2008/06/17

Old Soviet animation films

I wrote earlier about Vladislav Starevich, the pioneer of the Russian animation. Today, I found one of his cartoons, The Insects' Christmas on YouTube.

While clicking thoughtlessly various links on YouTube, I found some more interesting early Soviet cartoons:

2008/06/10

Moscow City Court orders to consider rehabilitation of Katyn massacre victims

A rare occasion -- good news from the official sources. RIAN press agency reports:

10.06.2008, 11.24

MOSCOW, June 10 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow City Court on Tuesday overturned the decision by the city's Khamovniki court, which turned down the petition demanding rehabilitation of the Polish officers executed in Katyn. The Court thereby granted the injured parties' complaint.

"The case is being sent to the Khamovniki court for reconsideration," lawyer Anna Stavitskaya told Itar-Tass.

The issue of the Katyn tragedy has been opened for a long time. The first reports about mass graves of Polish servicemen in the Katyn forest near Smolensk appeared in 1943.

Some reports claimed the Polish prisoners-of-war were executed by firing squad back in the spring of 1940.

An international commission comprising specialists from Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Italy, Croatia, Holland, Slovakia, Romania, Switzerland, Hungary, France and Czech republic, working under Nazi supervision, pointed the finger of blame at Russian secret service.

However, in January 1994, a Soviet commission led by academician N.Burdenko accused Germany of shooting the Poles.

In the late 1980, after the signing of the Soviet-Polish declaration on cooperation in ideology, science and culture, a Soviet-Polish commission was set up to investigate the issue.

In April 1990, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachyov passed to Poland the lists of prisoners-of-war (14,792 people).

Of course, this decision does not guarantee that the ruling will be positive and, moreover, that the organizers of the massacre will be officially proclaimed war criminals. However, this is first the step in the right direction since Mikhail Gorbachev admitted that the Polish officers were murdered by NKVD and Boris Yeltsin visited the Powązki Cemetery.

See also my article on the Katyn massacre: April 13 in Russian history

2008/06/05

June 5 in Russian history. 1020 years of Christianity in Russia

1988

20 years ago the Russian orthodox church celebrated 1000 years of christianity in Russia. The date was, of course, a little bit factitious, even the year is sometimes questioned, but it means, in a way, that today we can celebrate 1020 years of the baptism. Happy viginti-et-millennium!

Below is the story of the baptism of Russia as it is told in the Tale of the Passing Years (Povest Vremennykh Let), one of the best known primary sources on Russian history:

987 (6495): Vladimir summoned together his vassals and the city elders, and said to them: "Behold, the [Moslem Volga] Bulgars came before me urging me to accept their religion. Then came the [Catholic] Germans and praised their own faith; and after them came the Jews. Finally the [Eastern Orthodox] Greeks appeared, criticizing all other faiths but commending their own, and they spoke at length, telling the history of the whole world from its beginning. Their words were artful, and it was wondrous to listen and pleasant to hear them. They preach the existence of another world. 'Whoever adopts our religion and then dies shall arise and live forever. But whosoever embraces another faith, shall be consumed with fire in the next world.' What is your opinion on this subject, and what do you answer?" The vassals and the elders replied: "You know, O Prince, that no man condemns his own possessions, but praises them instead. If you desire to make certain, you have servants at your disposal. Send them to inquire about the ritual of each and how he worships God." Their counsel pleased the prince and all the people, so that they chose good and wise men to the number of ten, and directed them to go first among the Bulgars and inspect their faith. The emissaries went their way, and when they arrived at their destination they beheld the disgraceful actions of the Bulgars and their worship in the mosque; then they returned to their own country. Vladimir then instructed them to go likewise among the Germans, and examine their faith, and finally to visit the Greeks. They thus went into Germany, and after viewing the German ceremonial, they proceeded to Constantinople where they appeared before the emperor. He inquired on what mission they had come, and they reported to him all that had occurred.. When the emperor heard their words, he rejoiced, and did them great honor on that very day.

