The Crimea - a History
Neil Kent, Hurst, £16.99

THIS fascinating history through the ages is essential reading for all those wishing to understand the background to the present conflict in Ukraine. In this ongoing war between Ukraine as a Nato proxy and Russia, the Crimea has played a key role. 

It shapes the headlines much as it did some 160 years ago, when the Crimean War pitted Britain, France and Turkey against tsarist Russia. Yet few books have been published on the history of this peninsula. For many readers, Crimea seems as remote today as it was when colonised by the ancient Greeks.

The author of this history, Prof Neil Kent, is editor-in-chief of The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security and a former associate of the University of Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute. He has authored many books on Nordic and east European history.

This one, first published in hardback in 2016, recounts the history of the Crimea over three millennia. It is an essential primer on the history of this key geographical spot on the Black Sea. A crossroads between Europe and Asia, ships sailed to and from Crimean ports, forming a bridge that carried merchandise and transmitted ideas and innovations. Situated as it is at the crossroads between the Far East, Asia Minor and Western Europe, it became a vital trading post, a gateway to Europe and gathering place for a multitude of people from around the world. 

Reading its history, you realise that the idea of the Crimea as “belonging” to any particular nation is a nonsense. Nations themselves are based on the arbitrary division of land and represent powerful economic interests rather than genuine popular support, sense of belonging or ethnic unity. The example of the Crimea should stimulate a debate on the role of nations as useful categories in our globalised and multicultural world. For almost two centuries it was considered an integral part of Russia and has played a significant role in Russian cultural history and, because of its climate, it became a favourite holiday resort for generations of Russians, from tsarist times and during the Soviet period.

The earliest settlers of Crimea during the classical period were the Cimmerians, then the Scythians, followed by Greeks, Taurians, the Goths and the Byzantians and became home to  many other people from other geographical areas. During the early Middle Ages it came under Byzantine rule and later of the Kievan Rus. During the 15th century it came under the Ottoman empire and remained thus for over three centuries until it was annexed by tsarist Russia in 1783. 

Crimea remained part of Russia, after the latter’s defeat of the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Kozludzha, until 1954, when the Soviet government under Khrushchev transferred Crimea from the Russian Soviet Federation of Socialist Republics (RSFSR) to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (UkrSSR). At the time this was seen merely as an administrative step with no geopolitical implications. Only with the establishment of an independent Ukraine in 1991 did it become an issue.

Kent argues that Nato’s response to Russia’s “annexation” of Ukraine ignored “the peninsula’s historical context, ethnic make up and popular will.” “There is no doubt,” he says, “that the majority of the population of the Crimea supports joining the Russian Federation.” He goes on to say that in the opinion of many, the Crimea had already beforehand become something of a burden and a liability, rather than a benefit to Ukraine, draining resources.

Russians make up the majority of the population in Crimea, with Tartars 12.1 per cent, together with smaller numbers of Belarussians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Germans and others.

It is a pity that Kent only deals with the contemporary situation cursorily in his epilogue and that this paperback edition has not been updated to include present developments.