Why Did Russia Give Crimea to Ukraine?
By: Calin Aneculaesei
Tags: War, Russia, Ukraine, History, Soviet Union

Why Did Russia Give Crimea to Ukraine?

Russian troops blocking the Ukrainian military base in Perevalne during the Crimean Crisis of 2014. Source: Wikicommons

Since the collapse of the USSR, the newly formed Russian Federation has been trying to reclaim some of the territories it lost during the collapse of the union. Of these territories, the most significant has to be Crimea. Due to Russia’s peculiar geographic makeup, the superpower lacks any warm seaports, something integral for maintaining a powerful navy. In a search for a warm seaport the current president, Vladimir Putin, looked to Crimea.

But Crimea wasn’t always owned by Ukraine. The port region has a long history of switching hands between those who ruled the nearby land. Between Mongols, Tartars, Ukrainians, Russians, and even Romanians at points, the region was ruled by a variety of factions. Today we will explore perhaps one of the most significant switches that happened more than 60 years ago which still impacts the international community to this day.

The Ukrainian SSR

Украiнська Радянська Соціалістична Респyбліка (Translated: Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) was one of the 15 Soviet Socialist Republics that made up the USSR. Created in 1919, the republic was conceived as a quasi-puppet state that Moscow used to control the people of Ukraine.

Flag of Ukrainian SSR. Source: Wikicommons

Upon the annexation of Crimea into the USSR in 1919, the Crimean peninsula was annexed by the Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика (Translated: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic). Upon the 300th anniversary of Ukraine’s annexation into the Russian Tsardom, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet decided to change the fate of Crimea in a way that will impact the peninsula forever.

The Death of Stalin

A mourning parade in honour of Stalin in East Germany. Source: Wikicommons

In 1953, the Soviet Union’s longest-reigning premier, Иосиф Сталин (Anglicised: Iosef Stalin) died due to a cerebral haemorrhage in his dacha in Kuntsevo, Moscow. The reigns of the USSR were taken up by a fellow member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Геoргий Маленкoв (Anglicised: Georgy Malenkov) for the following two years.

The years under Malenkov were unstable. Although the Presidium member was the de facto leader of the USSR he was being influenced by two much more key members of the Presidium, Никита Хрущёв (Anglicised: Nikita Khrushchev) and Лаврeнтий Бeрия (Anglicised: Lavrentiy Beria).

During these years Malenkov became a tool for the above-mentioned power players to use in such a way as to gain an advantage over the other as such many of the policies put in place during this period. The policy of the USSR thus became disorganised, leading to the key event this article is titled after.

A symbolic gesture?

On 19 February 1954, a meeting was called to decide the future of the Crimean peninsula. At this moment, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union decided, in what many call a symbolic gesture, to return the Crimean Oblast to the Ukrainian SSR. Only 13 members of the total 27 members of the Presidium were present to pass this resolution but no argument was had over the decision.

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet “About the transfer of the Crimean Oblast”, 9 March 1954. Source: Wikicommons

The monumental decision was released to the public through the USSR’s newspaper Правда (Anglicised: Pravda) on the 27 February 1954, officially announcing to all of the citizens of the union that the territory was transferred. The announcement of the newspaper read:

“On April 26, 1954 the decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet transferring the Crimea Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.Taking into account the integral character of the economy, the territorial proximity and the close economic and cultural ties between the Crimea Province and the Ukrainian SSR, the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet decrees:To approve the joint presentation of the Presidium of the Russian SFSR Supreme Soviet and the Presidium of the Ukrainian SSR Supreme Soviet on the transfer of the Crimea Province from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.” — Pravda

This historic decision went on to have a large impact on the world as we know it. After the dissolution of the USSR on the 26th of December 1991, the impact of the decision made more than 35 years prior started to show. As the new Russian Federation grew in power and came under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, the question of the ownership of the peninsula became crucial on the international stage.

With the peninsula now under the firm control of Russia after their campaign into the country of Ukraine in 2014, it seems like the resolution passed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union 60 years ago has become null. I fear that the strategically vital region of Crimea will not exchange hands back to its previous owners any time soon.