| Republic of Crimea Республика Крым (Russian) | ||||||
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| Anthem Рабочая Марсельеза "Worker's Marseillaise" | ||||||
 Map of Crimea in 1930
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 Map of Crimea in 1942
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| Status | Unrecognised state | |||||
| Capital | Sevastopol | |||||
| Languages | Russian | |||||
| Government | Unitary one-party republic under a military authoritarian dictatorship | |||||
| Supreme Leader | ||||||
| - | 1921–1942 | Pyotr Wrangel | ||||
| Legislature | Constituent Assembly | |||||
| History | ||||||
| - | Establishment | 7 August 1921 | ||||
| - | Collapse | 11 October 1943 | ||||
| Currency | Crimean ruble | |||||
The Republic of Crimea (Russian: Республика Крым) was the independent Crimean state between 1921 and 1942 when the Soviet Union invaded and annexed the country during World War II.
The state was proclaimed by military general Pyotr Wrangel after managing to prevent the Soviets from taking over the Government of South Russia in the Northern Taurida Operation during the Russian Civil War. In the years following the end of the civil war in 1923, Crimea enacted some economic reforms, trying to stabilize its position. However, the nation was a military dictatorship lead by Wrangel, who didn't recognise the Soviet government and claimed to be the legal successor to the Russian Republic of 1917. The state was largely unrecognised by the world nations, with the League of Nations officially recognising the state as part of the Soviet Union. Only a few countries, including the United States and China, recognised the Republic of Crimea.
When World War II broke out, negotiations between Crimea and Nazi Germany began to prepare for a joint-invasion of the Soviet Union - Nazi Germany would allow Crimea to fully retake Russia in exchange for a majority of territories west of the Urals river, which was agreed upon. On 22 June 1941, Germany and Crimea launched Operation Barbarossa, as they took territories from the Soviet Union. However, the slowing in advance began to show in late 1941, and with the Soviet victory in the Battle of Moscow in February 1942, Crimea was ultimately doomed.
In mid-1942, British forces launched a major naval invasion of Crimea, while Soviet forces slid down towards the peninsula. After the Battle of Sevastopol in October 1943, Crimea finally fell to Anglo-Soviet hands, and the British military handed their territory over to the Soviet Union, who immediately incorporated it into the new Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic.