the west against the Hapsburg Empire and Poles. Finally, "the cities in the Crimea were important economic and trading centers for the Ottomans and were noted especially for the quantity and quality of the Slavic slaves always available." (Fisher, 16)
             To the Russians, an interest in the Crimea, and in particular access to the Black Sea, had always existed. It was not, however, until Moscow gained a secure hold over the left bank in Ukraine and Kiev that it began a century-long struggle to take a
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