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"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 | Barter, varied foreign currencies | ||||||
Crimea or the Republic of Crimea is a republic located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, partially occupying a 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 created tp help stablize 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 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.
Doomsday
Kiev and other major cities in the Ukraine were targeted during Doomsday, though the south 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
Sevestapol before its destruction.
attempt to kill any Soviet leaders that could have beeen visiting the place where the Yalta conference took place and the same place that helped give the Soviet Union its postion by tricking an crippled Roosevelt.
However, Crimea did not escape unscathed - several strikes occurred in the vicinity of Sevastopol, and the regional capital of Simferopol was hit as well.
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 otherwise. Even today, much of southwestern Crimea around Sevastopol is thought to still be uninhabitable, with Central Crimea not any better.
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 Urkraine, Russia, Romania, and some even arrived from the coast of Anatolia in the months after Doomsday - Fourtantly, Crimea was able to prevent too many shortages. It was about this time that navy vessals, having survived the destruction of ports in near the region arrived in Yalta and brought news of destruction beyoned the peninsulas.
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 resolt in Yalta and took control of the town and nearby areas. However, they lacked support in the population, and by the end of 1984 they were forced to join with local Russian and Ukrainian nationalists in a 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 begining to take its toll. The goverment 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 citys 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.
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 details 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.
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 areas where practictly starving and it was only untill a small revolt took place in those areas did the goverment allow 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, where anchored into Yalta. Today, these vessels - and what few vessels were found in other locations, and arrived afterwards - form the backbone of the Crimean military. The other half of their military arm, the Crimean Marines, while numbering only a few 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.
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 Western 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.
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