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четверг, 12 ноября 2009 г.
MIKHAIL VODOPYANOV
The 1930s produced a constellation of Soviet pilots, well-known both in and outside this country. Valery Chkalov, Georgy Baidukov, Mikhail Gromov and, of course, the famed Polar aviator and Hero of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Vodopyanov. This flyer went down in the history of Polar exploration.
"Kissed by God" — that's how people called Mikhail and with a good reason too because he was an intelligent, persevering and daring man. He was born in 1899 to a family of poor peasants in Central Russia. Before taking to the skies, he worked as a water carrier, loader, driver and as a mechanic.
The first time he saw a plane was in 1917. "One day my Dad and I were fixing our shed's roof,” Mikhail reminisced later. "Suddenly he said: "Look, there's a plane flying up there!" I craned my neck so hard that I nearly went tumbling down. "You see people sitting on the wings?!" I yelled, "There, right on the wings!"
I later found out that those were engines, not people, two on each side. The plane was the world's biggest, four-engine leviathan called Ilya Muromets. For me it was love from first sight and, soon after I was lucky enough to sign up with the local airplane squadron. It was the beginning of a new life…”
Starting off ferrying mail and newspaper matrices, Vodopyanov eventually became first-class pilot assigned all kinds of challenging missions. In 1929, he blazed a new air trail to Sakhalin island and, five years later, he was in the Arctic rescuing the crew of the ice-imprisoned Soviet icebreaker Chelyuskin. Landing on an ice floe was a nearly impossible mission, but risking his neck was something Mikhail Vodopyanov never missed a chance to do. "All you have to do to fall ill with the wonderful "Northern disease" he later wrote, "is to fly there at least once and you'll be hooked forever. Once you've been up there, where a plane is a rare and very welcome guest, you'll never want to get back to the quiet comfort of flying in European Russia where you don't need to fight the elements and where there are airfields everywhere. It's so boring to fly here after you've logged hundreds of miles flying in the very back of beyond where man has never ventured to tread…" Flying over the northern taiga and rocky hills, Vodopyanov was in seventh heaven savoring every single moment of fighting the elements… It was the start of a lifelong love affair with the North…
After spending some time roaming the northern skies Vodopyanov felt himself experienced enough to venture to the North Pole - the world's most enigmatic place and one explorers everywhere dreamed of some day getting settling down to the routine paperwork of writing detailed reports to his superiors, however, Vodopyanov wrote a novel, entitled “A Pilot's Dream” and described the would-be expedition. The book was a success and even interested the Soviet leader Josef Stalin who eventually authorized the mission.
Ferrying the adventures to the Pole was a logistical nightmare. To do this, Vodopyanov became the first man in aviation history to fly across the Barents Sea, reach Franz Josef Land and move on to the North Pole. On May 21, 1937, Mikhail Vodopyanov steered his ANT-6 plane with 13 passengers on board, up from Rudolf Island and headed to the North Pole. During that most difficult leg of the northward trip, the engine started leaking antifreeze. The mechanics quickly cut the wing open and, locating the fracture somehow managed to patch it up. It really was a flight to remember!
From that day on, information, including weather forecasts, started coming in from the North Pole and was eventually used by Soviet air crews during transcontinental flights. Vodopyanov’s flight became a stepping stone for Valery Chkalov's famous trans-Polar hop-over to the United States.
Besides being an excellent airman, Vodopyanov was also a writer penning a number of interesting books about aviation, instilling in many young people deep love for the skies.
Source:The Voice of Russia
понедельник, 9 ноября 2009 г.
Obdorsk burg (Siberia)
Obdorsk burg (now Salekhard) is one of the first Russian settlements founded on the territory of Siberia. The burg was founded by the Cossacks of Berezovo voevode Nikita Trakhaniotov in the lower reaches of the Polouy River close to its junction with the Ob River. The opinions of historians regarding the exact date of Obdorsk burg foundation differ. In different sources it refers to 1593 or 1595. Most probably the first date means arrival of the Cossacks in the place of Obdorsk foundation and set up of a temporary winter hut, the second date means the start of wooden burg construction.
