars was finally eliminated.

Together with the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas, Russia gained access to the sea, and the value of the Novorossiysk region increased significantly. This predetermined the need to intensify the policy of development of this region.

An exceptionally important role in this was played by Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin. For a long time in Russian historiography, his role in the transformation of Novorossiya was either distorted or ignored. The phraseology “Potemkin villages” came into wide use, suggesting a demonstration of fake villages to Catherine II during her inspection of the region, followed by their relocation along the empress’s route.

In fact, these so-called “Potemkin villages” were real settlements of immigrants, both from the internal regions of the country and from abroad. Subsequently, numerous villages and cities grew in their place, including such large ones as Kherson, Nikolaev, Ekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk), Nikopol, Novomoskovsk, Pavlograd and others.

Brilliant, talented administrator, military leader and statesman G.A. Potemkin was endowed by the empress with extremely broad powers. He was in charge not only of the Novorossiysk region, but also of the Azov and Astrakhan provinces.

Thus, he was actually the plenipotentiary representative of Catherine II in the south of Russia. The range of activities of G.A. was also extremely wide. Potemkin: from the development of the wild territories of the Azov and Black Sea regions, including the Kuban, to the leadership of the actions of Russian troops in the Caucasus. In addition, he led the construction of the merchant and military fleet, port infrastructure on the Black and Azov Seas. During the second (during the time of Catherine II) Russian-Turkish war 1788 - 1791 years commanded Russian troops.

During the period of his governorship in Novorossiya and Crimea, the foundations of gardening and viticulture were laid, and the sown area was increased. During this period, about a dozen cities arose, including, along with those mentioned above, Mariupol (1780), Simferopol (1784), Sevastopol (1783), which became the base of the Black Sea Fleet, the construction manager of which and commander-in-chief G.A. Potemkin was appointed in 1785. All this characterized him as an outstanding statesman of Russia during the era of Catherine the Great, who, perhaps, most accurately described her governor in Novorossiya: “He had... one rare quality that distinguished him from all other people: he had courage in his heart, courage in mind, courage in the soul."

It was G.A. Potemkin came up with the idea of ​​annexing Crimea to Russia. Thus, in one of his letters to Catherine II, he wrote: “With its position, Crimea is tearing apart our borders... Now assume that Crimea is yours and that this wart on your nose is no longer there - suddenly the position of the borders is excellent... There are no powers in Europe that they will not divide between Asia, Africa, America. The acquisition of Crimea can neither strengthen nor enrich you, but will only bring you peace.” On April 8, 1782, the Empress signed a manifesto that finally assigned Crimea to Russia. The first steps of G.A. Potemkin on the implementation of this manifesto began construction of Sevastopol as a military and sea port of Russia and the creation of the Black Sea Fleet (1783).

It should be noted that the annexation of Crimea to Russia itself was implemented within the framework of another even larger-scale project, the so-called Greek project G.A. Potemkin - Catherine II, which envisioned the restoration of the Greek Empire with its capital in Constantinople (Istanbul). It is no coincidence that “The Path to Byzantium” was written on the triumphal arch at the entrance to the city of Kherson that he founded.

But still the main activity of G.A. Potemkin was the arrangement of Novorossiya. The founding of cities, the construction of a fleet, the cultivation of orchards and vineyards, the encouragement of sericulture, the establishment of schools - all this testified to the increasing military-political and socio-economic importance of the region. And this clearly demonstrated Potemkin’s administrative abilities. According to contemporaries, “he dreamed of turning wild steppes into fertile fields, building cities, plants, factories, and creating a fleet on the Black and Azov Seas.” And he succeeded. In fact, it was he who turned the Wild Field into a prosperous Novorossiya, and the Black Sea shores into the southern border of the Russian Empire. And he is rightly called the organizer of Novorossiya.

This was largely due to the effective resettlement policy implemented during the period of his management of the region. First of all, this concerned the institutionalization of the so-called “free” colonization of Novorosiya by peasants from the central provinces of Russia. Having liquidated the Zaporozhye Sich in 1775, he nevertheless retained one of the basic principles of its functioning - “There is no extradition from the Sich.”

Therefore, serfs who abandoned their owners found refuge in Novorossiya.