On the morrow, the emperor sent a message to the patriarch to inform him that a Russian delegation had arrived to examine the Greek faith, and directed him to prepare the church and the clergy, and to array himself in his sacerdotal robes, so that the Russians might behold the glory of the God of the Greeks. When the patriarch received these commands, he bade the clergy assemble, and they performed the customary rites. They burned incense, and the choirs sang hymns. The emperor accompanied the Russians to the church, and placed them in a wide space, calling their attention to the beauty of the edifice, the chanting, and the offices of the archpriest and the ministry of the deacons, while he explained to them the worship of his God. The Russians were astonished, and in their wonder praised the Greek ceremonial. Then the Emperors Basil and Constantine invited the envoys to their presence, and said, "Go hence to your native country," and thus dismissed them with valuable presents and great honor. Thus they returned to their own country, and the prince called together his vassals and the elders. Vladimir then announced the return of the envoys who had been sent out, and suggested that their report be heard. He thus commanded them to speak out before his vassals. The envoys reported: "When we journeyed among the Bulgars, we beheld how they worship in their temple, called a mosque, while they stand ungirt. The Bulgarian bows, sits down, looks hither and thither like one possessed, and there is no happiness among them, but instead only sorrow and a dreadful stench. Their religion is not good. Then we went among the Germans, and saw them performing many ceremonies in their temples; but we beheld no glory there. Then we went on to Greece, and the Greeks led us to the edifices where they worship their God, and we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth. For on earth there is no such splendor or such beauty, and we are at a loss how to describe it. We know only that God dwells there among men, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations. For we cannot forget that beauty. Every man, after tasting something sweet, is afterward unwilling to accept that which is bitter, and therefore we cannot dwell longer here." Then the vassals spoke and said, "If the Greek faith were evil, it would not have been adopted by your grandmother Olga, who was wiser than all other men." Vladimir then inquired where they should all accept baptism, and they replied that the decision rested with him.

After a year had passed, in 988 (6496), Vladimir marched with an armed force against Kherson, a Greek city, and the people of Kherson barricaded themselves therein. Vladimir halted at the farther side of the city beside the bay, a bowshot from the town, and the inhabitants resisted energetically while Vladimir besieged the town. Eventually, however, they became exhausted, and Vladimir warned them that if they did not surrender, he would remain on the spot for three years. When they failed to heed this threat, Vladimir marshaled his troops and ordered the construction of an earthwork in the direction of the city. While this work was under construction, the inhabitants dug a tunnel under the city wall, stole the heaped-up earth, and carried it into the city, where they piled it up in the center of the town. But the soldiers kept on building, and Vladimir persisted. Then a man of Kherson, Anastasius by name, shot into the Russian camp an arrow on which he had written: "There are springs behind you to the east, from which water flows in pipes. Dig down and cut them off." When Vladimir received this information, he raised his eyes to heaven and vowed that if this hope was realized, he would be baptized. He gave orders straightway to dig down above the pipes, and the water supply was thus cut off. The inhabitants were accordingly overcome by thirst, and surrendered.

Vladimir and his retinue entered the city, and he sent messages to the Emperors Basil and Constantine, saying: "Behold, I have captured your glorious city. I have also heard that you have an unwed sister. Unless you give her to me to wife, I shall deal with your own city as I have with Kherson." When the emperors heard this message, they were troubled, and replied: "It is not meet for Christians to give in marriage to pagans. If you are baptized, you shall have her to wife, inherit the kingdom of God, and be our companion in the faith. Unless you do so, however, we cannot give you our sister in marriage." When Vladimir learned their response, he directed the envoys of the emperors to report to the latter that he was willing to accept baptism, having already given some study to their religion, and that the Greek faith and ritual, as described by the emissaries sent to examine it, had pleased him well. When the emperors heard this report, they rejoiced, and persuaded their sister Anna to consent to the match. They then requested Vladimir to submit to baptism before they should send their sister to him, but Vladimir desired that the princess should herself bring priests to baptize him. The emperors complied with his request, and sent forth their sister, accompanied by some dignitaries and priests. Anna, however, departed with reluctance. "It is as if I were setting out into captivity," she lamented; "better were it for me to die here." But her brothers protested: "Through your agency God turns the Russian land to repentance, and you will relieve Greece from the danger of grievous war. Do you not see how much evil the Russians have already brought upon the Greeks? If you do not set out, they may bring on us the same misfortunes." It was thus that they overcame her hesitation only with great difficulty. The princess embarked upon a ship, and after tearfully embracing her kinfolk, she set forth across the sea and arrived at Kherson. The natives came forth to greet her, and conducted her into the city, where they settled her in the palace

By divine agency, Vladimir was suffering at that moment from a disease of the eyes, and could see nothing, being in great distress. The princess declared to him that if he desired to be relieved of this disease, he should be baptized with all speed, otherwise it could not be cured. When Vladimir heard her message, he said, "If this proves true, then of a surety is the God of the Christians great," and gave order that he should be baptized. The Bishop of Kherson, together with the princess's priests, after announcing the tidings, baptized Vladimir, and as the bishop laid his hand upon him, he straightway received his sight. Upon experiencing this miraculous cure, Vladimir glorified God, saying, "I have now perceived the one true God." When his followers beheld this miracle, many of them were also baptized.

