How Potemkin annexed Crimea to Russia and created the Black Sea Fleet. Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin - Prince who gave Crimea to Russia
The beginning of 2014 was marked by the long-awaited reunification of the Republic of Crimea and the Russian Federation. It was in that year that Crimea again became part of Russia. Our “Côte d'Azur”, so rich in original Russian historical sights, has once again begun to delight the residents of Russia, who are now absolutely free to visit the unique royal palaces, see the bastions of Sevastopol soaked in Russian blood, admire the majestic landscapes of Chersonesus, where Prince Vladimir and his retinue were baptized, look to mountains and waterfalls, lakes and steppes. But no matter how paradoxical it sounds, much of the above would not have happened without Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky, who first annexed Crimea to the Russian Empire. During the “golden age” of the reign of Empress Catherine II, it was Potemkin who played a significant role in the domestic and foreign policy of the Russian state. The Russian-Turkish wars gave Russia access to the Black Sea, and according to the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty, the Ottomans renounced their claims to Crimea, which became independent. In 1783, the manifesto drawn up by Potemkin “On the acceptance of the Crimean peninsula, Taman island and the entire Kuban side under the Russian state” was signed on April 8 (19) by Catherine II. It is from this event that the glorious history of Crimea as part of Russia begins.
Potemkin himself, who came from Smolensk nobles, attracted the attention of Catherine II by participating in the palace coup, after which Peter III was overthrown. It was from this event that the career rise of Grigory Alexandrovich began, but it would be incorrect to say that Potemkin received ranks and titles because of this. In 1769 he volunteered for the Russo-Turkish War, where he participated with distinction in a number of battles. The very next year, Major General Grigory Potemkin was awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd degree, for military successes. A few years later, Potemkin and his descendants were elevated to the rank of count and appointed governor-general of Novorossiya. After this, the count was engaged in military reforms. He introduced a unified structure of infantry units, prepared economic regulations for army expenses for maintaining the army, and created the Yekaterinoslav and Black Sea Cossack troops. Regular regiments were formed in the Don Army, which began to operate on the basis of army disciplinary laws, also developed by Potemkin. Being a demanding commander by nature, nevertheless, the count promoted the careful attitude of commanders towards subordinates and soldiers. From now on, it was forbidden to use soldiers in private work, and in various instructions and orders, Potemkin repeatedly wrote about the careful attitude of commanders towards subordinates, supervising the supply of troops and their sanitary and hygienic condition. As contemporaries noted, in those years Potemkin had great influence on Empress Catherine II, while all the most important state papers passed through his hands and were adjusted by them. His travels throughout the Russian Empire were furnished with great honors, his contemporaries treated him with respect and piety, but for a greater understanding of Potemkin’s personality, it is still necessary to quote the famous memoirist, diplomat and Austrian field marshal Charles-Joseph de Ligne, who at one time served under the beginning of the count: “I see the leader of the army, lazy in appearance, but working incessantly<…>. He knows no sleep day and night, timid for others and courageous for himself, dry and fickle, a deep philosopher, a skillful minister, a great politician, not vengeful, asks for forgiveness for the insults he has done, quickly and willingly makes amends for injustice, believes in God and fears the Devil<...>. He is a terrible rich man and never has a penny in his pockets, is extremely suspicious and trusting like a baby, jealous, grateful, gloomy and playful. Under the guise of cruelty he has the most tender heart. What is its magic? Genius, genius, genius! Innate intelligence, excellent memory, high spirit, subtleties without any deceit, a happy admixture of some unique waywardness, which in good moments attracts hearts to him, unlimited generosity; the art of rewarding pleasantly and according to merit, a true feeling, the gift of guessing what he does not know, and, finally, a deep knowledge of the human heart.” Other contemporaries noted Potemkin’s powerful muscles and high chest, as well as the count’s pleasant physical appearance, which, according to “evil tongues,” allowed him to be equal in number of novels to the famous hero of romantic short stories, Don Juan di Tenorio. “In the prince’s very appearance, in his majestic bearing, a man of remarkable caliber was immediately visible,” wrote Vasily Vasilyevich Ogarkov, one of the count’s pre-revolutionary biographers.
At the end of the Russian-Turkish war and the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty, Turkey sought to return Crimea to its sphere of influence. In March 1779, Russia and Turkey signed the Ainaly-Kavak Convention, according to which our country had to withdraw its troops from the Crimean Peninsula and, like Turkey, not interfere in the internal affairs of the Khanate. However, after the withdrawal of Russian troops, the Turks continued to influence the domestic and foreign policies of the Crimean Khanate. After one of the next uprisings provoked by the Ottoman Empire, Empress Catherine II decided to send in Russian troops again, risking an open conflict with Turkey. After the start of the military campaign, crowds of rebels fled from the Russian regiments, but it was then that Potemkin, having visited Crimea again, concluded that the Tatar nobility would more willingly accept the protectorate of the Russian Empire than the formal power of the Crimean Khan Shahin Giray, who dealt with the rebels with extraordinary cruelty and local residents. Threats to the security of the borders of Novorossiya and the Russian Empire forced Potemkin to address a new letter to the Empress, in which he, in particular, informed her: “Believe me that with this acquisition you will receive immortal glory such as no sovereign in Russia has ever had. This glory will pave the way to another and greater glory: with the Crimea will also come dominance in the Black Sea. It will depend on you whether to block the Turks’ passage and feed them or starve them.” And Catherine II issued a manifesto on the admission of Crimea to the Russian Empire. Now all economic and administrative activities fell on the shoulders of Potemkin, one of whose first steps was the choice of a harbor for the future Black Sea Fleet, thanks to which in 1784 a port-fortress called Sevastopol was founded. Meanwhile, on Potemkin’s instructions, an additional system of fortifications began to be erected along the Kuban River under the leadership of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. A little later, the Kuban, Tersk, and Kizlyar lines under the leadership of Potemkin formed a single Caucasian line. In Crimea itself, administrative reforms continued: the formed Tauride region was divided into seven counties, and the Tatar princes and Murzas received almost all the rights and benefits inherent in the Russian nobility. It was under Potemkin that colonists began to be invited to Crimea, new cities were founded, the peninsula was planted with forests and vineyards, factories and enterprises, shipyards and educational institutions were established. The ebullient character of Grigory Alexandrovich did not allow him to stop there; he spared neither himself, nor people, nor money for the transformation and improvement of Crimea. Under the leadership of Potemkin, a large-scale collection of information about Crimea began, on which Crimean and Russian officials, cartographers and surveyors worked. At the same time, in his circulars, he demanded from the Russian administration a friendly attitude towards the Tatars and favorable conditions “to promote the proliferation of commerce and encourage industries.” Every evening, Potemkin went for walks, did gymnastic exercises, in a word, looked after himself, his health and maintained good spirits. Knowing how to rest, and not at the expense of business, he also took care of the rest of his subordinates. But Potemkin, of course, gave the main emphasis in his life to work. Of course, not all of his plans came true, but traces of his activities after more than two centuries are visible in Crimea today. Since 1784, Potemkin began to invite foreigners to Crimea, specialists in viticulture, horticulture, forestry and agriculture. William Gould was invited from England to design parks and gardens. The Frenchman Joseph Bank, who was appointed director of the Tauride Gardens, took up the cultivation of vineyards, oilseeds and mulberry trees. In those days, with the support of Potemkin, salt production began to develop and soon it provided a huge territory, now including the lands of almost all of modern Ukraine and Belarus. Another large-scale project of Grigory Alexandrovich was the construction of new cities in Crimea and Novorossiya. This includes Odessa, Simferopol, Kherson, Sevastopol and other settlements. In them, at the expense of the treasury and under the personal supervision of Potemkin, numerous public buildings were erected, a network of new roads was built, and existing stone bridges were put in order. City residents were exempt from taxes and received loans to build their own houses. Potemkin also did not forget about public education, for which a number of schools were opened. Contemporaries testified that “through the tireless labors of the prince, the wild steppes of new Taurida, like the Novorossiysk steppes, turned into cultivated fields and beautiful meadows.” “Almost unique among Russian military and statesmen,” this is how the English historian Simon Jonathan Sebag-Montefiore, specializing in the history of Russia and the USSR, speaks of him these days.
