History of Siberia 240542 219630659 2008-06-16T04:12:28Z PlankBot 7310603 Robot-assisted disambiguation: Artifact - Changed link(s) to [[Artifact (archaeology)]] The '''history of [[Siberia]]''' may be traced to the sophisticated [[nomad]]ic civilizations of the [[Scythians]] ([[Pazyryk]]) and the [[Xiongnu]] ([[Noin-Ula]]), both flourishing before the Christian era. The steppes of South Siberia saw a succession of nomadic empires, including the [[Turkic Empire]] and the [[Mongol Empire]]. In the late Middle Ages, the [[Lamaist]] [[Buddhism]] spread into the areas south of [[Lake Baikal]]. A milestone in the history of the region was the arrival of Russians in the [[16th century|16th]] and [[17th century|17th centuries]], contemporaneous and in many regards analogous to the European settlement in the Americas. During the imperial period of Russian history, Siberia was an agricultural province and served as a place of exile for [[Avvakum]], [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoevsky]], and the [[Decembrist revolt|Decembrists]], among others. The [[19th century]] witnessed the construction of the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]], the industrialization and the discovery of vast reserves of Siberian mineral resources. [[Image:Surikov Pokoreniye Sibiri Yermakom.jpg|thumb|right|350px|''Yermak's Conquest of Siberia'', a painting by [[Vasily Surikov]]]] ==Pre-history== [[Image:Berg Belucha.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Mount Belukha in [[Altai Mountains]]]] According to the field of genetic genealogy, people first resided in Siberia by 45 000BP and spread out east and west to populate [[the Americas]] and [[Europe]]. The shores of all [[Siberia]]n lakes which filled the depressions during the [[Lacustrine period]] abound in remains dating from the [[Neolithic]] age. Countless ''[[kurgan]]s'' ([[tumulus|tumuli]]), furnaces, and other [[artifact (archaeology)|artifact]]s bear witness to a dense population. In fact some of the earliest [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] found in Central Asia derive from Siberia and western [[Turkistan]]<ref>''The New Encyclopaedia Britannica'', Page 724, by Philip W. Goetz, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, 1991</ref> During the great [[Great Migration|migration]]s in [[Asia]] from east to west, many populations were probably driven to the northern borders of the great [[Central Siberian Plateau]] and thence compelled to descend into Siberia. Succeeding waves of immigration forced them still farther towards the barren grounds of the north. <!--not clear what melted away: "where they melted away."--> As early as first millennium [[Before Christ|BC]] [[silk]] goods began turning up in Siberia having traveled over the [[North China Silk Road]] including the [[Hexi Trail]] segment.<ref>[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006 C.Michael Hogan, ''Silk Road, North China'', The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham]</ref> According to [[Vasily Radlov]], the earliest inhabitants of Siberia were the [[Yeniseian]]s, who spoke a language different from [[Ural-Altaic languages|Ural-Altaic]]; some traces of them ([[Yenets]] or Yeniseians, Sayan-[[Ostiaks]], and [[Kottes]]) exist in the areas of [[Sayan Mountains]]. The Yeniseians were followed by the Ugro-[[Samoyedes]], who also came originally from the high plateau and were compelled, probably during the great migration of the [[Huns]] in the [[3rd century BCE]], to cross the [[Altay Mountains|Altay]] and Sayan ranges and to enter Siberia. They are credited with leaving behind the very numerous remains dating from the [[Bronze Age]] which are scattered all over southern Siberia. [[Iron]] was unknown to them, but they excelled in [[bronze]], [[silver]], and [[gold]] work. Their bronze ornaments and implements, often polished, evince considerable artistic taste, and their irrigated fields covered wide areas in the fertile tracts. [[Image:Minusinsk.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"[[Minusinsk]] Steppe", [[Vasily Surikov]]'s painting]] Eight centuries later, [[Turkic people]]s such as [[Khakas]]es and [[Uyghur people|Uyghurs]], also compelled to migrate north-westwards from their former seats, subdued the Ugro-Samoyedes<!--please re-phrase this sentence-->. These new invaders likewise left numerous traces of their stay, and two different periods may be easily distinguished in their remains. They were acquainted with iron, and learned from their subjects the art of bronze-casting, which they used for decorative purposes only, and to which they gave a still higher artistic stamp. Their pottery is more artistic and of a higher quality than that of the Bronze period, and their ornaments are accounted included in the collections at the [[Hermitage Museum]] in [[Saint Petersburg|St.&nbsp;Petersburg]]. This Turkic empire of the Khagases must have lasted until the [[13th century]], when the [[Mongols]], under [[Genghis Khan]], subdued them and destroyed their civilisation. A decided decline is shown by the graves which have been discovered, until the country reached the low level of population at which it was found by the [[Russians]] on their arrival towards the close of the 16th century. ==Khanate== {{main|Siberia Khanate}} [[Image:Siberian Khanate map English.svg|thumb|200px|Siberian Khanate in 15th-16th centuries]] In the beginning of the 16th century [[Tatar]] fugitives from [[Turkestan]] subdued the loosely associated [[tribe]]s inhabiting the lowlands to the east of the [[Ural Mountains|Ural]]s. Agriculturists, tanners, merchants, and [[mullah]]s (priests) were called from Turkestan, and small principalities sprang up on the [[Irtysh River|Irtysh]] and the [[Ob River|Ob]]. These were united by [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Yadegar]]{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, and conflicts with the Russians, who were then colonising the Urals, brought him into collision with [[Muscovy]]. Khan Ediger's envoys came to [[Moscow]] in [[1555]] and consented to a yearly tribute of a thousand sables. ==Novgorod and Muscovy== As early as the [[11th century]] the [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorodians]] had occasionally penetrated into Siberia. In the 14th century the Novgorodians explored the [[Kara Sea]] and the West-Siberian river [[Ob River|Ob]] (1364).