Vladimir was baptized in the Church of St. Basil, which stands at Kherson upon a square in the center of the city, where the Khersonians trade. The palace of Vladimir stands beside this church to this day, and the palace of the princess is behind the altar. After his baptism, Vladimir took the princess in marriage. Those who do not know the truth say he was baptized in Kiev, while others assert this event took place in Vasiliev, while still others mention other places.

Hereupon Vladimir took the princess and Anastasius and the priests of Kherson, together with the relics of St. Clement and of Phoebus his disciple, and selected also sacred vessels and images for the service. In Kherson he thus founded a church on the mound which had been heaped up in the midst of the city with the earth removed from his embankment; this church is standing at the present day. Vladimir also found and appropriated two bronze statues and four bronze horses, which now stand behind the Church of the Holy Virgin, and which the ignorant think are made of marble. As a wedding present for the princess, he gave Kherson over to the Greeks again, and then departed for Kiev.

When the prince arrived at his capital, he directed that the idols should be overthrown and that some should be cut to pieces and others burned with fire. He thus ordered that Perun should be bound to a horse's tail and dragged along Borichev to the river. He appointed twelve men to beat the idol with sticks, not because he thought the wood was sensitive, but to affront the demon who had deceived man in this guise, that he might receive chastisement at the hands of men. Great art thou, O Lord, and marvelous are thy works! Yesterday he was honored of men, but today held in derision. While the idol was being dragged along the stream to the Dnepr, the unbelievers wept over it, for they had not yet received holy baptism. After they had thus dragged the idol along, they cast it into the Dnepr. But Vladimir had given this injunction: "If it halts anywhere, then push it out from the bank, until it goes over the falls. Then let it loose." His command was duly obeyed. When the men let the idol go, and it passed through the falls, the wind cast it out on the bank, which since that time has been called Perun's Shore, a name that it bears to this very day.

Thereafter Vladimir sent heralds throughout the whole city to proclaim that if any inhabitant, rich or poor, did not betake himself to the river, he would risk the prince's displeasure. Men the people heard these words, they wept for joy, and exclaimed in their enthusiasm, "If this were not good, the prince and his boyars would not have accepted it." On the morrow the prince went forth to the Dnepr with the priests of the princess and those from Kherson, and a countless multitude assembled. They all went into the water: some stood up to their necks, others to their breasts, the younger near the bank, some of them holding children in their arms, while the adults waded farther out. The priests stood by and offered prayers. There was joy in heaven and upon earth to behold so many souls saved. But the devil groaned, lamenting: "Woe is me! how am I driven out hence! For I thought to have my dwelling place here, since the apostolic teachings do not abide in this land. Nor did this people know God, but I rejoiced in the service they rendered unto me. But now I am vanquished by the ignorant, not by apostles and martyrs, and my reign in these regions is at an end."

When the people were baptized, they returned each to his own abode. Vladimir, rejoicing that he and his subjects now knew God himself, looked up to heaven and said: "O God, who hast created heaven and earth, look down, I beseech thee, on this thy new people, and grant them, O Lord, to know thee as the true God, even as the other Christian nations have known thee. Confirm in them the true and unalterable faith, and aid me, O Lord, against the hostile adversary, so that, hoping in thee and in thy might, I may overcome his malice." Having spoken thus, he ordained that churches should be built and established where pagan idols had previously stood. He thus founded the Church of St. Basil on the hill where the idol of Perun and the other images had been set, and where the prince and the people had offered their sacrifices. He began to found churches and to assign priests throughout the cities, and to invite the people to accept baptism in all the cities and towns. He took the children of the best families, and sent them to schools for instruction in book learning. The mothers of these children wept bitterly over them, for they were not yet strong in faith, but mourned as for the dead. When these children were assigned for study, there was thus fulfilled in the Russian land the prophecy which says, "In that day, the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see" (Isaiah, xxix, 18). For these persons had not ere this heard words of Scripture, and now heard them only by the act of God, for in his mercy the Lord took pity upon them, even as the Prophet said, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious" (Exodus, xxxiii, 19).

2008/06/04

June 4 in Russian history. Cyprus convention. Aurora cruiser.

