Emigration of the population from Bassarabia to the Caucasus, the Crimea and the Northern Black Sea Region (1870s-1890s)

Abstract

In this article, based on archival and published sources, the author considers the issue of population emigration from Bessarabia to the Caucasus, Crimea, the Northern Black Sea Region and Dobrudja in 1870s-1890s. The sources used allow the author to conclude that the main causes of emigration were the negative consequences of the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), epidemics, droughts, the policy of colonization and denationalization pursued by the tsarist authorities, and the consequences of agrarian reform in Bessarabia, approved on July 14, 1868. This process affected the main social categories of the population of Bessarabia: răzeşi peasants, townspeople, state peasants and colonists.

Keywords

• bessarabia
• crimea
• caucasus
• kuban
• northern black sea region
• dobrudja
• emigration
• răzeşi peasants
• townspeople
• colonists