Moreover, on May 5, 1779, at his insistence, Catherine II published a manifesto “On the summoning of lower military ranks, peasants and commonwealth people who have left without permission abroad.” The manifesto not only allowed all fugitives to return to Russia with impunity, but also provided them with a 6-year tax exemption. Serfs, thus, could not return to their landowners, but switch to the position of state peasants.

In addition, a centralized resettlement of state peasants took place to Novorossiya. Thus, in accordance with the Decree of Catherine II of June 25, 1781, 24 thousand peasants who were under the jurisdiction of the College of Economy were resettled “to the empty lands” of the Azov and Novorossiysk provinces, i.e. state peasants.

New impetus during the management period of G.A. Potemkin benefited from the resettlement of foreign settlers to the region. So, in particular, after Crimea gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, many Greek and Armenian families moved out of it in 1779.

Greek settlers (about 20 thousand people), on the basis of a charter, were allocated land for settlement in the Azov province, along the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, and were provided with significant benefits - the exclusive right to fish, state-owned houses, freedom from military service and others. On the territories allocated for settlement on the coast of the Azov Sea, the Greeks founded about 20 settlements, the largest of which later became Mariupol.

Together with the Greeks, Armenians began to move to Novorossiya. During 1779 - 1780, 13,695 people from the Armenian community of Crimea were resettled

75,092 rubles were spent on transferring Greeks and Armenians from Crimea. and, in addition, 100 thousand rubles. the Crimean Khan, his brothers, beys and murzas received compensation “for the loss of their subjects”.

The resettlement of Moldovans to Novorossiya also intensified during this period. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, they founded cities and villages along the river. Dniester - Ovidiopol, New Dubossary, Tiraspol, etc.

Voluntary resettlement to Novorossiya began in 1789 German colonists. Despite the fact that the attraction of German colonists began back in 1762, they began to be attracted to the Novorossiysk region only when the successful results for Russia of the last Russian-Turkish war in the 18th century (1788 - 1791) became obvious and, accordingly, the consolidation of behind it is the northern Black Sea region.

The first German settlements in Novorossiya were seven villages founded by Mennonite Germans (Baptists) from Prussia in the Yekaterinoslav province on the right bank of the Dnieper in the Khortitsa region, including the island itself. Initially, 228 families were settled in Novorossiya; their number subsequently increased, forming a vast area by the middle of the 19th century. a German colony of almost 100 thousand people. This was facilitated by significantly more favorable preferences provided to German colonists compared to other foreign settlers.

On July 25, 1781, a decree was issued that ordered the transfer of economic (state) peasants to Novorossiya “voluntarily and according to at will" The settlers received in their new places “a benefit from taxes for a year and a half, so that during this time the taxes would be paid for them by the residents of their former village,” who in return would receive the land of those leaving. Soon, the period of relief from paying taxes on land was significantly extended. This decree ordered the transfer of up to 24 thousand economic peasants. This measure encouraged migration primarily of middle and wealthy peasants who were able to organize strong farms on the lands being populated.

Along with the legal resettlement sanctioned by the authorities, there was an active people's unauthorized resettlement movement from the central provinces and Little Russia. B O The majority of unauthorized migrants settled on landowners' estates. However, in the conditions of New Russia, serf relations took the form of so-called submission, when peasants living on the land of the landowners retained personal freedom, and their responsibilities to the owners were limited.

In August 1778, the transfer of Christians to the Azov province began (Greeks and Armenians) from the Crimean Khanate. The settlers were exempt from all state taxes and duties for 10 years; all their property was transported at the expense of the treasury; each new settler received 30 acres of land in a new place; the state built houses for poor “villagers” and supplied them with food, seeds for sowing and draft animals; all settlers were forever freed “from military posts” and “dachas for recruiting into the army.” According to the decree of 1783, in “villages under Greek, Armenian and Roman law” it was allowed to have “courts of Greek and Roman law, Armenian magistrate».

After Crimea was annexed to the empire in 1783, the military threat to the Black Sea provinces weakened significantly. This made it possible to abandon the military-settlement principle of the administrative structure and extend the effect of the Institution on Governorates of 1775 to Novorossia.

Since the Novorossiysk and Azov provinces did not have the required population, they were united into the Ekaterinoslav governorship. Grigory Potemkin was appointed its governor-general, and the immediate ruler of the region was Timofey Tutolmin, soon replaced Ivan Sinelnikov. The territory of the governorship was divided into 15 counties. In 1783, 370 thousand people lived within its borders.

