Troubles. 1919 year. Troubles in the Crimea took place no less "incendiary" than in Little Russia and Novorossiya. In particular, Crimea, like Little Russia, experienced a change of several "governments", which often had very formal power on the peninsula.
Red Oprichnina
The first to establish their power in the Crimea were the Bolsheviks, who had a powerful support here - the revolutionary sailors of the Black Sea Fleet. The anti-Soviet element in Crimea was weak. The officers for the most part were "out of politics" and could not even defend themselves when the outbreak of the "red terror" began. Refugees moved to the peninsula not to fight, but to sit out. There was no strong nationalist element - Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar; the nationalists needed a strong external patron to activate.
“Krasnaya Oprichnina” in Crimea, as General Denikin called it, left a heavy memory. The Russian turmoil was a terrible, bloody period. Revolutionary sailors exterminated "counter", mainly naval officers and members of their families, and other "bourgeois". The sailors established Soviet power according to a similar scenario: the ships approached the seaside town and, at gunpoint, crushed any resistance from the local or Tatar authorities. So Yalta, Feodosia, Yevpatoria, Kerch and Simferopol were taken, where the Tatar autonomous "government" settled. Here, along with the "bourgeois", they let the Tatar nationalists go under the knife.
At the same time, one should not blame the Bolsheviks for everything. In the confusion upstairs throws various criminal evil spirits, which are trying to "repaint" under the winners, to gain power and rob, rape and kill on "legal" (mandated) grounds. In addition, anarchists gained a strong position at this time. They called themselves Bolsheviks - a violent soldier-sailor freelancer, a criminal element. But they did not recognize discipline, order, they wanted to live freely. As a result, the Bolsheviks, as they put things in order in the country and created the Soviet statehood, had to put pressure on these anarchists, troublemakers and criminals.
German occupation
The Reds did not last long in the Crimea. After the Brest-Litovsk Peace, Austro-German troops occupied Little Russia, Donbass and Crimea. In April - May 1918, the German occupation forces under the command of General Kosh (three infantry divisions and a horse brigade) occupied the peninsula without resistance. At the same time, Crimean Tatars revolted throughout the peninsula. Some of the members of the government of Tavrida, headed by Slutsky, were captured by Tatar separatists in the Alupka area and shot.
The Germans occupied Crimea for strategic reasons and by the right of the strong (in accordance with the terms of the Brest Peace, Crimea belonged to Soviet Russia). They needed Sevastopol to control communications on the Black Sea. They also hoped to capture the Russian fleet. Therefore, when the "Ukrainian" troops led by Bolbochan tried to outstrip the Germans and capture the Crimea, the Black Sea Fleet, the Germans quickly put them in place. The Germans did not pay attention to the attempts of the Soviet government to stop their advance to Crimea by diplomatic means. They simply "devoured" Crimea in passing "(Lenin's expression).
The Sevastopol fortress was the second most powerful in Russia, with numerous artillery. Even without the support of the fleet, she could fight for many months. And in the presence of the Black Sea Fleet, which had complete superiority at sea, the Germans would never have been able to take Sevastopol. However, there was no one to defend him. Revolutionary soldiers and sailors at this time completely decomposed, with pleasure they beat and plundered the "bourgeois", but did not want to fight. There were almost no officers left on the ships, and they quickly became incapacitated. The question was where to run or how to negotiate with the Germans. The Bolsheviks wanted to withdraw the fleet to Novorossiysk, and the Ukrainian nationalists wanted to come to an agreement with the Germans. The Bolsheviks appointed Admiral Sablin as the commander of the fleet and took the ships to Novorossiysk. Part of the fleet was left in Sevastopol - basically these ships were not manned or their crews did not dare to leave. The ships left on time. On the night of May 1, German-Turkish ships took up a position in front of Sevastopol. On May 1 (14), the Germans occupied Sevastopol. The city fell without a fight. The core of the Black Sea Fleet successfully reached Novorossiysk. But here, in the conditions of the inevitability of their capture by the Germans, the lack of a material base and the possibility of fighting, the ships were eventually drowned (“I die, but I don’t surrender.” How the Black Sea Fleet died). Some of the ships, led by the battleship Volya, returned to Sevastopol and were captured by the Germans.
On May 3-4, 1918, the Germans raised their flags on Russian ships that remained in Sevastopol: 6 battleships, 2 cruisers, 12 destroyers, 5 floating bases and a number of other small ships and submarines. The Germans also captured a number of large merchant ships. The production was enormous - the ships were generally serviceable (engine rooms and artillery were not destroyed), all the stocks of the fleet, artillery of the fortress, ammunition, strategic materials, food, etc. Sevastopol. But neither Ostrogradsky, nor the "Ukrainian state" itself (held on to German bayonets and in Little Russia itself) had any real power in Sevastopol. The German Admiral Hopman was in charge of everything. The Germans calmly plundered both state and private property in Sevastopol. Soon the Germans handed over to the Turks the cruiser Prut (formerly Medzhidie), and they took it to Constantinople. They captured the floating workshop "Kronstadt", the cruiser "Memory of Mercury" made their barracks. The Germans managed to introduce several destroyers, submarines and small ships into the combat strength.