In 1787, the famous journey of Empress Catherine II to Crimea was undertaken, which turned into a triumph for Potemkin. The route of the trip ran through Perekop, Karasubazar, Bakhchisarai, Laspi and Sevastopol. At the roadstead of the new city of Sevastopol, she was met by the Black Sea Fleet created under the leadership of Potemkin, consisting of three battleships, twelve frigates, twenty corvettes and brigs, three bombardment boats and two fire ships. The French ambassador Segur, who was in the retinue of the Russian Empress, noted crowds of workers, many buildings, city fortifications, piers and shipyards and concluded that all this gave Sevastopol the appearance of a significant city. The Empress was surprised by many things: the fortress in Kherson and the improvement of a number of settlements and palaces, a fireworks display of three hundred thousand rockets and the Amazonian company, created by Potemkin as a unit of the Russian army to meet and accompany Catherine II, consisting entirely of women who looked like warriors. For the arrival of the Empress, under the leadership of Potemkin, a historical description of the acquired region was prepared. Let us note that the Crimean residents had a positive attitude towards Potemkin’s reforms and enthusiastically greeted the Empress. As Prince de Ligne, who was next to Catherine II, testified during the trip to Bakhchisarai, the road went downhill and the horses quickly carried the Empress’s carriage, threatening to overturn and break it: “She was as calm at that time as at her last breakfast. New subjects, Crimeans, rushed to save her, dismounted, lay down on the road and, with the fury of their courage, restrained the madness of the horses.” After this trip of the Empress, His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin received from Catherine II the honorary title of “Tauride”. Unfortunately, to this day, what remains in the public consciousness of the population is not the colossal work that Potemkin carried out, but the myth about the “Potemkin villages”, since, they say, Grigory Alexandrovich was cunning and showed not reality, but almost dummies and unreal reality. But, according to a number of researchers, in those days it was customary to organize magnificent celebrations and richly decorate cities for the arrival of the Empress, who was also accompanied by the Austrian Emperor Joseph II on her trip to Crimea. In addition, Catherine II’s retinue included ambassadors from a number of European countries, who also needed to show that Russia was firmly on its feet, was developing its new lands and intended to develop them in the best possible way.
Soon another Russian-Turkish war broke out, the Turkish landing was overturned by Suvorov's troops, and the armies under the command of Potemkin and Field Marshal Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky defeated the Turkish troops and captured the fortresses of Ochakov and Khotin. After a series of successive victories by Suvorov, after the victory of the Black Sea Fleet under the leadership of Admiral Ushakov over the Turks, the capture of Izmail and Brailov, no one disputed that Crimea belonged to the Russian Empire. It was later confirmed by the Iasi Peace Treaty, which assigned the entire Northern Black Sea region to our country. Suvorov himself wrote in those years: about Potemkin: “He is an honest man, he is a kind man, he is a great man: it is my happiness to die for him.”
In 1790-1791, Potemkin actually led the Principality of Moldova, where he also carried out reforms in his own way and created the Moldavian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Shortly before the signing of the peace treaty, after the next peace negotiations, on October 5 (16), 1791, heading from Iasi to Nikolaev, Potemkin died of a fever near the Moldavian village of Radeniy Veki. “That’s it, there’s nowhere to go, I’m dying! Take me out of the carriage: I want to die on the field!” - these, as contemporaries said, were the last words of the great and brilliant His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin. With great solemnity, the great statesman was buried in the city of Kherson, which he built. 
After the Bolshevik revolution and the formation of the Ukrainian SSR, in 1930 the Soviet writer Boris Lavrenev came to Kherson, who discovered an anti-religious museum in the closed cathedral where Potemkin rested. In it, in addition to Soviet propaganda posters, the remains of officers who took part in the assault on the Ochakov fortress, the skull and parts of Potemkin’s skeleton were displayed in various display cases with the inscription “Skull and hands of the lover of Catherine II Patyomkin.” As a Soviet writer recalled: “Potemkin pulled out of the crypt and laid out into three exhibits was something unheard of in terms of barbarity and idiocy.” After Lavrenev’s intervention, the museum was closed, Potemkin’s remains were walled up in the crypt in a new coffin. But local historians recalled that in the courtyard of the former temple, the boys then played football with someone’s skull. Soviet special commissions worked at the burial site of Potemkin in 1970 and 1984-1985, opening the crypt to conduct a forensic medical examination. A small pile of bones was found in the coffin, among which there were practically no solid large bones or the skull itself. The impression from the state of the crypt was the most painful, most of the bones from the burial were missing, but experts concluded that the remains belonged to His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin - a man about 185 centimeters tall, about 52-55 years old, and the age of the skeleton was estimated at approximately two centuries. After the collapse of the USSR, ten monuments and busts of this great man were erected in honor of Potemkin, if we count those restored after their destruction by the Bolsheviks during the Soviet years. But it seems that in the hearts of patriots and concerned citizens the memory of Grigory Alexandrovich will always live, one of the confirmations of which is today’s Noble Readings. The marble tombstone on Potemkin’s grave in the Kherson Cathedral Church has survived to this day and every year on the day of his memory a memorial service is held at the grave, although now, by an evil irony of fate, Kherson is administratively part of Ukraine.
Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire. T. XXII. No. 15920
Letter to Segur from the camp near Ochakov, 1788. Text of the publication: “Bulletin of Europe”, No. 21, 1809. Translation by V. A. Zhukovsky (1809).
V. Ogarkov. G. A. Potemkin, his life and social activities. Biogr. Essay by V.V. Ogarkov. With portrait Potemkin. St. Petersburg, type. Yu. N. Erlich, 1892.
Bolotina N. Yu. Potemkin. Chapter 10. “A bloodless gift...” M.: Veche, 2014
Tuzlo D.D. Works. Chapter 3 “Count N.N. Muravyov-Amursky, His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky." M. LitLife, 2014
Sebag Montefiore. Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000. ISBN 9780297819028.
Andreev A. R. History of Crimea: A brief description of the past of the Crimean peninsula. A. R. Andreev. - M.: Interregional Center for Industry Informatics of Gosatomnadzor of Russia, 1997. P. 96. ISBN 5-89477-001-7.
Note about the Amazon company. Recorded by G. Dusi. Moskvityanin, 1844. - No. 1. – P. 266-268.
Crimean truth. Abrosimov A. “New favorite.” - 03/01/2004
Lavrenev B. Secondary burial of Potemkin // Monuments of the Fatherland, No. 2, 1991. -P.154-155.
Candidate of Philosophical Sciences A.B. Verigin
This is what happened in Crimea 237 years ago (this was written by Gulnara Abdulaeva, who lives in Simferopol).
Ignoring the terms of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty of 1774, according to which the Crimean Tatars were recognized as “free and completely independent from any outside power,” Potemkin begins to interfere in the internal affairs of the Crimean state. On April 21, 1777, Shagin Giray was elected to the khanate. Taking advantage of the change of power in Bakhchisarai, Potemkin gives the order to surround the Crimean peninsula with Russian ships from the sea, lock the ports and force the inhabitants of the peninsula - the Crimean Tatars - to submit to Russia by force of arms.
Potemkin comments on his actions as a direct instruction from the new Crimean Khan Shagin Giray (which the latter did not even know about). All this is done so that the people succumb to provocation and rebel against their khan. As one might expect, a powerful uprising broke out on October 2, 1777 and was brutally suppressed.
The rebellion became a reason to send additional troops to the peninsula. There was no mercy for anyone. According to official data alone, 12,000 civilians were killed! According to an eyewitness to those events, Karaite priest Azarya, Russian soldiers executed not only Crimean Tatar soldiers. The families of soldiers caught in the riot were subject to death. During the hostilities, Akmestjit (Simferopol) was destroyed, Karasubazar (Belogorsk) and Kefe (Feodosia) were burned. This systematic and targeted terror took place under the patronage of Grigory Potemkin.
Then events unfolded like this! Potemkin comes up with the idea to expel the Christian population - Greeks and Armenians - from the peninsula. But Crimean Christians remained subjects of the Crimean Khanate and did not intend to change their status. But bayonets were used again, and Christians were forced to leave their native lands.
Meanwhile, Potemkin's agents were inciting the Crimean Tatar population of the peninsula against the khan. And already in 1780, a delegation was sent to the count with a demand to choose a new khan. But Potemkin returned the envoys from the path and ordered to recognize Shagin Giray as khan. The count undoubtedly knew that with these actions he was pouring the last straw into the patience of the Crimean Tatars. It suited his interests. After all, now it was possible to freely remove Shagin Giray from Crimea and thereby decapitate the government of the Khanate. Two years later, the prince begins to rush the empress to take decisive action regarding Crimea.
Everything happened pretty quickly. Potemkin ordered Lieutenant General Count de Balmain to strengthen the protection of the borders of the Crimean Khanate, and already in early April 1783, on behalf of the empress, he suggested that Shagin Giray leave the throne. The khan had neither an army to rely on nor the ability to change anything in the current situation. Therefore, he had no choice but to leave Bakhchisarai. And in St. Petersburg they were in such a hurry to annex new lands that they did not consider it necessary to demand that the Crimean Khan officially abdicate the throne.
Meanwhile, Catherine eagerly awaits news from her favorite and sends letters in which she urgently asks to hurry up and occupy Crimea. Potemkin did not hesitate, he writes that he swore in the entire population of the Crimean Khanate. In fact, there was no official oath! For the sake of appearance, under the pressure of Russian bayonets, only a few Murzas - the heads of the Nogai hordes - swore allegiance. The action took place on the Ak-Kaya plateau in Karasubazar.
By April 1783, additional Russian troops were assembled on the peninsula, and on the 8th, a manifesto on the annexation of Crimea to Russia was read out in all cities and large settlements. In St. Petersburg they did not care that the Manifesto was adopted illegally. The Crimean Tatars refused to take the oath.
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Kaplan-Girey (third reign 1730-1736), restored to the throne of the Khanate, was sent by the Sultan on a long campaign through the Kuban, where new Russian fortresses appeared, and to Derbent, captured back in 1725 by Russian troops. In 1736, when the army and the khan were on a campaign, a 40,000-strong Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Minich invaded Crimea and, without encountering serious resistance, headed deep into the peninsula. The Tatar militia, significantly inferior in number to the Russian regular army, suffered a complete defeat. The Russian army, armed with the best firearms and field artillery, took possession of the peninsula without hindrance. The population left the steppe and foothills of Crimea, fleeing to the mountains. Bakhchisarai and the Khan's palace were burned. Kaplan-Girey hastily returned with his army to Crimea, but was unable to organize defense on the peninsula. Minich's army itself left Crimea due to the epidemic that began there. The peninsula was devastated.
Under Fetikh-Girey II (1736-1737), the son of Devlet-Girey II, the Russian army’s campaign against the Crimea was repeated. An army of 35,000 under the command of Field Marshal Lassi, having crossed the Sivash ford, entered the Crimea. Due to the disunity and dispersal of Tatar forces across the peninsula, Fetih-Girey II was unable to prevent the invasion or provide serious resistance to the enemy army. The peninsula was again devastated.
The removal from the throne of Fetih-Girey II was followed by the equally short reigns of the khans Mengli-Girey II (second reign 1737-1740), Selyamet-Girey II (1740-1743), Selim-Girey II (1743-1748 gg.). Under Arslan-Girey (first reign 1748-1756), who was distinguished by enviable energy and organizational skills, the fortresses of Or, Arabat, Uch-Oba, Dzhevash, Dzungar were restored and rebuilt, the Perekop ditch was renewed and deepened, mosques and madrassas were rebuilt , the palace of the khans, country estates and other buildings.
