Russia Annexes Crimea

1783

Nine years after Kucuk Kaynarca made the Crimean Khanate 'independent,' Catherine simply annexed it. Potemkin led Russian troops into Bakhchisarai without a fight. For the first time since the Mongol conquest, the northern Black Sea coast was Russian. The Ottoman Empire lost a centuries-old vassal and a fleet base. Sevastopol would be built as the new Black Sea naval headquarters, a city whose strategic value endures.