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Republic of Crimea
Республіка Крим
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday

OTL equivalent: Crimea, Parts of Southern Ukraine
Flag Coat of Arms
Flag Coat of Arms
Location of Republic of Crimea
In the brown
Motto
"Prosperity in unity"
Anthem "Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland"
Capital Yalta
Largest city Yalta
Other cities Sudak, Alushta, Kerch, Berdyansk, Armyansk, Eysk
Language Russian, Ukrainian
Legislature Republic
Population 745,564 
Established November 17, 1984
Currency Ukrainian Grivna, Greek Drachma
Organizations Ukraine Republican Coalition Black Sea Accords

Crimea or the Republic of Crimea is a republic located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, partially occupying the peninsula of the same name. Though it claims the entire Crimean peninsula, it controls only a fraction of it, along with parts of the Ukrainian coastline and even some areas across the Sea of Azov. It was originally created to help stabilize the area and to create an independent nation, one of which that would be strictly anti-communist.

History[]

Pre-Doomsday[]

The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history. The Cimmerians, Greeks, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, the state of Kievan Rus', Byzantine Greeks, Kipchaks, Ottoman

Yalta summit 1945 with Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin

Yalta Conference

Turks, Golden Horde Tatars and the Mongols all controlled Crimea in its early history. In the 13th century, it was partly controlled by the Venetians and by the Genovese; they were followed by the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire in the 15th to 18th centuries, the Russian Empire in the 18th to 20th centuries, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union in the rest of the 20th century, and Germany during World War II. The Yalta Conference would occur here at the end of the war in 1945 as well. In the early 1950s, a secret underground submarine base (Balaklava submarine base, OTL currently Naval museum complex Balaklava) codenamed Object 825 GTS was constructed on the orders of Joseph Stalin to serve as a refueling and refitting facility. Residents in the nearby surrounding area were relocated to make way for the complex. The facility was built to withstand a direct nuclear strike, and was capable of holding up to 14 submarines. It also had a storage area for nuclear warheads.

Doomsday[]

Kiev and other major cities in the Ukraine were targeted during Doomsday, though the southern coastal regions largely escaped intact with only a few cities being hit. Yalta, one of the most important resorts in Crimea, was spared because it represented no significant strategic threat to America or its allies, despite fears it may have been hit in an

Sevastopl View

Sevestapol before its destruction.

attempt to kill any Soviet leaders that could have been vacationing at the resort at the time.

However, Crimea did not escape unscathed - several strikes occurred in the vicinity of Sevastopol, and the regional capital of Simferopol was hit as well. The Balaklava complex, which was unknown to western intelligence, survived, but before long it would run out of food, water and power, which forced the personnel there to abandon it.

Fallout from strikes across the Black Sea - and the strikes in the Western Crimea - had great impact on the Western Crimea, even if most of it bypassed the peninsula to the south and north. Even today, much of southwestern Crimea around Sevastopol is thought to still be uninhabitable, with Central Crimea not any better. Explorers have gone and investigated the area, however.

Post-Doomsday[]

Most of the Crimean population who were not killed outright on Doomsday were in a position where they could observe the clouds from the strikes - or quickly hear about them from those who had. Luckily for the Eastern parts of the peninsula, they were largely spared radiation, and refugees were few. Reports indicate that some refuges had arrived from Ukraine, Russia, Romania, and some even arrived from the coast of Anatolia in the months after Doomsday - fortunately, Crimea was able to prevent too many shortages. It was about this time that navy vessels, having survived the destruction of ports in and around the region arrived in Yalta and brought news of destruction beyond the peninsula.

On the eastern coast, mass hysteria gripped much of the population, due to the observation of the strikes, and the belief that the Soviet government had collapsed. Luckily, some higher-ranking members of the Party had been on vacation at a resort in Yalta and took control of the town and nearby areas. However, they lacked support from the population, and by the end of 1984 they were forced to join with local Russian and Ukrainian nationalists in a democratic coalition government.

By the end of 1986, this government had managed to unite much of the southeastern parts of the peninsula, running along the coast from the town of Foros in the southwest, to the town of Kirovs'ke in the northwest, including the Kerch peninsula. From there, they needed to stop temporarily, for Kerch and its surroundings had suffered much more from refugees, and clouds of radiation-enhanced rain from the southwest was also beginning to take its toll. The government decided to secure the other side of the Strait of Kerch, to ensure the safety of the waters there, which was accomplished by the end of 1987.

