FEATURES OF THE REGIONAL POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AS A MULTIETHNIC STATE (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE ANNEXATION OF CRIMEA TO RUSSIA IN 1783)

In the context of modern geopolitical and civilizational transformations, the study of integration processes that took place in the past is becoming increasingly relevant. The events of 1783 became a historical example of the peaceful entry of new territories into Russia. In the article, the author examines the political and socio-economic changes that took place on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula during the reign of Catherine II. The author analyzes the main administrative and managerial decisions of the Russian authorities in relation to the local population of the peninsula. Studying the early historical experience of organizing ethnocultural interactions, as well as the relationship between the center and the periphery in the Russian Empire, allows us to better understand the features of Russia’s regional policy as a multiethnic state. Among the factors that preserve unity in the management of the multinational territory of the Russian Empire, the author highlights: integration into the Russian nobility of the aristocracy from newly united territories; religious tolerance, including the creation of administrative structures for some faiths in the territory of the Russian Empire; flexible legal policy, expressed in the preservation of local legal regimes; the assumption of administrative asymmetry (involving local nobility in management) and gradual integration into the legal field of the Russian Empire.