Administrative changes contributed to the development of the region's economy.

Agriculture spread. A review of the state of the Azov province in 1782 noted the beginning of agricultural work on “a vast expanse of fertile and rich lands, which had previously been neglected by the former Cossacks.” Land and government money were allocated for the creation of manufactories; the creation of enterprises that produced products in demand by the army and navy was especially encouraged: cloth, leather, morocco, candle, rope, silk, dyeing and others. Potemkin initiated the transfer of many factories from the central regions of Russia to Ekaterinoslav and other cities of Novorossiya. In 1787, he personally reported to Catherine II about the need to move part of the state-owned porcelain factory from St. Petersburg to the south, and always with craftsmen.

In the last quarter of the 18th century in the Northern Black Sea region (especially in the Donetsk basin) began active search coal and ores. In 1790, the landowner Alexey Shterich and mining engineer Carl Gascoigne commissioned the search for coal along the Northern Donets and Lugan rivers, where construction began in 1795 Lugansk foundry.

A village of the same name arose around the plant. To supply this plant with fuel, the first mine in Russia was founded, in which coal was mined on an industrial scale. The first mining settlement in the empire was built at the mine, which laid the foundation for the city of Lisichansk. In 1800, the first blast furnace was launched at the plant, where cast iron was produced using coke for the first time in the Russian Empire.

The construction of the Lugansk foundry was the starting point for the development of South Russian metallurgy, the creation of coal mines and mines in the Donbass. Subsequently, this region will become one of the most important centers of economic development in Russia.

Economic development strengthened trade ties between individual parts of the Northern Black Sea region, as well as between Novorossiya and the central regions of the country. Even before the annexation of Crimea, the possibilities of transporting goods across the Black Sea were intensively studied. It was assumed that one of the main export items would be bread, which would be grown in large quantities in Ukraine and the Black Sea region.

Odessa monument to Catherine II

To stimulate the development of trade in 1817 Russian government introduced the “porto-franco” regime ( free trade) in the port of Odessa, which at that time acted as the new administrative center of the Novorossiysk General Government.

Duke of Richelieu, Count Langeron, Prince Vorontsov

Free and duty-free import of foreign goods, including those prohibited for import into Russia, was allowed into Odessa. The export of foreign goods from Odessa into the country was allowed only through outposts according to the rules of the Russian customs tariff with the payment of duties on a general basis. The export of Russian goods through Odessa was carried out in accordance with existing customs rules. In this case, the duty was collected at the port when loading onto merchant ships. Russian goods imported only to Odessa were not subject to duty.

The city itself received enormous opportunities for its development from such a system. Buying raw materials duty-free, entrepreneurs opened factories within Porto Franco that processed these raw materials. Because the finished products, produced at such factories, was considered manufactured in Russia, it was sold without duties within the country. Often, products made from imported raw materials within the Odessa borders of the free port did not leave the customs posts at all, but were immediately sent abroad.

Quite quickly, the Odessa port turned into one of the main transshipment points for Mediterranean and Black Sea trade. Odessa grew rich and expanded. By the end of the period of porto-franco, the capital of the Novorossiysk General Government became the fourth largest city in the Russian Empire after St. Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw.

The center of Odessa at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries

The initiator of the experiment to introduce porto-franco was one of the most famous governors-general of Novorossiya - Emmanuel Osipovich de Richelieu( Armand Emmanuel du Plessis Richelieu).

He was the great-great-great-nephew of the French Cardinal Richelieu. It was this official who made the decisive contribution to the mass settlement of the Black Sea region. In 1812, through the efforts of Richelieu, the conditions for resettlement of foreign colonists and internal migrants to the region were finally equalized.

Local authorities received the right to issue cash loans to needy settlers from other provinces of the empire “from the amounts for wine farming” and bread for crops and food from bread stores.

In the new places, food was prepared for the settlers for the first time, part of the fields were sown, and tools and draft animals were prepared. To build houses, peasants received building materials in new places. In addition, they were given 25 rubles for each family free of charge.

This approach to resettlement stimulated the migration to Novorossiya of economically active and enterprising peasants, who created a favorable environment for the spread of wage labor and capitalist relations in agriculture.

