CRIMEA


From 8-10 March 1917 there were riots, strikes and demonstrations in Moscow. On March 10 the garrison in the capital Petrograd also revolted. Nicholas II wants nothing to know about reforms and dissolves the Duma, the parliament, on 11 March. According to the Russian calendar, it didn't start on March 8, but February 23, so we're talking about the February Revolution. Nicholas II will resign on 15 March. On November 7, 1917, Bolshevists, led by Lenin and Trotsky, seized power in Petrograd, according to the old calendar October 25, the October Revolution. After the October Revolution in 1917 it also became restless in Crimea. A general assembly of the clan leaders of the Crimean Tatars, the khuriltai, took the initiative for declaring the People's Republic of Crimea with the capital Bachtshjiisaraj. This republic would only exist for a short time: December 13, 1917 to January 1918.

SOVIET UNION

The Bolsheviks conquered Crimea in January 1918, and in Simferopol the Central Executive Committee of Taurida established the Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic on March 19-21, 1918. The territory of this Soviet republic corresponded to the former government. The Soviet Republic was soon put to an end by Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian troops.
At the end of April the Germans conquered Crimea and on 28 June 1918 they established a Crimean Regional Government. With German support, this government remained more or less autonomous for some time, but on 2 April 1919 the Red Army conquered Simferopol and then the Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic has the power. This republic is already taken over by the Whites in June 1919. Local stamps were also issued during this turbulent period.


In the Crimea (Sebastopol) - Mi. 1- issued in November 1918: overprint 35 &31050ОП. [KOP.] on a postage stamp of 1 kop. (Mi. 63B).



In January 1920, Crimea was the only area that was still under the control of the White forces. On April 4, 1920, General Pjotr Wrangel received the supreme command of the remaining White troops. He still managed to regain the Taurida government between June and October, but had to retreat after the defeat at Kachowka.

In August 1920, a number of stamps were issued by the Wrangel government in Crimea. These were overprints on the Russian stamps mi. 67 and 72.

Overprint of the Wrangel government in Crimea, Mi. 1A (perforated) and B (not perforated) and Mi. 2. Overprint on Russian postage stamps Mi. 67A and B and Mi. 72A.

Stamps from the Deniken army (Mi. 4) have also been used with the same overprint 5 / ПЯТЬ / РУБЛЕЙ (the figure here on the right).


According Michel not issued: Mi. IB (without perforation). Also not issued Mi. IA (with perforation)
George G. Werbizki extensively discusses these postage stamps in Rossica. According to Michel, the last stamps of the Wrangel army were not issued (MI. IA and IB), November 1920 . In his article, these last stamps in the Scott numbering 58 and 59 are actually fraudulent. Someone brought a few sheets of stamps from 1 kopeck to Europe: the 4-line overprint consists of different fonts, because he did not have enough available.


The narrow Isthmus of Perekop connects Crimea to the mainland and is where the Perekop-Chongar operation took place between November 7 and 17, 1920. The Red Army under the command of M.V. Frunze attacked the White troops under General Pyotr Wrangel, who were entrenched on the isthmus. The Chongar Strait is a shallow and narrow strait between the mainland and the Chongar Peninsula in northeastern Crimea. It is an area of shallow lagoons and swamps called Sivash Sea. The Soviet 30th Rifle Division crossed the strait in late November.

On November 11, Wrangel withdrew his troops to the ports. 80,000 men are eventually evacuated by French ships. On November 15, Sevastopol and Feodosia are 'liberated', Kerch on November 16 and Yalta on November 17. General Wrangel's troops had been evacuated with about 125 ships to camps in Turkey, Lemnos in Greece, Serbia and Tunis.
Postage stamps were issued for the refugees in the camps to use for their correspondence. And to raise money for the impoverished camp residents. The stamps were overprints of Russian stamps and stamps of the Russian post offices in the Levant, Ukraine and southern Russia. The stamps were given a new value indication with the overprint and the indication in Cyrillic 'Pocta Russkoy Armiy' & “Russkaya Pocta.” The original prints were by V.M. Essayan made in Constantinople (1920-1921). Later, reprints were produced in Paris for collectors.



This two postage stamp, not resized, 100 %.


