territory, which included 20th century historical Russian provinces: Kherson, Yekaterinoslav and Tauride (except Crimea), - cut through by the lower course of the Dnieper, Dniester and Bug. Flat steppe space that imperceptibly merges with the steppes Eastern Russia, passing into the Asian steppes, and therefore has long served as the dwelling of tribes moving from Asia to the West. On the same coast of the Black Sea in ancient times a number of Greek colonies. permanent shift population continued until Tatar invasion. In the XIII-XVI centuries. the Tatars dominated here, making it impossible for the peaceful colonization of the country by neighboring peoples, but in the middle. 16th century military colonization began. Below the rapids on the Dnieper island of Khortitsa was founded by the Cossacks Sich. All R. 18th century new settlers appear here - immigrants from the Slavic lands, Bulgarians, Serbs, Volokhi. The government, meaning to create a military border population, gave them benefits and various privileges. Two districts were formed in 1752: New Serbia and Slavic Serbia. At the same time, lines of fortifications were created. After the 1st Turkish War, fortified lines captured new spaces. The annexation of the Crimea in 1783, making Novorossia unsafe from the Tatars, gave a new impetus to the colonization of the region. The 2nd Turkish war gave the Ochakov region into the hands of Russia. (i.e. the western part of the Kherson province.). Since 1774, the head of the administration of the Novorossiysk Territory was placed Prince. G.A. Potemkin, who remained in this position until his death (1791). He divided the country into provinces: Azov to the east of the Dnieper and Novorossiysk to the west. Potemkin's concern was the settlement and comprehensive development of the region. In the types of colonization, privileges were given to foreigners - immigrants from Slavic lands, Greeks, Germans and schismatics, huge land holdings dignitaries and officials with the obligation to settle them. Simultaneously with the government colonization, there was a free colonization from Great Russia and Little Russia. The Russian colonists, like foreigners, did not use help from the treasury, but they did not encounter any obstacles to settling in new places, there was a lot of land, and its owners willingly allowed them to settle on it. They also condescendingly looked at the settlement of fugitive peasants in the region, the number of which, with the development of serfdom in the 18th and n. 19th century everything was growing. Under Potemkin, a number of cities were founded in Novorossia - Yekaterinoslav, Kherson, Nikolaev, etc. Odessa was later founded. Administratively, Novorossiya was redrawn several times. In 1783 it was named Yekaterinoslav viceroy. In 1784, the Tauride Region was formed, and in 1795, Voznesenskaya Province. Under Paul I, part of the Yekaterinoslav vicegerency was separated, and the Novorossiysk province was formed from the rest. Under Alexander I, the provinces of Yekaterinoslav, Kherson and Tauride were established here, which, together with the Bessarabian region annexed from Turkey, formed the Novorossiysk Governorate-General. The administrative center of Novorossia, as well as industrial and cultural, in the XIX century. became Odessa.

What was Novorossia like a century ago? In 1910, a 14-volume edition was published under the editorship of V.P. Semenov-Tian-Shansky “Russia. Complete geographical description our society." We have collected unique facts from the volume "Crimea and Novorossiya", the reissue of which we are preparing.

"New Byzantium"

1. Lands liberated from the Turks and Crimean Tatars in the XVIII century, it was decided to call Novorossia, by analogy with Little Russia and Great Russia. The accession of these lands in the era of Catherine was part of the "Greek project": the advance to the south and the revival of Byzantium with a center in New Rome (Constantinople).

2. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, Novorossia included modern Moldova, Stavropol, Donbass, Rostov, Odessa, Kherson, Nikolaev, Kirovograd and Dnepropetrovsk regions.

3. A lot of cities in New Russia had Greek names - Stavropol, Simferopol, Sevastpol, Nikopol, Olviopol, Kherson, Balaklava, Alexandria, Tiraspol, etc. This indirectly reflected the "Byzantine idea" of the Russian rulers.

Novorossiya and Novorossiysk

4. The modern city of Novorossiysk in the Krasnodar Territory, despite its name, was located a little south of the provinces, which it was customary to associate with Novorossia at the end of the 19th century.

5. Novorossiysk from 1796 to 1802 was called Dnepropetrovsk, a city on the Dnieper with rich history. In 1776, the city of Yekaterinoslav (as it was called in 1776-1796 and 1802-1926) became the center of Novorossia - the then Azov province.

It was he who was planned to be made in 1784 the "third capital" of the Russian Empire, after Moscow and St. Petersburg. The city has changed many names, having managed to visit even Samara (or rather Samar, a Cossack town on the Samara River, which flows into the Dnieper).

living conditions

6. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, about 12.5 million people lived in Novorossia:

32% - Great Russians, 42% - Little Russians (they lived mainly on the right bank of the Dnieper and Konka);

91% Christians (84.7% Orthodox), 6% Jews, 2% Mohammedans.

7. Novorossiya was a multinational territory. Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Germans, Serbs, Bulgarians, Moldavians, Crimean Tatars, Rusyns, Great and Little Russians lived here. In Stavropol there are Kalmyks, Nogais and Turkmens.

8. Most warm winters- in the Crimea, where the temperature is above zero. The least hot summer by the sea is in Taganrog and Mariupol.

9. The population was mostly rural (over 80%). The smallest number of peasants is in the Kherson and Bessarabian provinces, and the largest number of townspeople are in the Kherson and Taurida provinces.

10. Most big number schools and students were noted in the Crimea and southwestern regions.

11. Half of the land was in private hands. The most dear earth was in the Bessarabian province - 90 rubles per hectare.

12. Kherson province surpassed many others in terms of productivity, provision of bread and arable land

13. Novorossia was not only a new agricultural, but also an industrial region of Russia. The main labor market was located in Kakhovka, a city on the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Women, teenagers and children worked in the industry.

14. The number of teenagers in the shell production was about 80% and about 13% of children. Children were widely employed in the tobacco industry, and teenagers in the rope and iron-tinning industries.

River routes and land roads

15. Before the end of the 15th century, there were no permanent land roads. Temporary steppe roads, portages between rivers and horse trails are known.

16. One of the most ancient routes of New Russia were: the caravan route from Kyiv to Kafa (Feodosia) (XV century), Muravsky Way (from Perekop through the Konka and Samara rivers to Orel and Tula), Mikitinsky, Kizekermensky and Kryukovsky Ways (along the Dnieper) , Cherny Shlyakh (from Ochakov to the depths of Poland).

17. Under Nicholas I, the first highway was built - from Simferopol to Sevastopol.

18. The first railway in Novorossia was supposed to replace the never-built Volga-Don Canal and went from the Volga settlement of Dubovka to the Kachalinskaya village on the Don.

19. The most important Russian rivers - the Dniester, the Dnieper and the Don - were located in Novorossia. At the same time, river navigation was poorly developed.

20. Navigation was best developed on the Don, but shallow water prevented the widespread use of the river fleet. The Don fleet was one of the most expensive.

21. The Dnieper was torn into two parts by rapids, overcoming which was an extremely dangerous business. Attempts to deepen the bottom in these areas did not bring a serious effect.

22. The Dniester suffered from shallow water and easy rapids and rifts. In addition, cargo traffic along it fell by the end of the 19th century.

Cities of Novorossiya

23. Stavropol belonged to Novorossia, but not Kharkov.

24. The largest city in New Russia was Odessa. Rostov and Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk) competed for second and third place at the turn of the century. Krivoy Rog, one of the largest modern cities in Ukraine, was a small town near a post station.

25. Odessa and Rostov were the main trading cities, which enjoyed a certain freedom. Where there is trade, there are scammers. That is why the cities became the most famous "thieves' capitals". Since those times, there has been a saying "Odessa-mother, Rostov-dad."

26. More than Odessa in the Russian Empire were only Warsaw, St. Petersburg and Moscow. Rostov is already in 14th place, and Yekaterinoslav is 17th (1st, 2nd and 3rd in Novorossia, respectively).

27. Odessa was the largest seaport and railway junction. The convenient location on the Black Sea and between the mouths of two major rivers in Europe (Dnieper and Dniester) ensured the wealth of the city. From her to European capitals(Vienna and Rome) was closer than to Moscow and St. Petersburg.

28. The Armenians founded several cities in New Russia - Nakhichevan-on-Don (now the Rostov region), Grigoriopol (on the banks of the Dniester) and the Holy Cross (modern Budyonnovsk in Stavropol). .Contemporaries noted that Nakhichevan, thanks to its gardens, was superior in beauty to neighboring Rostov. By the end of the 19th century, they merged into a single city.

29. The most important cities of the Greeks were Balaklava (in the Crimea) and Mariupol (previously called Kalmius in Greek). Near Mariupol, on the Kalka River (modern Kalmius or the Kalchik that flows into it), a tragic battle took place between the troops of ancient Russian princes and the Mongol conquerors.

30.Bendery is not only the colloquial name of Ukrainian radical nationalists, but also the oldest city in Transnistria. The name most likely comes from the Persian "harbour, port". The Moldavian rulers called the city Tyagyankyachya, Tigina or Tungati. The Turks renamed it Bendery.

31. The modern city of Zaporozhye did not arise from scratch. Numerous Dnieper rapids ended here. Even before the appearance of the Zaporozhian Sich, there was a Scythian town on the island of Khortytsya (the largest on the Dnieper). The island is mentioned in ancient Russian chronicles as a place of battles and a gathering of princes; it is possible that the “capital” of chronicle roamers was located here - Protolcha, a trade and craft settlement named after the famous ford.

