May 31 in Russian history

I am really sorry for not writing for so long. I was very busy at work and I had to part with the company's notebook I used to write the articles :). Now that I have somehow got rid of the most time-consuming projects, I continue.

1223: Battle of the Kalka river. This was the first time when Russians met the Mongol armies. The river is named Kalmius now and the battle took place not far from the modern city Mariupol. The area was inhabited for more than 150,000 years, when the earliest stone tools of the Acheulean culture are found along the river banks. Now, the river has turned into a sewer ditch. In 1223, the messengers from Polovtsian nomads came to Rus and asked to protect them from the unknown invaders. Mongols at the moment were not inclined to attack Russia and they also sent their emissaries, asking Russians not to interfere into the conflict of Mongols and Polovtsians. Knyaz of Kiev Mstislav ordered to kill the Mongol ambassadors and decided to attack the enemy. Russian knyazes had no idea about the numbers of the invaders and acted carelessly. Some knyazes joined the campaign, others were too busy to spend their precious time. They quickly defeated a reconnaissance team, chased them and were met on a river bank by main Mongol forces, which counted up to 30,000 people. The knyazes were not sure what to do. Some of them preferred to stay on the opposite bank and wait for the Mongols to attempt to cross the river, while others (Daniil of Galich, Mstislav the Brave and Polovtsians) decided to attack. The battle was lost and the Russians fled. Mongols followed them. Mongols surrounded the Russian camp and proposed to give up. When they gave up (what did they hope for after the murder of the ambassadors?) six knyazes were executed by Mongols. Wooden boards were put onto their bodies and they suffocated slowly while the Mongols feasted on the dais. Quite naturally, Genghis Khan liked the easy victory and soon came to Russia with an even larger army.

1891: The construction of the Transsiberian Railroad begins in Vladivostok, on the Far East of Russia. The railroad was built from the east westwards.

1918: One more smart decision of the Bolsheviks -- they introduce the compulsory mixed education. Some psychologists say that this was a "tragic error", arguing that the mixed education makes boys behave more like girls. I always knew that psychology is a pseudo-science. And even if they are right, the advantages of mixed education, in my opinion, overweigh. If you don't believe me, ask Henry Moore :). In 1943, the separate education was re-introduced by Stalin, but after his death, in 1954, mixed education was brought back.

1924: USSR and China sign the Agreement on common principles for solving problems between the USSR and the Chinese republic. Diplomatic relations are established, unjust treaties of the tsarist government are annulled, the Chinese Eastern Railway becomes a joint commercial enterprise. This was the first equitable treaty of China with a European country.

1937: Alexander Kuprin returns to the USSR from emigration. Kuprin was an outstanding writer, the author of many brilliant short stories and some novels. He was born in 1870. His father was a minor government official. He played violin and was a good painter. Kuprin's mother belonged to a poor, but noble Tatar family, and Kuprin was always proud of being, at least partially, a Tatar. In 1880, he entered a military school (Cadet Corps). The school life gave him a lot of material for his novel The Cadets. In 1894 he retires from the army and becomes a newspaper reporter in Kiev and... an adventurer. He travelled to Moscow, Donetsk and back to Kiev. He founded a circus and worked as a manager in an estate, a dentist and a land surveyor (remember Henry Thoreau?!). He writes magnificent stories Moloch and Olesya. In 1895, Maxim Gorky invited him to write for Samarskaya Gazeta newspaper in Samara. Kuprin published one story in the newspaper and left again. In 1901 he moves to St.Petersburg and writes The Horse Thieves, The Duel and The Garnet Bracelet. Many famous Russian writers admired his works. Leo Tolstoy called him "the true successor of Chekhov", Vladimir Nabokov insisted that Kuprin was "the Russian Kipling", Anton Chekhov also praised him. In 1917, after the revolution, Kuprin spent some time in the USSR, where Gorky protected him, but soon left and joined the counter-revolutionary White Guard and worked in a newspaper published by the army of Yudenich. Soon he left to Helsinki and Paris. Of course, the Soviet critics who admired him while he lived in the Soviet Russia, turned to hatred as soon as he had left. Libraries received orders to burn Kuprin's books. Lenin's wife Krupskaya personally controlled the elimination of all writings by Kuprin. And then, in 1937, quite suddenly, the hatred stops. Why? Kuprin has returned. He was poor and his life in Paris was very hard and he fell ill with cancer, and the Soviet envoys promised him a free apartment, free villa, free medical care, etc. (free wine was, probably, also include -- Kupring got used to the alcohol by these years). At last he agreed. He was allowed to take his cat Yu-Yu, but not his cherished library. There was a rumour in Paris that he was made drunk. Soviet newspapers hypocritically wrote that his stories are the favourite reading of the Soviet people. His books were translated into tens of languages of the USSR, theaters staged his plays (which he himself considered rather weak). By this time, he was already dying. One year later, in 1938, he died from the tongue cancer.

