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Image 1
A Soviet postage stamp from 1959. The stamp celebrates growth in the chemical industry. During the
Khrushchev era, especially from 1956 through 1962, the
Soviet Union attempted to implement major wage reforms intended to move
Soviet industrial workers away from the mindset of overfulfilling quotas that had characterised the Soviet economy during the preceding
Stalinist period and toward a more efficient
financial incentive.
Throughout the Stalinist period, most Soviet workers had been paid for their work based on a
piece-rate system. Thus their individual wages were directly tied to the amount of work they produced. This policy was intended to encourage workers to toil and therefore increase production as much as possible. The piece-rate system led to the growth of bureaucracy and contributed to significant inefficiencies in Soviet industry. In addition, factory managers frequently manipulated the personal production quotas given to workers to prevent workers' wages from falling too low. (Full article...)
Due to the length of the front lines created by the German
1942 summer offensive, which had aimed at taking the
Caucasus oil fields and the city of
Stalingrad, German and other Axis forces were over-extended. The German decision to transfer several mechanized
divisions from the Soviet Union to Western Europe exacerbated their situation. Furthermore, Axis units in the area were depleted by months of fighting, especially those which had taken part in the struggle for Stalingrad. The Germans could only count on the
XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, which had the strength of a single
panzer division, and the
29th Panzergrenadier Division as reserves to bolster their Romanian allies guarding the German Sixth Army's flanks. These Romanian armies lacked the heavy equipment to deal with Soviet armor. In contrast, the Red Army deployed over one million personnel for the offensive. Soviet troop movements were not without problems: concealing their build-up proved difficult, and Soviet units commonly arrived late due to logistical issues. Operation Uranus was first postponed by the Soviet high command (Stavka) from 8 to 17 November, then to 19 November. (Full article...)
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Fram leaves
Bergen on 2 July 1893, bound for the
Arctic Ocean Nansen's Fram expedition of 1893–1896 was an attempt by the
Norwegian explorer
Fridtjof Nansen to reach the geographical
North Pole by harnessing the natural east–west current of the
Arctic Ocean. In the face of much discouragement from other polar explorers, Nansen took his ship Fram to the
New Siberian Islands in the eastern Arctic Ocean, froze her into the
pack ice, and waited for the drift to carry her towards the pole. Impatient with the slow speed and erratic character of the drift, after 18 months Nansen and a chosen companion,
Hjalmar Johansen, left the ship with a team of
Samoyed dogs and sledges and made for the pole. They did not reach it, but they achieved a record
Farthest North latitude of 86°13.6′N before a long retreat over ice and water to reach safety in
Franz Josef Land. Meanwhile, Fram continued to drift westward, finally emerging in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The idea for the expedition had arisen after items from the American vessel
Jeannette, which had sunk off the north coast of
Siberia in 1881, were discovered three years later off the south-west coast of
Greenland. The wreckage had obviously been carried across the polar ocean, perhaps across the pole itself. Based on this and other debris recovered from the Greenland coast, the meteorologist
Henrik Mohn developed a theory of
transpolar drift, which led Nansen to believe that a specially designed ship could be frozen in the pack ice and follow the same track as Jeannette wreckage, thus reaching the vicinity of the pole. (Full article...)
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The Gurian Republic was an insurgent community that existed between 1902 and 1906 in the western
Georgian region of
Guria (known at the time as the
Ozurget Uyezd) in the
Russian Empire. It rose from a revolt over land grazing rights in 1902. Several issues over the previous decades affecting the peasant population including taxation, land ownership and economic factors also factored into the start of the insurrection. The revolt gained further traction through the efforts of
Georgian social democrats, despite some reservations within their party over supporting a peasant movement, and grew further during the
1905 Russian Revolution.
During its existence, the Gurian Republic ignored Russian authority and established its own system of government, which consisted of assemblies of villagers meeting and discussing issues. A unique form of justice, where trial attendees voted on sentences, was introduced. While the movement broke from imperial administration, it was not
anti-Russian, desiring to remain within the Empire. (Full article...)
The region that formed the TDFR had been part of the
Russian Empire. As the empire dissolved during the 1917
February Revolution and a
provisional government took over, a similar body, called the
Special Transcaucasian Committee (Ozakom), did the same in the Caucasus. After the
October Revolution and rise of the
Bolsheviks in Russia, the
Transcaucasian Commissariat replaced the Ozakom. In March 1918, as the
First World War continued, the Commissariat initiated peace talks with the
Ottoman Empire, which had
invaded the region, but that broke down quickly as the Ottomans refused to accept the authority of the Commissariat. The
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended Russia's involvement in the war, conceded parts of the Transcaucasus to the Ottoman Empire, which pursued its invasion to take control of the territory. Faced with this imminent threat, on 22 April 1918 the Commissariat dissolved itself and established the TDFR as an independent state. A legislature, the Seim, was formed to direct negotiations with the Ottoman Empire, which had immediately recognized the state. (Full article...)