Almost twenty years Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov was the head of the Novorossiysk General Government.

As a result, Vorontsov owes: Odessa - a hitherto unprecedented expansion of its trade importance and an increase in prosperity; Crimea - the development and improvement of winemaking, the construction of an excellent highway bordering the southern coast of the peninsula, breeding and multiplication different types grain and other useful plants, as well as the first experiments in afforestation. The road in Crimea was built 10 years after the arrival of the new governor. Thanks to Vorontsov, Odessa was enriched with many beautiful buildings built according to the designs of famous architects. Primorsky Boulevard is connected to the port by the famous Odessa stairs(Potemkinskaya), at the foot of which was installed Monument to Duke Richelieu.

The Novorossiysk General Government lasted until 1874. During this time, it absorbed the Ochakov region, Taurida and even Bessarabia. Nevertheless, the unique historical path, combined with a number of other factors, continues to determine the general mentality of the inhabitants of the Northern Black Sea region. It is based on a synthesis of various national cultures (primarily Russian and Ukrainian), love of freedom, selfless work, economic entrepreneurship, rich military traditions, and the perception of the Russian state as a natural defender of its interests.

Novorossiya begins to develop rapidly, the population grew from year to year, the “Novorossiysk boom” literally began. All this, in addition to the revitalization of life in Novorossiya itself, changed the attitude towards it as a wild and almost burdensome region for the state treasury. Suffice it to say that the result of the first years of Vorontsov’s management was an increase in the price of land from thirty kopecks per tithe to ten rubles or more. This, in addition to providing employment to the population, provided money to both the people and the region. Without relying on subsidies from St. Petersburg, Vorontsov set out to base life in the region on the principles of self-sufficiency. As they say now, the subsidized region could soon provide for itself. Hence Vorontsov’s transformative activity, unprecedented in scale.

All this contributed to attracting a socially and economically active population to the region. In just two decades (1774 - 1793), the population of the Novorossiysk Territory increased more than 8 times from 100 to 820 thousand people.

This was the result of a competent and effective resettlement policy, the main provisions of which were:

• not extending serfdom to resettlement regions;
• freedom of religion;
• benefits for the clergy;
• equalizing the rights of the Crimean Tatar nobility with the Russian nobility (“Certificate of Grant to the Nobility”);
• approval of the right to buy and sell land;
• freedom of movement;
• liberation of the indigenous population from military service;
• exemption of foreign migrants from paying taxes for up to 10 years;
• implementation of a program for the construction of cities and villages, through which the population was transferred to a sedentary lifestyle and others.

All this ultimately stimulated the resettlement of a significant number of socially, economically and militarily active population to Novorossiya.

At the same time, the most important specificity of this policy was, on the one hand, voluntary resettlement, and on the other, the multinational composition of the migrants. Most of them were Russians and Ukrainians. Along with them, Serbs, Bulgarians, Moldovans, Greeks, Armenians, Tatars, Germans, Swiss, Italians and representatives of other peoples also moved to the region.

As a result, in terms of its ethnic composition, it was perhaps the most multinational region of the country. It remained so until the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, and then the collapse of the USSR in 1991, when the local Ukrainian elites, who arrived in the wake of socio-political cataclysms, began to actively play the nationalist card, and at the same time distort it the history of the development of the Wild Field and the creation of Novorossiya.

The very fact of voluntary colonization of the region contributed to its transformation into one of the most socio-economically and culturally developed regions of the Russian Empire, and subsequently Ukraine (both Soviet and independent) remains a fact. It cannot be erased from history; it can only be silenced or distorted.

Bocharnikov Igor Valentinovich

WHERE DOES THE MOTHERLAND START?

Early Iron Age. 1st millennium BC - beginning 1st millennium AD

The first people on Ukrainian lands whose name is known are the Cimmerians, mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. It is believed that these nomads, who spoke a language related to Iranian, came to the Black Sea region in the 9th century BC. from the Lower Volga region. Here he stopped for two centuries. They did not have writing: the sources of the ancient Greeks and Assyrians, in particular Herodotus of Halicarnassus, tell about the Cimmerians.