<ref>The Novgorodian ''Karamzin Annal. The Full Collection of the Rissian Annals. Vol.22. St.Petersburg, 2002 </ref> After the fall of [[Novgorod Republic]] its communications between Northern Russia and Siberia have been inherited by [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Moscow]]. On May, 9, 1483 the Moscow troops of princes Feodor Kurbski-Cherny and Ivan Saltyk-Travin moved to West Siberia. The troops moved on the rivers [[Tavda River|Tavda]], Tura, Irtysh up to the river Ob. 1499 Muscovites and Novgorodians skied to West Siberia up to river Ob and subdued some local tribes.<ref>Каргалов В. Московские воеводы XVI-XVII веков. М.2002</ref> In 1570s the entrepreneur [[Stroganov]] in [[Perm]] enlisted many [[cossacks]] for protection of the Urals settlements against attacks of the Siberian Tatars. Stroganov suggested to their chief [[Yermak Timofeyevich|Yermak]] to conquer the [[Siberia Khanate]], promising to help him with supplies of food and arms. <!--The relation of defeated Novgorodians (1470s) and Don Cossack Ermak (1580s) is ABSURDITY: "but the fall of the Novgorod Republic and the loss of its north-eastern dependencies checked the advance of the Russians across the Urals. On the defeat of an insurrection, many who were unwilling to submit to the iron rule of Moscow made their way to the settlements of entrepreneur [[Stroganov]] in [[Perm]], and tradition has it that, in order to get rid of his guests, Stroganov suggested to their chief, [[Yermak Timofeyevich|Yermak]], that he should cross the Urals into Siberia, promising to help him with supplies of food and arms."--> ==Yermak and the Cossacks== {{Main|Russian conquest of Siberia}} [[Image:Yermak Timofeyevich.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Yermak Timofeyevich]]]] [[Yermak Timofeyevich|Yermak]] entered Siberia in [[1580]] with a band of 1,636&nbsp;men, following the [[Tagil River|Tagil]] and [[Tura River]]s. The following year they were on the [[Tobol River|Tobol]], and 500&nbsp;men successfully laid siege to [[Qashliq|Isker]], the residence of Khan [[Kuchum]], in the neighbourhood of what is now [[Tobolsk]]. Kuchum fled to the steppes, abandoning his domains to Yermak, who, according to tradition, purchased by the present of Siberia to tsar [[Ivan IV of Russia|Ivan IV]] his own restoration to favour. Yermak drowned in the Irtysh in [[1584]] and his [[Cossack]]s abandoned Siberia. But new bands of hunters and adventurers, supported by Moscow, poured every year into the country. To avoid conflicts with the denser populations of the south, they preferred to advance eastwards along higher latitudes; meanwhile, Moscow erected [[fort]]s and settled labourers around them to supply the [[garrison]]s with food. Within eighty years the Russians had reached the [[Amur]] and the [[Pacific Ocean]]. This rapid conquest is accounted for by the circumstance that neither Tatars nor Turks were able to offer any serious resistance. ==Imperial Russian expansion== The main treasure to attract Cossacks to Siberia was fur of [[sable]]s, [[fox]]es, and [[ermine]]s. Explorers brought back many furs from their expeditions. Local people, submitting to Russia, received defense by Cossacs from the southern nomads. In exchange they were obliged to pay ''[[yasak]]'' (tax) in form of furs. There was a set of ''yasachnaya'' roads, used to transport yasak to Moscow. A number of peoples showed open resistance to Russians. Others submitted and even requested to be subordinated, though sometimes they later refused to pay yasak, or not admitted the Russian authority.<ref name="zuev">Зуев А. С. «Русская политика в отношении аборигенов крайнего Северо-Востока Сибири (XVIII в.) » // Вестник НГУ. Серия: История, филология. Т. 1. Вып. 3: История / Новосиб. гос. ун-т. Новосибирск, 2002. C. 14–24.<br /> Zuyev A. S. ''Russian Policy Towards the Aborigines of the Extreme North-East of Russia (18th century)'' // Vestnik NGU. History and Philosophy, vol. 1, issue 3: History / [[Novosibirsk State University]], 2002. P. 14-24. [http://www.zaimka.ru/07_2002/zuev_policy/ Online version]</ref> There is evidence of collaboration and assimilation of Russians with the local peoples in Siberia<ref name="skobelev">Скобелев С. Г. «Межэтнические контакты славян с их соседями в Средней Сибири в XVII-XIX вв.» Skobelev S. G. ''Intraethnic Contacts of Slavs with Their Neighbours in the Central Siberia in the 17th-19th centuries. ? [http://www.zaimka.ru/to_sun/skobelev_6.shtml Online version]</ref> though the more they advanced to the East, the less local people were developed and the more resistance they offered. The most resistant groups were [[Koryak]] and [[Chukchi people|Chukchi]] (in [[Chukchi Peninsula]]), the latter still being at the [[Stone Age]] level of development.<ref name="chukchi">According to Зуев А. С. «Немирных чукчей искоренить вовсе…» // [http://www.istrodina.com/ Родина], №1, 1998.