February 19 in Russian history

1861: Emperor Alexander II signs the decree on the abolition of serfdom. The serfdom became a heavy burden in Russia in XVIII century, when the peasants lost the last remains of freedom they still had. Since then, many Russian rulers attempted to abolish the serfdom. Catherine II, being a friend of Voltaire, of course, planned to liberalize the Russian legislation, but she was not too consistent, under the stress from her advisors. The same may be said about Alexander I. The reform of Alexander II was only partial. Moreover, the peasants did not understand the new laws and the rumors were spreading that the "real" law which gives them full freedom, was stolen by the landlords. Mutinies followed. Anyway, however partial, the reforms became the basis for the next steps, including the formation of the elected bodies of local self-government, educational, military and legal reforms.

1938: The drifting polar research station "Severny Polyus-1", the first drifting polar station in the world, finishes its odyssey. The station was founded in 1937 by Ivan Papanin (head of the expedition and cook, Pyotr Shirshov (hydrobiologist), Evgeny Fyodorov (astronomer) and Ernest Krenkel (radio engineer). The exploration of the Arctic Ocean was necessary to provide the reliability of the Northern Sea Route. To make it possible, a state organization was founded and, as one author put it, "the people who came to the North after reading too many Jack London stories, became a part of a huge state machine." The possibility of life on the drifting ice was proven by the crew of steamship Chelyuskin 13 years earlier. So, on May 21, 1937, the four expedition members landed on ice near the Northern Pole. The expedition became yet another "victory of communism" and the life of the station was heavily politicized. All four expedition members were elected members of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR while working on the station. In spite of this ideological burden, the scientific input of the expedition was also immense. They made meteorological observations, measured the polar currents, magnetic fields and so on. See the photographs from "Severny Polyus-1" here.

1954: On the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada and the re-unification of Ukraine and Russia, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopts the decree on the transfer of Crimea from Russian Federation to Ukraine. Khrushchev spent many years in Ukraine and the transfer of Crimea was his gift to the republic he loved. Nobody knew, of course, that 40 years later Ukraine will be a separate country.

January 25 in Russian history

1547: Ivan IV becomes the tsar of Russia. While the term 'tsar' has been known for quite a while, Ivan IV was the first Russian ruler to be crowned as the "tsar of all Russia". He became a Grand Prince at the age of three, in 1533, and was crowned at the age of 16. The new title, tsar, had to be acknowledged by other monarchs. Patriarch of Constantinople sent his blessings in 1561, while other monarchs for a long time continued to call the Moscow rulers 'the Grand Princes'. During the first half of his reign, he was heavily influenced by his wife, Anastasia Yurieva (or Koshkina, Zakharieva, Romanova -- it's a long story :)) and a priest named Sylvester. The tsar wanted to devote all his life to serving the people and Sylvester organized a whole circle of nobility who wanted to assist the tsar in improving the life of Russians. Ivan IV updated and re-wrote the sudebnik (the law code), gave self-government to many districts and allowed to elect the local administration and judges, summoned the first Zemsky Sobor, the first Russian parliament. He put an end to the attacks of the last Tatars by seizing their capital Kazan and adjoined huge territories along Volga and Kama rivers to Russia. He had some conflicts with Sylvester and the nobility, who wanted to limit the autocratic power of the tsar, but all went well till 1560, when Ivan's wife died. It was a shock which changed him forever. In 1560, he sends Sylvester and other members of his circle into exile. In 1564, he leaves Moscow, stays in a monastery and sends a letter to Moscow, saying that he had left the capital because the boyars were plotting against him. The people asked him to come back and he agreed at last. He divided the country into "zemshchina" and "oprichnina". The first part was governed by the boyars' Duma, and the second belonged to the tsar exclusively. Oprichnina included the lands which belonged earlier to the most powerful boyars and by taking these lands under his hand Ivan attempted to minimize their influence. In practice, oprichnina turned into a removal and even elimination of many people. His guard, called oprichniki used the power given to them by the tsar to rob and to kill (mostly in aristocratic houses) and enjoyed sadistic orgies. After these atrocities he got his name Grozny, or the Terrible (this translation is not perfect, though). It is important to note, though, that the total number of his victims is estimated to be from 4,000 to 7,000 people, that is, much fewer than many other European monarchs managed to kill. He achieved his goals: the nobility lost their influence almost completely. His death in 1584 became the beginning of a long period of unrest, called the Times of Trouble.