32. In 1552, the Volyn prince Dmitry Vishnevetsky built the first Cossack town here, in 1756 the Zaporizhzhya shipyard was laid here, and later the Alexander Fortress. Aleksandrovsk became the most important transport hub New Russia.

Excursion into history

33. The ancient Greek names of the Don, Dnieper, Southern Bug and Dniester are Tanais, Borisfen, Gipanis and Tiras.

34. In the steppe and along the lower reaches of the great rivers, the Scythians roamed, in the Crimea from ancient times lived the Tauri, after whom the peninsula was named, as well as the remnants of the Cimmerians. To the west of Borisfen lived farmers - Allazons and Callipids, beyond Tanais - Sarmatians. The Allazons and Callipids were involved in trade with the ancient Greeks, who had a rich colony, Olbia, at the mouth of the Borysthenes. The Greeks called them the Hellenic-Scythians.

35. Thracian tribes lived in Bessarabia - the Getae and Dacians, from whom, together with the Roman colonists, the Romanians and Moldavians originated.

36. There are still many ancient ramparts in Novorossia, the origin of which is still controversial. Obviously only them ancient origin. These are the Serpent's ramparts, the Trajan's ramparts and the Perekop rampart.

37. On the territory of New Russia were located: the Scythian kingdom, Bosporan kingdom, colonies of Greeks, Italians, Byzantine lands, the Empire of the Huns, the state of the Goths Oyum, the Avar Khanate, Great Bulgaria, Khazar Khaganate, Kievan Rus, the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the lands of the Ottoman Empire, the Commonwealth, the Zaporozhye Army (Hetmanate).

38. southern part Bessarabia - the interfluve of the lower reaches of the Dniester and the Prut was called the Angle. From it came the name Slavic tribe street.

39. The word Bessarabia comes from the name of the Wallachian prince Basarab I (1319 - 1352).

40. The “List of Russian cities far and near” (beginning of the 15th century) mentions the old Russian cities in Bessarabia: Belgorod, Yassky Torg on the Prut, Khoten on the Dniester, and Pereseken (according to another version, it was located on the Dnieper near modern Dnepropetrovsk).

41. The coastal towns of Novorossiya also have a long history. On the site of Odessa, there was a city of Istrian sailors - Istrion (VI century AD). Nearby was a whole constellation of ancient Greek colonies: Odessos, Olbia, Tyra, Nikonion, Isakion, Skopelos, Alektos.

42. Even before our era, Greeks and Scythians chose Novorossia. Large trading cities were located here. On the site of Azov - Tanais, Taganrog - Kremny, Kerch - Mirmekiy, Tiritaka and Panticapaeum, Feodosia retained its name, on the site of Sevastopol - Chersonese, Evpatoria - Kerkintida, Simferopol - Scythian Naples, the ancient capital of the Scythian kingdom.

43. Another oldest city of the Scythians was located near modern city Zaporozhye (until 1921 - Aleksandrovsk).

44. From the Greek colonies and settlers, we got the word "estuary" (in translation - harbor, bay).

45. The cities of Crimea and the Black Sea coast, lost by Byzantium, were quickly mastered by Italians (Venetians and Genoese), Turks and Crimean Tatars. The Crimean Khanate and Gazaria (Genoese colonies) owned the cities of Crimea. The chronicle Surozh (Sudak) became the Italian Soldaya, Balaklava was called in Italian Cembalo, Yalta - Dzhialita, Alushta - Alusta, Feodosia - Kaffa. Ak-mosque, Akkerman, Achi-Kale - Turkish cities on the site of Simferopol, Belgorod-Dnestrovsky and Ochakov.

46. ​​In the Crimea, descendants of the Goths are still found among the Greeks and Crimean Tatars. Basically, these are people with blue eyes and blond hair, completely switched to a foreign language. However, according to the surviving descriptions of medieval historians, the Crimean language existed until the end of the 18th century.

47. In the southern Crimea was the legendary Gothia, which later became the Orthodox Principality of Theodoro with the Greek-Gothic-Alanian population already in 1475 was captured by the Turks. The capital of Theodoro - Mangup, was deserted and completely disappeared as a settlement today.

48. City Old Crimea has changed about 22 names throughout its history. The most famous are: Taz, Kareya, Trakana, Solkhat, Levkopol.

49. The Perekop Isthmus that separates Crimea from the mainland has been the most important place, "gates" to the mainland. According to Ptolemy and Pliny the Elder, for some time there even existed a canal connecting the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea. On the site of Perekop, there was an ancient Greek trading city of Tafros. Here is the Perekop shaft, which is already about 2 thousand years old.

50. Russian cities existed in Novorossia as early as the 10th century (Belgorod at the mouth of the Dniester and Oleshye at the mouth of the Dnieper). With the weakening of the Golden Horde, new cities appear. They belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in which, as you know, Russian was the official language and the language of the majority of the population.

After the death of Vitovt in 1430, a list of castles is given: Sokolets (now Voznesensk, Mykolaiv region), Cherny Gorod (Ochakiv, Mykolaiv region), Kachuklenov (Odessa).

Cossacks and border guards

51. Serbs-borderiers (Austrian "Cossacks") asked the Russian government to settle them in Russia. Thus, a whole region was born - New Serbia on the territory of the modern Kirovograd region. Its capital was the city of Novomirgorod. More than ten years later, New Serbia became part of the Novorossiysk province.

52. Another area where Serbs and other Balkan settlers lived was Slavic Serbia (on the territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions), the center of which was the city of Bakhmut (modern Artyomovsk).

53. The Cossacks in New Russia were mostly part of the Don Army and the Zaporizhzhya Army. The Cossacks settled "beyond the rapids" in the lower reaches of the Dnieper on numerous islets and capes. History remembers successive sichs: Khortitsa (on Khortitsa Island), Tokmakovskaya (on Tokmakovka Island), Nikitinskaya (near the Nikitinskiy horn), Chertomlykskaya (along the river), Bazavalukskaya (on Bazavluk Island), Pidpilnyanskaya, Kamenskaya and Aleshkovskaya ( by the name of the flowing rivers).

54. Don Cossacks had towns along the Don and Medveditsa. The most famous are Cherkassky, Monastyrsky, Tsimlyansky.

Novorossiya owes its birth to Catherine II the Great.

250 years ago, first in legal acts, then on geographical maps for the first time the name "Novorossiya" appeared. This name was given to the new Russian province, which was created on former lands Zaporizhzhya Host by transforming the military-settlement region of New Serbia. New Serbia is an administrative-territorial unit in the Russian Empire (located on the territory of modern Ukraine), created by the government in the northwestern part of Zaporozhye (the territory of the Kodatskaya and Bugogardovskaya palanoks of the Zaporizhzhya Army), where immigrants from Serbia, Montenegro were resettled in 1751-1764, Wallachia, Macedonia and other Balkan regions. Proposals for the creation and arrangement of the Novorossiysk province were approved by Catherine II on April 2 (according to the old style - March 22), 1764.

It is curious that the initiators of the reforms proposed to name the new administrative unit Catherine's province (in honor of Catherine II), but the empress opposed. Her resolution on the corresponding document read: "to call the province Novorossiysk."

It is important to note that Catherine the Great paid great attention to security and the development of the southern borders of the Russian Empire. According to the apt expression of one of the first researchers of the history of the Novorossiysk Territory, A. A. Skalkovskiy, “34 years of the reign of Catherine are the essence of 34 years of the History of Novorossiysk”.

Shortly after gaining autocratic power, Catherine II took a number of steps that had a huge impact on the fate of the Novorossiysk Territory. The empress introduced significant benefits for immigrants: the provision of land, exemption from taxes and all sorts of duties, interest-free loans for housing and farming, to cover the costs of moving, buying food before the first harvest, livestock, agricultural implements or tools for artisans. Foreign settlers who created their own production were allowed to trade and even export goods abroad duty-free. New subjects received the right to freedom of religion and the opportunity to build their places of worship.

The activities of the authorities of the Novoserbsk province became the subject of special attention of the Russian government. This attention was caused by the insufficiently rapid colonization of the area with huge government appropriations. this project. In addition, one after another, complaints were received in St. Petersburg about abuses and arbitrariness that were happening in the provinces. Under these conditions, the Empress was forced to remove Ivan Horvat, the founder of the New Serbia colony, from his post.

The Croat was extremely unscrupulous in spending the money he received on the initial acquisition of new aliens; for the most part, he took this money for himself, and the settlers suffered all sorts of hardships. All management of the affairs of the region was concentrated in the chancellery established by the decision of the Senate in the city of Mirgorod, which was arranged by Horvat and served as his residence. But in this office sat all the relatives of Horvath, including his two young sons who were considered in the service.

The situation of ordinary migrant soldiers was especially difficult; one day a crowd of them, driven to despair by hunger, came to ask for bread right at Horvath's house; he gave the case such a look as if it were a riot, dispersed the crowd with buckshot and put the body of one of the dead on a wheel outside the city. It is not surprising that the settlers, forced by hunger, sometimes indulged in robbery; and Horvath himself organized raids on the Polish borders.

For determining best device region, 2 special committees were established (on the affairs of New Serbia, as well as Slavic-Serbia and the Ukrainian fortified line).

