The migrations of Greeks to the Russian principalities that had emerged from the gradual retreat of the Mongol conquest began after the Fall towards the end of the 15th century.th century, initially in a limited area, and continued, at different rates and intensity, in the following period, until 1922, when Greeks now sought refuge either as settlers or as refugees in Russian territories.
The migrations had military and political causes, as well as economic and social. Greeks from the Ottoman Empire, but also from other regions, such as the Ionian Islands, sometimes as migrants, sometimes as refugees, fled to co-religionist Russia, because their living conditions were extremely difficult in their birthplaces, but also in search of better living conditions, participating in the settlement programs of the Russian Empire.
Already the relations between Russians (Rus) and Greeks were formed and established in 9ο-11ο century. The Russians carried out raids against Byzantium during this period, starting in 860, but at the same time concluded many trade agreements. Between 863-874, the first partial Christianization of the Russians by the Byzantines took place. In 879-882, the state of Kievan Rus' (Kievskaya Rus') was formed by Oleg. Important is the visit to Constantinople in 957 of Olga, then Viceroy of Kievan Rus', and her baptism as a Christian with Emperor Constantine III Porphyrogenitus as her sponsor. In 988, after the temporary occupation of Chersonese, a Byzantine possession in Crimea, Vladimir, who had helped Basil II the Bulgar-slayer against a rebellion by his generals, married his sister, Anna Porphyrogenitus, and adopted the Orthodox Christian faith as the official religion of his state. Byzantine priests went to Russia and baptized thousands of the inhabitants of Kiev in the Dnieper. The decision had political and commercial aims and results. The work of Cyril and Methodius, who, after the Christianization of the Slavs of Moravia and the Bulgarians in 863-864, had created the "Cyrillic" alphabet and translated Christian and Greek texts into Slavonic, may have played a role. These texts brought the Russians into contact with Greek philosophy and science and created the basis of their own cultural development. The Russian naval attack in 1043 was the last Russo-Byzantine conflict and is recorded by Michael Psellos. An element of the peace treaty is the marriage of Vsevolod, son of the Kievan prince Yaroslav I, to Anastasia, daughter of Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh. Since then, the Russians remained for centuries under the spiritual guidance of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but also under the cultural influence of Byzantium and after the decline and dissolution of Kievan Rus in the 12th century.ο-13ο century and the emergence of Moscow as the new Russian center of power. The marriage of the Greek princess Zoe-Sophia Palaeologus and the tsar Ivan III of Russia, strengthened relations between Russia and the Greeks and also created the political theory of the Third Rome.
After the Fall until the mid-18th centuryth In the 17th century, the presence of Greeks was relatively prominent in the ecclesiastical and cultural spheres, with notable examples being Theophanes the Greek and Maximus the Greek, who contributed to the foundation of Russian culture and literature, but quantitatively, with the exception of the native Greeks of Crimea, their numbers were limited. There were also successful merchant migrations from the mid-XNUMXth century.th century in areas of present-day central and western Ukraine that had seceded from the common Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and had united with Russia in 1654.
Larger relocations took place after the Russo-Turkish wars, mainly in the 18thth and 19th century. The original migrants came from all parts of Turkish-occupied Greece and the Ionian Islands and headed mainly to newly conquered territories of European Russia, Ukraine and Bessarabia, after the victories of the Russians against the Ottomans and the treaties of Küçük-Kainartzis in 1774, Iasi in 1792, etc. Further impetus to the migrations was given by the conquest of Crimea in 1783 by the Catherine the Great, the founding of Odessa in 1794, etc. During this period, the Greek population increased significantly, while acquiring significant social and economic power, both in older and new centers, mainly in southern Ukraine, Crimea and southern Russia.
Relocations have become massive after the second half of the 19thth century until the October Revolution. The period was characterized by the partial retreat and Russification of the Greeks of the urban centers of European Russia and the great increase in the Greek presence, mainly of the Greek diaspora from Pontus and Asia Minor, either immigrants or refugees of the period 1915-1922, especially in rural settlements, in Transcaucasia and neighboring regions of southern Russia, such as the Kuban and Stavropol.
Thus, the Greeks of Russia, based on criteria such as place of origin, time and reason for migration, linguistic idiom, and partial or complete assimilation into the dominant political and social environment, constituted a relatively heterogeneous population.
The gradual demographic and cultural dominance of Greeks originating from Pontus, since many original Metoki from other regions had, over the centuries, either been fully Russified or assimilated into the Russian environment, contributed, on the one hand, to their relative homogenization, and on the other hand to all Greeks of Russia/USSR being called, both by part of historiography and by Greek public opinion, ''Pontians'', which is not accurate.
