Resettlement of Little Russian Cossacks to North-Eastern Coast of the Black Sea in 1820-1830s

The author in their article provides a comprehensive analysis of the available materials on the organization of the resettlement of Little Russian Cossacks to the Anapa fortress in their quest to consolidate newly acquired territories. The example of the settlement of Anapa demonstrates both the capabilities of the Russian authorities to organize the movement of major population groups and the barriers to the implementation of the developed projects. The author determines the features of the resettlement of Little Russian Cossacks to the north-eastern coast of the Black Sea as part of the imperial policy on the settlement and development of the lands of the Northwest Caucasus in the 1820-1830s. It is shown through the project that the resettlement of Little Russian Cossacks encountered serious obstacles. The high cost of its implementation prevented resettling all the Cossack families, and the disorderly life in the Anapa fortress slowed down the development of agriculture, crafts, industry, and trade. The outskirts and frontier position of Anapa hindered communication with other ports. The author concludes that despite the general failure of the project to develop the lands of the north-eastern coast of the Black Sea, the Anapa fortress remained an outpost of the Russian Empire by attracting population from other provinces for several more decades. The accumulated experience of resettling Little Russian Cossacks and the paperwork on this issue were used in developing new plans in the 1830-1850s for resettling Don, Black Sea, Azov Cossacks, as well as state peasants and traders to Anapa.