<br />Zuyev A. S. ''Unpeaceful Chukchi are to be Eradicated...'' // [http://www.istrodina.com/ Rodina], #1, 1998. [http://www.zaimka.ru/to_sun/chukchi.shtml Online version]</ref> [[Image:Baikal sea.gif|thumb|right|300px|An antique map of [[Irkutsk]] and [[Lake Baikal]] in its neighbourhood]] In 1607&ndash;1610, the [[Tungus]] fought strenuously for their independence, but were subdued around [[1623]]. In [[1628]], the Russians reached the [[Lena River|Lena]], founded the fort of [[Yakutsk]] in [[1637]], and two years later reached the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] at the mouth of the [[Ulya River]]. The [[Buryats]] offered some opposition, but between [[1631]] and [[1641]] the Cossacks erected several palisaded forts in their territory, and in [[1648]] the fort on the upper [[Uda River, Buryatia|Uda River]] beyond [[Lake Baikal]]. In [[1643]], [[Vassili Poyarkov]]'s boats descended the Amur, returning to Yakutsk by the Sea of Okhotsk and the [[Aldan River]], and in [[1649]]&ndash;[[1650]] [[Yerofey Khabarov]] established the fort of [[Albazin]] on the bank of the Amur. [[Russian-Manchu border conflicts|The Manchu resistance]], however, obliged the Cossacks to quit Albazin, and by the [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]] ([[1689]]) Russia abandoned her advance into the basin of the river, instead concentrating on the colonisation of the vast expanses of Siberia and trading with China via the [[Siberian trakt]]. In [[1852]] a Russian military expedition under [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky|Nikolay Muravyov]] explored the Amur, and by [[1857]] a chain of Russian Cossacks and peasants were settled along the whole course of the river. The accomplished fact was recognised by China in [[1860]] by the [[Treaty of Aigun]]. In the same year in which Khabarov explored the Amur (1648), the Cossack [[Semyon Dezhnev]] sailed from the [[Kolyma River]] around the north-eastern extremity of Asia through the strait which was rediscovered and described eighty years later by [[Vitus Bering|Bering]]. [[James Cook]] in [[1778]], and [[Jean-François de La Pérouse|La Pérouse]] after him, settled definitively the broad features of the northern Pacific coast. Although the [[Arctic Ocean]] had been reached as early as the first half of the 17th century, the exploration of its coasts by a series of expeditions under [[Dmitry Ovtsyn]], [[Fyodor Minin]], [[Vasili Pronchishchev]], Lasinius, and [[Laptev]]&mdash;whose labours constitute a brilliant page in the annals of geographical discovery&mdash;was begun only in the [[18th century]] ([[1735]]&ndash;[[1739]]). [[Image:Omsk Tarskiye gates.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Tara Gate in [[Omsk]] city, formerly a part of the Omsk fortress]] ==Scientists in Siberia== The scientific exploration of Siberia, commenced in the period of [[1733]] to [[1742]] by [[Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt|Messerschmidt]], [[Johann Georg Gmelin|Gmelin]], and [[Louis de l'Isle de la Croyere|De L'isle de la Croyere]], was followed up by [[Gerhardt Friedrich Müller|Müller]], Fischer, and [[Johann Gottlieb Georgi|Georgi]]. [[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], with several Russian students, laid the first foundation of a thorough exploration of the topography, fauna, flora, and inhabitants of the country. The journeys of [[Christopher Hansteen]] and [[Georg Adolf Erman]] were the most important step in the exploration of the territory. [[Alexander von Humboldt|Humboldt]], [[Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg|Ehrenberg]], and [[Gustav Rose]] also paid short visits to Siberia, which gave a new impulse to the accumulation of scientific knowledge; while [[Carl Ritter|Ritter]] elaborated in his ''Asien'' ([[1832]]&ndash;[[1859]]) the foundations of a sound knowledge of the structure of Siberia. [[Aleksandr Fyodorovich Middendorf|T von Middendorff]]'s journey ([[1843]]&ndash;[[1845]]) to north-eastern Siberia&mdash;contemporaneous with [[Matthias Castrén|Castrén]]'s journeys for the special study of the Ural-Altaic languages&mdash;directed attention to the far north and awakened interest in the Amur, the basin of which soon became the scene of the expeditions of Akhte and Schwarz ([[1852]]), and later on of the Siberian expedition, advanced knowledge of East Siberia. The Siberian branch of the [[Russian Geographical Society]] was founded at the same time in Irkutsk, and afterwards became a permanent centre for the exploration of Siberia; while the opening of the Amur and [[Sakhalin]] attracted Maack, Schmidt, Glehn, [[Gustav Radde|Radde]], and [[Leopold von Schrenck|Schrenck]], whose created works on the flora, fauna, and inhabitants of Siberia. ==Early settlement== [[Image:Y-ostrog.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The 17th-century tower of [[Yakutsk]] fort.]] In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Russians that migrated into Siberia were hunters, and those who had escaped from the Central Russia: fugitive peasants in search for life free of [[Russian serfdom|serfdom]], fugitive convicts, and [[Old Believers]]. The new settlements of Russians and the existing local peoples required defence from nomads, for which forts were found. This way were found forts of [[Tomsk]] and [[Berdsk]]. In the beginning of the eighteenth century the nomads' threat weakened; thus the region became more and more populated; normal civic life was established in the cities. ==Established life== In the eighteenth century in Siberia, a new administrative ''[[guberniya]]'' was formed with [[Irkutsk]], then in the nineteenth century the territory was several times re-divided with creation of new guberniyas: Tomsk (with center in [[Tomsk]]) and Yenisei ([[Yeniseysk]], later [[Krasnoyarsk]]). In the [[1730]], the first large industrial project&mdash;the metallurgical production found by [[Demidov]] family&mdash;gave birth to the city of [[Barnaul]]. Later, the enterprise organized social institutions like library, club, theatre. [[Pyotr Semenov-Tyan-Shansky]], who stayed in [[Barnaul]] in [[1856]]&ndash;[[1857]] wrote: ''"The richness of mining engineers of Barnaul expressed not merely in their households and clothes, but more in their educational level, knowledge of science and literature. Barnaul was undoubtedly the most cultured place in Siberia, and I've called it Siberian [[Athenes]], leaving [[Sparta]] for Omsk"''.<ref name="semyonov-tyan-shansky">Семенов-Тян-Шанский П.П. Мемуары. Т. 2. М., 1946. С. 56-57, 126. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky P. P. ''Memoirs'', vol. 2. Moscow, 1946. P. 56-57, 126.