Lieutenant-General Alexander Petrovich Melgunov, one of the most influential courtiers under the former Emperor Peter III, took part in the work of both committees, but fell into disgrace after his overthrow. It was A.P. Melgunov who was to become the first governor of Novorossiya. However, this was preceded by a very revealing story, demonstrating the mores of the high-ranking bureaucracy of that time.

When clouds began to gather over I. O. Horvat, he went to the capital and tried to bribe the most influential people at court, including A. P. Melgunov. The latter honestly told the emperor about the received offering. Peter III praised his favorite, took half the amount for himself and ordered the Senate to decide the case in favor of I. O. Horvat. However, after the change of autocrat, A.P. Melgunov had to more impartially investigate the sins of the former donor.

Catherine II approved the conclusions of the above committees. As the main obstacle to effective development In the region, the fragmentation and lack of control over the actions of the heads of local administrations and military authorities were recognized. In the spring of 1764, the Novoserbsk settlement and the military corps of the same name were transformed into the Novorossiysk province under the unified authority of the governor (chief commander). In the summer of the same year, the Slavic-Serbian province, the Ukrainian fortified line and the Bakhmut Cossack regiment were subordinated to the province.

To ensure better manageability of the province, it was divided into 3 provinces: Elisavetinskaya (with its center in the fortress of St. Elizabeth), Catherine's (with its center in the Belevskaya fortress) and Bakhmutskaya. In September 1764, within the boundaries of Novorossia, at the request of local residents the Little Russian town of Kremenchug was included. The provincial office was later transferred here.

These steps served as the beginning of the implementation of a large-scale plan for the development of the Novorossiysk province, developed by the first governor of the region. In May - June 1764, new trading cities and customs were identified. Outside the former Novoserbia, they were the fortress of St. Elizabeth, the port on the Khortitsky island and the town of Orlik (Olviopol) on the Southern Bug.

The most important measures for the development of the province consisted in streamlining land use. The entire land of the former Novoserbia, which amounted to 1421 thousand acres, was divided into 36400 plots assigned to local regiments. The territory of the province was divided between 8 regiments. On the right bank of the Dnieper (Elisavetinskaya province) there were the Black and Yellow Hussars, the Elisavetgrad pike regiments. On the left bank - the Bakhmut and Samara (former Moldavian) hussar regiments, as well as the Dnieper, Lugansk, Donetsk pikemen regiments. Later, on the basis of the regimental administrative-territorial division, a county structure was introduced.

Three types of settlements were established: state, landlord and military. Those wishing to settle down were given as much land as they could inhabit, but no more than 48 dachas. A lieutenant, an ensign, a regimental auditor, a quartermaster, a commissar, a doctor received 4 yards (plots), that is, 104-120 acres of land, in rank possession; captain, captain - 6 sections each (156‑180 acres); second major - 7 plots (182‑210 acres); colonel - 16 plots (416‑480 acres) of land. Having populated it, the owner of the ranked dacha became its owner, if he did not think to settle in deadlines lost that right.

Along with land plots, military and civil officials received permits (“open lists”) for the withdrawal from abroad of free “people of all ranks and nations, to be assigned to regiments or settled on their own or state lands.” With the successful completion of this task, officials were entitled to substantial incentives. For the withdrawal of 300 people, the rank of major was assigned, 150 - captain, 80 - lieutenant, 60 - warrant officer, 30 - sergeant major.

The rapid settlement of Novorossia was facilitated by permission to move within new province for the inhabitants of Little Russia (previously, the resettlement of Little Russians in New Serbia was not welcomed). This permission was also actively used by the Old Believers who lived in Little Russian towns. They actively moved to Elisavetograd, where a large community of Old Believers already existed. In the previously lifeless steppes, large villages arose: Zlynka, Klintsy, Nikolskoye, and others. Old Believer churches and even a printing house were erected in these villages (in the village of Nikolskoye). The resettlement of the Old Believers became so massive that in 1767 the government was forced to impose restrictions on this process.

Another important resource for replenishing the population of the Novorossiysk Territory was the resettlement by the nobles, who acquired land in the south, of their own serfs from the central provinces of Russia.

Thus were created the necessary conditions for the multinational, but predominantly Great Russian-Little Russian colonization of Novorossiya. The result of this policy was the rapid growth of the population in the southern limits of European Russia. Already in 1768, excluding regular troops stationed in the region on a temporary basis, about 100 thousand people lived in the Novorossiysk Territory (at the time the province was formed, the population of Novorossia was up to 38 thousand). The Russian Empire literally before our eyes acquired the most important stronghold for the struggle for dominance in the Black Sea - Novorossia.

Education of Novorossia

The beginning of the 18th century was marked by a large-scale modernization of Russia in the military-political, administrative and other spheres of life. The most important directions This modernization was the elimination of the military-political and economic blockade, and not only in the Baltic, but also in other areas - the Caspian and the Black Sea.

As a result of the Northern War, Russia established itself in the Baltic as one of the leading European states, with the interests of which the "old" Europe already had to take into account.

During the Caspian campaign (1722-1724) of Peter I, an attempt to seize the Caspian territories by Turkey was suppressed and the safety of navigation and trade in the region was ensured. Thus, a window to Asia was cut through. Symbolically, this was done in a dugout in the city of Petrovsk (now Makhachkala).

In the Black Sea direction, attempts to break the blockade were less successful. Russia failed in the time of Peter the Great to establish itself in the Black Sea and Azov regions. This was due to a number of reasons, one of the most important of which was the lack of human resources in this area. The region, in fact, was the so-called "Wild Field"- deserted abandoned land.

The raids of the Crimean Tatars on Russia were also systematic in the second half of the 16th century. Almost the entire adult male population of the khanate took part in these raids. The goal was one robbery and capture of prisoners. At the same time, hunting for live goods was the main branch of the economy of the khanate, and slaves were its main export product.

The captives captured in the raids were mainly bought right there in the Crimea by merchants of predominantly Jewish origin, who later resold their “goods” at a big profit. The buyer of slaves was mainly the Ottoman Empire, which widely used the labor of slaves in all spheres of economic life.

In addition, in the XIV - XV centuries, Slavic slaves were bought by merchants of the Italian urban republics that were experiencing the Renaissance, as well as France. Thus, neither the "most Christian" monarchs, nor the pious bourgeois, nor the humanists of the Renaissance saw anything shameful in buying Christian slaves from Muslim lords through Jewish intermediaries.

The interests of ensuring the security of Russia demanded the elimination of the Crimean Tatar and Turkish threat and the return of access to the Black Sea. This, in turn, implied the need to attract large human resources to the region, capable of not only developing fertile fertile lands, but also protecting them from raids and invasions.

The beginning of this process was laid by Peter I. Having not found allies in the fight against Turkey in Europe, he decided to find them among the population of the peoples enslaved by her. To this end, he issued a number of decrees calling for the resettlement of representatives of the South Slavic and other Orthodox peoples of the Balkans in order to participate in the defense of the southern borders of Russia from the attacks of the Crimean Tatars and Turks.

This was facilitated by the position of the Balkan peoples themselves, who saw in Russia a force capable of crushing the Ottoman Empire and freeing them from Turkish domination. Belief in the power and messianism of the "God-crowned power" came to late XVII century to replace the hope for a Catholic leader in Eastern Europe - the degrading Commonwealth. This belief was reinforced by the statements of Russian officials. In particular, for example, the representative of Russia on Karlowitz Peace Congress (1698)) P.B. Voznitsyn pointed out that "if the sultan is the patron of the entire Islamic world, and the Austrian emperor is the patron of the Catholics, then Russia has the right to stand up for the Orthodox in the Balkans."

Subsequently, until the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, this became the leitmotif of its foreign policy.

Because of this, since the end of the 16th century, representatives of the highest Orthodox clergy, as well as the political and military elite of the Balkan peoples, have been sent to Russia with requests for patronage in the fight against the Ottoman Empire and proposals for a joint fight against it.

In practice, this manifested itself during the Russian-Turkish war of 1711-1713. To help Russia in the Balkan provinces of Austria, a 20,000-strong Serbian militia was formed, but it could not connect with the Russian army, since it was blocked by Austrian troops. As a result, in the body Boris Petrovich Sheremetiev due to the Austrian blockade in the summer of 1711, only 148 Serbs under the command of Captain V. Bolyubash managed to break through.

Subsequently, the number of Serb volunteers increased, amounting to about 1,500 people by 1713.

Equally small were volunteers from Hungary (409 people) and Moldova (about 500 people).

At the end of the campaign, most of the volunteers returned to their homeland. At the same time, some of them could not return, since in Austria they would inevitably be subjected to repression. Therefore, at the end of the war, they were placed in the cities of Sloboda Ukraine: Nizhyn, Chernigov, Poltava and Pereyaslavl. And on January 31, 1715, the Decree of Peter I was issued "On the allotment of land to Moldavian, Volosh and Serbian officers and soldiers for settlement in the Kyiv and Azov provinces and the issuance of salaries to them." At the same time, special attention in the Decree was paid to the settlement of Serbian officers and privates, who determined not only places to live, but also an annual salary. In addition, the Decree of Peter I contained a call "to attract other Serbs - to write to them and send to Serbia special people who would persuade other Serbs to enter the Russian service under the command of Serbian officers."