The Greeks had a positive to brilliant career in Russia until 1917 in all sectors, acquiring great political, economic and social power. Kapodistrias, the Ypsilantis, Lambros Katsonis, the Leichoudis brothers, Evgenios Voulgaris, Nikiforos Theotokis, the Zosimades, Dompolis, Kaplanis, Maraslis, Varvakis, etc., are only a small number of Greeks who lived, were associated with or carried out most of their work in Russia. The Greeks, due to their economic and social power, developed significant social, charitable, educational and cultural activity, which was not limited only to the territory of the Russian Empire but also expanded to the Greek area, and later to the independent Greek state.
The first period after the October Revolution was relatively favorable in terms of the various freedoms enjoyed by the ethnicities living in the multinational country, including the Greeks. Then, after collectivization (after 1929) and especially during the periods of persecution and forced displacement (1937-38, 1942-44, 1949) The developments were particularly negative for the Greeks of Russia/USSR. The Greeks were included by the then Soviet system for various reasons among its potential enemies and suffered persecution, exile and forced displacement from their places of residence to Siberia, Central Asia and elsewhere. There was a great setback in their economic and social position, while they were created with a strong sense of injustice and insecurity.
After Stalin's death in 1953 and during the Khrushchev period (1955-64), several forcibly displaced compatriots were able to return to their original homes. Also, thanks to their vitality, endurance, constructive and productive presence, and good relations with all the ethnic groups of the USSR, they managed to improve their position relatively, but without being fully restored as equal citizens.
During the Brezhnev period (1964-1982), discrimination against small ethnic groups and Russification tendencies resurfaced, and this did not favor a significant further improvement in the position of the diaspora.
The Soviet period, with all its hardships and adversities, further contributed to the decline of discrimination against the earlier settled Greeks in Russia, the ''Hellad'' Greeks, and the later settled Greeks, the ''Oriental'' Greeks, and to the prevalence of the new type of ''Soviet'' Greeks. In the new type, in which the Pontic element prevailed culturally and demographically, persecutions, exiles and forced displacements had contributed to the weakening of historical memory and, for many, to the loss of language. But the basic elements of common origin and attachment to the Greek state, as a modern expression of Greekness, contributed to the maintenance of their strong collective identity.
The issue of the expatriates of the USSR, including the refugees from Asia Minor and Pontus of the years 1915-1922 who wished to go to Greece and were trapped in Russia/USSR, had been relatively marginalized by Greek governments since the late 20s, particularly during the Cold War period, for many political, economic and social reasons. Two missions to southern Russia and the Caucasus in 1919 under Kazantzakis and Stavridakis contributed to the formulation and implementation of certain policies and the transfer to Greece of a relatively small number of refugees.
From the M. Gorbachev takes power in the USSR (1985) and the establishment of Glasnost (transparency) and Perestroika (restructuring), new perspectives were created that allowed Greeks to undertake and strengthen community initiatives to promote their rights and aspirations. Initially, at that time the majority was in favor of the creation of a Greek autonomous region in southern Russia, which, however, became meaningless after the mass repatriations to Greece and the dissolution of the USSR.
During the late Perestroika (1988-1991) and after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, major armed conflicts erupted, mainly civil wars, separatist movements, nationalist and other crises during the effort of new states to consolidate their independence, to shape and project their new national-state identity, but also during the struggle of various elites and groups for the possession of power.
Major crises have been the Nagorno-Karabakh crises and war (1988-1994), the crises in Georgia, including the wars in South Ossetia (1991-2, 2008), Abkhazia (1992-3) and the civil conflict (1993-4), the crises in Moldova (1992), mainly in Transnistria, the various crises in Russia, mainly the Chechen wars (1994-6, 1999-2000) but also other crises in the North Caucasus, as well as the crises in Central Asia, including the war in Tajikistan (1992-4).
Also, major problems of an economic and social nature followed, such as the collapse of economies, generalized insecurity and uncertainty, increasing poverty, the problematic functioning of state institutions, the decline of health and social welfare systems, the deterioration of educational systems, etc.
The diaspora was not involved, as a party, in any crisis, but suffered the effects of the crises, like other former Soviet citizens, to varying degrees, depending on the country/region they resided in. Thus, many, especially from Transcaucasia countries, were forced to abandon their homes as refugees or internally displaced persons or in a similar situation.
The dissolution of the USSR, however, freed the Greek diaspora from the status of citizen with reduced status and fewer relative opportunities. Free communication and the possibility of moving to Greece and the various actions of Greece in their favor, gave the Greek diaspora greater prospects for economic and social development, compared to other segments of the population of the new states, while boosting their morale and self-confidence. In addition, the good relations of Greece with the states that emerged from the dissolution of the USSR and the advantageous position of Greece in the international arena, especially its status as a member of the EU and NATO, contributed to bringing the Greek diaspora into a favorable position in their countries of residence.
Greece, for many reasons, was unprepared before and immediately after 1991, to formulate and effectively implement a coherent policy and strategy for the expatriates of the former USSR, either those who decided to repatriate to Greece or those who remained in their homes.
(To be continued)
photo https://ardin-rixi.gr/archives/249245 (Arden-Rixi)