</ref> The same events took place in other cities; public libraries, museums of local lore, colleges, theatres were being built, although the first university in Siberia was opened as late as 1880 in [[Tomsk]]. Siberian [[peasant]]s more than those in European Russia relied on their own force and abilities. They had to fight against the harder climate without outside help. Lack of serfdom and landlords also contributed to their independent character. Unlike peasants in European Russia, Siberians had no problems with land availability; the low population density gave them the ability to intensively cultivate a plot for several years in a row, then to leave it fallow for a long time and cultivate other plots. Siberian peasants had an abundance of food, while Central Russian peasantry had to moderate their families' appetites. [[Leonid Blummer]] noted that the culture of alcohol consumption differed significantly; Siberian peasants drank frequently but moderately: ''For a Siberian vodka isn't a wonder, unlike for a Russian peasant, which, having reached it after all this time, is ready to drink a sea.'' The houses, according to the travellers' notes, were unlike the typical Russian [[izba]]s: the houses were big, often two-floored, the ceilings were high, the walls were covered with boards and painted with oil-paint.<ref name="startsev">A large article that quotes [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]] and [[Leonid Blummer|Blummer]] on Siberia:<br /><br /> [http://zaimka.ru/08_2002/startsev_homosibiricus/ Старцев А. В. Homo Sibiricus] // Земля Сибирь. Новосибирск. 1992. № 5–6.<br /> [http://zaimka.ru/08_2002/startsev_homosibiricus/ Startsev A. V. Homo Sibiricus] // Zemlya Sibir'. Novosibirsk, 1992. #5-6.</ref> ==Decembrists and other exiles== Siberia was deemed a good place to exile for political reasons, as it was far from any foreign country. A [[Saint Petersburg|St.&nbsp;Petersburg]] citizen would not wish to escape in vast Siberian countryside as the peasants and criminals did. Even the larger cities such as Irkutsk, Omsk, and Krasnoyarsk, lacked that intensive social life and luxurious high life of the capital. About eighty people involved in the [[Decembrist revolt]] were sentenced to obligatory work in Siberia and perpetual settlement here. Eleven wives followed them and settled near the labour camps. In their memoirs, they noted the benevolence and the prosperity of rural Siberians and severe treatment by the soldiers and officers. [[Image:Omsk Decembrists Memorial Plate.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A memorial tablet in Omsk city says: In this building in the Main Administration of Western Siberia in 1826-1841 worked the decembrists S. M. Semyonov, N. A. Chizhov, N. V. Basargin.]] ''Travelling through Siberia, I was wondered and fascinated at every step by the cordiality and hospitality I met everywhere. I was fascinated by the richness and the abundance, with which the people live until today (1861), but that time there was even more expanse in evertything. Khe hospitality was especially developed in Siberia. Everywhere we were received like being in friendly countries, everywhere we were fed well, and when I asked how much I owed them, they didn't want to take anything, saying "Put a candle to the God".'' ''...Siberia is extremely rich country, the land is ususually fruitful, and a few work is needed to get a plentiful harvest.'' Polina Annenkova, Notes of a Decembrist's Wife<ref name="annenkova">Анненкова П. Е., «Записки жены декабриста». [http://decemb.hobby.ru/index.shtml?memory/annenk Онлайновая версия текста] Воспроизводится по: «Своей судьбой гордимся мы». Иркутск, Восточно-Сибирское книжное издательство, 1973 г. Annenkova P. ''Notes of a Decembrist's Wife''. [http://decemb.hobby.ru/index.shtml?memory/annenk Online version] reproduced by ''We Are Proud of Our Destiny'', Irkutsk, Vostochno-Sibirskoye izdatelstvo, 1973.</ref> A number of Decembrists died of diseases, some suffered psychological shock and even went out of their mind. After completing the term of obligatory work, they were sentenced to settle in specific small towns and villages. There, some started doing business, which was well permitted. Only several years later, in the [[1840s]], they were allowed to move to big cities or to settle anywhere in Siberia. Only in 1856, 31&nbsp;years after the revolt, [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] pardoned and restituted the Decembrists in honour of his coronation. Living in the cities of Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Irkutsk, the Decembrists contributed extensively to the social life and culture. In Irkutsk, their houses are now the museums. In many places, memorial plaques with their names have been installed. [[Image:Omsk Dostoyevskiy Monument.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Monument to [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoevsky]] in [[Omsk]]]] Yet, there were exceptions: [[Vladimir Fedoseevich Raevskiy|Vladimir Raevskiy]] was arrested for participation in Decembrists' circles in 1822, and in 1828 was exiled to [[Olonki]] village near Irkutsk. There he married and had nine children, traded with bread, and founded a school for children and adults to teach arythmetics and grammar. Being pardoned by Alexander II, he visited his native town, but returned back to Olonki. Despite the wishes of the central authorities, the exiled revolutioners unlikely felt outcast in Siberia. Quite the contrary, Siberians having lived all the time on their own, "didn't feel tenderness" to the authorities. In many cases, the exiled were cordially received and got paid positions.<ref name="startsev" /> [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]] was exiled to [[katorga]] near Omsk and to military service in [[Semipalatinsk]]. In the service he also had to make trips for [[Barnaul]] and [[Novokuznetsk|Kuznetsk]], where he married. [[Anton Chekhov]] was not exiled, but in [[1890]] made a trip on his own to Sakhalin through Siberia and visited a katorga there. In his trip, he visited Tomsk, speaking disapprovingly about it, then Krasnoyarsk, which he called ''"the most beautiful Siberian city"''. He noted that despite being more a place of criminal rather than political exile, the moral atmosphere was much better: he did not face any case of theft. Blummer suggested to prepare a gun, but his attendant replied: ''What for?! We are not in Italy, you know.'' Chekhov observed that besides of the evident prosperity, there was an urgent demand for cultural development.