Thus, the 150 Serbs who remained in Russia after the war became in fact the first settlers in the region, which would later be called Novorossia. The significance of this act lies in the fact that it actually marked the beginning of attracting volunteer settlers to the region, capable of not only developing it, but also protecting the southern borders of Russia from Tatar-Turkish aggression.

Subsequent events related to the approval of Russia's positions in the Baltic for some time postponed the implementation of this plan. But already after the conclusion of the Nishtad Peace Treaty (1721), which marked the victory of Russia in the Great Northern War, in the course of preparations for the next Russian-Turkish war, Peter I, who by that time had become Emperor at the request of the Senate and the Synod of Russia, returned to the idea of ​​strengthening the borders of the state in the Azov-Black Sea direction by attracting volunteers - immigrants from the Balkan Peninsula. This position of Peter I was largely determined, on the one hand, by his skeptical attitude towards the Ukrainian Cossacks after the betrayal of Hetman I. Mazepa, and on the other, — highly appreciated fighting qualities and loyalty to Russia of Serbian volunteers.

To this end, on October 31, 1723, "Universal of Peter I with a call to the Serbs to join the Serbian hussar regiments in Ukraine", providing for the creation of several cavalry hussar regiments, consisting of Serbs.

For this purpose, it was planned to create a special commission headed by Major I. Albanez, which was supposed to recruit volunteers for the regiments from the Serbian ethnic territories of Austria. A number of privileges were provided - the preservation of the rank that they had in Austrian army; promotion to the rank of colonel if they bring a whole regiment; the issuance of land for settlement and subsistence, if they move with their families, etc. With the funds issued, Major I. Albanez manages to attract, according to the Collegium of Foreign Affairs dated November 18, 1724, 135 people, and by the end of the year - 459. Among them were not only Serbs, but also Bulgarians, Hungarians, Volohs, Muntians and others. In 1725, another 600 Serbs moved to settle in the Azov province.

Subsequently, the idea of ​​Peter I on the formation of the Serbian hussar regiment was confirmed by the Decree of Catherine I of 1726, and by the Decree of Peter II of May 18, 1727, the "Serbian military team" was renamed into "Serbian Hussar Regiment".

By decree of the Supreme Privy Council of May of the same year Military College was obliged to resolve the issue of the settlement of the Serbs in the Belgorod province.

Thus, Russia begins a policy of settlement southern regions and ensures the protection of the country from the Tatar-Turkish invasions. However, at that time, a centralized policy for the resettlement of the Balkan settlers was not yet implemented, and the Petrine idea did not lead to mass migration of representatives of the southern Slavic peoples in Russia.

A new campaign to attract Serbs to Russia began on the eve of another Russo-Turkish war (1735-1739). To implement this task, the consent of the Austrian Emperor Charles VI was obtained on the recruitment of 500 people from the Austrian possessions to replenish the Serbian Hussar Regiment.

Thus, by the beginning of 1738, the number of Serbs in the service of the Russian army amounted to about 800 people. It remained so until the beginning of the 50s of the 18th century, when next stage Serb resettlement in Russia.

Paradoxically, but to a certain extent, this was facilitated by the policy of the Austrian authorities to Germanize the Serbian population of the territories bordering on Turkey, the so-called frontiers. This was expressed, on the one hand, in the imposition of Catholicism, as a result of which a significant part of the Serbs-borders became Croats, and on the other hand, in the approval of the German language as an official language in all territories of their residence. In addition, the leadership of the Holy Roman (Austrian) Empire decided on the gradual resettlement of the Serbs-borders from the plots Military Frontier on the rivers Tisza and Maros to other areas, or turning them into subjects of the Kingdom of Hungary (which was part of the Austrian Empire).

This provoked an increase in inter-ethnic tension in the region and stimulated the outflow of Serbs to other places, including outside the Holy Roman Empire.

At the same time, this was exactly the contingent that Russia needed to equip its border lines in the Azov-Black Sea direction. "Borderiers" had rich experience in organizing military settlements and combining agricultural activities with carrying out military and border service. In addition, the enemy, from whom they had to protect the borders of the Russian Empire in the Azov-Black Sea direction, was the same one they faced in the Austrian borderlands - Turkey and the Crimean Khanate, its vassal.

The beginning of the process of resettlement of "borderiers" in Russia was laid by the meeting of the Russian ambassador in Vienna, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin with a Serbian colonel I. Horvath(Horvat von Kurtich), who presented a petition for the resettlement of the Serbs-borders to the Russian Empire. At the same time, I. Horvath, according to the ambassador, promised to bring a hussar regiment of 1,000 people to Russia, for which he demands to receive the rank of major general for life, and to appoint his sons as officers of the Russian army. Subsequently, he promised, if possible, to create an infantry regiment of regular pandurs (musketeers), numbering 2,000, and to get it to the Russian borders.

This, of course, corresponded to the interests of Russia. Therefore, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna satisfied the request of Colonel I. Horvat, declaring on July 13, 1751, that not only Horvat and his closest associates from among the border guards, but also any Serbs who wish to transfer to Russian citizenship and move to the Russian Empire, will be accepted as co-religionists. Russian authorities It was decided to give the borders of the land between the Dnieper and Sinyukha, on the territory of the modern Kirovograd region, for settlement. The resettlement began in accordance with the Decree of December 24, 1751, which marked the beginning of New Serbia - a Serbian colony on the territory of the Russian state. At the same time, it was initially autonomous, subordinated in military-administrative terms only to the Senate and the Military Collegium. I. Horvat, promoted to major general for organizing the resettlement of Serbs, became the de facto leader of this autonomy.

At the same time, the intention of I. Horvath to transfer 600 people to Russia at the same time was not carried out. The first group of settlers, or, as it was called, the “team”, arrived in Kyiv, through which their path to the places of future accommodation passed, on October 10, 1751. In its composition, according to the "List of the Headquarters and Chief Officers of the Serbian Nation who Arrived from Hungary to Kyiv", there were 218 people. In total, by the end of 1751, only 419 people arrived in New Serbia, including military personnel, their families and servants.

This, of course, was far from the number of border settlers that the Russian leadership was counting on. Therefore, to staff the regiments, I. Horvath was allowed to recruit not only Serbs, former Austrian subjects, but also Orthodox immigrants from the Commonwealth - Bulgarians and Vlachs, as well as representatives of other peoples. As a result, I. Horvat managed to create a hussar regiment staffed by settlers, for which he received the next military rank - lieutenant general.

Following the creation of New Serbia, by the decision of the Senate of March 29, 1753, another administrative-territorial entity was established for Serbian volunteer settlers - Slavic-Serbia- on the right bank Seversky Donets, on the territory of the Luhansk region.

At the origins of its creation were Serbian officers Colonel I. Shevic and Lieutenant Colonel R. Preradovich, who until 1751 were in the Austrian military service. Each of them led his own hussar regiment. The regiment of I. Shevich was located on the border with the modern Rostov region, and R. Preradovich - in the Bakhmut area. Both of them, like I. Horvat, received major general ranks. At the same time, the composition of these regiments was also multi-ethnic, like that of I. Horvat in New Serbia.

The central points of the new settlements were Novomirgorod and the fortress of St. Elizabeth (modern Kirovograd) in New Serbia, Bakhmut (modern Artemovsk) and Belevskaya fortress (Krasnograd, Kharkov region) in Slavic-Serbia.

So in the 50s years XVIII century, two colonies of military settlers were created, which, together with the Cossacks (Don and Zaporozhye), ensured the security of the southwestern borders of Russia. The Serbian hussar regiments also showed themselves excellently during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between Russia and Prussia.

At the same time, the current situation in the regions of the compact settlement of Serb-borderiers did not fully satisfy the Russian leadership. This was especially true of the direct management of settlements. After Catherine II, who became Empress in 1762, heard rumors about the financial and official abuses of I. Horvat, she decided to immediately remove him from his post. To analyze the situation in the region and develop measures for more effective management two special committees were created (on the affairs of New Serbia, as well as Slavic-Serbia and the Ukrainian fortified line).

In the spring of 1764, their conclusions were presented to Catherine II. The fragmentation and lack of control over the actions of the heads of local administrations and military authorities were recognized as the main obstacle to the effective development of the region.

The term "Novorossia" was officially enshrined in the legal acts of the Russian Empire in the spring of 1764. Considering the project of Nikita and Peter Panin on the further development of the province of New Serbia, located in the Zaporozhye lands (between the Dnieper and Sinyukha rivers), the young Empress Catherine II personally changed the name of the newly created province from Catherine to Novorossiysk.

In accordance with the Decree of the EC to Catherine II dated April 2, 1764, the Novo-Serbian settlement and the military corps of the same name were transformed into the Novorossiysk province under the unified authority of the governor (chief commander). In the summer of the same year, the Slavic-Serbian province, the Ukrainian fortified line and the Bakhmut Cossack regiment were subordinated to the province.

To ensure better controllability of the province, it was divided into 3 provinces: Elizabethan (with the center in the fortress of St. Elizabeth), Catherine's(with the center in the Belevskaya fortress) and Bakhmutskaya.

Fortress Belev. XVII century: 1 - Kozelskaya travel tower, 2 - Likhvinskaya travel tower, 3 - Bolkhovskaya travel tower, 4 - Bolkhovskaya (Field) travel tower, 5 - Lyubovskaya corner tower, 6 - Spasskaya corner tower, 7 - Moscow (Kaluzhskaya) travel tower, 8 - Vasilevsky corner tower, 9 - Tainichnaya tower.