In 1635 the burg was renamed into Obdorsk gate, later called Obdorsk fortress. Famous researcher of Tobolsk land history A.A. Dunin-Gorkavich wrote: “Foundation of Obdorsk was caused by the necessity of protection from foreign raids and preclusion of duty free and forbidden exchanges between coast-dwellers and Samoyeds. “Annual oberezh” (a tax) was introduced in order to protect Yasak Ostyaks from Samoyeds. Initially up to 50 Cossacks were sent for tax collection from Berezovo, sometimes their number raised up to 100, later the number of Cossacks was gradually reduced to zero when the tax was cancelled”. Obdorsk fortress controlled movement of goods on the way to the biggest fair centre of that time located beyond Polar circle – Mangazeya.
The fortress was quadrangle-shaped with lath fence, two sight towers and two passage towers. Inside there was a typical set of administrative and residential buildings as well as Vasilyevsky church made of wood in 1602.
In the second half of the XVIII century Obdorsk fortress starts losing its military and defence meaning. In 1799 its military garrison was disbanded. The gate was transformed into the centre of Obdorsk volost of Berezovsky uyezd of Tobolsk province – Obdorsk settlement. In 1807 the walls and towers of wooden fortress were demolished by the order of Tobolsk Governor A.M. Kornilov due to their tumbledown state.
In the XIX century Obdorsk was more and more characterized as trade settlement. At the same time it continued to play an important role in Yasak collection from local aboriginals – Nenets and Khanty. Yasak included mainly valuable “soft stuffs”: furs of sable, polar fox, fox, ermine, squirrel, muskrat and other local animals. Fishery has always been well developed in Obdorsk thanks to richness of fish species of Polouy and Ob.
From the beginning of the XIX century Obdorsk was home to a big winter fair that took place from the 15th of December to the 25th of January. It was one of the most important fairs in Tobolsk province by the turnover. Traditionally Obdorsk fair welcomed merchants from many Russian and Siberian northern towns. They were bringing in flower and bread, metal goods, decorations, cloth, wine and tobacco, and they were taking away furs, walrus tusks, fish, bird feather and other local natural riches. According to the notes of contemporaries at the time there was a whole quarter of trade warehouses in Obdorsk. The number of storehouses exceeded residential houses by three times.
In the middle of the XIX century Obdorsk became the centre of Orthodox mission on Yamal. Christianisation, as a rule, met resistance of Nenets and Khanty, and it was of a superficial character. However, thanks to the activity of certain ascetics Christianisation had evident results in certain cases.
As long ago as in the XVIII century Siberian metropolitan Philophey Leschinsky made an important contribution into propagation of the Orthodoxy making frequent missions to the settlements of the Northern aboriginals located in the basins of the Irtysh and the Ob Rivers. However after his death in 1727 missionary activity on the territory of Yamal has not been systematic for a long time and often it did not have any visible response of the local aboriginals.
Obdorsk mission, founded in 1853, made big efforts to carry out enlightener activity among population. The priest Petr Popov who has been attending to Obdorsk mission for more than 20 years made a lot of trips to tundra and studied characters and customs of the Northern nationalities. He was the author of the first Ostyak-Samoyed-Russian dictionary. Father Superior Irinarkh (I.S. Shemanovsky) has also made a big contribution into development of Obdorsk mission. Under his attending the stone church of Peter and Paul, refuge and hospice were constructed. Obdorsk library and athenaeum were opened. These establishments as well as the ethnographic collection initiated the town museum.
Existing statistics shows that as of the beginning of the twentieth century annual export from Obdorsk made up to 200 thousand poods of fish and about 50 thousand furs mainly of polar fox, fox, squirrel and ermine.