<ref name="startsev" /> [[Image:Krasnoyarsk prosp Mira 98.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[Krasnoyarsk]] has preserved the historical centre full of houses in the 19th century style.]] Many [[Poles]] were also exiled to Siberia (see ''[[Sybiraks]]''). ==Trans-Siberian Railway== {{main|Trans-Siberian Railway}} The development of the Siberia was hampered by poor transportation links within the region as well as between Siberia and the rest of the country. Aside from the [[Sibirsky trakt]], good roads suitable for wheeled transport were few and far apart. For about five months of the year, rivers were the main means of transportation; during the cold half of the year, cargo and passengers travelled by horse-drawn [[sled]]s over the winter roads, many of which were the same rivers, now ice-covered. The first steamboat on the [[Ob]], Nikita Myasnikov's "Osnova", was launched in 1844; but the early starts were difficult, and it was not until 1857 that steamboat shipping started developing in the Ob system in the serious way. Steamboats started operating on the [[Yenisei]] in 1863, on the [[Lena]] and [[Amur]] in the 1870s. While the comparably flat Western Siberia was at least fairly well served by the gigantic [[Ob]]-[[Irtysh]]-[[Tobol]]-[[Chulym]] river system, the mighty rivers of Eastern Siberia -- [[Yenisei]], [[Upper Angara River]] ([[Angara River]] below [[Bratsk]] was not easily navigable because of the rapids), [[Lena]] -- were mostly navigable only in the north-south direction. An attempt to somewhat remedy the situation by building the [[Ob-Yenisei Canal]] were not particularly successful. Only a railroad could be a real solution to the region's transportation problems. <!--orphan ref: <ref name="problemregions">Based on a chapter of: Problem Regions of Resourse Type: Economical Integration of European North-East, Ural and Siberia. / Managing editors: V. V. Alexeev, M. K. Bandman, V. V. Kuleshov — Novosibirsk, [http://ieie.nsc.ru IEIE], 2002. ISBN 5-89665-060-4</ref> --> The first projects of railroads in Siberia emerged since the creation of the [[Moscow]]&ndash;[[Saint Petersburg|St.&nbsp;Petersburg]] railroad. One of the first was [[Irkutsk]]&ndash;[[Chita, Russia|Chita]] project, intended to connect the former to the [[Amur River]] and, consequently, to the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Prior to [[1880]] the central government seldom responded to such projects, due to the weakness of Siberian enterprises, fear of Siberian territories' integration with the Pacific region rather than with Russia, and thus falling under the influence of the [[United States]] and [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]]. The heavy and clumsy bureaucracy and the fear of financial risks also contributed to the inaction: the financial system always underestimated the effects of the railway, assuming that it would take only the existing traffic. Namely the fear to lose Siberia convinced [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] in [[1880]] to make a decision to build the railway. The construction started in [[1891]]. Trans-Siberian Railroad gave a great boost to Siberian agriculture, allowing for increased exports to Central Russia and European countries. It pushed not only the territories closest to the railway, but also those connected with meridional rivers, such as the [[Ob River|Ob]] ([[Altai Krai|Altai]]) and the [[Yenisei]] ([[Minusinsk]] and [[Abakan]] regions). [[Image:Tomsk Lenin Avenue.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Tomsk]] was the largest Siberian city by the end of the 19th century, but was left aside of the Trans-Siberian Railway.]] Siberian agriculture exported a lot of cheap [[grain]] to the West. The agriculture in Central Russia was still under pressure of serfdom, [[emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia|formally abandoned]] in 1861. Thus, to defend it and to prevent possible social destabilization, in [[1896]] (when the eastern and western parts of the Trans-Siberian did not close up yet), the government introduced [[Chelyabinsk tariff break]] ({{lang|ru|Челябинский тарифный перелом}})&mdash;a tariff barier for grain in [[Chelyabinsk]], and a similar barrier in [[Manchuria]]. This measure changed the form of cereal product export: mills emerged in Altai, [[Novosibirsk]], and Tomsk; many farms switched to [[butter]] production. From 1896 to [[1913]] Siberia on average exported 30.6 million [[pood]]s (~500,000&nbsp;tonnes) of cereal products (grain, flour) annually.<ref name="hramkov">Храмков А. А. Железнодорожные перевозки хлеба из Сибири в западном направлении в конце XIX — начале XX вв. // [http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/predpri3/index.html Предприниматели и предпринимательство в Сибири. Вып.3]: Сборник научных статей. Барнаул: Изд-во АГУ, 2001.<br /> Khramkov A. A. Railroad Transportation of Cereal Products from Siberia to the West in the Late 19th — Early 20th Centuries. // [http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/predpri3/index.html Entrepreneurs and Business Undertakings in Siberia. 3rd issue]. Collection of scientific articles. Barnaul: Altai State University publishing house, 2001. ISBN 5-7904-0195-3</ref> ==Stolypin's resettlement programme== One early significant settlement campaign was carried out under [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] by Prime Minister [[Stolypin]] in [[1906]]&ndash;[[1911]]. The rural areas of Central Russia were overcrowded, while the East was still lightly populated despite having fertile lands. On [[May 10]], [[1906]], by the decree of the Tsar, agriculturalists were granted the right to transfer, without any restrictions, to the Asian territories of Russia, and to obtain cheap or free land. A large advertising campaign was conducted: six million copies of brochures and banners entitled ''What the resettlement gives to peasants'', and ''How the peasants in Siberia live'' were printed and distributed in rural areas. Special propaganda trains were sent throughout the countryside, and transport trains were provided for the migrants. The State gave loans to the settlers for farm construction. Not all the settlers decided to stay; 17.8% migrated back. All in all, more than three million people officially resettled in Siberia, and 750,000&nbsp;came as foot-messengers. From 1897 to 1914 Siberian population increased&nbsp;73%, and the area of land under cultivation doubled.