In September 1764, at the request of local residents, a Little Russian town was included within Novorossiya. Kremenchug. Later, until 1783, it was the center of the Novorossiysk province.

Thus, the Peter the Great idea about the settlement of the Azov-Black Sea region by representatives of the Slavic peoples was not implemented, but it marked the beginning of the implementation of more large-scale project- Novorossia, which has become not only an outpost of Russia in the southwestern direction, but also one of its most developed regions in socio-economic terms. And this despite the fact that a significant part of the Novorossiysk province at the stage of its formation was still a Wild Field - uninhabited wild spaces. Therefore, one of the most important priorities of the Russian leadership was the development of economic relations these spaces and, accordingly, protecting them from various kinds of intrusions.

The solution to this problem involved attracting human resources to the region, both from other regions of the country and from abroad.

Significant in this respect was manifesto Catherine II of October 25, 1762 "On allowing foreigners to settle in Russia and the free return of Russian people who fled abroad". The continuation of this document was the manifesto of July 22, 1763 "On allowing all foreigners entering Russia to settle in different provinces of their choice, their rights and benefits."

Catherine II with her manifestos urged foreigners "to settle mainly for the development of our crafts and trade", that is, in other words, she actually formed the country's human capital due to the influx of "brains". This was the reason for such significant preferences provided to new settlers from paying the costs of moving to Russia at the expense of the treasury, to release on a long period(up to 10 years) from various kinds of taxes and duties.

The program of attracting people from abroad took on a complex character and the bodies of the military and civil administration of the region were involved in it. Along with land plots, military and civil officials received permits (“open lists”) for the withdrawal from abroad of free “people of all ranks and nations, to be assigned to regiments or settled on their own or state lands.” With the successful completion of this task, officials were entitled to substantial incentives. For the withdrawal of 300 people, the rank of major was assigned, 150 - captain, 80 - lieutenant, 60 - warrant officer, 30 - sergeant major.

The most important provision of Catherine's manifestos was the declaration of freedom of religion. This permission was also actively used by the Old Believers who lived in Poland, Moldova and Turkey. The resettlement of the Old Believers became so massive that in 1767 the government was forced to impose restrictions on this process.

In 1769, the resettlement to the Novorossiysk Territory began. Talmudic Jews from western Russia and Poland.

At the same time, minor benefits were established for this category of migrants: they had the right to keep distilleries; they were given a benefit from camping and other duties for only a year, they were allowed to hire Russian workers for themselves, to freely practice their faith, etc. Despite minor benefits, their resettlement in the cities was successful. Attempts to arrange Jewish agricultural colonies were unsuccessful.

The most numerous were settlers from Little Russia, both the Left Bank (which was part of Russia), and the Right Bank or Zadneprovskaya, which was the property of Poland. Settlers from the central regions of Russia were represented mainly by state (non-serf) peasants, as well as Cossacks, retired soldiers, sailors and artisans. Another important resource for replenishing the population of the Novorossiysk Territory was the resettlement by the nobles, who acquired land in the south, of their own serfs from the central provinces of Russia.

Taking into account the lack of women at the initial stage of development, measures were developed to stimulate their recruitment for resettlement in Novorossiya. So, “one Jew recruiter was paid 5 r. for every girl. Officers were awarded ranks - whoever scored 80 souls at his own expense was given the rank of lieutenant.

Thus, the necessary conditions were created for a multinational, but mainly Great Russian-Little Russian (or Russian-Ukrainian) colonization New Russia.

The result of this policy was the rapid growth of the population in the southern limits of European Russia. Already in 1768, excluding regular troops stationed in the region on a temporary basis, about 100 thousand people lived in the Novorossiysk Territory (at the time the province was formed, the population of Novorossia was up to 38 thousand). The Russian Empire literally before our eyes was acquiring the most important stronghold for the struggle for dominance in the Black Sea.

A new stage in the development of the former steppes of the Wild Field, which became Novorossia, and the expansion of the southern borders of the Russian Empire was connected with the successful end of the Russian-Turkish war (1768-1774).

As a result, the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty was signed, under the terms of which the territory of the Black Sea estuary between the Southern Bug and the Dnieper, where the Turkish fortress of Kinburn was located, went to Russia. In addition, Russia secured a number of fortresses on the Kerch Peninsula, including Kerch and Yeni-Kale. The most important result of the war was the recognition by Turkey of the independence of the Crimean Khanate, which became a protectorate of the Russian Empire. Thus, the threat was finally eliminated. southern regions countries from the raids of the Crimean Tatars.

Together with the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas, Russia received access to the sea, and the value of the Novorossiysk Territory increased significantly. This predetermined the need to intensify the policy of development of this region.

An exceptionally important role in this was played by Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin. For a long time in Russian historiography, his role in the transformation of Novorossia was either distorted or ignored. The phraseologism "Potemkin villages" came into wide use, suggesting a demonstration to Catherine II during her inspection of the edge of fake villages, with their subsequent movement along the route of the empress.

In fact, these so-called "Potemkin villages" were real settlements of immigrants, both from the interior regions of the country and from abroad. Subsequently, numerous villages and cities grew up in their place, including such large ones as Kherson, Nikolaev, Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk), Nikopol Novomoskovsk Pavlograd and others.

The brilliant, talented administrator, military leader and statesman G.A. Potemkin was endowed with extremely broad powers by the Empress. In his jurisdiction was not only the Novorossiysk Territory, but also the Azov and Astrakhan provinces.

So he was actually authorized representative Catherine II in the south of Russia. The range of activity of G.A. was also extremely wide. Potemkin: from the development of the wild territories of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and the Black Sea, including the Kuban, to the leadership of the actions of Russian troops in the Caucasus. In addition, he supervised the construction of the merchant and navy, port infrastructure on the Black and Azov Seas. During the second (during the time of Catherine II) Russian-Turkish war of 1788 - 1791 years commanded the Russian troops.

During the period of his governorship in Novorossia and in the Crimea, the foundations of horticulture and viticulture were laid, and the sown area was increased. During this period, about a dozen cities arose, including, along with those mentioned above, Mariupol (1780), Simferopol (1784), Sevastopol (1783), which became the base of the Black Sea Fleet, the construction manager of which and the commander-in-chief G.A. Potemkin was appointed in 1785. All this characterized him as an outstanding statesman Russia of the era of Catherine the Great, who, perhaps, most accurately described her governor in Novorossia: “He had ... one rare quality that distinguished him from all other people: he had courage in his heart, courage in his mind, courage in his soul.”

It was G.A. Potemkin came up with the idea of ​​annexing Crimea to Russia. So, in one of his letters to Catherine II, he wrote: “Crimea is tearing our borders with its position ... Assume now that Crimea is yours and that this wart on your nose is no longer there - all of a sudden, the position of the borders is beautiful ... There are no powers in Europe that would not be divided between Asia, Africa and America. Acquisition of the Crimea can neither strengthen nor enrich you, but only bring peace. On April 8, 1782, the Empress signed a manifesto definitively assigning Crimea to Russia. The first steps of G.A. Potemkin on the implementation of this manifesto became construction of Sevastopol as a military and seaport of Russia and the creation of the Black Sea Fleet (1783).

It should be noted that the annexation of Crimea to Russia itself was implemented within the framework of another even more ambitious project, the so-called Greek project of G.A. Potemkin - Catherine II, who assumed the restoration of the Greek Empire with its capital in Constantinople (Istanbul). It is no coincidence that on the triumphal arch at the entrance to the city of Kherson founded by him was written "The Way to Byzantium."

But still, the main activity of G.A. Potemkin was the arrangement of Novorossia. The laying of cities, the construction of a fleet, the cultivation of orchards and vineyards, the promotion of sericulture, the establishment of schools - all this testified to the increase in the military-political and socio-economic significance of the region. And in this, Potemkin's administrative abilities were clearly manifested. According to contemporaries, "he dreamed of turning the wild steppes into fertile fields, building cities, factories, factories, creating a fleet on the Black and Azov Seas." And he succeeded. In fact, it was he who turned the Wild Field into a prosperous New Russia, and the Black Sea coast into the southern border of the Russian Empire. And he is rightly called the organizer of Novorossiya.

To a large extent, this was due to the effective resettlement policy implemented during the period of his administration of the region. First of all, this concerned the institutionalization of the so-called “free” colonization of Novorossia by peasants from the central provinces of Russia. Having eliminated the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775, he, nevertheless, retained one of the basic principles of its functioning - "There is no extradition from the Sich."

Therefore, the serfs who left their owners found refuge in Novorossia.

Moreover, on May 5, 1779, at his insistence, Catherine II published a manifesto “On the summoning of military lower ranks, peasants and pospolit people who arbitrarily went abroad.” The manifesto not only allowed all fugitives to return to Russia with impunity, but also provided them with a 6-year exemption from paying taxes. The serfs, therefore, could not return to their landlords, but move to the position of state peasants.

In addition to this, a centralized resettlement of state peasants took place in Novorossia. Thus, in accordance with the Decree of Catherine II of June 25, 1781, 24,000 peasants who were under the jurisdiction of the College of Economy were resettled “to the empty lands” of the Azov and Novorossiysk provinces, i. state peasants.

A new impetus during the period of G.A. Potemkin found resettlement in the region of foreign settlers. So, in particular, after the Crimea gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, in 1779 many Greek and Armenian families moved out of it.