In 1918 the Russian-Ostyak-Samoyed partnership of the Far North Fishermen was founded in Obdorsk by Nenets I. Nogo. The partnership united 100 artels and more than 1700 fishermen from North Yamal districts. In 1920 the fisheries of North near-Ob territories were nationalized.
Source:http://www.ikz.ru/siberianway/engl/salekhard/index.html
понедельник, 2 ноября 2009 г.
Pavlovoposadski Print Shawls
Print Shawls produced in Pavlovski-Posad town are a unique phenomenon of Russian culture and are often perceived as one of the national symbols of Russia.
Both Russians and foreigners have always highly estimated traditional Pavlovo-Posadski print shawls. They appeal with the multicolored palette, finest elaboration of floral ornaments, thorough drawing of every flower, among which the rose is a favourite and a sort of a symbol of the Pavlovo-Posadski kerchiefs.
Usually on the corners of the shawl there are large flowers, and the middle is filled with minor, even minute elements, contrasting with the background, often cream-coloured (the colour of natural wool), black or dark-cherry. The shawls are coloured with most saturated tints, which can be 10 to 18, or sometimes even reaching 30 in number. The patterns are arranged in ovals, stars, medallions, or other figures of ornamental stripes and flowery garlands.
The history of origin and evolution of the Pavlovo-Posadsk Print Shawl as one of the Russian arts and crafts is very interesting and, at the same time, quite characteristic of this country. The first record of the manufacture that glorified Pavlovski Posad as a centre of traditional decorative art of shawls with printed designs dates to 1795. Starting its way from a small private plant, this craft has now developed into a large-scale production complex, presently titled Pavlovo-Posadsk Shawl Manufacture.
The enterprise was founded by a well-off peasant named Ivan Labzin. But what is known today as Pavlovo-Posadski print shawls were not produced from the very beginning.
Initially design shawls in Russia were handmade; the works were of high quality, but very expensive. Within a year not more than 10-16 shawls were produced at one manufacture. It could take six months to two years to create one shawl. In the 19th century Jacquard looms were introduced that considerably simplified the weaving process, but it was still too costly for mass production.
Then the technology of fast-printing appeared. In the early 1860s already the ancestors of Ivan Labzin - merchants Yakov Labzin and Vasili Gryaznov – updated the technology at the manufacture and launched production of printed design shawls and kerchiefs.
The printing was made by means of specially carved wooden planks. Initially the pattern design is developed by an artist. Depending on the complexity of tracery a number of printing wood planks were carved. Each colour in the design required a separate plank. So, the more complicated the design was, the more planks were needed. A piece of fabric of the shawl’s size was spread on a frame. The planks with paint were applied to the shawl and in order to impregnate the paint better, they were beaten with a hammer. First the outline of the design was “beaten” into it, and then the main design.
Sometimes, if the design was complicated, it needed up to 400 planks with different colours. Nevertheless, this method made the shawl production much cheaper, and lots of manufactures made use of it.
Today, naturally, the technology is different: the designs are applied by means of photooffset printing or printed with modern machines. However, the artists keep up the traditional style of Pavlovo-Posadski shawls. In recent years the Manufacture has been working on restoration of old ornaments of print shawls.
Source:www.russia-ic.com
пятница, 30 октября 2009 г.
RUSSIAN JEANNE D’ARC
This edition of the program is devoted to an extraordinary woman – Maria Bochkareva — better known in the West as the Russian Jeanne D’Arc. During World War I she signed up as a volunteer for the Russian army. Maria’s courage and bravery won her four Crosses of Saint George, one of the most prestigious Russian military awards.
Maria was born in 1889 in a village nor far from the city of Novgorod in north-western Russia. Later the family moved to Siberia in search for a better life. Maria got married at the age of 16 but was unhappy with her husband – a drunkard and a brute. Strong-willed, with a bent for self-sacrifice, Maria tolerated his harsh treatment, hoping that he would sober down, but unable to bear it any more, she finally left him. In vain she sought happiness in love: the men she loved only made her suffer. So she started thinking if there was some other field into which she could throw all her energy.