This was followed by a series of short-term reigns of a number of khans. In mid-July 1771, Dolgorukov's 30,000-strong army, reinforced by 65,000 Nogais, entered Crimea through Perekop and by the end of the month captured all the strongholds of the peninsula. Khan Maksud-Girey left Crimea, traveling by sea from Yalta to Istanbul. As a conqueror, Dolgorukov began to exercise Russian control of Crimea, relying mainly on supporters of Shagin-Girey. First of all, Dolgorukov confirmed Sahib-Girey II (1771-1775), Shagin-Girey’s brother, to the throne, and Shagin-Girey himself took the post of kalgi. By force of Russian weapons, the Turkish garrisons were expelled from Crimea.
On June 21, 1774, in the Bulgarian village of Kuchuk-Kainardzhi, an agreement was signed between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Porte, under the terms of which Crimea was declared an independent state. The new khan and kalga tried to prevent the Russians from occupying the fortresses, believing that they would be given the opportunity to act independently.
However, Kalga Shagin-Girey, who went to St. Petersburg on a diplomatic mission, returned to Crimea as a convinced supporter of Russia. In St. Petersburg, it was finally decided to appoint Shagin-Girey as khan in Crimea. Commander Rumyantsev sent an army led by General Prozorovsky to the Crimea. Shagin-Girey also arrived with Prozorovsky’s army. Devlet-Girey III, who advanced to meet him, was defeated and fled.
Shagin-Girey, with the support of Russian weapons, was enthroned in 1777. According to the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi agreement, Russia received the Yenikale fortress built by the Turks (1703), outside the Crimea - the fortresses of Kinburn and Azov, and Bessarabia, Wallachia and Moldova were transferred to the Ottoman Porte.
In addition to the garrison in Yenikal, all Russian troops were withdrawn from Crimea; according to the terms of the same treaty, all Christians were resettled from Crimea to Russian territory (resettlement of Crimean Greeks and Armenians in the Azov region). At the same time, the declaration of the Crimean Khanate as independent was very formal: the khan had, on the one hand, to submit to the will of the Russian empress, on the other, in Muslim affairs the dominance of the Ottoman sultan remained over him.
In 1782, Bahadur-Girey II managed to remove Shagin-Girey from the throne. However, he was quickly restored to the Khanate by the force of Russian troops. But already in 1783, Khan Shagin-Girey abdicated the throne and Crimea became part of the Russian Empire. The last Crimean Khan, after abdicating his powers, wanted in return to receive the Persian throne promised to him by the Russian government, but found himself an involuntary captive in Russia.
After his abdication, he lived in Taman, Voronezh, and Kaluga. And in 1787 he was allowed to move to Turkey. But that same year he was executed on the island of Rhodes on suspicion of political intrigue.
After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, a wave of resettlement of Crimeans to the Ottoman Empire began on the peninsula, affecting mainly the steppe Tatars (Nogais) and part of the subjects of the Ottoman Empire who lived in the Kafe Eilaet (South Coast of Crimea).
The government of the Russian Empire tried to integrate the Crimean nobility into Russian society. The first three Crimean Tatar divisions, each of which had 17 officers from young Murza noble families and 195 privates, were formed the very next year after Crimea was included in Russia. Until 1790, Crimeans served inside the peninsula. During the war with Napoleon, the Crimean Tatars formed at their own expense 4 cavalry regiments modeled on the Cossacks.
From 1826, for 64 years, the Russian emperors kept the Crimean Tatar squadron for their protection. In 1854 he fought with the British on the Black River in Crimea.
In 1475, the entire coastal and mountainous part of Crimea was included in the Ottoman Empire. Considering that the rest of the territory of the peninsula belonged to the Crimean Khanate, which became its vassal three years later, historical references to the Black Sea as a “Turkish inland lake”, which it essentially was over the next three centuries, become quite justified. In this regard, the annexation of Crimea to Russia under Catherine 2 met the most pressing requirements for Russian foreign policy of that period.
Necessity dictated by life
Afterwards, Russia faced with particular urgency the task of restoring access to the Black Sea, which existed during the period of Kievan Rus and was closed to it with the establishment of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. It was necessary to do this primarily for economic reasons, since important trade routes to the Mediterranean countries passed through the Black Sea.
In addition, it was necessary to crush the Crimean Khanate, from whose territory raids had been carried out for several centuries, the purpose of which was to capture slaves and then sell them in Constantinople. According to scientists, in the 300 years preceding the annexation of Crimea to Russia under Catherine II, at least 3 million people were sent to Turkish slave markets.
First attempts to solve the Crimean problem
Attempts to seize Crimea were made repeatedly. Suffice it to recall the campaigns of Peter I in 1696-1698. although they ended with the capture of the Azov fortress, they did not solve the Black Sea problem as a whole. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, Russian troops victoriously entered the peninsula twice: in 1735 under the command of B. Kh. Minich, and four years later under Field Marshal General P. P. Lassi. However, both times they were forced to retreat due to lack of supplies and epidemics that broke out in the ranks of the troops.
The real opportunity to seize Crimea arose only after Novorossiya was formed in the second half of the 18th century, which included significant territories of the Northern Black Sea region, annexed to Russia during the Russian-Turkish wars. It is generally accepted that this is where the story of the annexation of Crimea to Russia by Catherine II began. Using Novorossiya as a springboard for a further offensive, the army of General-Chief V.M. Dolgoruky in 1771 managed to break the resistance of the defenders of Crimea and gain a foothold within its borders.
Independent Crimean Khanate
However, under Catherine 2, briefly described below, there was another very important stage, the necessity of which was dictated by a number of political and military circumstances of that time. The consequence of the victory of Russian weapons in the war with Turkey was the signing of the Karasubazar Treaty in 1772, which declared Crimea an independent khanate under the patronage of Russia.
The Russian-Turkish war, which ended two years later, put an end to Ottoman rule on the peninsula and opened up for Russia a long-awaited access to the Black Sea. Nevertheless, the successes achieved were only half measures and could not be considered as a final solution to the problem of Crimea.
Political and military conflict with Turkey
As can be seen from the subsequent actions of Catherine 2, having achieved the independence of the Crimean Khanate from the Ottoman Empire, she did not abandon the thought of annexing it to her possessions. This fully met the interests of Russia, since the peninsula had important economic, military-political significance for the entire country. However, Türkiye was also extremely interested in restoring its dominance in Crimea. Both opposing sides made considerable efforts to achieve the desired goal, and for this reason, the struggle between the Ottoman Empire and Russia did not weaken at that time.
In November 1776, the corps of Lieutenant General A. A. Prozorovsky, having entered Crimea, took up defensive positions on Perekop. A division under the command of A.V. Suvorov hastily arrived from Moscow to help him. Together, they managed to break the resistance of the Crimean troops and force them to take refuge in Bakhchisarai and then flee to Constantinople. A new ruler, Shahin Giray, was elected in his place, becoming the last Crimean Khan in history.
