Dear Colleague,

The Turkish Journal of History (Tarih Dergisi) is preparing a special issue on the history of Crimea, scheduled for publication in December 2025. The significance of Crimea’s past and its continued prominence in global affairs have been motivating factors behind the decision to dedicate a special issue to this topic.

Crimea has played a pivotal role in the history of the Black Sea region since its incorporation into the Golden Horde in the mid-13th century. In the latter half of the 14th century, it emerged as an independent khanate following internal power struggles within the Golden Horde. The strategic location of Crimea, along with dynastic rivalries, proved to be defining elements in its historical trajectory. Hacı I Giray (d. 1466), who formed a strategic alliance with Moscow against the Golden Horde Khan, later aligned with the Ottoman Empire in opposition to the Genoese following the conquest of Constantinople. At this critical juncture, the territorial reach of the Crimean Khanate extended well beyond the peninsula to include the regions of Taman, Kabartay, and Kipchak.

In 1468, internal strife marked the beginning of a new chapter in Crimea’s political status. In 1475, the Ottoman fleet under Gedik Ahmed Pasha (d. 1482) captured all the Genoese ports on the peninsula. From that point until 1774, the Crimean Khanate functioned as an autonomous khanate under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. During this period, Crimea played a key role in the evolving relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the increasingly powerful Russian state to the north. The Ottoman sultans entrusted the defense of the empire’s northern frontier to the Crimean khans, recognizing the strategic importance of their position.

With the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774, the khanate formally gained independence, but it was annexed by the Russian Empire just nine years later, in 1783. Crimea subsequently played a significant role in major geopolitical events, including the Crimean War (1853–56) and World War I. The peninsula also bore the heavy impact of the 1917 Russian Revolution and experienced a series of transformative historical episodes throughout the 20th century—most notably, the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944, the consequences of which still resonate today.

Bringing together contributions from accomplished scholars, this special issue aims to explore Crimea’s rich and multifaceted history across various periods. While recent literature has addressed Crimea from multiple angles, there remains a notable lack of in-depth studies examining its historical foundations. Existing research has often focused on specific periods and cases, leaving the broader historical continuum insufficiently explored. This special issue seeks to fill that gap by prioritizing original research grounded in archival work from across the globe, thereby offering new perspectives on the long and complex history of Crimea.

The forthcoming special issue on “Crimea,” to be published by the Turkish Journal of History, welcomes contributions from scholars affiliated with esteemed universities and research institutions across the globe.

Founded in 1949 and published by the Faculty of Letters at Istanbul University, the Turkish Journal of History is one of Türkiye’s longest-standing academic journals in the field of history. It is a double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access journal indexed by several leading academic databases, including the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and SCOPUS.

Submissions for the special issue will be accepted until October 1, 2025. Following this deadline, no additional manuscripts will be considered, as the editorial team will shift its focus to the review and publication process.

Contributions must be prepared in accordance with the submission guidelines of the Turkish Journal of History, which can be found on the journal’s official website.
https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/iutarih/writing-rules

The topics planned to be covered in the “Crimea” special issue are as follows:
- Historical geography of Crimea
- Crimea during the Golden Horde period
- The formation of Crimea as an independent khanate
- Administrative and military organization of the Crimean Khanate
- Relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate
- Crimea’s place in the Ottoman and Russian rivalry
- Crimea in the Ottoman-Russian Wars
- The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca and the issue of Crimean independence
- Annexation of Crimea to Russia
- Russian administrative restructuring in Crimea
- Changing demographics in Crimea
- Crimean War
- 1917 Revolution and Crimea
- Civil War and its repercussions on Crimea
- Red Terror in Crimea
- Establishment of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Crimea
- The famine of 1921-1923 and the death of the Crimean Tatars
- World War II and Crimea
- German Occupation of Crimea
- 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars
- 1945 Yalta Conference and Crimea
- The abolition of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Crimea and the establishment of the Crimean Oblast in its place