In 1914 Russia entered World War One. The situation on the Russian-German front was getting hard for the Russians. Reports about heavy casualties among Russian soldiers prompted Maria to join the army. As it turned our later, that was just what she had been looking for. When, in November 1915, she appeared before commander of a regiment stationed in the Siberian city of Tomsk and told him she wanted to go to the front, he wouldn’t even listen to her, but simply ordered her out. Unwilling to give up, Maria sent a telegram to Emperor Nicholas II in St.Petersburg. The Emperor cabled back, granting his royal permission to admit Maria as a volunteer into the Tomsk regiment that soon left for the front. A fearless soldier as she proved to be, Maria, hardly over 25, took part in bayonet attacks and reconnaissance squads, carried out the wounded under heavy enemy fire. She was wounded four times, two of them seriously. But some inner vitality put her back on her feet and she returned to the regiment to the rousing cheers of her comrades in arms. For her prowess and dauntless courage she got four Crosses of Saint George and was promoted from private to junior officer.
Maria became a legend in her lifetime. Reporters begged her for an interview. Her laconic, witty and image-bearing answers revealed an extraordinary personality looming though the shell of a free-and-easy fighter-girl.
There came the year 1917 and the news of the February revolution. The Czar abdicated and there was formed the Interim Government. All this caused unrest among the troops. Military failures and calls by Bolsheviks to lay down arms resulted in mass desertions. The new government invited Maria Bochkareva to St.Petersburg to report the situation on the front. She arrived at the General Staff. Wearing soldier’s boots and a uniform with the shoulder-straps of a non-commissioned officer, all four Crosses of Saint George shining on her bosom, with her service cap on, her face rough and weather-beaten, she had a strikingly masculine appearance. She announced her name in a coarse, mannish voice and only her eyes, gray and sad, betrayed her feminine origin.
Unembarrassed by the glamour and opulence of the Tavrichesky Palace and curious looks men in tail-coats darted at her, she declared that the troops were demoralized and suggested setting up women’s formations that would boost the troops’ morale. Her speech was so convincing that after a slight hesitation the government gave her the go-ahead to form a women’s battalion known as the Bochkareva death battalion. There was, indeed, something sinister in its name and in black shoulder-straps with an emblem showing a scull and two crossed bones, which symbolized the women’s readiness to sacrifice their lives for their homeland.
Maria issued an address to the women of St.Petersburg: “Citizens to whom the liberty and happiness of Russia are dear, hurry up to join our ranks before it’s too late. Don’t spare your lives…” Thousands of them — housewives, lyceum students, young ladies from noble families, workers and peasants – signed up for volunteer women’s formations.
One must give credit to the Bochkareva death battalion, it fought heroically and endured all hardships of warfare. They were in the trenches when news arrived about the Bolshevik coup in St.Petersburg. Bochkareva was arrested and her battalion was disbanded. When offered to take the Bolshevik side, she refused, saying that she was too tired of war. Not grounded in politics, though, she realized at the moment that while yesterday Russia had been fighting the enemy, now it was moving towards self-destruction. Unlike most men, she didn’t want to meddle in a fratricidal war.
After she was released, Bochkareva decided to go to her village. It was a terrible journey. She nearly died when Bolsheviks threw her out of a railway carriage. Crippled and penniless, she eventually came home.
In 1918 Maria traveled to the United States at the request of the anti-Bolshevik White Army command to obtain financial and military aid. On July 10th she was received by the then US President Woodrow Wilson. He said it was a great honor to him to meet the lady officer who had covered herself with glory and that in America they called her the Russian Jeanne D’Arc. To his question “who is right and who is to blame in Russia?” Maria answered evasively that she knew little about the matter and wouldn’t like to get into an awkward situation. At the same time she asked for guns, tanks, food supplies and troops, which left no doubt about her political sympathies. Maria’s eloquent description of war-ravaged Russia produced a deep impression on the Americans. President Wilson pledged support.