Although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant as there was little opportunity for a musical career in Russia at the time and no system of public music education. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he entered the nascent
Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching that Tchaikovsky received there set him apart from composers of the contemporary
nationalist movement embodied by the Russian composers of
The Five with whom his
professional relationship was mixed. (Full article...)
Pallas's leaf warbler is one of the smallest
Palearcticwarblers, with a relatively large head and short tail. It has greenish upperparts and white underparts, a lemon-yellow rump, and yellow double wingbars,
supercilia and central
crown stripe. It is similar in appearance to several other Asian warblers, including some that were formerly considered to be its
subspecies, although its distinctive
vocalisations aid identification. (Full article...)
Born and raised in Georgia, in the
Russian Empire, Ordzhonikidze joined the Bolsheviks at an early age and quickly rose within the ranks to become an important figure within the group. Arrested and imprisoned several times by the
Russian police, he was in Siberian exile when the
February Revolution began in 1917. Returning from exile, Ordzhonikidze took part in the
October Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power. During the subsequent
Civil War he played an active role as the leading Bolshevik in the Caucasus, overseeing the invasions of
Azerbaijan,
Armenia, and
Georgia. He backed their union into the
Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR), which helped form the
Soviet Union in 1922 and served as the
First Secretary of the TSFSR until 1926. (Full article...)
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a large
bear native to the
Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the
brown bear, and the two species can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land
carnivore, with adult males weighing 300–800 kg (660–1,760 lb). The species is
sexually dimorphic, as adult females are much smaller. The polar bear is white- or yellowish-furred with black skin and a thick layer of fat. It is more slender than the brown bear, with a narrower skull, longer neck and lower shoulder hump. Its teeth are sharper and more adapted to cutting meat. The paws are large and allow the bear to walk on ice and paddle in the water.
Polar bears are both terrestrial and
pagophilic (ice-living) and are considered to be
marine mammals due to their dependence on
marine ecosystems. They prefer the annual
sea ice but live on land when the ice melts in the summer. They are mostly carnivorous and specialized for preying on
seals, particularly
ringed seals. Such prey is typically taken by ambush; the bear may stalk its prey on the ice or in the water, but also will stay at a breathing hole or ice edge to wait for prey to swim by. The bear primarily feeds on the seal's energy-rich
blubber. Other prey include
walruses,
beluga whales and some terrestrial animals. Polar bears are usually solitary but can be found in groups when on land. During the breeding season, male bears guard females and defend them from rivals. Mothers give birth to cubs in
maternity dens during the winter. Young stay with their mother for up to two and a half years. (Full article...)
Peresvet and Pobeda were
salvaged after the Japanese captured Port Arthur and incorporated into the
Imperial Japanese Navy. Peresvet was sold back to the Russians during
World War I, as the two countries were by now allies, and sank after hitting German
mines in the Mediterranean in early 1917 while Pobeda, renamed Suwo, remained instead in Japanese service and participated in the
Battle of Tsingtao in late 1914. She became a gunnery
training ship in 1917. The ship was disarmed in 1922 to comply with the terms of the
Washington Naval Treaty and probably
scrapped around that time. (Full article...)
The Polish architect
Władysław Horodecki originally constructed the House with Chimaeras for use as his own upmarket apartment building during 1901–02. However, as the years went by, Horodecki eventually had to sell the building due to financial troubles, after which it changed ownership numerous times before finally being occupied by an official
Communist Partypolyclinic until the early 2000s. When the building was vacated, its interior and exterior decor were fully reconstructed and restored according to Horodecki's original plans. (Full article...)
During World War I, she bombarded German fortifications during the
siege of Qingdao. The Japanese government sold Tango back to the Russians at their request in 1916. She was renamed Chesma (Чесма) as her former name had been given to a
new ship. En route to the
White Sea, she joined an
Allied force that
persuaded the Greek government to disarm their ships. Her crew declared for the
Bolsheviks in October 1917, but made no effort to resist when the British captured her during the
North Russia intervention in early 1918. In poor condition, the ship was used as a
prison hulk. Abandoned by the British when they withdrew in 1919 and recaptured by the Bolsheviks, she was
scrapped in 1924. (Full article...)
A late nineteenth-century
photochrom of a reindeer sled,
Arkhangelsk,
Russia. Reindeer have been
herded for centuries by several Arctic and Subarctic people including the
Sami and the
Nenets. They are raised for their meat, hides, antlers and, to a lesser extent, for milk and transportation.
The Solovetsky Monastery is a
Russian Orthodox monastery in
Solovetsky,
Arkhangelsk,
Russia. Founded in 1436 by the monk
Zosima, the monastery grew in power into the 16th century, becoming an economic and political center of the
White Sea region and eventually hosting 350 monks. After the
Bolshevik Revolution, Soviet authorities closed down the monastery and incorporated many of its buildings into
Solovki prison camp, one of the earliest forced-labor camps of the
gulag system. The camp closed after the region's trees had been harvested. Today the monastery has been re-established, and also serves as a museum.