<ref name="stolypinresettlement">Section is based on: И. Воронов. Столыпин и русская Сибирь / Экономика и жизнь (Сибирь), № 189, 19.05.2003. I. Voronov. ''Stolypin and Russian Siberia'' / Economics and Life (Siberia), #189, 19/05/2003. [http://www.ecolife.krsk.ru/content.asp?id=2590 Online version]</ref> [[Image:Gorskii 03965u.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii|Prokudin-Gorsky's]] picture of [[windmill]]s in Western Siberia]] ==The Civil War== By the time of the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|revolution]] Siberia was an agricultural region of Russia, with weak entrepreneur and industrial class. The [[intelligentsia]] had vague political ideas. Only 13%<ref name="shilovsky1">[http://history.nsc.ru/kapital/publ/kataklism.html Шиловский М.В. Политические процессы в Сибири в период социальных катаклизмов 1917-1920 гг.] — Новосибирск, ИД "Сова", 2003.<br />[http://history.nsc.ru/kapital/publ/kataklism.html Shilovsky M. V. The Political Processes in Siberia in the Period of Social Cataclysms of 1917-1920s]. — Novosibirsk, "Sova" publishing house, 2003. ISBN 5-87550-150-2</ref> of the region's population lived in the cities and possessed some political knowledge. The lack of strong social difference, scarcity of urban population and intellectuals led to uniting of formally different political parties under ideas of regionalism.<ref name="shilovsky2">[http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/borod2/6-34.html#note12 Шиловский М. В. Консолидация "демократической" контрреволюции в Сибири весной-летом 1919 г.] // Актуальные вопросы истории Сибири. Вторые научные чтения памяти проф. А.П. Бородавкина: Материалы конф. Барнаул: Изд-во Алт. ун-та, 2000. 421 с.<br />[http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/borod2/6-34.html#note12 Shilovsky M. V. Consolidation of the "Democratic" Counter-Revolution in Siberia in the Spring-Summer 1919] // Questions of Siberian History of Current Importance. The Second Scientific Conference devoted to prof. A. P. Borodavkin. — Barnaul, Altai State University, 2000. ISBN 5-7904-0149-X</ref> The anti-Bolsheviks forces failed to offer a united resistance. While [[Kolchak]] fought against the [[Bolsheviks]] intending to eliminate them in the capital of the Empire, the local [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party|Socialists-Revolutioners]] and [[Mensheviks]] tried to sign a peaceful treaty with Bolsheviks, on terms of independence. The foreign allies, though being able to make a decisive effort, preferred to stay neutral, although Kolchak himself rejected the offer of help from [[Japan]]. : ''For more detailed chronology of the civil war in Siberia, see articles on [[Aleksandr Kolchak]] and [[Siberian Intervention]]'' After a series of defeats in the Central Russia, Kolchak's forces had to retreat to Siberia. The resistance of SR-s and waning support from the allies, the Whites had to evacuate from Omsk to Irkutsk, and finally Kolchak resigned under pressure of SR-s, who soon submitted to [[Bolsheviks]]. ==1920s and 1930s== By the 1920s the agriculture in Siberia was in decline. With the large number of immigrants, land was used very intensively, which led to exhaustion of the land and frequent bad harvests.<ref name="mikhalin">[http://www.zaimka.ru/06_2002/mihalin_rural/ Михалин В. А. Из истории изучения сельского хозяйства Сибири в начале 1920-х гг. (записка Н. Я. Новомбергского)] // Сибирь в XVII–XX веках: Проблемы политической и социальной истории: Бахрушинские чтения 1999–2000 гг.; Межвуз. сб. науч. тр. / Под ред. В. И. Шишкина. Новосиб. гос. ун-т. Новосибирск, 2002.<br /> [http://www.zaimka.ru/06_2002/mihalin_rural/ Mikhalin V. A. From the History of Siberian Agriculture Studies in the Early 1920-s (N. Ya. Novombergskiy's Note)] // Siberia in the XVII-XX centuries: Problems of the Political and Social History. — Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, 2002.</ref> Agriculture wasn't destroyed by the civil war, but the disorganization of the exports destroyed the food industry and reduced the peasants' incomes. Furthermore, [[prodrazvyorstka]] and then the natural food tax contributed to growing discontent. In [[1920]]-[[1924]] there was a number of anti-communistic riots in rural areas, with up to 40,000 people involved.<ref name="shishkin">[http://www.zaimka.ru/power/shishkin7.shtml Шишкин В. И. Партизанско-повстанческое движение в Сибири в начале 1920-х годов] // Гражданская война в Сибири. — Красноярск, 1999. C. 161–172.<br /> [http://www.zaimka.ru/power/shishkin7.shtml Shishkin V. I. Partisan-Rebellious Movement in Siberia in the Early 1920s] //The Civil War in Siberia. — Krasnoyarsk, 1999. P. 161-172.</ref> Both old Whites (Cossacks) and old "Reds" partisans, who earlier fought against Kolchak, the marginals, who were the major force of the Communists, took part in the riots. According to a survey of [[1927]] in [[Irkutsk Oblast]], the peasants openly said they'd participate in anti-Soviet rebel and hoped for the foreign help.<ref name="isayev">[http://www.zaimka.ru/08_2002/isaev_extremism/ Исаев В. И. Военизация молодежи и молодежный экстремизм в Сибири (1920-е — начало 1930-х гг.)] // Вестник НГУ. Серия: История, филология. Т. 1. Вып. 3: История / Новосиб. гос. ун-т. Новосибирск, 2002.<br /> [http://www.zaimka.ru/08_2002/isaev_extremism/ Isayev V. I. Militarization of the Youth and Youth Extremism in Siberia (1920s - early 1930s).] // Vestnik NGU. History and philosophy series. Vol. 1, Issue 3: History. / Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, 2002.