From America Bochkareva went to Britain on a similar mission. After a brief audience with King George V, she returned to Russia. Even though her sympathies lay with the “white”, Maria stubbornly refused to take part in the war against the Bolsheviks. Her stand irritated the “white” command, and, finally, they decided to get rid of her. Maria went back to Tomsk where she changed military uniform for civilian clothes, got herself a bright kerchief and began attending church. The church atmosphere, the quiet signing of the chorus, the flicker of candle lights, gave her comfort and relief and gradually the heavy burden of the past relaxed its grip on her heart.
Once a boy in the street asked her: “Granny, give me a penny for a honey-cake”. Maria slipped coins into this hand, and, back home, glanced at herself in the mirror. She didn’t like what she saw. Untidy hair with streaks of gray made her look well over 50.
In December 1919, when the Bolsheviks entered Tomsk, Maria Bochkareva was arrested and executed by shooting as a sworn and bitter enemy of the Soviet power. She was 32…
Source:The Voice of Russia
четверг, 29 октября 2009 г.
“TO HIT NOT IN THE EYEBROW, BUT IN THE EYE”
By Lyubov Tsarevskaya
“Vivid and precise, the Russian language abounds in proverbs. There are tens of thousands of them. They fly from one century to the next, from one generation to another, as if on wings.
“From the depth of time we are reached and touched by human joys and suffering, laughter and tears, love and wrath, faith and unbelief, truth and lie, honesty and deceit, hard work and sloth…,” wrote Mikhail Sholokhov, a classic of Soviet literature, about folk wisdom expressed in Russian proverbs.
Concisely and vividly the proverbs express the national Russian character. Like this one, “Talent without work isn’t worth one grosh (or penny)”.
Russians are richly endowed with a versatile mind, ingenuity, and creative powers; yet it is owing to their hard work and persistence that they have accomplished so much in culture and science and have contributed so generously to the world civilization.
And those of us who are prone to laziness and sloth are reminded by folk wisdom that “Without effort, you can't even pull a fish out of the pond. (which is close to “No pain, no gain.”)
Russians are known for their love of freedom. Russian history is filled with the fight for freedom and independence. However, the Russian soul values the unrestricted inner freedom so much more than the outer freedom guaranteed by society to law-abiding citizens. When you are free to be who you are, free to feel, free to act, then, as the folk wisdom sums it up so well, “As hard as your lot may be, you are free”, or — Freedom to a bird is dearer than a cage of gold”. That is why when fighting for their freedom, Russians did not spare their lives: “Better death in battle than life in the barracks” goes the proverb.
Love of freedom was also expressed in two most important qualities of the Russian national character — patience and endurance, for an ability to endure hardship, suffering, and privation is a victory in itself. There is a proverb to illustrate this, “Put up with it, Cossak, and you’ll become a chieftain”.
Russian hospitality is legendary. Expressed in it is the people’s magnanimity and generosity. A couple of proverbs on the subject: “Not rich yet hospitable”, “The best treat is for the guest.”
The age-old custom to welcome guests with bread and salt is very much alive today. Bread and salt are at once a greeting, a welcome, and a wish of well-being and prosperity for the guest. Without bread there is no life, and no Russian meal. A proverb goes, “It’s a wretched dinner if bread is not served.” And another — “Bread is at the head of everything.”
Kind-heartedness, charity, an exceptional ability to empathize, understand, respect, and accept other ethnic groups the way they are, enabled the Russian nation to create a multinational state in which various ethnic groups live freely side by side. Russians always strive to maintain genial relations with their neighbours. For them, as the proverb goes, “It is bad to offend a neighbour.”
A Russian person is typically devout, even if unconsciously, because of his Orthodox Christian roots. Orthodoxy has played a significant role in shaping the nation as a whole, and this deep-seated trait of the national character has found its expression in Russian folklore.
Russians say, “Conscience is the voice of God”; and, “He who puts his trust in God will never perish.”
Folk wisdom is expressed not only in proverbs but in parables as well. They express profound spiritual truths in an allegorical way. Here is one of them.
“Once upon a time there lived two pots. Their master was a water-carrier. They hung on the ends of a pole the water-carrier put across his shoulder. One of the pots had a crack in it, the other was flawless. The good pot kept all the water poured into it, whereas the cracked pot could only keep half of the water. The defective pot was ashamed of its imperfection. It realized that it couldn’t perform its duty. So one day it shared its concern with the water-carrier.
“Why don’t you throw me in the garbage? Because of my disability you waste your efforts.”
The water-carrier replied, “Look at the path that leads up from the river to the house. What do you see?”
The pot noticed that beautiful flowers were growing on one side of the pathway, whereas the other side was covered with weeds.
“Have you noticed,” asked the water-carrier, “that flowers only grow along the side of the pathway that has been watered through your crack?”
Source:The Voice of Russia
“Vivid and precise, the Russian language abounds in proverbs. There are tens of thousands of them. They fly from one century to the next, from one generation to another, as if on wings.
“From the depth of time we are reached and touched by human joys and suffering, laughter and tears, love and wrath, faith and unbelief, truth and lie, honesty and deceit, hard work and sloth…,” wrote Mikhail Sholokhov, a classic of Soviet literature, about folk wisdom expressed in Russian proverbs.
Concisely and vividly the proverbs express the national Russian character. Like this one, “Talent without work isn’t worth one grosh (or penny)”.
Russians are richly endowed with a versatile mind, ingenuity, and creative powers; yet it is owing to their hard work and persistence that they have accomplished so much in culture and science and have contributed so generously to the world civilization.
And those of us who are prone to laziness and sloth are reminded by folk wisdom that “Without effort, you can't even pull a fish out of the pond. (which is close to “No pain, no gain.”)
Russians are known for their love of freedom. Russian history is filled with the fight for freedom and independence. However, the Russian soul values the unrestricted inner freedom so much more than the outer freedom guaranteed by society to law-abiding citizens. When you are free to be who you are, free to feel, free to act, then, as the folk wisdom sums it up so well, “As hard as your lot may be, you are free”, or — Freedom to a bird is dearer than a cage of gold”. That is why when fighting for their freedom, Russians did not spare their lives: “Better death in battle than life in the barracks” goes the proverb.
Love of freedom was also expressed in two most important qualities of the Russian national character — patience and endurance, for an ability to endure hardship, suffering, and privation is a victory in itself. There is a proverb to illustrate this, “Put up with it, Cossak, and you’ll become a chieftain”.
Russian hospitality is legendary. Expressed in it is the people’s magnanimity and generosity. A couple of proverbs on the subject: “Not rich yet hospitable”, “The best treat is for the guest.”
The age-old custom to welcome guests with bread and salt is very much alive today. Bread and salt are at once a greeting, a welcome, and a wish of well-being and prosperity for the guest. Without bread there is no life, and no Russian meal. A proverb goes, “It’s a wretched dinner if bread is not served.” And another — “Bread is at the head of everything.”
Kind-heartedness, charity, an exceptional ability to empathize, understand, respect, and accept other ethnic groups the way they are, enabled the Russian nation to create a multinational state in which various ethnic groups live freely side by side. Russians always strive to maintain genial relations with their neighbours. For them, as the proverb goes, “It is bad to offend a neighbour.”
A Russian person is typically devout, even if unconsciously, because of his Orthodox Christian roots. Orthodoxy has played a significant role in shaping the nation as a whole, and this deep-seated trait of the national character has found its expression in Russian folklore.