As the decade came to an end, it began to be suspected in Yalta that the Isthmus of Perekop, and territory between there and Kirovs'ke, had remained fairly radiation free. It was true that the the Isthmus had indeed survived, but been overwhelmed by refugees in the months after Doomsday. Nevertheless, they took control of 1991, exploration vessels were finally sent throughout the rest of the Sea of Azov. Outside of the Kuban People's Republic and the Don Republic, the majority of the coastline had been abandoned. The two sections that had not been - near the town of Eysk, on the south shore, and the cities of Prymorsk and Berdyansk on the north shore. Glad to finally see some semblance of outside authority, they quickly and enthusiastically joined the state.

Through the early 1990s, the Crimean government continued to send out vessels into the Northern Black Sea, in search of both resources and survivors, but with little luck. What few survivors that could still be found along the Ukrainian coastline were taken to Yalta. Investigating the ruins of the destroyed ports of the region, several serviceable vessels were also discovered, and hauled back to Yalta.

During one of these voyages, a exploratory vessel encountered an armed patrol in what was once the Budjak region of the Ukraine. This group turned out to be a patrol from the Romanian state of Transylvania, in the area to maintain their claims to the region. While displeased at this, the captain of the ship was happy to find out about the existence of another survivor-state. However, he was also informed that the rains that had contaminated parts of the Crimea, the Northern Black Sea coast, and areas across the Strait of Kerch, had also rendered much of eastern Romania - and the Budjak - too radiated to be able to grow food for the foreseeable future, though the Transylvanians did have garrisons in the region.

In late 1995, a ship from the southwest steamed into Yalta. Professing to be from a newly-established Confederation of Greece, they had left the Greek colonies in Thrace by government order to explore the Black Sea. They were able to tell the government in much more detail about what had occurred since 1983. An embassy wold be sent from the Greeks by the next summer. The Greeks also informed them about the rough state of affairs in Anatolia. There had been talk about going there - it had been assumed to be fairly intact - and establishing a colony, but this put the idea to an end. They told the Greeks about known survivors to their east, and their belief that more likely existed in the southeastern parts of the Black Sea.

Since then, Crimea has been growing economically - becoming home to a large merchant community - even if they have been unable to expand their territory much, though they do have a large area that they patrol and claim. Currently they are also putting effort into excavating safe areas of cities destroyed on Doomsday for machinery and the like, primarily int the cities of Odessa and Nikolayev alongside Podolian troops.

Economy[]

Crimea's economy is still recovering from Doomsday, like much of the world. Still, they have been on the up-and-up since 1995, and the port growing around Yalta is probably the largest usable port on the Black Sea. In fact, they are home to a large merchant community - mostly Greek - and the commodities market does very brisk business.

Some areas of the country still suffer from shortages, even today. Within the last decade some of these areas almost starved and it was only until a small revolt, put down fairly easily, took place in those areas did the government allow government supply convoys to resupply the areas.

Military[]

After Doomsday, the few surviving ships of the Black Sea Fleet, along with several merchant vessels, fleeing the destruction of Sevastopol, anchored at Yalta. Today, these vessels - and what few vessels were found in other locations, and managed to arrive afterwards - form the backbone of the Crimean military. The other half of their military arm, the Crimean Marines, while numbering only a bit over ten thousand, is responsible for the security of the nation on the mainland, and has a detachment on each vessel of the Navy.

International Relations[]

Today, Crimea holds very good relations with the Cossack survivor states in the northern Caucasus, the Don and Kuban Republics. They are currently working with the Kuban People's Republic to construct a decent-sized port in Kuban territory to facilitate trade between the two nations, as well as the groundwork for a small railroad between the Cossack republics.

Fairly neutral politically, they maintain decent relations with most of the known nations of world, excepting Siberia and its allies. Considering the role played by Greek merchants in their economy, that their relations with Greece are good should come as no surprise.

An observer-state at the LoN - the Siberians block full membership - they currently host a Bureau of the WCRB for the region at Yalta. Recently, a Exploration Division for the Ukraine was established under this Bureau, for exploring the Central Ukraine. Crimea has sent a small patrol northwards to aid them in this endeavor, though little is expected until they get close to territory controlled by the Russian Confederacy or the remainder of the UPA.

On December 28th, 2010, Crimea was invited by the members of the URC, an alliance of Ukrainian states in the former western Ukraine, to join. Their observer at the meeting, long a feature of the alliance, accepted the offer on the spot. On August 31st, 2011, the Crimean consul in Greek Thrace announced jointly with several other local diplomats the signing of the Black Sea Accords and the creation of the Black Sea League, and the membership of several states, including Crimea. Under the terms of the Accords, they will also gain Greek financial aid for WWF environmental studies due to start in October, and the Kuban-Don railroad.

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