An attempt to revive the Crimean Khanate
The Germans had no other interests in Crimea, except for the base and ships in Sevastopol. The Second Reich was heading towards its collapse and could not establish a full-fledged occupation regime. The main tasks were robbery and removal of valuable materials and food. The soldiers sent parcels with food to Germany, the command - whole trains with the looted goods. The keys to the shops, warehouses and workshops of the Sevastopol port were with the German officers, and they took whatever they wanted. Therefore, the Germans almost did not interfere in local life and allowed the work of the Crimean regional government headed by Matvey Sulkevich. Lieutenant General Sulkevich commanded a division and a corps during World War II. Under the Provisional Government, he was supposed to lead the Muslim Corps. Sulkevich adhered to conservative views, was a staunch opponent of the Bolsheviks, and therefore his figure was approved by the Germans. The Germans were confident that the general would ensure order and tranquility on the peninsula, and would not cause problems.
Sulkevich's government focused on Germany and Turkey, planned to convene the Crimean kurultai (constituent assembly) and proclaim the creation of the Crimean Tatar state under the protectorate of Turks and Germans. Sulkevich himself begged for the title of khan from the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. However, Berlin did not support the idea of the independence of the Crimea. The German government at this time was not up to the problems of Simferopol. This question was postponed until better times. At the same time, Berlin benefited from the existence of two puppet regimes in Simferopol and Kiev (“divide and rule!”). Kiev was reassured by the fact that soon all of its territorial claims would be satisfied. And Simferopol was promised protection from the claims of the Ukrainian government.
The Crimean government was at enmity with the Central Rada and the Skoropadsky regime (other puppets of the Germans), who tried to subjugate Crimea to Kiev. General Skoropadsky was well aware of the economic and strategic importance of the peninsula for Ukraine. He noted that "Ukraine cannot live without owning Crimea, it will be some kind of body without legs." However, without the support of the Germans, Kiev was unable to occupy the Crimean peninsula. In the summer of 1918, Kiev began an economic war against the Crimea, all goods that went to the peninsula were requisitioned. As a result of this blockade, Crimea lost its bread, and Little Russia lost its fruit. The food situation on the peninsula has deteriorated significantly; food ration cards had to be introduced in Sevastopol and Simferopol. Crimea could not independently feed its population. But the Sulkevich government stubbornly stood for the position of independence.
The negotiations between Simferopol and Kiev in the fall of 1918 did not lead to success. Simferopol proposed focusing on economic issues, while political issues were more important for Kiev, first of all, the conditions for the annexation of Crimea to Ukraine. Kiev offered broad autonomy, Simferopol - a federal union and a bilateral treaty. As a result, the Ukrainian side broke off the negotiations, but it was not possible to reach an agreement.
The Crimean government paid great attention to external signs of independence. They adopted their own coat of arms and flag. Russian was considered the state language, with equality with Tatar and German. It was planned to issue its own banknotes. Sulkevich set the task of creating his own army, but it was not realized. Crimea did not carry out Ukrainization, emphasizing in every possible way its isolation from Ukraine.
It is worth noting that the government in Simferopol did not have mass support in Crimea itself, did not have a personnel base. It enjoyed the sympathy of only the Tatar intelligentsia, which was clearly not enough. Numerous refugees from the central regions of Russia - officers, officials, politicians, public figures and representatives of the bourgeoisie, were indifferent or cold to the Sulkevich government, since the Crimean government was supported by German bayonets and tried to secede from Russia. Thus, the pro-German government of Sulkevich was just a signboard for a small group of people who did not have widespread popular support. Therefore, it existed exactly until the moment the Germans left the Crimea.
Meanwhile, the Germans carried out the plundering of the Crimea, the massive export of foodstuffs. They also plundered the reserves of the Black Sea Fleet and the Sevastopol Fortress. After the November Revolution in Germany, the Germans quickly packed up and left. An eyewitness to their departure, Prince V. Obolensky, wrote that the Germans quickly lost their vaunted discipline and, having entered the Crimea in a ceremonial march in the spring, left in the fall, "husking seeds."
Second Crimean regional government
In October 1918, the cadets, having previously enlisted the support of the Germans, decided to replace the Sulkevich government. The cadets feared that in the conditions of the evacuation of the German army, the Bolsheviks would return to the Crimea, and there was also a threat of separatism. The chief of the new government was seen by the cadet Solomon of the Crimea. At the same time, local cadets received Denikin's approval and asked to send a person to organize white units in Crimea.
On November 3, 1918, the commander of the German group in the Crimea, General Kosh, in a letter addressed to Sulkevich announced his refusal to further support his government. Already on November 4, the Crimean prime minister asked Denikin for "quick help from the allied fleet and volunteers." But it was too late. On November 14, Sulkevich resigned. On November 15, at the congress of representatives of cities, county and volost zemstvos, the second composition of the Crimean government was formed, headed by Solomon Crimea. The new government will be composed of cadets and socialists. General Sulkevich himself will move to Azerbaijan and head the local General Staff (in 1920 he will be shot by the Bolsheviks).
Thus, Crimea fell into the orbit of the White movement. The new Crimean government relied on the Volunteer Army. The Crimean Center of the Volunteer Army, headed by General Baron de Bode, will begin work on recruiting Denikin's army volunteers. But it was ineffective, Crimea was still apolitical and did not give significant parties to the White Army. The White command will send Gershelman's cavalry regiment, small units and detachments of Cossacks to Sevastopol and Kerch. General Borovsky will receive the task of creating a new Crimean-Azov army, which was supposed to occupy the front from the lower reaches of the Dnieper to the Don region. The first parts of Borovsky began to move northward, to Tavria.