Russians say, “Conscience is the voice of God”; and, “He who puts his trust in God will never perish.”
Folk wisdom is expressed not only in proverbs but in parables as well. They express profound spiritual truths in an allegorical way. Here is one of them.
“Once upon a time there lived two pots. Their master was a water-carrier. They hung on the ends of a pole the water-carrier put across his shoulder. One of the pots had a crack in it, the other was flawless. The good pot kept all the water poured into it, whereas the cracked pot could only keep half of the water. The defective pot was ashamed of its imperfection. It realized that it couldn’t perform its duty. So one day it shared its concern with the water-carrier.
“Why don’t you throw me in the garbage? Because of my disability you waste your efforts.”
The water-carrier replied, “Look at the path that leads up from the river to the house. What do you see?”
The pot noticed that beautiful flowers were growing on one side of the pathway, whereas the other side was covered with weeds.
“Have you noticed,” asked the water-carrier, “that flowers only grow along the side of the pathway that has been watered through your crack?”
Source:The Voice of Russia
вторник, 27 октября 2009 г.
THE SENATE SQUARE
In the year 1782 a monument to Peter the Great, the founder of St.Petersburg, was erected on the Senate Square west of the Admiralty. Dominating its western side is the building of the Senate, hence its name – the Senate Square.
During Napoleon’s invasion of 1812, Czar Alexander I, fearing the city might fall over to the French, ordered to move Peter’s bronze statue to a northern province. At about the same time, a Major Baturin, meeting with Alexander’s close friend Duke Golitsin, told him he had a strange dream: the Bronze Horseman, or the statue of Peter the Great, comes down from its cliff-like pedestal and heads for the palace, while Emperor Alexander walks out to meet him. “Young man,” says Peter, “just look what you’ve done to Russia. But as long as I stay where I am, my city has nothing to fear!” and he turns his bronze horse and gallops back, the hooves clanking heavily over the cobbles. The Duke reported Baturin’s shocking dream to Alexander, whereupon the Emperor cancelled his order, and the statue was left where it was.
The Senate Square saw the first armed insurgence by revolutionary noblemen against autocracy. Staged on the 14th of December, 1825, it went down in history as the Decembrists’ revolt.
Having defeated Napoleon in 1812, the Russian army liberated both its homeland and Europe from the ambitious dictator. Russian officers returning from the overseas campaign brought home war trophies and progressive ideas. While abroad, they got acquainted with European lifestyle and western philosophy – both had profound influence on the Russian nobility. Lacking understanding of the historical, geographical and ethnic differences between Russia and Europe, the reformist-minded youth was totally dejected by a striking contrast between the Western and Russian way of life. Brewing discontent among a certain part of the younger nobility led to the appearance of secret societies, one of which — the Northern Society founded in St.Petersburg – consisted of moderate reformists who pursued the goal of establishing a constitutional monarchy modeled after the English version.
In November 1825 Emperor Alexander I died unexpectedly in Taganrog. Earlier his brother Konstantin abdicated from the throne, but the abdication wasn’t announced. The army and citizens swore allegiance to abdicated Konstantin. Soon after that, however, they had to take another oath of allegiance – to Nicholas I. Revolutionaries from the Northern Society made use of the power vacuum to plot a revolt. They circulated rumors among the troops that there had been no abdication and that Nicholas simply seized power, while Konstantin was away. The revolt was scheduled on December 14 when the troops were to give allegiance to Nicholas I.
But contrary to all expectations, most of the troops, except just two regiments, did swear loyalty to the new emperor. The insurgent units then marched onto the Senate Square where naval guards and many onlookers joined them. The crowd shouted: “Hurrah, Konstantin”, “Hurrah, constitution!” The regiments, in full battle array, were waiting for further instructions from their leaders. The latter, some of whom backed down at the last moment, failed to seize the initiative. Troops loyal to Nicholas I surrounded the rebels on all sides of the square. When St.Petersburg’s governor, Count Miloradovich appeared before the soldiers, calling on them to return to barracks, two officers fired mortally wounding him.