From the Dniester in the west to Vorskla in the east lived the Chernolestsy: a tribe on whose lands the Cimmerians staged devastating raids. No matter how powerful the latter may seem, in the 7th century BC. they were supplanted by the Scythians, also Iranian-speaking nomads; They lived by horse breeding and wars. They reached their greatest prosperity in the V-IV centuries BC.

The first centralized state on the territory of Ukraine, Great Scythia, as Herodotus wrote, stretched in a rectangle across the entire northern Black Sea region from the Danube in the west to the Sea of ​​Azov in the east. From the north, its borders are the Pripyat River and the line on which modern Chernigov, Kursk, and Voronezh lie. In the 3rd century BC. The Scythians in the Black Sea steppes were replaced by the Sarmatians - that’s what the Greeks and Romans called them, apparently from the Iranian word meaning “girt with a sword”: they, too, were nomadic warriors. They ruled in the Black Sea steppes for about six centuries, until they were supplanted by the Goths and Huns in the first millennium AD. After their invasion, the Slavic tribes of Antes and Sklavins reigned on the territory of Ukraine.

600-650 years. Veneds, Antes, Sklavins

For example, the Gothic historian of the 6th century Jordan writes about the Sklavins (similar to the word “Slavs”, isn’t it?). According to him, the Slavs have a common ancestor, and they live in three tribes: Venets (or Veneds), Ants and Sklavins. In the 7th century, the Frankish chronicler Fredegar says that “the Slavins are called Wends.” The Ants lived between the Dniester and the Dnieper.

Archaeologists sometimes find Ant treasures consisting of gold and silver looted during campaigns. The Ant warriors were armed with poisoned arrows, spears, swords, shields and characteristic long swords. The Antes were considered the strongest Slavic tribe: their warriors served in the Byzantine army. The prisoners were used as slaves, sold or ransomed from neighbors. However, after some time, the captured slave became free and entered the community. The main deity of the Ants was Perun. The sacrifices were bloodless: food was sacrificed.

During the times of the Antes, the cities of Kyiv and Volyn were born.

KIEVAN RUS

862-1132. Kievan Rus

This state arose in the 9th century, when the East Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes united under the rule of the princely Rurik dynasty. Its history begins with the capture of Kyiv by Oleg, who subjugated the East Slavic tribes.

During the period of the highest prosperity of Kievan Rus, its borders were the Dniester and the upper reaches of the Vistula in the west, the Taman Peninsula in the southeast, and the upper reaches of the Northern Dvina in the north. Geography also helps to understand the cities of Kievan Rus, the most ancient of which were Kyiv, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, Smolensk, Rostov, Ladoga, Pskov, Polotsk.

The reign of Prince Vladimir (c. 960 -1015) and Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) was the time of the greatest prosperity of the state, the borders of which expanded unusually (from the Baltic states and the Carpathians to the Black Sea steppes).

By the middle of the 12th century, feudal fragmentation had set in in Kievan Rus, and it broke up into one and a half dozen separate principalities ruled by different branches of the Rurikovichs. The beginning of fragmentation is considered to be 1132, when, after the death of Mstislav the Great, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, power Prince of Kyiv Polotsk and Novgorod ceased to be recognized. Kyiv was formally considered the capital until the Mongol invasion (1237-1240).

1220-1240. First encounter with the Mongols

Almost all the southern Russian princes took part in the battle with the Mongols on the Kalka River (in the territory of the modern Donetsk region on May 31, 1223), many of them, like many high-born boyars, died. Victory went to the Mongols. With the weakening of the southern Russian principalities, the onslaught of the Hungarian and Lithuanian feudal lords intensified, but the influence of the princes in Chernigov, Novgorod, and Kyiv also increased. In 1240, the Mongols (under the leadership of Batu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan) reduced Kyiv to ruins. The city went to Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, whom the Mongols recognized as the main one, and then to his son Alexander Nevsky. But they did not move the table to Kyiv, and remained in Vladimir.

THE FLOWING OF WESTERN UKRAINE

1245-1349. Galicia-Volyn Principality

In 1245, in the Battle of Yaroslavl (near modern Yaroslav in Poland, on the San River), the troops of Daniil of Galicia defeated the regiments of Hungarian and Polish feudal lords. Daniil of Galicia, counting on Western alliance against the Golden Horde, accepted the title of king from the Pope in 1253. The reign of Daniil Romanovich became the period of greatest growth of the Galicia-Volyn principality. Its strengthening caused concern in the Golden Horde. The principality was forced to pay tribute to the Horde, and the princes had to send troops for joint campaigns with the Mongols. Nevertheless, the Galicia-Volyn principality pursued an independent foreign policy.