Greek settlers (about 20 thousand people), on the basis of a charter, were allotted land for settlement in the Azov province, along the coast Sea of ​​Azov and significant benefits were granted - the exclusive right fishing, government houses, freedom from military service and others. On the territories allotted for settlement on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, the Greeks founded about 20 settlements, the largest of which later became Mariupol.

Together with the Greeks, Armenians began to move to Novorossia. During 1779-1780, 13,695 people from the representatives of the Armenian community of Crimea were resettled

75,092 rubles were spent on the transfer of Greeks and Armenians from Crimea. and, in addition, 100 thousand rubles. in the form of compensation "for the loss of subjects" received Crimean Khan, his brothers, beys and murzas.

During this period, the resettlement to Novorossia and Moldovans also intensified. At the end of XVIII - early XIX centuries, they founded cities and villages along the river. Dniester - Ovidiopol, New Dubossary, Tiraspol, etc.

Voluntary resettlement to Novorossia begins in 1789 German colonists. Despite the fact that the attraction of German colonists began as early as 1762, they began to be attracted to the Novorossiysk Territory only when the successful results for Russia of the last Russo-Turkish war in the 18th century (1788-1791) and, accordingly, the consolidation of behind it is the northern Black Sea region.

The first German settlements in Novorossia were seven villages founded by immigrants from Prussia, the Mennonite Germans (Baptists) in the Yekaterinoslav province on the right bank of the Dnieper near Khortitsa, including the island itself. Initially, 228 families were settled in Novorossia, later their number increased, amounting to an extensive population by the middle of the 19th century. German colony of almost 100 thousand people. This was facilitated by much more favorable preferences provided to the German colonists in comparison with other foreign settlers.

On July 25, 1781, a decree was issued that ordered the transfer of economic (state) peasants to Novorossia "voluntarily and at their own request." Settlers in their new places received "a benefit from taxes for a year and a half, so that during this time taxes would be paid for by the inhabitants of their former village," who received the land of those leaving for this. Soon, the period of benefits from paying taxes for land was significantly extended. According to this decree, it was ordered to transfer up to 24 thousand economic peasants. This measure encouraged migration, primarily of medium and wealthy peasants capable of organizing strong farms on settled lands.

Along with the legal resettlement sanctioned by the authorities, there was an active popular unauthorized resettlement movement from the central provinces and Little Russia. B about Most of the unauthorized settlers settled in the landowners' estates. However, in the conditions of Novorossia, serf relations took the form of so-called allegiance, when the peasants living on the landowner's land retained personal freedom, and their obligations to the owners were limited.

In August 1778, the transfer of Christians to the Azov province began. (Greeks and Armenians) from the Crimean Khanate. Settlers were exempted for 10 years from all state taxes and duties; all their property was transported at the expense of the treasury; each new settler received 30 acres of land in a new place; the state built houses for the poor "settlers" and supplied them with food, seeds for sowing and draft animals; all settlers were forever freed "from military posts" and "summer cottages in the army recruit." According to the decree of 1783, in “villages of Greek, Armenian and Roman laws” it was allowed to have “courts of Greek and Roman law, Armenian magistrate».

After Crimea was annexed to the empire in 1783, the military threat to the Black Sea provinces was significantly weakened. This made it possible to abandon the military-settlement principle of the administrative structure and extend the action of the Institution on the provinces of 1775 to Novorossia.

Since the Novorossiysk and Azov provinces did not have the required population, they were united into the Yekaterinoslav governorate. Grigory Potemkin was appointed its Governor-General, and the immediate ruler of the region - Timofey Tutolmin, soon replaced Ivan Sinelnikov. The territory of the governorship was divided into 15 counties. In 1783, 370 thousand people lived within its borders.

Administrative transformations contributed to the development of the region's economy.

Agriculture spread. In a review of the state of the Azov province in 1782, the beginning of agricultural work was noted on "a vast expanse of fertile and fat lands, which were previously neglected by the former Cossacks." Land and state money were allocated for the creation of manufactories, the creation of enterprises that produced products in demand by the army and navy: cloth, leather, morocco, candle, rope, silk, dye and others. Potemkin initiated the transfer of many factories from central regions Russia to Ekaterinoslav and other cities of New Russia. In 1787, he personally reported to Catherine II about the need to transfer part of the state-owned porcelain factory from St. Petersburg to the south, and always with the masters.

AT last quarter XVIII century in the Northern Black Sea region (especially in the Donets basin) began an active search for coal and ores. In 1790 the landowner Alexey Shterich and mining engineer Carl Gascoigne instructed to search for coal along the rivers Northern Donets and Lugan, where construction began in 1795 Lugansk foundry.

A village of the same name arose around the plant. To provide this plant with fuel, the first mine in Russia was laid, in which coal was mined on an industrial scale. At the mine, the first mining village in the empire was built, which laid the foundation for the city of Lisichansk. In 1800, the first blast furnace was launched at the plant, where pig iron was produced using coke for the first time in the Russian Empire.

The construction of the Lugansk foundry was Starting point the development of South Russian metallurgy, the creation of coal mines and mines in the Donbass. Subsequently, this region will become one of the major centers economic development of Russia.

Economic development strengthened trade links between separate parts Northern Black Sea, as well as between Novorossia and the central regions of the country. Even before the annexation of Crimea, the possibilities of transporting goods across the Black Sea were intensively studied. It was assumed that one of the main export items would be bread, which would be grown in large quantities in Ukraine and the Black Sea region.

Odessa monument to Catherine II

To stimulate the development of trade in 1817, the Russian government introduced a “porto-franco” (free trade) regime in the port of Odessa, which at that time was a new administrative center Novorossiysk Governor General.

Duke of Richelieu, Count Langeron, Prince Vorontsov

Odessa allowed free and duty-free importation of foreign goods, including those prohibited for import into Russia. The export of foreign goods from Odessa into the country was allowed only through the outposts according to the rules of the Russian customs tariff with the payment of duties on a general basis. The export of Russian goods through Odessa was carried out in accordance with the existing customs rules. At the same time, the duty was levied at the port when loading onto merchant ships. Russian goods imported only to Odessa were not subject to duty.

The city itself received huge opportunities for its development from such a system. Buying raw materials without duty, entrepreneurs opened factories within the free port area that processed these raw materials. Since the finished products produced at such factories were considered to be manufactured in Russia, they were sold without duties within the country. Often, products made from imported raw materials within the Odessa free port did not go beyond customs posts at all, but were immediately sent abroad.

Quite quickly, the port of Odessa turned into one of the main transshipment points of the Mediterranean and Black Sea trade. Odessa grew rich and grew. By the end of the expiration of the free port, the capital of the Novorossiysk Governor-General became the fourth largest city in the Russian Empire after St. Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw.

Center of Odessa at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries

The initiator of the experiment on the introduction of free port was one of the most famous governor-generals of Novorossia - Emmanuil Osipovich de Richelieu( Armand Emmanuel du Plessis Richilier).

He was the great-great-great-great-nephew of the French Cardinal Richelieu. It was this official who made the decisive contribution to the mass settlement of the Black Sea Territory. In 1812, through the efforts of Richelieu, the conditions for the resettlement of foreign colonists and internal migrants to the region were finally equalized.

Local authorities received the right to issue cash loans to needy migrants from other provinces of the empire “from the sums for the wine farming” and bread for crops and food from bakery shops.

At first, food was prepared for the settlers in new places, part of the fields were sown, tools and draft animals were prepared. For the construction of dwellings, peasants received in new places Construction Materials. In addition, they were given 25 rubles for each family free of charge.

This approach to resettlement stimulated the migration of economically active and enterprising peasants to Novorossia, who formed a favorable environment for distribution in agriculture freelance labor and capitalist relations.

Almost twenty years Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov was the head of the Novorossiysk General Government.

As a result, Vorontsov is indebted to: Odessa - hitherto unprecedented expansion of its commercial value and increase in prosperity; Crimea - the development and improvement of winemaking, the construction of an excellent highway bordering the southern coast of the peninsula, the cultivation and multiplication of various types of bread and other useful plants, as well as the first experiments in afforestation. The road in Crimea was built 10 years after the arrival of the new governor. Thanks to Vorontsov, Odessa was enriched with many beautiful buildings built according to the designs of famous architects. Primorsky Boulevard was connected to the port by the famous Odessa stairs(Potemkinskaya), at the foot of which was installed Monument to the Duke of Richelieu.

The Novorossiysk General Government lasted until 1874. During this time, it absorbed the Ochakov region, Tauris and even Bessarabia. Still unique historical path in combination with a number of other factors continues to determine the general mentality of the inhabitants of the Northern Black Sea region. It is based on the synthesis of various national cultures (primarily Russian and Ukrainian), love of freedom, selfless work, economic enterprise, rich military traditions, perception Russian state as a natural protector of their interests.

Novorossiya is beginning to develop rapidly, the population has been growing year by year, literally the “Novorossiysk boom” has begun. All this, in addition to the revival of life in Novorossia itself, changed the attitude towards it as a wild and almost burdensome land for the state treasury. Suffice it to say that the result of the first years of managing Vorontsov was an increase in the price of land from thirty kopecks per tithe to ten rubles or more. This, in addition to employment, gave money to both people and the region. Not relying on subsidies from St. Petersburg, Vorontsov set out to put life in the region on the principles of self-sufficiency. As they say now, the subsidized region could soon provide for itself. Hence Vorontsov's transformational activity, unprecedented in scale.

