Knowledge, Sentiment, and the Fantasy of Empire: Some Thoughts on Russia and its Encounters with Crimea

After takeover of Crimea by the Russian Empire, rapid territorial and administrative reorganization and integration into the Russian imperial system followed. The colonization of the peninsula led to significant alteration of practices keyed to the exploitation of natural resources, in particular the plants of the Crimean landscape. Crimea served as a showcase of Russian colonial and imperial measures and was to become part of an imperial network across which plants and animals could bе moved, а laboratory to which flora and fauna could bе transferred with the goal of opening up new industrial enterprise.