Crimea: A No Man's Land
© Black Sea. NASA image
About Crimea
Crimea is a peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea that is almost completely surrounded by water: the Black Sea to the west and the south, and the Sea of Azov to the northeast. Its southern coast, sheltered by a chain of mountains from the steppes in the north, lies in subtropics, which accounts for the uniqueness of climate and vegetation. The peninsula is connected to Ukraine by the Isthmus of Perekop and is separated from Russia by the Strait of Kerch. The name "Crimea" could be a derivation from the Greek Cremnoi ("the Cliffs") or from the Turkic term qurum("defence, protection"). Crimea has incessantly changed hands over its multi-millennial history. It was colonized by the ancient Greeks and Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the Goths, the Genoese, and the Ottoman Empire; invaded by the nomadic Scythians, Sarmatians, Khazars, and the Golden Horde. In the 13th century parts of the peninsula were controlled by the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa, in 1478-1774 it was united in the Crimean Khanate under “Russian influence”. It was first annexed by Russia in 1783, and was part of Russia until the transfer to the Soviet Ukraine in 1954. Russia annexed Crimea for a second time in March 2014 under an excuse of defending its Russian population from the Ukrainians. Crimea has always been the site of overlapping interests between the neighboring states and powers. The resulting military conflicts – like the Ottoman invasion of 1475, the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, the Crimean War (1853 – 1856), the Russian Civil War, the World War II brought death, chaos and destruction. Crimea has seen a number of ethnic cleansings and deportations. In the 15th century the Ottomans massacred the Christian Goth and Greek population; in the 18th century Empress Catherine resettled the Crimean Greeks on the northern shores of the Azov Sea under an excuse of defending the Christian population from the Muslims; in 1944 the Crimean Tatars, Greeks, Bulgarians and Armenians were deported as Nazi collaborators on the orders of Joseph Stalin. Crimea has always inspired artists. Since the beginning of the 20th century they have come to visit, stay for the summertime, or settle on the welcoming sea coast, sometimes forming long-existing artistic colonies and embarrassing the locals with their unconventional appearance and behavior. Joseph Beuys discovered both his artistic identity and his favored materials – animal fat and felt – after Crimean Tatars, just two months before their deportation, salvaged him from death in March 1944 “in what was then no man's land between the Russian and German fronts” (Beuys in Caroline Tisdall: Joseph Beuys, Guggenheim, 1979, p.16). Crimea became a rendezvous spot for all kinds of Soviet bohemians in the 1960s. Photographers, both resident and visiting, also appreciated the unpretentious pleasures of its life,cheap wine and food and its breathtaking scenery. Crimea today, as many times before in its history, has changed hands. With its belonging to Russia disputed by Ukraine and not recognized by the rest of the world, the peninsula territory is suspended between its turbulent past and undefined future – once again a no man's land. © Igor Manko, 2016
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