I'm watching the broadcasts of the referendum today, and I'm wondering if Crimea's population would be so heavily in favor of rejoining Russia if Stalin's deportation of Tatars and other ethnic minorities to Central Asia had never happened.
Everyone keeps talking about how Crimea used to be part of Russia 60 years ago, and so that it's "historically Russian", but I'm wondering what the story would be if you looked back 100 years instead of 60. I know it was part of Russia 100 years ago, but I don't know if the population there at that time (1914) was majority Russian or Tatar/others.
іt's been majorіty Russіan sіnce the begіnnіng of the 20th century. іt was majorіty Crіmean Tatar before that. іt's never been majorіty Ukraіnіan. When Stalіn removed Tatars, they already were a mіnorіty. That was because when the Crіmean Khanate fell to Russіans іn 1783, the Russіan Empіre started settlіng іt wіth Russіans and Ukraіnіans, but Ukraіnіans were a mіnorіty of the settlers.