In the second half of the 13th century, the Galician-Volyn principality did not control Podolia, but then regained control over these lands and gained access to the Black Sea; after 1323 they were lost again. Polissya was annexed by Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century, and Volyn - in the War of the Galician-Volynian Succession between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Galicia was annexed by Poland in 1349. This year is considered to be the end of the existence of the Galicia-Volyn principality.

UNDER LITHUANIA

1386-1434 Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd in 1362 defeated the Mongols at Blue Waters (in the territory of the modern Kirovograd region, near Novoarkhangelsk) and annexed the Podolsk land. Then he removed Fyodor, who reigned in Kyiv, subordinate to the Golden Horde, and gave the city to his son Vladimir. At first, these lands stopped paying tribute to the Horde, in which there was then a struggle for power. In 1386, Jagiello became the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He converted to Catholicism and ruled Poland under the name of Władysław II until 1434. Many Orthodox princes opposed rapprochement with Poland: three civil wars took place in 1381-1384, 1389-1392 and 1432-1439. Many cities, including, for example, Lviv, Kyiv, Vladimir-Volynsky, received their own self-government, the so-called Magdeburg law.

In the 90s of the 14th century, Jogaila's cousin Vladislav Vytautas, thanks to an alliance with the Mongols, managed to peacefully annex the vast territories of the Wild Field in the south.

COSSACK ERA

1751. Hetmanate and Zaporozhye Sich

The uprising of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 1648-1654 led to the emergence of an autonomous Hetmanate. At the Pereyaslav Rada, Khmelnitsky accepted citizenship of the Russian Empire, the Russian-Polish War of 1654-1667 began, during which a civil war (Ruin) began in the Hetmanate. Left-bank Ukraine wanted to be part of Russia, and Right-bank Ukraine sought a union with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

During the Russian-Turkish War of 1676-1681, the Russian-Cossack army repelled the invasion of the Ottoman Empire into Left Bank Ukraine. During the Northern War, Hetman Mazepa went over to the side of the Swedish king Charles XII, with whom he was defeated in the Battle of Poltava. As a result, the autonomy of the Hetmanate was limited and it began to be governed through the Little Russian Collegium. In the 18th century, the Cossack nobility integrated into the Russian nobility. In 1751, the Zaporizhian Sich was transferred to the power of the Hetmanate, in 1764 Catherine II abolished the Hetmanate, and in 1775 - the Zaporizhian Sich. The Cossack nobility is equated to the Russian nobility; the Cossacks are allocated lands annexed to Russia: Novorossiya, Kuban, Stavropol.

WHAT IS NOVOROSSIYA?

In the Russian-speaking tradition, this name was used until the beginning of the 20th century. It originated from the Novorossiysk province (existed in 1764-1775 during the time of Catherine II and in 1796-1802 under Paul I). This was the name given to the territories of the northern Black Sea region that were transferred to the Russian Empire as a result of the Russian-Turkish wars in the second half of the 18th century. Novorossiya (the province of the same name was then divided) meant the Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, Tauride, Bessarabian, and also the Stavropol provinces plus the Kuban region with the Don Army Region. In many respects coincides with the Ukrainian historical region Hetmanate. Since the mid-20th century, the definitions “Northern Black Sea Region” and “Southern Ukraine” have been used. Nowadays the definition of “Southeastern Ukraine” is used.
Now the term “Novorossiya” is widely used by supporters of the federalization of Ukraine. On April 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin called southeastern Ukraine “Novorossiya” during his “direct line.”

UKRAINIAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

1918-1920

The UPR was proclaimed the Third Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada on November 7, 1917. Broad national autonomy was assumed, federally linked to Russia. The Fourth Universal declared the independence of the UPR on January 22, 1918. And a year later - On January 22, 1919, the “Zluka Act” was proclaimed, uniting the Western Ukrainian People's Republic and the UPR.

The Ukraine of that time was much larger than the modern one, its territory was determined by the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty and recognized by Austria-Hungary, Germany, Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. At the Paris Peace Conference, the URN delegation declared its borders, but they were not recognized due to the position of Great Britain, France and Poland.