Tatar Khan, thinking in a European way
The election of this man greatly facilitated the annexation of Crimea to Russia under Catherine 2. Unlike his predecessors, he was a man of a completely European mindset. Having studied in Venice and Thessaloniki, Shahin-Girey spoke several foreign languages and ruled without being confined to Tatar customs.
However, attempts to transform the military and administrative-economic system of the Khanate in a European manner led to discontent among the local population and open rebellion, which was suppressed only with the help of Russian bayonets. The decisive role in resolving the conflict was played by the appointment of A.V. Suvorov to the post of commander of all Crimean troops.
Crimean migrants
By dividing the entire territory of the peninsula into 4 territorial districts and placing significant garrisons in the captured fortresses, he deprived both the Turks themselves and their supporters from the local nobility of the last opportunity to influence the internal life of Crimea. This was a significant step towards the annexation of Crimea to Russia under Catherine 2.
The first of the inhabitants of the peninsula to come under the scepter of the Russian Empress and move to new places were representatives of its Christian part of the population - Georgians, Armenians and Greeks. They were given free of charge lands at the mouth of the Danube and on the coast of the Azov Sea. During the spring-summer period of 1778, 31 thousand people left Crimea, which dealt a significant blow to the Khan’s treasury, since these people were the most economically active part of the population.
Report of Prince G. A. Potemkin
In 1781, the Turks provoked another uprising of the local population, dissatisfied with the order introduced by Shahin Giray, and again Russian soldiers had to pacify the rebels, this time under the command of His Serene Highness Prince G. A. Potemkin.
In his report to the highest name, he wrote that, according to his observations, the overwhelming majority of local residents were extremely hostile to Shahin Giray and would prefer to be under Russian protectorate. Undoubtedly, this remark by Potemkin played a certain role in the annexation of Crimea to Russia under Catherine II.
The memorandum that decided the fate of Crimea
Being a very far-sighted politician, G. A. Potemkin understood the necessity of including Crimea in the region, since otherwise its territory could become a convenient springboard for future aggressions by the Ottoman Empire. In addition, the economic value of the fertile Crimean lands for the economy of the entire Northern Black Sea region was quite obvious. And finally, this would complete Russia's expansion southward to its natural borders. He outlined his point of view in detail in a memorandum sent by him in December 1782 to the highest name.
Having familiarized herself with the received document, the Empress, in a reply message, gave her favorite the broadest powers to implement the project he had conceived and approved by her. Thus, in the annexation of Crimea to Russia under Catherine 2 (1783), the key role belonged to Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin, for which he was awarded the title Tauride (Tavria is the ancient name of Crimea).
Preparing for a historical event
The date of the annexation of Crimea to Russia by Catherine 2 should be considered April 8 (19), 1783, when the autocrat signed the corresponding manifesto. However, at that time she ordered it to be kept secret until the transition of the peninsula with its entire population under the Russian scepter became a real event.
By this time, significant changes had occurred in the political life of the Crimean Khanate. Shahin-Girey, so hated by the people, was forced to resign as supreme ruler, and his place remained vacant. This helped Potemkin, through his agents, convince the ruling elite of the Khanate of the benefits of moving under Russian protectorate.
Following this, urgent measures were taken to develop a harbor in the southwestern part of the peninsula to accommodate the future squadron of the Black Sea Fleet. A year later, a fortress city was founded there, named Sevastopol by order of the Empress.
Oath of allegiance to Russia
Finally, on June 28 (July 9), 1783, the highest manifesto was made public. So for the first time (under Catherine 2) the annexation of Crimea to Russia became a fait accompli. Many people know about the events of today, when this territory was transferred to the Russian Federation for the second time, so we will not dwell on them. As for that time, on that day His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin, standing on the top of the Ak-Kaya rock, took the oath of office from the new subjects of Her Imperial Majesty. The first to swear the oath were the top of the local society and clergy, followed by all the common people. A historical document has survived to this day - the Manifesto on the annexation of Crimea to Russia under Catherine 2, a photo of which is presented in the article.
The opinions of descendants and contemporaries about this statesman are extremely ambiguous: some considered him a clever, voluptuous temporary worker who became famous only thanks to his connection with the empress, while others praised Potemkin as one of the greatest statesmen of Catherine’s era. And of course, everyone, both in our country and abroad, knows the so-called “Potemkin villages”. Let's try to figure out who the first Russian organizer of Crimea actually was, who received the honorary title of “His Serene Highness Prince of Tauride” for his activities on the peninsula.
Potemkin's youth
So, Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin (later also known as Potemkin-Tavrichesky) was born on September 3, 1739 (or 1736) in the small village of Chizhovo in the Smolensk province. At the age of five, the boy was sent to Moscow to his godfather Grigory Kislovsky, the former president of the Chamber College. After receiving a school education, Potemkin entered Moscow University. Despite his quick wit and considerable intelligence, Potemkin never completed his studies there, preferring a military career. In 1760, he was taken as an orderly to the uncle of Emperor Peter III, Prince George of Holstein. In 1762, Sergeant Potemkin took part in the coup d'etat, during which Catherine II came to power in Russia. Even then, the stately young military man attracted the attention of the Empress, who soon granted him the rank of second lieutenant of the guard, the rank of chamber cadet, as well as 400 souls of serfs.
Romance with Catherine
However, Potemkin's real rise up the career ladder began during the Russian-Turkish War (1768-1774). For his heroic actions and valor in battles, he is elevated to the rank of lieutenant general and attracts special attention from the empress. By personal invitation, in 1774, Potemkin came to St. Petersburg, where he became the favorite of Catherine, who disdained her previous protégé, the famous Grigory Orlov, for the sake of the stately “war hero.” Despite the fact that Potemkin was neither the first nor the last of the empress's intimate confidants, his position among the favorites remained forever exceptional. Almost all modern historians agree with the assumption that Catherine soon became pregnant and entered into a secret marriage with Potemkin in 1774 or 1775. The daughter born from this marriage grew up under the name Elizaveta Grigorievna Temkina. Despite the fact that the Empress and Potemkin soon cooled somewhat towards each other and began to make new amorous connections, Potemkin remained the Empress’s chief adviser and de facto second-in-command in the state until his death. Let the reader not be confused or shocked by the information about the frequent change of favorites at Catherine’s court: in that era, such promiscuity and favoritism was the norm of life for monarchs and high-ranking dignitaries not only in Russia, but also in enlightened Europe.