The incident predetermined the outcome of the revolt. The Emperor first moved cavalry units against the rebels and then crushed them by artillery fire. The same night first arrests were made. About 300 members of secret societies and some 700 soldiers and officers were arrested. Later five of their leaders were sentenced to execution, and the rest were condemned to penal servitude or exiled to Siberia.
In 1925 the Senate Square was renamed Decembrists’ Square in commemoration of the first armed rebellion against supreme power in Russia.
Source:The Voice of Russia
During Napoleon’s invasion of 1812, Czar Alexander I, fearing the city might fall over to the French, ordered to move Peter’s bronze statue to a northern province. At about the same time, a Major Baturin, meeting with Alexander’s close friend Duke Golitsin, told him he had a strange dream: the Bronze Horseman, or the statue of Peter the Great, comes down from its cliff-like pedestal and heads for the palace, while Emperor Alexander walks out to meet him. “Young man,” says Peter, “just look what you’ve done to Russia. But as long as I stay where I am, my city has nothing to fear!” and he turns his bronze horse and gallops back, the hooves clanking heavily over the cobbles. The Duke reported Baturin’s shocking dream to Alexander, whereupon the Emperor cancelled his order, and the statue was left where it was.
The Senate Square saw the first armed insurgence by revolutionary noblemen against autocracy. Staged on the 14th of December, 1825, it went down in history as the Decembrists’ revolt.
Having defeated Napoleon in 1812, the Russian army liberated both its homeland and Europe from the ambitious dictator. Russian officers returning from the overseas campaign brought home war trophies and progressive ideas. While abroad, they got acquainted with European lifestyle and western philosophy – both had profound influence on the Russian nobility. Lacking understanding of the historical, geographical and ethnic differences between Russia and Europe, the reformist-minded youth was totally dejected by a striking contrast between the Western and Russian way of life. Brewing discontent among a certain part of the younger nobility led to the appearance of secret societies, one of which — the Northern Society founded in St.Petersburg – consisted of moderate reformists who pursued the goal of establishing a constitutional monarchy modeled after the English version.
In November 1825 Emperor Alexander I died unexpectedly in Taganrog. Earlier his brother Konstantin abdicated from the throne, but the abdication wasn’t announced. The army and citizens swore allegiance to abdicated Konstantin. Soon after that, however, they had to take another oath of allegiance – to Nicholas I. Revolutionaries from the Northern Society made use of the power vacuum to plot a revolt. They circulated rumors among the troops that there had been no abdication and that Nicholas simply seized power, while Konstantin was away. The revolt was scheduled on December 14 when the troops were to give allegiance to Nicholas I.
But contrary to all expectations, most of the troops, except just two regiments, did swear loyalty to the new emperor. The insurgent units then marched onto the Senate Square where naval guards and many onlookers joined them. The crowd shouted: “Hurrah, Konstantin”, “Hurrah, constitution!” The regiments, in full battle array, were waiting for further instructions from their leaders. The latter, some of whom backed down at the last moment, failed to seize the initiative. Troops loyal to Nicholas I surrounded the rebels on all sides of the square. When St.Petersburg’s governor, Count Miloradovich appeared before the soldiers, calling on them to return to barracks, two officers fired mortally wounding him.
The incident predetermined the outcome of the revolt. The Emperor first moved cavalry units against the rebels and then crushed them by artillery fire. The same night first arrests were made. About 300 members of secret societies and some 700 soldiers and officers were arrested. Later five of their leaders were sentenced to execution, and the rest were condemned to penal servitude or exiled to Siberia.
In 1925 the Senate Square was renamed Decembrists’ Square in commemoration of the first armed rebellion against supreme power in Russia.
Source:The Voice of Russia
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