This dissertation was written as part of the MA in Black Sea Cultural Studies at the
International Hellenic University.
The aim of the dissertation is to present and analyze the forceful removal of the Greek
population of the Azov Sea region after the Russo-Turkish war, which began in 1768 and ended
with the treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774, and the creation of new port cities such as Rostov,
Mariupol and Taganrog. During the 1770s, the policy of the Russian Empire in the area led not
only to a new geopolitical configuration, since the Empire annexed, in 1783, the Crimean
Peninsula, but also to the economic transformation of the region around the Azov Sea.
Under these circumstances, some crucial topics have to be presented. The Russo-
Turkish war and its outcome shook the whole region and for that reason some specific aspects
of the war and some terms of the Treaty will be described in order to shed a light on the
Russo-Turkish relations which boosted the Greek emigration to the new lands. Moreover, the
social and political situation in Crimea before the emigration is going to be mentioned in order
to observe the condition of the Greek population before the emigration.
Also, some essential information is going to be given for the emigration per se. First of
all, the preparation of the populations for the emigration and its course, the number of
population which was involved and the number of population who lost their lives in the
process are some mandatory topics that should be described. Furthermore, the reasons for
settlement in the particular location and for the naming of the new settlement are also very
interesting subjects for discussion. The reasons for the emigration, its initiators and its goals
and to what extent was the emigration coerced, are two issues of paramount importance and
illustrate real political and economical aspects of the removal.
Additionally, the consequence for Crimea of the loss of the emigrants is another
significant subject for analysis because the Greek emigration created an unbalanced situation
in the region. The construction and the role of the new settlements / cities is the most
important reason in extending Russian power. Through these port-cities the Russian Empire
dominated both economically and politically in the Sea of Azov.
In a nutshell, the research is relied on bibliography which has to do both with the
situation in the Crimea and the creation of the new port cities such as Mariupol, Taganrog and
Rostov. Bibliography both in Greek language and in English language is going to be used.
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