So, the proclaimed Ukrainian territory included the lands of Eastern Poland, Transnistria and part of Transnistria, and extended to a depth of 250 km in the territory of modern southern Belarus and Russia, including part of the Kursk and Belgorod regions, as well as the lower Don. For example, on February 20, 1918, the legislative body of the Independent Kuban People's Republic adopted a resolution on the annexation of Kuban to the UPR on a federal basis.

In 2005, a most interesting document was discovered in Sumy. This is a map of independent Ukraine, drawn up in 1918, on which the Ukrainian state borders of that time are marked, that is, the borders of the UPR. The copy, as scientists believe, is the only one that has survived to our time. The map, as follows from the mark in the upper right corner, above the scale bar, was published in Kharkov by the geodetic publishing house "Southern Expedition". This rarity was given to the state by the Golubchenko family from Sumy.

OLD DISPUTE ABOUT CRIMEA

On peninsula during the time of the UPR, the local government was headed by Tsarist General Matvey Suleiman Sulkevich, who was against the inclusion of Crimea into the UPR. Hetman Skoropadsky, who considered Crimea Ukrainian, introduced an economic blockade of the peninsula. As a result, during the negotiations they decided to include Crimea into Ukraine on the basis of territorial autonomy.

The newspaper “Tauride Voice” wrote on January 3, 1918: “The main nationalities of Crimea are the Great Russians, Tatars and Germans. There are few Ukrainians in Crimea. And the simple inclusion of Crimea on an equal basis with other parts of Ukraine in the Ukrainian state would not correspond to the wishes of the majority of the population. With the unification of Crimea with "By Ukraine, the population of Crimea must receive a guarantee of the freedom of their national self-determination and independent internal self-government. Such a guarantee is the autonomous structure of the region."

ALL POWER TO THE SOVIETS

1920-1951. Ukrainian SSR

For some time, two districts of the Belgorod region remained within Soviet Ukraine. When the issue of borders between the Ukrainian SSR and the RSFSR was considered, they decided to take the pre-revolutionary borders between the provinces as a basis. The authorities agreed that the leadership of Soviet Ukraine would not lay claim to the Don region of the RSFSR. At the same time, four districts in the north of the Chernigov province became part of the Gomel province. The RSFSR transferred Taganrog to Ukraine along with the district, but in 1924 it was returned to Russia. In 1925-1926, Ukraine continued to expand: it received parts of the Kursk, Bryansk and Voronezh provinces.

In 1939, Soviet troops occupied territories belonging to Poland, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR. Then, in 1945, some of them were returned to Poland. The border ran along the Curzon line, deviating slightly towards Poland. Summer 1940 Soviet army occupied Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which belonged to Romania. Transnistria was transferred to the Moldavian SSR. The Ukrainian SSR received Northern Bukovina with the city of Chernivtsi and southern Bessarabia.

In 1945, part of Transcarpathia, which belonged to Czechoslovakia, became part of Ukraine. In 1951, the USSR gave part of the Drohobych region (existed until 1959) to Poland. On February 15, 1951, an exchange of territories took place between the USSR and Poland, as a result of which the Ukrainian SSR lost part of the territory of the Drohobych region.

NOT CRIMEA ALONE

1954-2014. Crimea

On February 5, 1954, the Crimean region of the RSFR was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR by a resolution of the Supreme Council of the Russian Soviet Federative Republic. While some historians associate this with the personal initiative of the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev, others consider the transfer a forced measure related to the difficult economic situation on the peninsula: there was post-war devastation, the Crimean Tatars were deported, and Russian settlers did not have the skills to manage a farm in the steppe. zone.

On March 16, 2014, an illegal referendum was held in Crimea: the majority of the pro-Russian population voted for Crimea to join Russia. At the same time, Russian military units operated on the territory of the autonomy without identification marks, capturing Ukrainian garrisons and blockading Ukrainian Navy ships. Crimea was actually annexed by Russia, which accepted the peninsula into its territory. The international community does not recognize the status of Crimea as a subject of the Russian Federation, determined by Russia, nor the results of the referendum, nor the self-proclaimed local government. Ukraine officially considers Crimea its territory, while on some Russian maps Crimea is already designated as part of the Russian Federation.