Герцеговинські та чорногорські переселенці на таврійських землях

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to show the prerequisites and the process of the emigra- tion of Herzegovinian rebels to the territory of Tavria province aft er the defeat of the liberation struggles in Herzegovina and Montenegro in the 60s of the 19th century. Th e research methodo- logy is based on the principles of concrete historical approach or historicism, objectivity, and systematicity. Th e quantitative methods of research, historical-comparative method, and general scientifi c methods of analysis and synthesis have been used in the research. Th e scientifi c novelty lies in the fact that a little-studied page of the history of the Zaporizhzhia region is analyzed – the resettlement of emigrants to the villages of Obitochne and Saltychiya of the Berdyansky district of the Tavria province. Some aspects of the policy of the imperial government, which encouraged the migration of southern Slavs to the territories of southern Ukrainian lands, are reviewed. Th e prob- lems and main directions of activities of the immigrants, their adaptation to new economic condi- tions, and the diffi culties that befell Herzegovinians and Montenegrins in their new homeland are traced. An attempt has been made to obtain statistical calculations of the migration movement to the villages of Berdyansk County and Tavriysk Governorate on the basis of archival sources. Th e biography of Voivode Luka Vukalovych (1823-1873), the national hero of Montenegro, the leader of the Herzegovinian and Montenegrin insurgents, and the initiator of the emigration movement to the Russian Empire, is thoroughly examined. Th e closest associates of Luka Vukalovych are mentioned. Conclusions. Having moved to the lands of Tavria province in the fi rst half of the 1860s and living here compactly until the fi rst quarter of the 20th century, Herzegovinians and Montenegrins left their mark in the history of the Zaporizhian lands. Th e reconstruction of the history of the presence of the southern Slavs in the territory of modern Ukraine provides an op- portunity to study our past more deeply. Th e positive aspect of the article is the use of archival data, oral historical sources, and memories of the descendants of the fi rst settlers – the participants of the national liberation movements in Herzegovina and Montenegro.