1701: School of mathematical and navigational sciences was founded in Moscow. It was a logical step for Peter I, who wanted to turn Russia into a sea power. Children in the age from 12 to 17 from all social classes could enter the school. In 1715, the elder students moved to St.Petersburg and became the base for the Academy of Sea Guard, now called the St.Petersburg Naval Institute. Among famous graduates of the School were the admirals Kornilov, Nakhimov, Senyavin, Ushakov, Essen, Kuznetsov, Gorshkov and others, explorers Chirikov, Chelyuskin, Laptev, Lisyansky, Kruzenshtern, Nevelsky, Vrangel, etc. Many other graduates became famous in other, non-navy professions: composer Rimsky-Korsakov, writers Stanyukovich and Sobolev, painters Vereshchagin and Bogolyubov, the author of a dictionary of Russian language Dal, constructor of the first aeroplane (well, it was almost an aeroplane) Mozhaisky.

1938: Birthday of Vladimir Vysotsky, a unique poet and singer of the Soviet times. I am afraid that I will not be able to describe the huge role he played in our life in the USSR, so I will simply refer you to web pages. Read about Vysotsky at Wikipedia. Read and listen his verses and songs at the official site. Read the verses here.

1991: My home city got back its original name -- Samara. Since 1935 it was known as Kyibyshev, after the name of Valerian Kuibyshev, a Soviet politician and a Red Army commander. The city was founded in 1586. During the WWII, it was a secondary capital of USSR. The government stayed in Moscow, but many ministeries, foreign embassies, etc., were relocated to Kuibyshev. For many years, Kuibyshev has been an important centre of aerospace industry. A large share of Soviet and Russian spaceships and carriers were built here.

January 22 in Russian history

1905: (Jan 9 Old Style) The Bloody Sunday. Beginning of the first revolution. In the beginning of January, the workers of Putilovsky factory began a strike, demanding for 8-hour working day, guaranteed minimum salary, abolishment of obligatory overtime, etc. The St. Petersburg committee of bolsheviks called on the workers of St.Petersburg for support of the strike. As a result, more than 150,000 people participated in the general strike. Without newspapers and electricity, the city was paralysed. The governement, trying to regain control, declared martial law and collected around 40,000 policemen and armed soldiers in the city. In spite of the tensions, the workers' committees adopted the plan of a mass peaceful demonstration proposed by a priest Father Gapon. A petition to the tsar was prepared, which included both economical and political requirements: convocation of the Constituent Assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of workers' unions, peace with Japan, separation of church from the state, etc. On the day before the demonstration, the bolsheviks issued a proclamation, saying that the workers will achieve liberation through the armed revolt only, but not by sending petitions. The perspective of a bloodshed was getting more inevitable. A group of intelligentsia, including Maxim Gorky, visited the prime-minister S. Vitte, asking him to do all possible to avoid violence. Vitte sent them to the minister of home affairs Svyatopolk-Mirsky, but he refused to admit them. In the morning of January 22, more than 140,000 people started moving to the tsar's palace. Women and children were put in the front rows to prevent the troops from attacking. At about noon, the cavalry attacked the demonstrants and gunmen started shooting. The wounded were killed by sabres or died under the horses' hooves. Father Gapon fled. Streets were covered with bodies. The official government news reported of 96 killed, but most sources give figures of 1000-4000 killed. As a response to the massacre, the workers started all-Russian strike, where around 440,000 people participated. The revolution began.

1908: Lev Landau, an outstanding Russian physicist, was born. Landau was one of the greatest Soviet physicists and a charismatic personality. The areas of physics where he worked include quantum physics, solid body physics, low temperature physics, cosmic rays, hydrodynamics, elementary particles, plasma and many others. In 1927 he graduated from the Leningrad university. In 1929 he went to Denmark, Britain and Switzerland for traineeship. He worked with Niels Bohr, whom he used to call his only teacher. In 1938, during the Stalin's purges, he was arrested and spent one year in Gulag, but was released after the interference of academician Pyotr Kapitsa. He discovered (or co-discovered)the density matrix method in quantum mechanics, the quantum mechanical theory of diamagnetism, the theory of superfluidity, the theory of second order phase transitions, the Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity, the explanation of Landau damping in plasma physics, the Landau pole in quantum electrodynamics, and the two-component theory of neutrinos. In 1962, he became a Nober Prize laureate for the development of the theory of superfluidity. On the same year he suffered heavily in a car accident and six years later died during a surgical operation. Two most influential parts of his scientific heritage are the Course of Theoretical Physics in ten volumes and the founding of the brilliant scientific school, known as Landau school, which became a legend of the Soviet science.