1878

Britain achieved a diplomatic success, when the Cyprus convention was signed between Turkey and Britain. Three months earlier, when the Russo-Turkish war ended with the Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed. According to the treaty, Georgia and Armenia received the lands lost earlier to Turkey. Bulgaria became a self-governing principality, and the Christian population of Bulgaria was granted civil rights. Serbia also became independent. Montenegro became twice as large by incorporating some territories of the Ottoman empire.

Two years earlier, when Turkish irregulars suppressed the April uprising in Bulgaria, killing up to 12,000 people, the European countries were shocked by this massacre and even Disraeli supported the Russians in the war against Turkey. By words, of course. When Russia was one step from her old dream of occupying Constantinople, the home of the Orthodox church, the British position changed to the opposite. The growing influence of Russia in Southern Europe was too dangerous. On the other hand, the independence of the new Slavic states threatened the stability of the Habsburgs empire. The other oppressed Slavs could revolt against them.

Britain sent the fleet to the Dardanelles to protect Constantinople from the Russian occupation. After some diplomatic maneuvres, Russia agreed not to enter the city. However, the results of the war defined by the Treaty of San Stefano did not suit the European empires. Britain concluded the following secret agreement with Turkey:

If Batoum, Ardahan, Kars or any of them shall be retained by Russia, and if any attempt shall be made at any future time by Russia to take possession of any further territories of His

Imperial Majesty the Sultan in Asia, as fixed by the Definitive Treaty of Peace, England engages to join His Imperial Majesty the Sultan in defending them by force of arms.

In return, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan promises to England to introduce necessary Reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two Powers, into the government and for the protection of the Christian and other subjects of the Porte in these territories.

And in order to enable England to make necessary provision for executing her engagement, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan further consents to assign the Island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered by England.

Ten days later, the Congress of Berlin was started, which was initiated by Austria and Britain. The Congress reviewed the Treaty of San Stefano. Strangely enough, the main winner of the Russo-Turkish war became Austria. A large part of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina were occupied by Austria. Russia only got Southern Bessarabia in Europe and three cities in Causasus: Batoum, Ardahan and Kars.

1897

(23 May Old Style)

A new Pallada-class cruiser was laid down at the New Admiralty shipyard in St.Petersburg. The construction works were directed by engineer K. Tokarevsky. The ship was launched 24 May (11 May Old Style) 1900 and was named Aurora. If only Tokarevsky knew, what will happen at the ship 17 years later…

2008/06/03

June 3 in Russian history. Annapurna and Tu-144.

1950

French expedition led by Maurice Herzog, for the first time reached the summit of an eigth-thousander, Annapurna. Maurice Herzog wrote a book about this expedition, which was translated into Russian and published in 1960. "Annapurna" became my first book about alpinism. I was about 10 years old when I read it for the first time and since then I dreamed of mountains. Later, I tried to find alpinists in our city. Unfortunately, mountaineering was not a popular hobby then. I knew there was a small alpinist club, but I didn't find them. Moreover, I learned that there was a minimum age requirement (16 or 18 years). I was a bit younger and I had to wait. The time flew, but for various reasons I never became a climber. Of course, I went the the nearby Zhiguli mountains and tried to learn rock-climbing, but I never visited the "real" mountains. Now, it's too late. So, who cares? I had a good dream to live with :). And thanks to all the guys from that French expedition in 1950 who gave me that dream!

1973

35 years ago first Soviet supersonic transport jet liner Tu-144 crashed in Paris during the air show in Le Bourget. The pilots attempted to copy a maneuvre performed one day earlier by the team of Concorde, but the failure of the untested avionics led to the catastrophe. The airplane fell onto a small French town and destroyed 15 houses. 8 people were killed on land and all 6 pilots died. In spite of the accident, Tu-144 soon started making regular flights between cities of the USSR. However, because of large number of failures commercial flights of Tu-144 were soon stopped. Most of the airplanes were decommissioned. Some of them were used later as flying labs for scientific research. One of them was used by NASA. One of these flying labs is on the photo made in 1998 near Moscow. There is a lot of information on Tu-144 in the Internet, so I thought there's no need to write a long article about this magnificent airplane. The only sidenote I'm about to make is that contrary to popular belief Tu-144 was not a stolen Concorde, its design was based on original Soviet research works. However, its design was started only after the Soviet leaders learned about the Concorde project, to demonstrate the advantages of socialism. To a certain degree, they succeeded, because Tu-144 made its first test flight two months earlier than Concorde.