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Ties between Ukraine and Crimea in the Twentieth Century

Throughout the twentieth century, the economic, transport, military and cultural ties between Ukraine and Crimea were so close that the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 19 February 1954 cited precisely them as the grounds for transferring the Crimean Oblast to the Ukrainian SSR. This complex interconnection — from the joint military command of the 1920s and the development of aviation to a unified railway network and shared economic districts — demonstrates that the peninsula is inseparable from Ukraine, not from the North Caucasus.

Overview

The Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 19 February 1954 "On the Transfer of the Crimean Oblast to the Ukrainian SSR" justified the decision with the formulation: "taking into account the commonality of the economy, territorial proximity, and close economic and cultural ties between the Crimean Oblast and the Ukrainian SSR". This wording recorded that, at the moment of the transfer, Crimea had for decades already functioned as part of the Ukrainian economic, transport, military and cultural space.

The Military Dimension: the "Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea"

In the 1920s, the "Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea" existed. After the elimination of the last pocket of resistance — Wrangel's Crimea — the Southern Front of the Red Army was transformed by Order No. 2660/532 into the Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea. Taurida Governorate was at first incorporated into the Kharkiv Military District, and later the two districts of the Ukrainian SSR were merged into a single Ukrainian Military District headed by Mykhailo Frunze; his position was officially titled "Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea". The remnants of the Black Sea Fleet (the so-called Naval Forces of the Black and Azov Seas) were likewise subordinated to this command. Even after the creation of the Crimean ASSR within the RSFSR on 18 November 1921, Red Army units remained subordinated to the districts: Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa.

Aviation: TAPUK

In 1923, the capital of the Ukrainian SSR, Kharkiv, saw the creation of the Society for Aviation and Aeronautics of Ukraine and Crimea (TAPUK). Crimea fit organically into this structure. The chairman of the TAPUK Council was H. I. Petrovsky, with M. V. Frunze, and later V. P. Zatonsky, as deputy. By 1925 the society numbered 416,000 members united in 7,115 circles; it founded the Central Aero Club and an aviation school in Kharkiv, a glider school in Kyiv, more than 1,475 aviation libraries, and raised over 1.5 million rubles for the development of the air fleet. The initiator of the organization's creation was Heorhii Proskura, thanks to whom Kharkiv became the country's aviation capital (the Kharkiv Aviation Institute grew out of his aerohydrodynamic laboratory in 1930). Together with the Main Directorate of the Red Army Air Fleet, TAPUK created the joint-stock company "Ukrpovitroshliakh" — the beginning of all civil aviation in Ukraine. Kyiv Polytechnic Institute student Serhii Korolyov was one of the 416,000 TAPUK members, and it was precisely in Crimea, at Koktebel, that he took to the air in a glider of his own design. Later, TAPUK merged with the "Dobrokhim" society and transformed into the All-Union "Aviakhim" (later Osoaviakhim, DOSAAF, TSOU).

Military Districts

The Odesa Military District was re-established on 11 October 1939 to comprise five oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR, as well as the Moldavian and Crimean ASSRs. It included eleven rifle divisions, a mechanized corps, five artillery regiments, and three aviation divisions (two more were being formed) — the troops were being prepared for a strike on Romania. In 1945, the Taurida Military District was created, comprising only two oblasts — Kherson and Crimea — with headquarters in Simferopol (it did not last long). No one seriously considered any strategically viable option of attaching Crimea to the North Caucasus District or forming a separate Crimean Military District.

Economic Integration: Sovnarkhozy

Under Khrushchev's reform of 1957, sectoral ministries were abolished and councils of the national economy (sovnarkhozy) were created. The Kherson Sovnarkhoz initially consisted of three oblasts: Crimean, Mykolaiv, and Kherson (center — Kherson). From 1962, after the addition of Odesa Oblast, the Black Sea Sovnarkhoz was formed with its center in Odesa. The idea of a separate Crimean Sovnarkhoz occurred to no one — economically, in transport and in military-strategic terms, Crimea is an inseparable part of Ukraine.

Ports

Donuzlav was designed in the 1960s as a civilian port; Novoozerne was to become a town of 30,000 inhabitants, with a railway line from Yevpatoria planned to reach it. The purpose of Crimea's ports is to serve the needs of mainland Ukraine or transit through it.

Railways

The first railway line in Ukraine as a whole was laid near Inkerman, under Sevastopol, in 1843 (by retired midshipman Dmytro Volokhov, a narrow-gauge line for hauling stone). In 1873 a section of the Lozova–Sevastopol railway was laid here (Petro Hubonin; the first train to Simferopol arrived in 1874, and to Sevastopol in 1875). At the same time (1882–1902) the Yekaterininskaya railway was built for the Dnipro region. In 1934 the Southern Railways were divided into the Southern and the Donetsk railways; in 1936 the railway was named Stalinska, and in 1961 it received the name Pridniprovska (virtually all Crimean lines were incorporated into it). A separate "Crimean Railway" has never existed in history. In March 2014 the occupation authorities turned the local directorate of the Pridniprovska Railway into the so-called "Krymskaya zheleznaya doroga" (Crimean Railway), but "Ukrzaliznytsia" managed, in the spring of that year, to evacuate all the new equipment to the mainland. The Kerch ferry crossing provided intensive traffic during 1954–1987.

Conclusion

Economically, in transport and in military terms, Crimea is an inseparable part of Ukraine, not of the North Caucasus. Attempts to erase six decades of Ukrainian Crimea contradict the entire body of historical, economic, and military-strategic ties.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • The Decree of 19.02.1954 and the formulation "commonality of the economy... close economic and cultural ties": legal codification of Crimea's actual integration with the Ukrainian SSR.
  • The "Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea" (1920s): Order No. 2660/532; the position of "Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea" (Mykhailo Frunze); subordination of the remnants of the Black Sea Fleet; Crimea's troops within the Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa districts even after 1921.
  • TAPUK and aviation: the Society for Aviation and Aeronautics of Ukraine and Crimea (Kharkiv, 1923; H. Petrovsky, M. Frunze, V. Zatonsky); 416,000 members (1925); the initiative of H. Proskura (Kharkiv as the aviation capital); KPI student Serhii Korolyov as a TAPUK member, his flight at Koktebel; merger with "Dobrokhim" → "Aviakhim"; "Ukrpovitroshliakh".
  • The Odesa and Taurida Military Districts: the Odesa MD (from 11.10.1939 — 5 oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR + the Moldavian and Crimean ASSRs; the plan for a strike on Romania); the Taurida MD (Kherson + Crimean oblasts, headquarters Simferopol).
  • The 1957 Sovnarkhozy: Nikita Khrushchev's reform; the Kherson Sovnarkhoz (Crimean, Mykolaiv, Kherson oblasts); from 1962 the Black Sea Sovnarkhoz (with Odesa); the absence of a separate Crimean Sovnarkhoz.
  • Transport unity: ports (Donuzlav — a civilian project of the 1960s); railways of Inkerman 1843, the Lozova–Sevastopol line, the Pridniprovska Railway (formerly Stalinska, from 1961); the absence of a separate "Crimean Railway"; the "Krymskaya zheleznaya doroga" of 2014; the Kerch ferry crossing 1954–1987.