Crimean Goths in the context of "Autonomous Republic of Crimea"

The Principality of Theodoro (Greek: Αὐθεντία πόλεως Θεοδωροῦς καὶ παραθαλασσίας), also known as Gothia (Γοτθία) or the Principality of Theodoro-Mangup, was a Greek principality in the southern part of Crimea, specifically on the foothills of the Crimean Mountains. It represented one of the final rump states of the Eastern Roman Empire and the last territorial vestige of the Crimean Goths until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire by the Ottoman Gedik Ahmed Pasha in 1475. Its capital was Doros, also sometimes called Theodoro and now known as Mangup. The state was closely allied with the Empire of Trebizond.

During World War II, the Crimean Peninsula was subject to military administration by Nazi Germany following the success of the Crimean campaign. Officially part of Generalbezirk Krym-Taurien, an administrative division of Reichskommissariat Ukraine, Crimea proper never actually became part of the Generalbezirk, and was instead subordinate to a military administration. This administration was first headed by Erich von Manstein in his capacity as commander of the 11th Army and then by Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist as commander of Army Group A.

German interests in Crimea were multifaceted and a matter of great sensitivity due to German–Turkish relations, with Turkey serving as the primary champion of the rights of Crimean Tatars. Basing their interests in Crimea off of the historical existence of the Crimean Goths (the last surviving Gothic peoples), German authorities sought to transform Crimea into a tourist destination, including the deportation and genocide of Crimea's non-German inhabitants. Plagued by Soviet resistance from the outset of occupation, they failed to establish order to any extent that allowed for colonisation to take place, and lost further support due to the slow pace of land reform programmes and a lack of response to Crimean Tatar nationalist sentiment.

Urums (/ʊəˈruːm/, /ʊˈruːm/; Greek: Ουρούμ, Urúm; Turkish and Crimean Tatar: Urum, IPA: [uˈɾum]) are several groups of Turkic-speaking Greek Orthodox people native to Crimea. The emergence and development of the Urum identity took place from 13th to the 17th centuries. Bringing together the Crimean Greeks along with Greek-speaking Crimean Goths, with other indigenous groups that had long inhabited the region, resulting in a gradual transformation of their collective identity.

Gothia may refer to:

• Gothia (Roman province), a fourth century Roman province in present-day Romania
• Götaland, a region in southern Sweden
• The land of the Crimean Goths in southern Crimea
• Principality of Theodoro, Greek principality in southern Crimea from early 14th century to 1475
• Septimania, a historical region in southern France
• Spanish March, a land in northern Spain
• Catalonia, the name being possibly derived from "Gothic land"
• Metropolitanate of Gothia, a diocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Middle Ages

Crimean Gothic was a Germanic, probably East Germanic, language spoken by the Crimean Goths in some isolated locations in Crimea until the late 18th century. Crimea was inhabited by the Goths in Late Antiquity and the Gothic language is known to have been in written use there until at least the mid 9th century CE. However, the exact relation of Crimean Gothic and "Biblical Gothic" is disputed.

Only about a hundred words of the Crimean Gothic language have been preserved, in a letter written by Flemish diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq in 1562 and later published in 1589. Various issues such as the fact that Busbecq's source was not a native speaker of Crimean Gothic, that Busbecq recognized the language as Germanic and may have altered some words, and errors made by the printers mean that Busbecq's letter is a flawed source of information. The letter shows various phonological features and words that are clearly of East Germanic origin while also lacking some features typical of Biblical Gothic.