Twenty years later, these events are commemorated in a series of USSR stamps. The series of 6 different stamps was issued in 1940, November 7 (780B-785B, not perforated) and December (780A-785A, perforated). On this postage stamp, Mi. 782A, the map of the battle area and the Commander of the Red Army, General M. Frunze (1885-1925).
The other postage stamp shows Frunze's staff in the village of Stroganowka.




In the series there is also a memorial for the heroes of Perekop, a hand grenade launcher, a soldier with a rifle 'Perekop taken' and the crossing of the Syvash by the 30th Rifle Division.


The Rifleman ('Strelkoviye') Divisions were the old infantry divisions: on October 11, 1918, all infantry divisions were renamed Riflemen Divisions. The Red Latvian Riflemen played an important role in the Russian Civil War and also fought against Wrangel. This postage stamp depicts Latvian archers crossing the Sivash Sea. This can be seen - with a good magnification - in their headgear, a kind of balaclava with a point.

On October 18, 1921, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was founded. It was part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The Crimean Tatars are at that time still an important part of the population (25%). Between 1917 and 1933, half of the Crimean Tatar population was killed, deported or escaped to another country. On May 17-18, 1944, all 240,000 remaining Crimean Tatars were deported by Stalin to Central Asia. They were allowed to return again in 1967.



In 1933, a series of stamps was issued with the theme 'People of the USSR' and also featured the Crimean Tatars.

1933, series Mi. 429-449: Peoples of the USSR. Here Mi. 431, the Crimean Tatars. The stamp is also from Crimea, I assume (СИМФ)ЕРОПОЛЬ КРЫМ [(SIMF)EROPOL CRIM]

Crimea again became a tourist destination during the Soviet period, with a somewhat different target group: not the bourgeoisie, but the working class. On December 21, 1921, Lenin signed a decree on the use of Crimea as a health resort for the workers. Crimea was now for the hardworking Soviet proletarians. In the 1920s and 30s, 168 health centers were built, mainly on the south coast.




In 1938 a series of stamps were issued with landscapes of the Crimea and the Caucasus (Mi. 625-636). Also included is a stamp with the sanatorium 'F. Dzerzhinsky'. Feliks Dzerzhinsky was the founder of the Tseka, the first Bolshevik secret service. He was also called 'Bloody Felix'.

Mi. 631, issued September 21, 1938, with the sanatorium 'F. Dzerzhinsky'

The Crimean coast with Aleppo pine trees.






The port of Yalta and the coast near Yalta.


Coast of Crimea with cypresses and park in Crimea with cypresses.

The Swallow's Nest, a symbol of Crimea.



Also the famous villa 'Swallow's Nest' is depicted in this series. This 'castle' -40 meters above the bay near Yalta- is still an important attraction for tourists. A building was built here as early as 1877-1878 and was a general's love nest. The current 'castle' dates from 1912. It was a dacha with only 4 rooms for the wealthy industrialist Sjteingel. During the First World War it became a restaurant and after the Russian Revolution it was a travel agency office and then a reading room. After an earthquake in 1927, the building remained unused for a long time. After the restoration in 1967-1968 it became a restaurant again.



Gurzuf (the Crimean Tatar name) or Gurzuf on the southern coast of Crimea is a former Crimean Tatar village and is now part of the city of Yalta. Pushkin visited the village in 1821 and it also became famous.



The famous town of Alupka can also be found in this series. According to 'The Great Soviet Encyclopedia' (1979) a 'health resort' 17 km southwest of Yalta. Due to its location, protected by the mountains north of Alupka, this place has 208-246 clear days per year. There were also sanatoriums here during the Soviet period.



The postal stationery with the English text "See Crimea the pearl of U.S.S.R.!" was published in 1930.
In this series with five different images, there are often also different versions with the same image. The postal stationery item with this image of the Crimea has been issued in the following versions:
P96 (7 k. Orange-red, Russian text on top on 2nd line)
P97 (7k yellow, Russian text)
P98 (7 k. Orange-red, Ukrainian text)
P100 (7k orange-red, Georgian text)
The Russian text on the 2nd line at P96 and P97 is ПОЧТОВАЯ КАРТОЧКА [POCHTOVAYA KARTOCHKA]. On this map (fig. 8) - just visible - the Ukrainian text is ПОШТОВА КАРТКА [POSHTOVA KARTKA]: P98.