During my stay in Russia, and my two weeks in Yalta, Crimea, one of the excursions I went on included a visit to Balaclava, a city in Crimea, where there was a Soviet era secret submarine base. But on the way there, our tour made a stop at the memorial to Sandinian soldiers.
Our guide, Tanya, told me about the Crimean War, where Russia was invaded by France, England, Turkey, Italy (then the island of Sardinia). It’s sometimes said that the Crimean War was the ‘First world war’, because it involved several countries attacking Russia in 1853, for control of this geographically important peninsula.
Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, founded the Crimean city of Sevastopol, which the small California town, Sebastopol is named after.
In this short clip, Tanya explains the 2500 years of history of this vista. Most people don’t know that the British commanders sent their men into certain death, immortalized in the poem by Alfred Tennyson. Hollywood actually made a movie about it. However, it’s said that Errol Flynn was shocked by the way horses were treated in the film. It also glamorizes British imperialism, for what that’s worth.
She also pointed out that the great Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy fought in that area.
In addition to its scenery and beauty, its pleasant climate and agricultural capacity, Crimea is geographically very strategically important. Which is why Crimea has been so contentious.
Crimea has been Russian since Catherine the Great. But when Nikita Khrushchev switched it from the Russian to Ukrainian Soviet republic, he planted the seed of the current conflict. I have visted Crimea three times and it’s clear that the ethnic Russian population wanted nothing to do with the Kiev government, that treated them as second class citizens and neglected it for 30 years.
When NATO hatched a plan to take it over in 2014, which would have been like putting a Russian military base in Florida, the people of Crimea voted over 90% to quit and join Russia, which was likewise determined not to allow a NATO dagger at its throat. That’s the root of the Crimean question.
In any case, much of my activity revolves around the desire to ‘go to the source’, rather than get my news and views from major media, or any media. I try to talk with real people on the ground, especially in a conflict zone, so that my friends and readers can get ‘the real scoop’ on what happened.
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