</ref> It should be noticed also that the Soviet authorities [[NKVD Order № 00593|declared by a special order]] the [[KVZhD]] builders and workers [[enemies of the people]]. The youth, that had socialized in the age of war, was highly militarized, and the Soviet government pushed the further military propaganda by [[Komsomol]]. There are many documented evidences of "red banditism", especially in the countryside, such as desecration of churches and Christian graves, and even murders of priests and believers. Also in many cases a Komsomol activist or an authority representative, speaking with a person opposed to the Soviets, got angry and killed him/her and anybody else. The Party faintly counteracted this.<ref name="isayev"/> In [[1930s]], the Party started the [[Collectivization in the USSR|collectivization]], which automatically put the "[[kulak]]" label on the well-off families living in Siberia for a long time. Naturally, ''raskulachivanie'' applied to everyone who protested. From the Central Russia many families were exiled in low-populated, forest or swampy areas of Siberia, but those who lived here, had either to escape anywhere, or to be exiled in the Northern regions (such as [[Evenk Autonomous Okrug|Evenk]] and [[Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug]]s and the northern parts of [[Tomsk Oblast]]). Collectivization destroyed the traditional and most effective stratum of the peasants in Siberia and the natural ways of development, and it's consequences are still persisting.<ref name="karlov">[http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/borod2/44-216.html Карлов С. В. К вопросу о ликвидации кулачества в Хакасии (начало 30-х гг.)] // Актуальные вопросы истории Сибири. Вторые научные чтения памяти проф. А.П. Бородавкина: Материалы конф. Барнаул: Изд-во Алт. ун-та, 2000. 421 с.<br />[http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/borod2/44-216.html Karlov S. V. On the Liquidation of Kulaks in Khakassia (Early 1930s)] // Questions of Siberian History of Current Importance. The Second Scientific Conference devoted to prof. A. P. Borodavkin. — Barnaul, Altai State University, 2000. ISBN 5-7904-0149-X </ref> [[Image:Teatro novosibirsk 1945.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre]] has the largest building (1945) in Russia]] In the cities, during the [[New Economic Policy|NEP]] and later, the new authorities, driven by the romantic socialistic ideas made attempts to build new socialistic cities, according to the fashionable [[Constructivism (art)|constructivism]] movement, but after all have left only numbers of square houses. For example, the [[Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre|Novosibirsk theatre]] was initially designed in pure constructivistic style. It was an ambitious project of exiled architects. In the mid-1930s with introduction of [[Stalinist architecture|new classicism]], it was significantly redesigned. After the Trans-Siberian was built, [[Omsk]] soon became the largest Siberian city, but in 1930s Soviets favoured [[Novosibirsk]]. In the [[1930s]] the first heavy industrialization took place in the [[Kuznetsk Basin]] ([[coal mining]] and [[ferrous]] [[metallurgy]]) and at [[Norilsk]] ([[nickel]] and other [[rare-earth metals]]). The [[Northern Sea Route]] saw industrial application. The same time, with growing number of prisoners, [[Gulag]] established a large network of labour camps in Siberia. == World War II == [[Image:The Last OLP (Separated Forced Labor Camp).jpg|thumb|right|240px|An abandoned labor camp in Siberia. Painting by [[Nikolai Getman]], provided by [[Jamestown Foundation]] ]] In [[1941]], many enterprises and people were evacuated into Siberian cities by the railroads. In urgent need of ammunition and military equipment, they started working right after being unloaded near the stations. The workshops' buildings were built simultaneously with work. Most of the evacuated enterprises remained at their new sites after the war. They increased industrial production in Siberia to a great extent, and became constitutive for many cities, like [[Rubtsovsk]]. The most Eastern city to receive them was [[Ulan-Ude]], since [[Chita, Russia|Chita]] was considered dangerously close to [[China]] and [[Japan]]. On [[August 28]], [[1941]] the Supreme Soviet stated an order "About the Resettlement of the [[Volga German|Germans of Volga region]]", by which many of them were deported into different rural areas of Kazakhstan and Siberia. By the end of war, thousands of captive soldiers and officers of German and Japanese armies were sentenced to several years of work in labour camps in all the regions of Siberia. These camps were directed by a different administration than [[Gulag]]. Though, Soviet camps hadn't the purpose to lead prisoners to death, the death rate was significant, especially in winters. The range of works differed from vegetable farming to construction of the [[Baikal Amur Mainline]]. ==Industrial expansion== In the second half of the twentieth century, the exploration of mineral and hydroenergetic resources continued. Many of these projects were planned, but were delayed due to wars and the ever changing opinions of Soviet policans. [[Image:Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric station.