Questions tagged [russia]
The largest country in the world, spanning territory from the eastern edge of Europe to Siberia in northern Asia.
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Kabris, the “half-wild Frenchman”, in Kamchatka
A Frenchman who had gone native in the Marquesas Islands, Jean Cabri or Kabris, returned to Europe in the early 1800s and became a well-known attraction and swimming teacher.
His return voyage ...
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1answer
113 views
Was The Great Game a war? [on hold]
I know that The Great Game was between UK & Russia and done through parts of Asia, Middle East & Europe. I was wondering if the Great Game was basically two empires trying fighting each other ...
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2answers
327 views
Why is Russian far east less populated than Chinese north east regions?
I was comparing the Russia's Far Eastern zone with the equivalent Northeast China. Anyway the two regions have many difference but by comparing regions at the same latitude I found vast difference to ...
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0answers
100 views
How long did subordinate officers serve in the Russian army?
Riasanovsky's History of Russia says people (gentry and serfs alike) were drafted into the Imperial army for 25 year terms.
I noticed that the chief commandants of Kamchatka seemed to serve terms of ...
4
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1answer
112 views
What were Catherine the Great's orders to von Böhm?
In about 1773, Catherine the Great appointed Magnus Karl von Böhm (or Behm, depending on the roundtrip transliteration) governor of Kamchatka. The peninsula had been pacified and the natives were ...
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1answer
129 views
How did the Russian-American Company hire serfs?
In the Russian Empire until 1861 the estate of serfdom kept most of the country's population the property of others. This cheap labor was attractive to capitalist enterprises like the Russian-American ...
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0answers
24 views
How old were the youngest employees of the Russian-American Company?
The Russian-American Company, founded 1799, employed some real lowlifes. Golovnin about 1810 found them "composed for the most part of dissolute persons, many of whom have been flogged with the knout ...
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0answers
84 views
What would have been Napoleon's optimal strategy after Borodino? [closed]
There is a saying that everyone is a general after the battle, but I still could not figure out what could have Napoleon done differently in order to save his army and consequently empire after ...
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1answer
83 views
What did Russia do about Caucasus oil after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
During World War II, something like 72% of the Soviet Union's oil came from Baku, Azerbaijan, in the Caucasus. More like 86% if you count Grozny (Chechnya), and other Caucasus territories, leaving ...
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2answers
389 views
Has the training of Russian troops improved since 1989? [closed]
Recently, USA has excluded Pakistan from military training list. On the flip side, Pakistan has signed an agreement with Russian Federation for the training of its officers. My personal assessment is, ...
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1answer
154 views
What is Russia's official reason for invading Crimea? [closed]
I'm having trouble finding Russia's official reason for invading the Crimea region of Ukraine. If my memory serves me right, didn't they change the reason halfway through the invasion?
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2answers
189 views
How did Taganrog escape the devastation of the Stalingrad batlle of WW2?
About 30 years ago I visited Taganrog ( steel mill ), and drove through Rostov-on-Don. I did not realize how close Stalingrad was (I only saw Volograd on the map). We did pass a monument marking the ...
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2answers
593 views
Is this a true quote of Engels about vague Russian leaders and their vague followers?
In the recent movie "The Young Karl Marx", Engels refers to Russian communist leaders being confused and finding confused followers.
Is this a true quote and if yes, whom did he mean?
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1answer
209 views
Why did Russia accept the legal framework that led to Kosovo's independence?
Kosovo's unilateral secession was judged not illegal by the ICJ based on Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and the UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) regulations promulgating the ...
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0answers
72 views
How literate were Kamchadal people?
Kamchatka was settled by Russians starting around 1700. I get the impression that by 1800 most people in Kamchatka had mixed heritages. According to UNESCO, Itelmen languages were already extinct. ...
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1answer
209 views
Origin of the Petropavlovsk artillery company
The frontier port of Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka, was an army outpost which acquired an artillery company at some point before the garrison was dissolved in 1812 and the port became regional capital in ...
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0answers
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How did the Russian Empire choose officers for Kamchatka?
The Russian Imperial army and navy had to build frontier outposts in very remote locations. Around 1800, the few forts and ports in Kamchatka might have a Lieutenant as commanding officer, a couple of ...
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1answer
94 views
What was the first printed material owned and kept in Kamchatka?
Kamchatka today has cultural projects like universities and museums, but in the early Russian period it was considered a pretty desolate place. Among other deficiencies, there was very little for the ...
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8answers
24k views
Did Russian winter seriously contribute to German defeat on the Eastern Front in WWII?
When people discuss the causes of Hitler's defeat in Russia, one topic is frequently mentioned: climate. People claim that winter contributed significantly to the problems of German army on the ...
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1answer
185 views
How to attack Fort Ross
Imperial Spain was upset when the Russian-American Company founded its Californian outpost Fort Ross. Local Spanish officials always stayed cordial with the Russians, though. Both sides were remote ...
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1answer
320 views
Are there notable incident(s) where Russia/SU was wrongfully accused by Western powers in the 20th century?
I would like to know incident(s) where SU/Russia was accused to have done something by Western powers where Western historians also came at least now to the conclusion that the accusation was ...
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1answer
139 views
Wreck of the Juno
K.T. Khlebnikov wrote a biography of his boss, Baranov: Chief Manager of the Russian Colonies in America. In this book he described the wreck of the Juno as taking place November 3, 1811 (O.S.), "not ...
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1answer
151 views
Has Fascism genocided nonwhites? [closed]
To my knowledge only communism has genocided nonwhites. Marx supporting colonialism, genocide of Siberian iindigenous peoples, chechens, slavic minorities etc. I think Hitler allegedly genocided some ...
