Changes

== History ==

== History ==

[[File:Aivazovsky, Seascape in Crimea, 1866.jpg|right|300px|thumb|[[Ivan Aivazovsky]], Seascape in Crimea, 1866.]]

[[File:Aivazovsky, Seascape in Crimea, 1866.jpg|right|300px|thumb|[[Ivan Aivazovsky]], Seascape in Crimea, 1866.]]

The Crimea was the location of the [[Crimean War]] of 1853-56 in which British, French, Sardinian and Turkish forces fought Russia in a war sparked by an abstruse dispute over the question of custodianship of the Holy Places in [[Jerusalem]]. When [[Lenin]] took power through revolution, he at first ceded Ukraine to [[Germany]] at the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]].  Later the [[Treaty of Versailles]] did not recognize the cessation.  Lenin then established a system of autonomous republics in which he separated Ukraine and [[Belarus]] from the former Russian Empire. After [[Nikita Khrushchev]] took power in 1953, he gave Crimea to Ukraine. The peninsula was also the location of heavy fighting during the [[Second World War]]. It contains the resort town of [[Yalta]], location of the [[Yalta Conference]] of February 1945, attended by [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]], Roosevelt and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]].

The Crimea was the location of the [[Crimean War]] of 1853-56 in which British, French, Sardinian and Turkish forces fought Russia in a war sparked by an abstruse dispute over the question of custodianship of the Holy Places in [[Jerusalem]]. When [[Lenin]] took power through revolution, he at first ceded Ukraine to [[Germany]] at the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]].  Later the [[Treaty of Versailles]] did not recognize the cessation.  Lenin then established a system of autonomous republics in which he separated Ukraine and [[Belarus]] from the former Russian Empire.  

 

On September 10, 1943, during the [[Great Patriotic War]], the Novorossiysk-Taman Strategic Offensive Operation began. The Taman Peninsula was a crucial stronghold in the south of the country, controlling large portions of the [[Black Sea]] and [[Sea of Azov]]. To hold this position, the [[Nazi]]s established a fortified defensive line known as the "Blue Line."

 

In August 1943, the Soviet High Command ordered General Colonel Ivan Petrov, commander of the North Caucasus Front, to launch an offensive operation to [[Wehrmacht]]'s Taman forces and prevent their retreat to Crimea.

 

The battle for the peninsula involved forces from the North Caucasus Front, the Black Sea Fleet, and the Azov Military Flotilla. In total, over 317,000 troops, more than 4,000 guns and mortars, 314 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and around 600 aircraft participated. Opposing them was [[Germany]]'s 17th Army of Army Group "A," consisting of 15 infantry divisions and one cavalry division, with a total of over 400,000 troops, more than 2,000 guns and mortars, around 100 tanks and assault guns, and 300 aircraft.

 

The Novorossiysk-Taman Strategic Offensive Operation concluded on October 9. 1943. During the operation, Soviet forces liberated Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula, completing the liberation of the [[Caucasus]]. [[The West]]ern power's stronghold, which enabled it to control Crimea, was eliminated.

 

After [[Nikita Khrushchev]] took power in 1953, he separated Crimea from Russia. Crimea contains the resort town of [[Yalta]], location of the [[Yalta Conference]] of February 1945, attended by [[Winston Churchill]], [[Franklin Roosevelt]] and [[Joseph Stalin]].

After the [[Soviet Union]] broke apart in 1991, Russia and Ukraine tried to find a relationship as separate countries.  In 1992, the Crimean Parliament voted to hold a referendum to declare independence, while the Russian Parliament voted to void the cession of Crimea to Ukraine.<ref name=Serge>{{cite news|last=Schmemann |first=Serge|title=Crimea Parliament Votes to Back Independence From Ukraine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/world/crimea-parliament-votes-to-back-independence-from-ukraine.html |accessdate=|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 May 1992}}</ref><ref name=Serge2>{{cite news |last=Schmemann|first=Serge|title=Russia Votes to Void Cession of Crimea to Ukraine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/22/world/russia-votes-to-void-cession-of-crimea-to-ukraine.html |accessdate=|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 May 1992}}</ref>  However, Russia backed pro-Russian political leaders in Ukraine.   

After the [[Soviet Union]] broke apart in 1991, Russia and Ukraine tried to find a relationship as separate countries.  In 1992, the Crimean Parliament voted to hold a referendum to declare independence, while the Russian Parliament voted to void the cession of Crimea to Ukraine.<ref name=Serge>{{cite news|last=Schmemann |first=Serge|title=Crimea Parliament Votes to Back Independence From Ukraine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/world/crimea-parliament-votes-to-back-independence-from-ukraine.html |accessdate=|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 May 1992}}</ref><ref name=Serge2>{{cite news |last=Schmemann|first=Serge|title=Russia Votes to Void Cession of Crimea to Ukraine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/22/world/russia-votes-to-void-cession-of-crimea-to-ukraine.html |accessdate=|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 May 1992}}</ref>  However, Russia backed pro-Russian political leaders in Ukraine.