Crimean affairs
The annexation of Crimea to Russia and its transformation into an integral part of the empire became, perhaps, Potemkin’s most important service to the fatherland. The fact is that, at least from the end of the 17th century, Russia was thinking about conquering the Crimean Peninsula: the seizure of these territories was simply necessary in order to eliminate the constant threat of annual Tatar raids on the south of Russia. One of the results of the above-mentioned Russian-Turkish War was the conclusion of the Kuchuk-Kainardji Peace Treaty in 1774, according to which Ottoman Turkey and Russia withdrew their troops from Crimea, recognizing the status of the Crimean Khanate as an independent state. In addition, the city of Kerch and the Yeni-Kale fortress, which previously belonged to the Turks, became Russian.
However, Russia certainly did not intend to stop there. To solve the “Crimean problem”, in the year of his rise up the career ladder - 1774 - Potemkin was appointed Governor-General of Novorossiya. At that time, the Novorossiysk province was a “wild field” zone in the south of the country, devoid of cities, roads and any special prospects. Almost immediately after his appointment, the Governor-General of Novorossiya begins to think about how to annex Crimea to Russia. In 1777, helping the ruling Khan Shagin Giray, a Russian protege, in the fight against his brothers, Potemkin brought Russian troops into Crimea and stationed them in the Ak-Mosque area (modern Simferopol). In 1778 A.V. Suvorov, by decree of Potemkin, evicted a significant part of the Christian population of Crimea from Crimea to the Azov region, thereby undermining the economy of the peninsula. From 1780 to 1782, Potemkin prepared a “note” in which he substantiates the need for the empress to annex Crimea: “Now assume that Crimea is yours and that this wart is no longer present - suddenly the position of the borders is excellent... You are obliged to raise the glory of Russia... Believe me “that by this acquisition you will receive immortal glory, and such that no sovereign in Russia has ever had.” Catherine listened to the opinion of her favorite - and Crimea became “ours” for the first time. Under pressure from Russian diplomacy, the last Crimean Khan abdicated the throne, and the peninsula soon became part of Russia. In June 1783, on the Ak-Kaya rock near the city of Karasubazar (modern Belogorsk), representatives of the Crimean Tatar nobility solemnly swore allegiance to Catherine. Potemkin, who took the oath, was awarded the title of “His Serene Highness Prince of Tauride.”
Arrangement of Crimea
By decree of the Empress of February 2, 1784, the Tauride region was included in the Novorossiysk province, the governor-general of which, as we remember, was the same Potemkin. V.V. was appointed head of the Tauride regional board. Kakhovsky. Potemkin invites foreign specialists and scientists to Crimea, leads the resettlement of Russian peasants to Crimea, and opens the peninsula to foreign colonists from Europe. In Crimea, arable farming, viticulture and gardening begin to develop, schools, colleges and gymnasiums are built. Under the leadership of Potemkin, dusty Tatar towns with narrow crooked streets begin to be rebuilt into cities with a European layout: this is how Evpatoria, Simferopol and Feodosia emerge, and the construction of the beauty and pride of Russian shipping - the port of Sevastopol - begins. A few years later, Crimea was no longer recognizable. At the same time, Potemkin, as a wise and enlightened politician, takes an extremely tolerant position towards the ethnic minorities of Taurida. First of all, this concerned the Crimean Tatars, whose nobility, having sworn allegiance to Catherine, retained their land holdings and the status of a hereditary aristocracy. The Tatars and Turks, who did not wish to accept Russian citizenship, freely left the peninsula.
Trip 1787
In 1787, Potemkin was entrusted with another important task: organizing the official visit of Catherine II, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II and representatives of several other European countries to Crimea. Why was this trip given such geopolitical significance? The fact is that Catherine needed to enlist the support of Austria in the political struggle with Turkey, which could try to regain Crimea. And Prince Tauride also coped with this difficult task extremely successfully. Throughout the entire journey of the Empress and her companions across the peninsula, the so-called “Catherine’s Miles” were established; during their stay, visitors were greeted by newly built palaces and estates; moreover, the best impression was made by the Crimean nature, mountains and sea. The Sevastopol port under construction left a special impression. “The prince’s thoughtfulness in governing the entire region,” as the French ambassador Count Louis-Philippe de Segur wrote about it, amazed not only Catherine and visitors to Taurida, but also disarmed all ill-wishers who sought to overthrow the powerful favorite.
The myth of the Potemkin villages
What about the famous “Potemkin villages”? - you ask. – What about those painted cardboard houses and plaster palaces that fell apart immediately after the high-ranking guests left Crimea? Modern researchers unanimously assert that the Most Serene Prince did not make any hoaxes of this kind either during the Empress’s visit or after that. All this is the idle invention of Russia’s foreign ill-wishers, who picked up the vile libel of the Saxon diplomat Georg Helbig, published after the death of the empress and her powerful favorite. It was there that the ridiculous fiction about “cardboard villages” was first told. The author himself had never been to Crimea and did not know Potemkin. The falsity of his work is proven, at a minimum, by the fact that none of the numerous foreign and domestic visitors who visited Crimea with Catherine in 1787 mention a word about such a forgery on Potemkin’s part. But even the enemies of Russia at that time characterize his activities with kind words. Alas, the power of the printed word is such that the phraseological unit “Potemkin villages” has firmly entered our circulation - despite the fact that they never actually existed.
The great statesman, the first Russian organizer of Crimea, died in 1791. Despite the fact that they had not lived together for a long time, Catherine was shocked. “Who can replace such a person? – she later wrote to her secretary. “I and all of us are now like snails that are afraid to stick their heads out of their shells.” Despite the fact that many ill-wishers who feared the mighty favorite tried to discredit Potemkin in the eyes of his contemporaries, now we can say with confidence: without him, the life of our state would have developed completely differently. For almost 30 years, from 1762 until his death, Potemkin tirelessly devoted his work and days to his native fatherland. The organization of Novorossiya and Crimea will forever remain in the memory of grateful descendants as one of the highest achievements in the career of this outstanding figure.
Miracles of a late start
The Belarusian nobles Potemkins became Russified in the 18th century. One of them, Alexander Vasilyevich, served for many years in the army of Peter the Great and returned to his native Smolensk estate when he was already close to sixty. The time had come to have heirs, but the first wife, as luck would have it, turned out to be childless. The brave major sent her to a monastery and married the young widow Daria Skuratova. It was she who gave birth to her wife, five daughters and the long-awaited heir, Gregory.
Grits, as his family called him, was born in September 1739. As a child, he was distinguished only by his extraordinary laziness. He only started speaking at the age of five, and forcing him to study was completely impossible. Meanwhile, according to the laws of that time, every noble boy had to be able to read and write by the age of seven, otherwise his parents would face a large fine. The Potemkins called the retired bayonet cadet Obolmasov: he taught literacy to the children of the surrounding landowners, beating the careless ones with his wooden leg. Seeing the formidable teacher, Grigory climbed a tree and refused to come down until Obolmasov left. Then the wayward young man was sent to the Serpei monastery, and the kind treatment of the nuns did a miracle - the lazy Grits learned not only writing and arithmetic, but even the basics of Greek. He did not forget his first “teacher” either: having already become a prince, he sent Obolmasov to St. Petersburg and found him a dust-free job. Every morning he had to appear to His Serene Highness and report whether the monument to Peter I was standing on Senate Square. It is clear from everything that Potemkin was not vindictive and had a sense of humor.