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric powerstation]] The most famous project is [[Baikal Amur Mainline]]. It was planned simultaneously with Trans-Siberian, but the construction began just before the WWII, was put on hold during the war and restarted after. After [[Stalin]]'s death, it was again suspended for years to be continued under [[Brezhnev]]. The cascade of [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelecric powerplants]] was built in 1960s&ndash;1970s on the [[Angara River]], a project similar to [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] in the United States. The powerplants allowed the creation and support of large production facilities, such as the alluminium plant in [[Bratsk]], [[Ust-Ilimsk]], rare-earth mining in Angara basin, and those associated with the timber industry. The price of electricity in Angara basin is the lowest in Russia. But the Angara cascade is not fully finished yet: the [[Boguchany (village)|Boguchany]] powerplant waits to be finished, and a series of enterprises will be set up. The downside of this development is the ecological damage due to the low standards of production and excessive sizes of dams (the bigger projects were favoured by the industrial authorities and received more funding), the increased humidity sharpened the already hard climate. Another powerplant project on [[Katun River]] in [[Altai]] mountains in the [[1980s]], which was widely protested publicly, was cancelled. There are a number of military-oriented centers like the [[Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Oblast|NPO Vektor]] and [[ZATO|closed cities]] like [[Seversk]]. By the end of [[1980s]] a large portion of the industrial production of [[Omsk]] and [[Novosibirsk]] (up to 40%) was composed of military and aviation output. The collapse of state-funded military orders began an economic crisis. [[Image:Akademgorodok Airphoto.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Akademgorodok]], a scientific town near Novosibirsk]] The Siberian Branch of [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] unites a lot of research institutes in the biggest cities, the biggest being the [[Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics]] in [[Akademgorodok]] (a scientific town) near [[Novosibirsk]]. Other scientific towns or just districts composed by research institutes, also named ''Akademgorodok'', are in the cities of [[Tomsk]], [[Krasnoyarsk]] and [[Irkutsk]]. These sites are the centers of the newly developed IT industry, especially in [[Akademgorodok|that of Novosibirsk]], nicknamed '''Silicon Taiga''', and in [[Tomsk]]. A number of Siberian-based companies extended their businesses of various consumer products to meta-regional and an All-Russian level. Various Siberian artists and industries, have created communities that are not centralized in Moscow anymore, like the [http://www.idea.ru Idea] (annual low-budged ads festival), [http://zkapitel.ru Golden Capital] (annual prize in architecture). == Future prospects == [[Image:Novosibirsk Kommunisticheskaya 50.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A new (2003) apartment building in Novosibirsk]] Until the completion of the [[Chita, Russia|Chita]]-[[Khabarovsk]] highway, the Transbaikalia was a dead end for automobile transport. While this recently constructed through road will at first benefit mostly the transit travel to and form the Pacific provinces, it will also boost settlement and industrial expansion in the scarsely populated regions of [[Chita Oblast|Chita]] and [[Amur Oblast|Blagoveshchensk]]. Expansion of transportation networks will continue to define the directions of Siberian regional development. The next project to be carried out is the completion of the railroad branch to [[Yakutsk]]. Another large project, proposed already in the 19th century as a northern option for the [[Transsiberian]] railroad, is the Northern-Siberian Railroad between [[Nizhnevartovsk]], [[Bely Yar, Tomsk Oblast|Belyi Yar]], [[Lesosibirsk]] and [[Ust-Ilimsk]]. The Russian Railroads instead suggest an ambitious project of a railway to [[Magadan]], Chukchi Penunsula and then the supposed [[Bering Strait bridge|Bering Strait Tunnel]] to [[Alaska]]. While the Russians continue to migrate from the [[Siberian Federal District|Siberian]] and [[Far Eastern Federal District]]s to Western Russia, the Siberian cities attract labour (legal or illegal) from the Central Asian republics and from China. While the natives are aware of the situation, in Western Russia myths about [[Chinese people in Russia|thousands and millions of Chinese]] living in the Transbaikalia and the Far East are widespread.<ref>According to the [[Russian Census (2002)|2002 Census]], merely 34,500 residents of Russia (both Russian and foreign citizens) self-identified as [[Chinese people in Russia|ethnic Chinese]], and about half of them lived in Western Russia (mostly Moscow). The census reported 30,600 Chinese citizens residing in Russia. In the opinion of some experts, this may be an undercount: e.g., Zhanna Zayonchkovskaya, the chief of the Population Migration Laboratory of the National Economic Forecasting Institute of [[Russian Academy of Sciences]], estimated the total number of Chinese present in Russia at any given point (as resident or visitors) at about 400,000 persons, much smaller than ill-educated guess of 2 million given by [[Izvestiya]]. ([http://www.strana-oz.ru/?numid=19&article=900 "МИГРАЦИЯ ВЫШЛА ИЗ ТЕНИ"]. На вопросы Виталия КУРЕННОГО отвечает заведующая лабораторией миграции населения Института народно-хозяйственного прогнозирования РАН Жанна ЗАЙОНЧКОВСКАЯ], [http://www.strana-oz.ru/ ''Otechestvennye Zapiski''] [http://www.strana-oz.ru/?ozid=19&oznumber=4 No. 4 (19), 2004]. {{ru icon}}) </ref> Thus it is not uncommon in the Russian society, especially to the West of [[Ural]]s, to be anxious about a supposed Chinese annexation of the South-East Siberia. == References == {{reflist}} == See also == * [[Russian conquest of Siberia]] * [[Ket people]] * [[Age of Discovery]] * [[Education in Siberia]] * [[History of Vladivostok]] == External links == * [http://www.zaimka.ru "Sibirskaya Zaimka"] — an internet journal of scientific publications on the Siberian history (in Russian, with a link to an online translated version) * [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/007/093/93341.htm Siberia (Сибирь)] in [[Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary]] {{ru icon}} * {{1911}} * [http://www.suvenirograd.ru/sights.php?id=7&lang=2 Yermak Timofeyevich ] [[Category:History of Siberia|*]] [[de:Geschichte Sibiriens]] [[it:Storia della Siberia]] [[nl:Geschiedenis van Siberië]] [[pt:História da Sibéria]] [[ru:История Сибири]] [[fi:Siperian historia]]