Saint Michael's Castle is a former royal residence in the historic centre of
Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was built for Emperor
Paul I between 1797 and 1801, and named after
Saint Michael, the patron saint of the royal family. Constructed like a castle around a small octagonal courtyard, the four facades were built in different architectural styles, including
French Classicism,
Italian Renaissance and
Gothic. The emperor was assassinated in the castle forty days after taking up residence. After his death, the imperial family returned to the
Winter Palace and the building was transferred to the Russian Army's
Main Engineering School. In 1990, it became a branch of the
Russian Museum, and now houses its portrait gallery.
Although
James Clerk Maxwell made the first color photograph in
1861, the results were far from realistic until Prokudin-Gorsky perfected the technique with a series of improvements around
1905. His process used a camera that took a series of monochrome pictures in rapid sequence, each through a different colored filter. Prokudin-Gorskii then went on to document much of the country of Russia, travelling by train in a specially equipped
darkroomrailroad car.
Photograph credit: Arto Jousi; restored by
Adam Cuerden
Yuri Gagarin (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a
Soviet Air Forces pilot and
cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into
outer space; his capsule,
Vostok 1, completed a single orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961. Gagarin became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including
Hero of the Soviet Union, his nation's highest honour. In 1967, he served as a member of the backup crew for the ill-fated
Soyuz 1 mission, after which the Russian authorities, fearing for the safety of such an iconic figure, banned him from further spaceflights. However, he was killed the following year, when the
MiG-15 training jet that he was piloting with his flight instructor
Vladimir Seryogin crashed near the town of
Kirzhach.
This photograph of Gagarin, dated July 1961, was taken at a press conference during a visit to Finland approximately three months after his spaceflight.
A map detailing the events of the 2008 South Ossetia war, which began one year ago today, when
Georgia launched an operation in the disputed region of
South Ossetia. Ossetian,
Russian, and
Abkhazian forces ejected the Georgian forces after five days of heavy fighting. All parties reached a ceasefire agreement on August 12, and Russian troops remain stationed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia to this day.
This photo of the Nilov Monastery on
Stolobny Island in
Tver Oblast,
Russia, was taken by
Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky in 1910 before the advent of colour photography. His process used a camera that took a series of
monochrome pictures in rapid sequence, each through a different coloured filter. By projecting all three monochrome pictures using correctly coloured light, it was possible to reconstruct the original colour scene.
Kikin Hall, commissioned by
Alexander Kikin in 1714, is one of the oldest buildings in
Saint Petersburg. Incomplete at the time of Kikin's execution, the building was seized by the Russian crown and used for a variety of purposes. In the 1950s,
Irina Benois arranged for the restoration of the dilapidated building. It is now home to a music school.
Alexei Leonov (1934–2019) was a Soviet
cosmonaut,
Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first human to conduct a
spacewalk, exiting the
capsule during the
Voskhod 2 mission for 12 minutes and 9 seconds. At the end of the spacewalk, his spacesuit had inflated in the vacuum of space to the point that he had great difficulty re-entering the airlock, forcing him to open a valve to deflate his suit. His second trip into space took place ten years later, when he was commander of
Soyuz 19, the Soviet half of the 1975
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, the first joint space mission between the Soviet Union and the United States. The crater
Leonov on the
far side of the Moon is named after him.
This picture shows Leonov photographed in 1974, wearing a lapel pin with a version of the emblem for the
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, which was then in development.
The first mentions of pastila in Russian written sources date back to the 16th century. The name is probably a
loanword from
Italian: pastello or pastiglia, or from the cognate
French: pastille which in turn comes from
Latin: pastillus (a loaf or pie, cf.
pastilla). (Full article...)
Not much is known about Zotov's life aside from his connection to Peter. Zotov left Moscow for a diplomatic mission to
Crimea in 1680 and returned to Moscow before 1683. He became part of the "Jolly Company", a group of several dozen of Peter's friends that eventually became
The All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters. Zotov was mockingly appointed "Prince-Pope" of the Synod, and regularly led them in games and celebrations. He accompanied Peter on many important occasions, such as the
Azov campaigns and the torture of the
Streltsy after their
uprising. Zotov held a number of state posts, including from 1701 a leading position in the Tsar's personal secretariat. Three years before his death, Zotov married a woman 50 years his junior. He died in December 1717 of unknown causes. (Full article...)
... that the founder of the Guide to the Free World, helping people leave Russia after
its invasion of Ukraine, said she was told: "It's good that you get out of Russia, but a pity that you won't be shot"?
... that street artist TVBoy, known for his murals of footballers in Barcelona, painted uplifting art in regions of
Kyiv ahead of the one-year anniversary of the
2022 Russian invasion?
I think Russian people are learning that democracy is not an alien thing; it's not a western invention. It's probably the most affordable mechanism to solve problems inside the country, inside the society because Putin proved to all of us that democracy has a world of alternatives, security forces and police and power abuse and that's why I think eventually the people of Russia will embrace democracy as the least costly institution to help them to solve their daily problems.
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