The family had its own “guardian angel” - a distant relative Grigory Kislovsky, who held the position of chairman of the Chamber Board, as the tax department was called then. Thanks to him, Grits came to Moscow at the age of twelve; first he studied at the boarding school of the German Litken, then at the gymnasium at the newly opened university. He studied willingly, mastering geometry, fencing and French with equal ease. However, he often skipped classes, wandered around taverns, or simply lay in bed when he was too lazy to get up. Nevertheless, in 1757, he was taken to St. Petersburg as one of the dozen best students to be presented to Empress Elizabeth.
Having appreciated the knowledge of the stately, round-faced young man, the Empress granted him a golden snuffbox and the rank of corporal of the Horse Guards. At the same time, another event happened in Potemkin’s life - he first saw Grand Duchess Catherine, the wife of Tsarevich Peter. She was ten years older than Gregory and had recently given birth to an heir. In the capital's salons they wondered who his father could be - the beautiful Catherine was not distinguished by strict morals and, having abandoned her idiotic husband, exchanged one favorite for another. However, Gregory at that time, it seems, had no chance of “fortune.” And time was running out: he soon returned to the university, and a year later he was expelled from there “for laziness and not going to class.”
Having borrowed money, Potemkin went to St. Petersburg and enlisted in his cavalry regiment. Here he served for several years - in June 1762, Emperor Peter III was overthrown by Catherine's supporters. Gregory took an active part in the coup and was one of those who guarded the deposed sovereign in Ropsha until his murder. Then Catherine first noticed the loving glances cast at her by the tall second lieutenant. The Empress’s favorites at the time, the Orlov brothers, also noticed this.
What happened next is unknown, but as a result Potemkin lost his right eye. He himself claimed that he had become crooked due to the illiterate treatment of a certain village healer, but there were whispers around that the Orlovs had severely beaten a possible rival. Be that as it may, the injury shocked the young man - he retired from service and even thought about entering a monastery. But he gradually returned to court, and then went to war with Turkey, which began in 1768. He fought bravely, earned flattering reviews from Commander-in-Chief Rumyantsev and quickly rose to the rank of general. At the end of 1773, when the outcome of the war was already a foregone conclusion, Potemkin unexpectedly received a letter from the Empress - he was summoned to St. Petersburg. And soon the successfully launched career of a statesman was reinforced by important victories on the personal front.
"Funny as the Devil"
After the removal of her husband, Catherine II continued to change her favorites - now they were called “cases”. The first was Grigory Orlov, who shared with Potemkin not only a name, but also some character traits: bouts of frantic activity alternated with long periods of laziness. In addition, Orlov was desperately jealous and created scandals for the empress when she looked at some handsome adjutant - and this happened often. They whispered that Orlov even beat his beloved, and his relatives increasingly insistently demanded an official marriage, which would make Gregory a co-ruler. In the end, Orlov received his resignation. This immediately strengthened the position of Chancellor Panin’s party, whose protege was another favorite of the Empress Vasilchikov.
Then Catherine, who knew how to combine business with pleasure, decided to make a “case” of an outsider who did not belong to any of the palace parties and was personally devoted to her. The choice fell on Potemkin. There was an anecdote that, flying up the stairs of the Winter Palace on the wings of love, Grigory met Orlov and asked: “What’s new at court?” “Nothing, just you go up, and I go down,” replied the rejected lover. Even if at first the affair with Potemkin was of a political nature, soon Catherine seriously fell in love with the new “case”. In a letter to her mentor Grimm, she called him “the funniest and most original person, funny as the devil.” He amused the empress by imitating the voices of the courtiers and acting out scenes from palace life. But he was not a buffoon: grasping Catherine’s instructions on the fly, Gregory quickly turned into a skilled politician. In the spring of 1774, the English diplomat Gunning reported to London: “Potemkin has acquired a much greater degree of power compared to all his predecessors.” Soon, by cunning, he achieved the consent of the Western powers to the Kyuchuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty with the Turks: according to it, Russia received almost the entire Northern Black Sea region.
Awards rained down on Potemkin. Catherine made him a count and vice-president of the Military Collegium, awarded him the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and a golden sword with diamonds. At her request, the Austrian Emperor granted Potemkin the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. But the biggest reward was the secret wedding with the empress. Apparently, it took place in the summer of 1774 - it was then that Catherine began to call Potemkin “dear husband” and “tender husband” in her letters. She also gave him affectionate nicknames: “darling, my soul, my beloved” and “dear darling.”
Potemkin's response letters were almost not preserved - the cautious Catherine burned them. But we know that he was far from being so affectionate: he could have been rude to Catherine. Soon the empress began to complain about the hot temper of her “dear husband.” At first these were gentle admonitions: “I, darling, will be compliant, and you, my soul, be also lenient, you handsome, smart one.” Then the tone of the notes became stricter: “I will not pay with affection for rudeness.” However, they still loved each other, and, according to historical legend, in July 1775 the queen gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth Temkina, from her lover (according to custom, she was given a truncated surname of her father).
This event was kept secret, like the marriage, so historians strongly doubt that Temkina’s mother was the empress. Legend has it that after giving birth, Potemkin took Catherine to Tsaritsyno, near Moscow, then the village of Chernaya Gryaz, where he held a magnificent “harvest festival.” At this place it was decided to build a majestic palace - a monument to their love.
But Catherine was already 47 years old, she was losing her feminine attractiveness. Potemkin's attention increasingly turned to young ladies. Moreover, he was bored in St. Petersburg - at the end of the war, he was appointed governor of the annexed southern lands and was eager to restore order there. He was the only one of the “cases” who did not cling to his position and could easily give it up. And yet he hoped to return, remembering that he and Catherine were tied by marriage. Soon a new favorite settled in the royal bedroom - Colonel Zavadovsky. Having learned about this, Potemkin wrote with resentment: “I am determined to be expelled from you... I will not hesitate to leave.”
To Catherine's credit, she did not transfer personal grievances into the realm of politics. For another decade and a half, Potemkin remained her closest adviser, without whom not a single important decision was made. Their relations remained friendly, and Potemkin’s trusted people, usually his adjutants, were identified as the empress’s favorites by mutual agreement. This tandem became one of the reasons for the stability of Catherine’s power.