All this contributed to attracting an active socio-economically active population to the region. Only in two decades (1774 - 1793) the population of the Novorossiysk Territory increased by more than 8 times from 100 to 820 thousand people.

This was the result of a competent and effective resettlement policy, the main provisions of which were:

• not spreading serfdom to the regions of resettlement;
• freedom of religion;
• privileges for the clergy;
• equalization of the Crimean Tatar nobility in rights with the Russian nobility (“ Letter of Complaint nobility");
• approval of the right to buy and sell land;
• freedom of movement;
• exemption of the indigenous population from military service;
• exemption of foreign settlers from paying taxes for up to 10 years;
• implementation of the program for the construction of cities and villages, through which the population was transferred to a settled way of life and others.

All this, in the end, stimulated the resettlement of a significant number of socially, economically and militarily active population to Novorossia.

At the same time, the most important specifics of this policy was, on the one hand, voluntary resettlement, and on the other, many National composition settlers. Most of them were Russians and Ukrainians. Along with them, Serbs, Bulgarians, Moldavians, Greeks, Armenians, Tatars, Germans, Swiss, Italians and representatives of other nations also moved to the region.

As a result, in terms of its ethnic composition, it was perhaps the most multinational region of the country. It remained such until the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, and then the collapse of the USSR in 1991, when the nationalist card, which came on the wave of socio-political cataclysms, began to be actively played by the local Ukrainian elites, and at the same time distorted the history of the development of the Wild Field and the creation of Novorossiya.

The very fact of the voluntary colonization of the region, contributed to its transformation into one of the most socio-economically and culturally developed regions of the Russian Empire, and subsequently Ukraine (both Soviet and independent) remains a fact. It is impossible to delete it from history, it can only be silenced or distorted.

Bocharnikov Igor Valentinovich

In the 19th century mainly immigrants from the Ukrainian lands of the Russian Empire moved to Novorossia. The share of Ukrainians in the Kherson and Yekaterinoslav provinces was 74%. And the “Great Russians” in the Kherson province (including the Odessa region) were only 3%.

From the editor: recently deputy chairman of the Party of Regions faction in Verkhovna Rada announced plans to create a “new federal republic of Novorossiya” through local referendums on the territory of 8 regions of Ukraine - Kharkov, Lugansk, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Nikolaev, Kherson and Odessa. “Novorossia will be located within the Novorossiysk province,” Tsarev “specified”.

It is not a fact that the separatist people's deputy is generally versed in the history and geography of the region. Rather, Tsarev was simply repeating Putin’s April speech that the South and East of Ukraine, “using Tsarist terminology, is Novorossia,” which the Bolsheviks allegedly illegally transferred to the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s, and local population are ethnic Russians who must be protected immediately.

Oleg Gava, a historian from Odessa, talks about who inhabited the South and East of Ukraine in tsarist times.

But first, let's make an excursion into the past of the so-called "Novorossia".

In the history of Ukraine, two Novorossiysk provinces are known - administrative units of the Russian Empire of the second half of XVIII century. They did not exist for long on the territory of the Northern Black Sea region, the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and the Crimea.

And thousands of years before that, this steppe territory was the path of migration of nomadic tribes.

The largest Eurasian steppe on the planet stretches for 7000 km - from Hungary to China, from the Danube to the Yellow River. It occupies 40% of the territory of modern Ukraine.

The ancient Greeks called this area Great Scythia, the Europeans of the Middle Ages - Great Tataria, the Byzantines - Kumania, Persians and Turks - Desht-i-Kypchak, i.e. "Kypchak [Polovtsian] field", the inhabitants of Ukraine in early modern times - the Wild Field or simply the Field.

The Ukrainian part of the Eurasian Steppe is a place of constant interaction and struggle between the nomadic and settled way of life, between the Field and the City.

Medieval Kievan Rus, which the Vikings called the "Country of Cities" and from which they count their state tradition modern Ukraine and Russia, was born in the Forest. And she left there to fight, trade and marry with the people of the Steppe.

In the 13th century, the Field attacks the City, pushing the border between nomadic and sedentary civilizations. The Eurasian Steppe became the core for the creation of Genghis Khan Mongol Empire- from Podolia to the Pacific Ocean, from Novgorod to the Himalayas.

The huge nomadic state, whose area reached 22% of the entire Earth, quickly broke up into smaller ones. Since the 14th century, the Black Sea steppes have been part of the Golden Horde, centered on the Lower Volga.

In the 14th century, the settled civilization strikes nomadically. Young and ambitious Lithuanian tribes emerge from the Baltic forests. In alliance with the Western Russian principalities, they liberate the right bank of the Dnieper from the Horde power, defeating the Tatars in the battle of Blue Waters (on the territory of the present Kirovohrad region) in 1362.

So the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia comes to the Steppe. In the 1480s, the state, which is the historical predecessor of today's Ukraine and Belarus, controls the territory from the Baltic to the Black Seas.

Meanwhile, the ruins of the Golden Horde waged a long family struggle among themselves - which of the numerous descendants of Genghis Khan would receive the right to the supreme Golden Horde title of khakan - "khan over khans". In these conflicts, the Crimean Yurt won.

In 1502, the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray defeated last ruler Hordes in the battle at the confluence of the Sula River with the Dnieper (in the south of the current Poltava region) and burns the Horde capital Saray on the Volga. The Genghisid title of "ruler of two continents and khakan of two seas" is moved to Bakhchisarai.

The map below shows the frontiers of settled and nomadic civilizations in the 1480s. Blue indicates Ukrainian cities that already existed at that time. Red - those that will appear later:

Although, of course, in place of modern regional centers Life was in full swing in the 15th century. For example, on the territory of present-day Odessa, since the Middle Ages, there was a place named Khadzhibey (Katsyubeev), inhabited by Nogai Tatars. Before that, there was a Lithuanian port, even earlier - an Italian colony, and later - a Turkish fortress.

Long before the arrival of the imperial administration, Ukrainians lived on the farms around Khadzhibey. And it was the Cossack regiments led by José de Ribas who were the first to climb the walls of the Khadzhibey fortress in 1789. The Ukrainians cut the first shell stones for the construction of Odessa, they also became the first inhabitants of the new multinational city.

But first things first.

In the same 1480s, the Turkish expansion comprehended the Northern Black Sea region. The Ottoman Empire, which has just destroyed Byzantium, places military garrisons on the shores of the Black Sea. Istanbul, having conquered the Italian colonies on the southern coast of Crimea, is increasingly taking control of the policy of the Crimean Yurt.

Gradually, the border of settled and nomadic civilization in the Wild Field turns into the border between Christianity and Islam.

And, as often happens on the frontier of two civilizations, people of the Frontier appear. The then inhabitants of the Dnieper region combined nomadic and sedentary traditions, conquering the steppe spaces with a European plow in their hands, an Asian saber on their side and a Turkish musket on their shoulder.

Cossacks and philistines, pirates and industrialists advanced along the Dnieper deep into the Steppe. On the island of Khortytsya, where he once died in an ambush of the steppes Kyiv prince Svyatoslav, already in the 1550s, was an outpost of a settled civilization in the form of a castle built by Bayda Vyshnevetsky.

In the same 16th century, a new political force- The Grand Duchy of Moscow, which was called the kingdom.

Thanks to the Golden Horde tradition of the bureaucracy and the centralization of power, Moscow subjugates the nearby Russian principalities, and in the 1550s destroys the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and begins to threaten the Lithuanian-Russian state.

In 1569, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania united with the Kingdom of Poland in federal state called the Commonwealth (literal translation of the Latin "res publica") It was a noble democracy with an elected ruler.

The map below shows the territory of the Commonwealth of the 16th century against the background of modern state borders:

The Ukrainian recolonization of the Horde territories on the Left Bank began precisely during the time of the Commonwealth, at the end of the 16th century. Our ancestors settled the south of the current Chernihiv region (the north was recaptured from the steppes back in the Middle Ages, in “Lithuanian times”), Cherkasy, Sumy and Poltava regions - often founding new cities on the old settlements of Kievan Rus.

For 200 years, the Ukrainians moved to the East and South, mastering the fertile steppe chernozems.

In the 17th century the center Ukrainian life moved to the Left Bank, because on the Cossack lands on the right bank of the Dnieper, a bloody conflict between the Hetman State, Zaporozhye, the Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Yurt and the Muscovite kingdom continued for several decades.

Settlers from the Right Bank colonized the territory of the present Kharkov, part of the Sumy, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine and three eastern regions of modern Russia. This is how Slobozhanskaya Ukraine appeared, which Tsarev and Putin so stubbornly attribute to Novorossia.

In the 1670s, the cities of Tor and Bakhmut (now Artemovsk) belonged to Slobozhanshchina, in particular.

On the map below there are three constituent parts of the modern Ukrainian Left Bank - the Hetmanate, Slobozhanshchyna and Zaporozhye (cities that did not exist at that time are marked in red):

The Cossacks, in between campaigns, were able to colonize a significant part of the future "Novorossia", developing settled agriculture in the Steppe (see map below).

In the 1690s, the army of Hetman Mazepa captured the Turkish fortresses on the Dnieper. In their place appeared the current Kakhovka and Berislav (Kherson region).

