Crimea has become a core obstacle to ending the Ukrainian war. But for the strategic peninsula, the connection to participate in a strong competition is nothing new.

At the northern end of the Black Sea, Crimea sits at the intersection of Europe and Asia. During various periods of long history, the region has During World War II, for a brief period, it was conquered or controlled by Greeks, Roman Byzantines, Mongolians, Ottoman Empire, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Russians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians, Mongolians.

"It is this semi-mysterious realm that the world of nomads meets the world of sedentary ancient Greek civilization," explains Brian Glyn Williams, professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts. "It is a region where Christianity meets Islam, where East meets the West, and these empires and faiths (and) societies have competed for thousands of years."

Until about a decade ago, the first thing that most people about Crimea thought was Alfred Tennyson's poem The Light Brigade, about the unfortunate British cavalry attack on a majorly strengthened Russian artillery during the Crimean War (1853-1856).

Until 2014, Russia invaded Crimea and the Kremlin subsequently annexed Ukrainian territory. Today, both Kyiv and Moscow view Kria as the red line in negotiations to end the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that it must be returned as part of any truce, and Russian President Vladimir Putin was equally firm and that the Russian Federation retained it.

Where does this word come from?

According to creator and editor Douglas Harper, the etymology of "Crimea" is not easy to fix. Online Etymology Dictionary. He said this is a typical feature of many synoptic words (place names), especially those who label it as “trafficked areas” as Crimea.

"The name won't have a straight line in history. It will be curved," Harper said. "My guess is medieval. It came out through the Mediterranean."

Anatoly Liberman, professor of medieval linguistics, folk and oral traditions at the University of Minnesota, agrees to the definite origin The place name is Especially challenging. "The common judgment is usually: the origin is unknown," he said.

However, we do know that Crimea is not the original name of the peninsula. It was called Taurida or the Milk Peninsula by the Greeks, and they were named after the ancient inhabitants of the region.

"But when the Mongols came, the names disappeared." The liberals said.

"If there is a compelling etymology for modern names, it must be found among the Mongolians or their linguistic relatives," he said.

Instead, one hypothesis is that "Crimea" originates from Mongolia or Turkey, e.g. Kherem or Kerem Liberman said that means “a place of reinforcement” or “wall,” a name adopted by Slavic speakers and was unified over time.

He said: "Crimea is of course the modern Russian pronunciation of the name in English, and this is 'krym', which is the pronunciation of the Ukrainians." “Crimea is already the form of this English form.”

Despite this, he was cautious. "We know it's a medieval name, probably created in the 14th or 15th century. We know the rough family of languages. But we may never know the exact original words and meanings."

How does the word be used over time?

Although the region’s name does not seem to be an ancient language standard, the Tatars who live in Crimea have a relatively older origin.

Williams, author Williams, said: "The Crimean tatars are the last descendants of the golden tribe of the Tatar Turks in Mongolia, Europe...the direct descendants of Muslims and all these ancient races date back thousands of years." Crimean tatars: The experience of the diaspora and the forging of a country.

He said centuries later, people like Marco Polo sailed from Venice in the Mediterranean and crossed the Bosphorus, where modern Istanbul was located. At that time, the city was Constantinople.

Williams said: "Before the British had their empire...the Italians settled in the coastal areas of the Black Sea, they traded in the hinterland, and all tribes lived in the Caucasus, Crimea or Romania today."

Over time, Crimea became a key combination of commercial transportation and an important port for the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Although the direct cause of the Crimean War in the mid-19th century was a dispute between Russia and the Ottoman Empire over controlling the Christian holy land in Jerusalem, historians also attributed the conflict to geopolitical competition and imperial ambitions.

"You could also call it World War I because it was involved in … very large international empires," said Mara Kozelsky, a history professor at the University of Southern Alabama.

A few years before American Civil War photographer Mathew Brady took photos of his famous Antitan battlefield, British Roger Fenton's camera captured the scene in 1854 at the Battle of Alma in Crimea. The Crimean War also marked the The first military application of telegraph and the first naval gunfire using explosive shells. For the first time, War journalists were able to provide the British public with daily conflict updates. Florence Nightingale, who led a group of nurses to take care of British soldiers in Türkiye, identified crises in hospital care, including lack of sanitation and resupply.

Kozeelski said that because the current wars in Ukraine (such as Mariopol) were also under attack during the Crimean War, there are many places in the news now.

"The Crimean War destroyed the entire peninsula so severely that it did not resume until the eve of World War I," she said.

As for the famous light brigade, "the brave British cavalry formed...stormed directly into the Russian cannon," Williams said. "It's just a bloody massacre...the end of the cavalry era and the beginning of modern warfare."

Why is the word important today?

The Battle of Balaclava inspired a century after Tennyson's famous poems, Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev moved Crimea to the Ukrainian Republic, a move that would have a profound impact on independent Ukraine for decades to come.

Williams said Cruzchev was not worried about his decision becoming a seed of future conflict at the time. The Soviet leader just "never (imagined) the Soviet Union would collapse one day."

Fast forward to 2014. Days after Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych expelled the EU for closer ties to Moscow, he covered up secret military operations by the Russian army to seize Crimea from Ukraine. These soldiers were called "Little Green Men" because they did not wear badges on their uniforms, accompanied by the Kremlin denial, thinking that any of their troops were involved.

Two months later, Putin annexed Crimea.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 once again put Crimea at the forefront. The Trump administration has made a proposal to end the fight that will formally recognize the Kremlin's control over the peninsula. But this is something Ukrainian officials say they will never admit.

Months after the invasion, Zelenskyy Simply put: "This Russian war... began in Crimea and must end with the liberation of Crimea."