Builder of Novorossiya
As a result of the war with Turkey, Russia received vast territories between the Dniester and Don, called Novorossiya. Potemkin, who became the absolute owner of this region, had to solve the problem of its economic development. He began by settling new lands, promising each settler a plot of 26 acres and tax exemption for a period of 6 to 16 years. Formally, landowner peasants were forbidden to settle in the south, but the governor turned a blind eye to violations of this ban. Potemkin threw complaints from landowners who asked for their runaway slaves to be returned to them under the table. In addition to the Russians, Moldovans, Greeks, and Bulgarians came to Novorossiya - there was a place for everyone.
However, the settlers were threatened by raids by the Cossacks and Crimean Tatars. With the first, Potemkin resolved the matter quickly: on his advice, Catherine destroyed the Zaporozhye Sich, relocating the Cossacks to Kuban. It was more difficult with the Tatars: formally Crimea remained independent. In 1783, a cunning governor forced the Crimean Khan Shagin-Girey to abdicate the throne and annexed the peninsula to Russia. This caused fury in Istanbul: the Sultan ordered Shagin to be executed for treason and began to prepare for a new war with the Russians. Knowing this, Potemkin took care of protecting new territories.
Cities and fortresses were founded, including Kherson, the main base of the Black Sea Fleet under construction, the first-born of which was the 66-gun ship Slava Ekaterina. The name Ekaterinoslav was given to the city on the Dnieper, where His Serene Highness planned to build a university and factories to supply the army.
Cities also arose in Crimea, to which Potemkin, remembering his Greek lessons, gave the names Sevastopol (“Majestic City”) and Simferopol (“Gathering City”). With generous gifts and promises, the prince managed to achieve the obedience of the Tatar population, and the “pearl of the crown,” as Crimea soon began to be called, went to Russia without firing a shot. For this, Potemkin received new awards - the title of His Serene Highness Prince of Tauride, the rank of field marshal and the position of president of the Military Collegium. Later, he never tired of caring about the settlement of Crimea, the introduction of arable farming and winemaking here. Islam forbade the Tatars from making wine. So the current gifts of Massandra and the New World are also the merit of Potemkin.
He also earned good reputation among the soldiers for introducing a new military uniform to replace the uncomfortable one made according to the Prussian model. “Curling, powdering, braiding hair, is this a soldier’s job? - Potemkin was indignant. “The soldier’s toilet should be like this: once it’s up, it’s ready.” In this he was fully supported by Suvorov, although in general the relations between the two great men were rather cool. Both were jealous of each other's military achievements. In addition, the not very tactful Potemkin more than once offended the proud commander. He did the same with others, which is why he made many enemies. He was accused of tyranny, hot temper and laziness. The prince indeed received visitors while lying in bed - but when circumstances required, he jumped up and acted with lightning speed. A more serious accusation was also made against him - theft of public funds. However, the appointed audit revealed an unusual picture for Russia - it was not Potemkin who owed money to the treasury, but vice versa. The development of Novorossiya required enormous funds, government money was often not enough, and he reported his own.
From triumph to disgrace
In 1787, Catherine decided to protect her favorite from attacks and at the same time demonstrate the strength of Russian power in the south. For this purpose, she went on a two-month journey to the Black Sea region and Crimea. Traveling with her were high-ranking officials, envoys of European powers, and even the Austrian Emperor Joseph I. The sight before them was amazing: in the place where there had recently been wild steppes, there were well-appointed cities and villages, flowering fields, shipyards and warehouses. In Sevastopol, Potemkin, with a spectacular gesture, threw back the curtain from the window of the hall where the guests were feasting, and everyone saw a formidable fleet under the St. Andrew's flag sailing along the surface of the bay. However, Potemkin's triumph was spoiled by the malicious slander of the secretary of the Saxon embassy, Georg von Gelbig. It was he who started the rumor in his book about “Potemkin villages”, made to show off dust. “Only the nearby buildings were real,” Gelbig asserted, “the rest were painted on shields made of reeds... Herds of cattle were driven at night from place to place, and one herd had the good fortune to appear to the monarch up to six times.” Even the Black Sea Fleet, according to the sarcastic Gelbig, was made up of merchant ships and fishing boats. This was complete nonsense - anyone could be convinced that both the houses and the ships were real, although, as is usual in Russia, they were patched up and painted before the highest visit. Nevertheless, Gelbig’s fabrications in Europe were picked up by the enemies of Russia, and within the country by the enemies of Potemkin.
At the same time, Potemkin was accused of immoral behavior. Alas, there were reasons for this: the prince started a harem of his own nieces - the daughters of his sister Martha and the landowner Engelhardt. Young Alexandra, Varvara and Ekaterina Engelhardt lived in Potemkin’s house for several years until they got married, and then they often visited their loving uncle. He was especially attached to 19-year-old Varvara, to whom he wrote: “My soul, tender lover, your victory over me is both strong and eternal... I kiss you all from head to toe.”
Decline of the Cyclops
What was the reason for Catherine's cooling towards the Lord - female jealousy or Potemkin's failures in the war with Turkey, which broke out in the summer of 1787? Apparently it's the second one. In the unusual role of commander-in-chief, Potemkin showed indecision, even planning to leave Crimea to the enemy. Only after the victories of Rumyantsev and Suvorov did he take heart and take up the siege of the main Turkish fortress of Ochakov. Having taken Ochakov, he again abandoned leadership of the troops and spent time with his mistresses. Along the way, he developed a fantastic project - to take Greece away from the Turks and place Tsarevich Constantine on its throne.
However, the empress no longer listened to his proposals so carefully. Her last “case” - the young Platon Zubov - tirelessly intrigued against the Cyclops, as he called Prince Potemkin. His Serene Highness did not yet know about this when, at the beginning of 1791, he returned to St. Petersburg in triumph. In the rebuilt Tauride Palace, he threw a grandiose celebration for the queen, on which he spent almost a million rubles - an astronomical sum at that time. The celebrations lasted almost a month, but Catherine did not seem to be happy with them, she looked more and more irritated... Finally, she turned to her former favorite: “Dear friend, aren’t you too busy in the capital. Remember that you are welcome in the army."
In the summer Potemkin went south. On the way, he suffered from fever. In Iasi, where the headquarters was located, he fell ill, but ordered himself to be taken further. On the afternoon of October 5, he became very ill - he was taken out of the carriage and laid on the grass. Soon he stopped breathing. Upon learning of his death, Catherine cried for two days. Potemkin's grave in Kherson was destroyed twice - first by order of Emperor Paul, who hated him, then by order of Soviet commissars. The only monument to him stands in Kherson. His Serene Highness himself said: “I don’t want people to ask: why was the monument erected to Potemkin? Let them better ask why there is no monument.”
Vadim Erlikhman