Colored dots indicate the location of modern cities. Green - Nikolaev, blue - Kherson, red - Dnepropetrovsk, yellow - Donetsk. Cossack Domakha - the current Mariupol, named so by the Greeks who moved to the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov from the Crimea in the 1780s

In the 18th century, Ukrainians adopted Active participation in the creation of the Russian Empire.

In several wars, Russian-Cossack troops ousted the Turks from the Black Sea region, conquering the Steppe for the first time since the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - first sea ​​coast between the Dnieper and the Bug, then between the Dnieper and the Dniester.

In 1783, the empire annexed the Crimea, eliminating the statehood of the Crimean Tatars. The sedentary civilization finally (?) defeated the nomadic one, having received from the latter vast and sparsely populated expanses of the coastal Steppe to the east of the Dnieper - as far as Kalmius, beyond the Don, beyond the Kuban River, to the Caucasian foothills.

The resulting steppe lands were colonized by the ubiquitous Ukrainians. The remnants of the Zaporizhzhya Army also set off to explore the expanses of the Kuban, which was part of the possession of the Crimean Yurt.

And the imperial authorities decided to rename the lands of the Zaporozhian Sich. It was then that the term “Novorossiya” first appeared, which Putin and his relay Tsarev are now trying to revive.

In 1764, the Novorossiysk province was created on the Cossack territory with the center in Kremenchug. The province lasted 19 years.

The imperial administration founded new cities in the south of Ukraine - Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa, Tiraspol, Sevastopol - and invited foreign colonists to the region. But these cities were built and the region was populated mainly by the same Ukrainians. So, in particular, from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk), founded in 1777 on the site of Cossack settlements.

It was planned to turn Yekaterinoslav into the third capital of the empire, but after the death of Catherine II, these grandiose plans were forgotten. But the city remained.

In 1796, the Novorossiysk province was created for the second time. The center of the new administrative unit was Yekaterinoslav, which was hastily and briefly renamed Novorossiysk.

Here is the territory occupied by the Novorossiysk province in 1800:

"Novorossia"

As you can see, the “Novorossia” cherished by Putin-Tsarev does not include the Kharkiv region and most of the Luhansk region, which were colonized earlier, during the time of Slobozhanskaya Ukraine. But "new Russian" are Taganrog and Rostov-on-Don in the current Russian Federation.

The cities of Donetsk and Lugansk were among the last to appear on the described territory. The rapid industrialization of the region - and the massive influx of labor - did not begin until the 1870s. capitalists from Western Europe turned the remnants of the Ukrainian steppe into the industrial Donetsk coal basin, although small-scale mining of coal has been carried out here since the Cossack times.

The metallurgical plant, from which the city of Donetsk originates, was founded by the British mining engineer, Welshman John Hughes in 1869. But Novorossiya ceased to exist much earlier.

Because in 1802 the Novorossiysk province was liquidated. The term "Novorossiya" continued to be used, as Putin put it, for "tsarist terminology", for political purposes.

The empire regularly created such terms - for example, on the eve of the Russo-Japanese war in Manchuria, it was planned to create an administrative unit called Zheltorosiya.

According to the "royal terminology", historically there were "triune" Little Russia (the core of ancient Russia, the Cossack Hetmanate), Belarus and Great Russia (Northern Russia, around Moscow).

And in the 18th century, they say, Novorossia was added to these three historical “-Russias” - the Black Sea coast recaptured from the Turks and Tatars, a deserted steppe void. And only the empire, they say, began in this void new life, inviting Christian colonists and founding cities. There was no Ukrainian colonization of the region, as well as the Ukrainians themselves.

Something similar was stated not so long ago by Putin: “Kharkov, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa were not part of Ukraine in tsarist times. These are all the territories transferred in the 1920s by the Soviet government, while the [Russian] people remained there.”

In fact, one can easily find out what kind of people lived in "Novorossia" in tsarist times.

In the 19th century, the first demographic studies were carried out in the Northern Black Sea region. Oleg Hawaii, a historian and local historian from Odessa, wrote about the data of these studies for "Historical Truth".

According to the results of the first audit (census) in the Russian Empire, 85% of the inhabitants of "Novorossiya" were Ukrainians. The data are given according to Kabuzan V.M. Settlement of Novorossiya at the end of the 18th - transl. floor. 19th century (1719-1858). M., Science. 1976 pp. 248.

In 1802, the Novorossiysk province was finally liquidated, having existed for 6 years. It was divided into three smaller provinces - Kherson, Taurida and Yekaterinoslav provinces.

The administrative reform was connected with the government program of foreign preferential colonization - Germans, Greeks, Bulgarians and other peoples were invited to the expanses of the Cossack-Tatar steppe.

As a result, the share of Ukrainians in the south of Ukraine became smaller, but until the very end of the empire, Ukrainians accounted for more than 70% of the population of the entire region.

The most colorful (and therefore the most revealing) in the ethnic dimension was the Kherson province. It included modern Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa, parts of the Kirovograd and Dnepropetrovsk regions of Ukraine plus Transnistria.

According to military statistics, Colonel of the General Staff of the Russian Empire A. Schmidt, in the middle of the 19th century (1851), a total of 1,017,789 "souls of both sexes" lived in the Kherson province.

In a report to Emperor Alexander III, the temporary Odessa Governor-General Joseph Gurko noted that it was difficult to call the region "Russian in spirit" because of the large number of "elements alien to the Russian people."

Infographics: tyzhden.ua

Gurko (himself a native of the Belarusian-Lithuanian gentry) included Moldavians, Tatars, Greeks, Jews, Bulgarian and German colonists among these elements.

The governor-general also spoke about the "features of the Russian contingent." Under the peculiarities, he meant precisely the Ukrainians who were exposed to traditions uncharacteristic for the Moscow state - Polish, Cossack, Zaporizhzhya ...

The population of the Kherson province and the Odessa city government in 1851:

Additionally, Colonel Schmidt reports a population of "mixed tribal composition" of both sexes.

"Mixed" commoners [intellectuals who came from the lower classes, not from the nobility - IP] and families of retired lower [we are talking about the military - IP] ranks - 48.378 souls.

There were 16,603 “mixed” nobles in the Kherson province, foreigners [obviously, we are talking about citizens of other states] - 10,392 people.

“Raznochintsy and families of retired lower ranks can more likely be attributed to the Little Russian than to any other people,” Schmidt notes in the comments to the above table.

Research by A. Schmidt - cover

As can be seen from the table, the reports of the Odessa Governor-General Joseph Gurko about the “non-Russianness of the region” had good reasons.

In the composition of more than a million people of the Kherson province, including the Odessa city administration [a separate administrative unit, covered the territory of the city of Odessa - IP] in 1851, there were 30 thousand "Great Russians of both sexes souls" - that is, about 3%.

But the share of Ukrainians was more than 70%.

According to the annual gubernatorial reports, during 1861-1886 the population in the Kherson province underwent the following dynamics:

— increased by 675,027 people due to natural growth;

- due to the settlement by immigrants from other territories of the empire, it increased by 192.081 people;

- due to the eviction of part of the peasants, it decreased by 2,896 people.

Governor's report of 1868 (Kherson province):

The total increase in the province amounted to 864.312 people (85.8%). The population grew by almost 78% due to the excess of births over deaths, and only by 22% due to immigrants from all provinces of the Russian Empire.

In order to more accurately establish the shifts in the ethnic composition of the Kherson province over a period of 36 years (1861-1897), we need to refer to the results of the First General Census of the Russian Empire in 1897.

The origin of settlers in the Kherson province (1897):

As you can see, during the period 1861-1897, almost 260 thousand people moved to the Kherson province, that is, less than 10% of the total population of the province - 2,733,612 people.

Of these 260,000 immigrants from the Right-Bank and Left-Bank Ukraine, there were 193,607 people, or 74% of the total number of migrants. And there were 66,310 people from other provinces (2.5% of the total population of the province).

During the second half of the XIX century. the share of immigrants from the Ukrainian provinces in "Novorossiya" was predominant.

According to the well-known researcher of historical demography, Muscovite Volodymyr Kabuzan, the share of Ukrainians in Kherson and Yekaterinoslav provinces (together) in the middle of the 19th century was 73.5%.

The then names: Dnepropetrovsk - Ekaterinoslav, Zaporozhye - Aleksandrovsk, Slavyansk - Tor, Artemovsk - Bakhmut

The territory of Crimea at that time was included - together with the southern part of the current Kherson region - into the Taurida province.

According to the data of the First General Census of 1897, the Ukrainian language was the most widely spoken (42.2%) in the counties of the Taurida Governorate. Russian is in second place (27.9%), Tatar is in third (13.6%).

But among the urban population of the Taurida province, the most common language was Russian (49%), while Ukrainian was in fourth place (10.4%) after Tatar (17.2%) and Yiddish (11.8%).

Conclusions:

In the Kherson province from the time of its creation (1802) until the end of "tsarist times" (1917), the vast majority - up to 3/4 of the total population - were Ukrainians.

proportional trend ethnic composition Kherson province remained until the beginning of the First World War.

The share of Ukrainians among the population of the Yekaterinoslav province was somewhat higher.

The share of the Russian-speaking population of the Taurida province was somewhat smaller, but the Ukrainian language still remained one of the most common, along with Russian.

Oleg Gava, historian (Odessa). head of the department of the Odessa Museum of Local History, published in the publication