The Two Capitals of Russia: Moscow and St. Petersburg
When thinking about the great European capitals, one would tend to
evoke romantic Paris, restless London, even still Rome or Barcelona.
But often, Russian capital Moscow is forgotten. It may be because in
the post-communist era, people easily forgot about that power in
decline. Or because they do not consider Russia to be part of Europe.
Or because Moscow had to compete with St. Petersburg, limiting its
influence. That is why it can be relevant today to talk about two
capitals of Russia.
On the one hand, it is possible to define objectively what a capital
city is, and this could help to determine which, Moscow or St.
Petersburg, fits the definition. On the other hand, considering the
situation of the two cities at one precise moment is not relevant. The
perception the cities throughout history is very important in the fact
that today they can both be considered as capitals. Therefore, it is
necessary to look back into history to find the roots of this
dichotomy.
First, objective criteria can be used to determine the capital status
of both Moscow and St. Petersburg. But then, it is interesting to know
how those two cities thrived during centuries, challenging one
another, symbols of Russia indecision about its place in the world: in
the East or in the West?
Primarily, the easiest way to recognize a capital is the presence of
government, seat chosen officially by the country's rulers. There can
be only one. The case of Russia is similar to this of Germany. Berlin
to Bonn and then back to Berlin for Germany; Moscow, Petersburg and
back to Moscow for Russia. The compari...
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[1] Moscow, encyclopedia britannica p.358
[2] merriam-webster on line
[3] campbell scott, draft
[4] p.350
[5] colton p.28
[6] volkov p.42
[7] sunlight at midnight p. 270
[8] volkov p.48
[9] Britannica p.1043
[10] Lincoln p.270
[11] id. P.315
[12] colton p. 2 puis 15
[13] colton p.36
[14] colton pp.18-21
[15] Britannica p.351
[16] p. 29
[17] volkov p.15
[18] daniels
[19] colton p.14
[20] lincoln p.31
[21] colton p.32
[22] lincoln p.121
[23] volkov p.9
[24] volkov p.452
[25] lincoln 350
[26] volkov 210
[27] shaw p.
[28] volkov 338
[29] colton 326
[30] volkov 22
[31] lincoln 305
[32] lincoln 348
[33] volkov 49
[34] volkov 31
[35] lincoln 123
Historically, Russia has always been a country of perplexing dualities. The reality of Dual Russia, the separation of the official culture from that of the common people, persisted after the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War. The Czarist Russia was at once modernized and backward: St. Petersburg and Moscow stood as the highly developed industrial centers of the country and two of the capitals of Europe, yet the overwhelming majority of the population were subsistent farms who lived on mir; French was the official language and the elites were highly literate, yet 82% of the populati...
Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
Russia in the 1930s By 1928, Stalin had ousted Trotsky and the rest of the Left opposition. In four years, Stalin had single handedly taken major steps away from Lenin’s collective leadership and free inter-party debate and replaced them with his autocratic dictatorship. Stalin began to secure predominant power over the communist party and the state by destroying passive opposition from the peasantry and former Lenin supporters. He won growing support from the working class, who were impressed with the initial five-year plan. It promised increased industrialization, which would lead to socialism in one country within their lifetime.
While most of Europe had develop strong central governments and weakened the power of the nobles, Russia had lagged behind the times and still had serfs as late as 1861. The economic development that followed the emancipation of peasants in the rest of Europe created strong industrial and tax bases in those nations. Russian monarchs had attempted some level of reforms to address this inequality for almost a century before, and were indeed on their way to “economic maturity” (32) on par with the rest of Europe. But they overextended themselves and the crushing defeats of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and the First World War in 1917 lost them the necessary support from their subjects and created “high prices and scarcity” which were by far “the most obvious factors in the general tension”
Fay, Laurel E. ‘Shostakovich vs. Volkov: whose Testimony?’ The Russian Review (October 1980), pp. 484-93.
When Russians talk about the war of 1812 they do not mean the war in which Washington was burned by the British, but the war in which, apparently, the Russians burned Moscow. This war between the French republican empire and the Russian Tsarist Empire was as remarkable a high - spot in the history of the latter as it was a low - spot in the history of Napoleon. For Russia, it was one of those rare moments in history when almost all people, serfs and lords, merchants and bureaucrats, put aside their enmities and realized that they were all Russians. Russia, sometimes called ‘a state without a people’, seemed to become, for a few precious months, one people, and never quite forgot the experience.
Russia is a different country than most are used to which has made a history for itself. Russia played a huge part in World War II as well as established many scientific minds and creation. The first mission (unmanned) to outer space was conducted by Russia (Soviet Union). Their government is similar to democracy, but contains a president, a prime minister, a judicial branch, and a Russian Federation Assembly (State Duma and the Federation Council). Power is split between the Prime Minister (Dmitry Medvedev) and the President (Vladimir Putin); however, the president has deciding power (Darlington, 2014).
In the late 1930’s while the United States was going through The Great Depression the Soviet Union was going through its own turbulent times. This would be known as the Moscow Show Trials, which took place under the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The book Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler takes place during this time period. The main character Nicholas Rubashov has been imprisoned even though he always has been loyal to the goals of the party (Koestler). This showed a shift that was happening in the country and an attempt by Stalin to eliminate any possible opposition even if they were heroes in the revolution. In the text two different concepts come to light vivisection morality where the party comes before the individual and anti-vivisection morality where the individual is sacred. Rubashov in the beginning does not embrace individualism however throughout the novel he begins to adopt individualism that he refers to as grammatical fiction. Vivisection morality is never a justifiable political system. Suppressing the rights of human beings is not only inhumane but also counter productive in creating an effective and wealthy society.
Wood, A. (1986). The Russian Revolution. Seminar Studies in History. (2) Longman, p 1-98. ISBSN 0582355591, 9780582355590
Яблоков, Евгений. "Беспокойное Собачье Сердце, или Горькие Плоды Легкого Чтения." Review. Литературная Критика Oct. 2010: n. pag. http://magazines.russ.ru. Журнальный зал, Oct. 2010. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2005. Print.
After their defeat in the Crimean war (1853-1856), Russia’s leaders realized they were falling behind much of Europe in terms of modernisation and industrialisation. Alexander II took control of the empire and made the first steps towards radically improving the country’s infrastructure. Transcontinental railways were built and the government strengthened Russia’s economy by promoting industrialisation with the construction of factory complexes throughout...
1-27. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Dragomirov, M.I. & Co., Ltd. "Dragomirov on Prince Andrey and the Art of War". Tolstoy: The Critical Heritage.
The Russian Orthodox Church was originally one of the metropolitanates of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was not until 1448 that the Russian Church became independent of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It then continued to gain strength as the Russian state became stronger. Its role as the single unifying factor of the Russian people during the feudal divisions and during the Tartar invasions made it even more an integral part of Russian culture. People looked towards to church during those times and even now for a source of comfort. Even during the reign of the czars, they had to be ordained by the church as God’s chosen one in order to ‘rightfully’ hold the throne.