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0answers
57 views
Passports for travel to Russian America
Employees of the Russian-American Company were supposed to have seven-year passports to travel from Russia to the Company's colonies. The passports come up frequently in the Communications of the ...
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3answers
573 views
When did Josef Wissarionowitsch become “sexy” Stalin?
According to KnowYourMeme, among others, a relatively young Stalin is so good looking in a certain picture that he is often referred to as "sexy Stalin":
This is indeed a pretty picture of a ...
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1answer
188 views
Help with identifying my great-grandfather's pre-WWI Cossack uniform
My great-grandfahter was a Cossack from "Then Russia" "Now Belarus" where the Belarus, Ukraine and Poland borders met, but I don't now which "type" like Don or Kuban etc. He fled from the place he ...
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1answer
230 views
Ideological differences between Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
As I understand from this brief explanation, the main doctrinal difference was that the Bolsheviks were more radical (class struggle) while the Mensheviks were more in favor of class cooperation and ...
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3answers
267 views
Why was Stalin chosen as the First General Secretary in 1922?
At the 11th Party Congress, Stalin was voted into the position of General Secretary. This was the first time the party had a General Secretary. This was in 1922 Mar/Apr.
Why was Stalin chosen? I ...
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1answer
373 views
Did the US military just kill more Russians in Syria than they ever did during the Cold War?
EDIT: It is understood that the US military generally was not in direct confrontation with the Soviets during the Cold War (hence it being Cold). It's also true that even during a cold war "things" ...
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1answer
101 views
When did Europeans make their first well-attested visit to mainland Alaska?
To my surprise, I could not find a straightforward answer to this question. When did Europeans first set foot in mainland Alaska? I could easily find that:
Vitus Bering, a Dane of Russian allegiance, ...
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0answers
57 views
Who was Krusenstern's scandalous priest?
Krusenstern, captain of the first Russian circumnavigation, wrote a refined book on the voyage. He visited Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in about 1804 and remarked without any further detail that "The ...
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0answers
50 views
Location of Hagemeister's six-language diaries
Leontii A. Hagemeister (or Gagemeister) was a Baltic German navigator of the Russian navy and briefly governor of the Russian-American company. The best work on him in English is by Richard Pierce, ...
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The Russian-American Company in Valparaíso
The Russian-American Company bought a lot of grain in Spanish and Mexican California. In 1829 or 1830, not enough was available, and the ship Baikal under captain Etholén continued south to Chile. ...
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2answers
249 views
Why was the Kamchatka Regiment sent?
About 1800, Major-General Andrey Somov headed a regiment sent from Irkutsk to reinforce Kamchatka. Soldiers were to take up positions in about five garrisons around the peninsula. Feeding them was a ...
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0answers
68 views
Are the U.S.A. and Russia in a conflict similar to the “Cold War” in 2018? [closed]
From my understanding the "Cold War" was not really a war in the traditional sense, but a term to describe the tension between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. as they attempted to destabilise and weaken each ...
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2answers
3k views
What made the Russian Fleet suspect Japanese Torpedo boats were in North Sea in 1904/5?
I'm finding several references that during the Russia - Japanese war of 1904/1905 that the Russians had intelligence that suggested the Japanese either had torpedo boats present in the North Sea or ...
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1answer
188 views
Did Peter the Great support a Russian circumnavigation?
Peter the Great modernized Imperial Russia, reforming both its army and navy. He was keen to catch up with other European powers and built the Baltic port Kronstadt, a shipyard at Arkhangelsk, and the ...
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2answers
288 views
Was Kaliningrad offered to the Lithuanian SSR; was this offer rejected; and if so, why?
This is a follow up to this other question Why was Kaliningrad placed under the Russian SFSR rather than the Lithuanian SSR?
Semaphore's answer states:
... a similar offer was made to give ...
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1answer
3k views
Why was Kaliningrad placed under the Russian SFSR rather than the Lithuanian SSR?
Kaliningrad was (and still is) Russia's only (non-trivial*) exclave. Why did Stalin and the Soviet leaders transfer Kaliningrad to the Russian SFSR rather than the Lithuanian SSR (with which ...
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4answers
623 views
Why did Russians have guns towards the end of the Mongol Yoke, but not the Mongols?
Russian soldiers first used firearms in 1382, against the Mongols (it is not mentioned in the article whether the Mongols also had guns). This would prove to be an insufficient advantage at the time, ...
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5answers
2k views
Why was the standoff on the Ugra river the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia?
This is a very layman question, since my only source of knowledge is Wikipedia. I'm sure there are works that cover this subject in more details, please mentioned them in your answer.
Wikipedia says:
...
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3answers
313 views
What kind of heating did Moscow have in the early Soviet Union (1917 - 1930)?
I would like to know what kind of residential heating was prevalent in Moscow in the time period around 1917 - 1930. What kind of fuel was used? Did they have district heating back then? Otherwise ...
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1answer
99 views
Did the Commandants of Imperial Russian Far East ports belong to the Army or the Navy?
Imperial Russia founded several ports in its Far East. Okhotsk was accessible by land from Yakutsk, whereas those in Kamchatka were only reached by sea. Around 1800, military officers such as Major ...
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1answer
289 views
Why did Russia expand eastwards? [closed]
Why did Russia want to expand eastwards, and what where the benefits?
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1answer
82 views
Commandant of Okhotsk and Russian-American Company
The Russian-American Company was a privately funded concern which obtained a royal monopoly on exploration and settlement in America. It sponsored and managed the Russian presence all the way from ...
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0answers
112 views
What is this book about the Avar and Khazar Turks from the early 20th century?
I came across a book on the internet that connected the Avars to the Khazars. It was written sometime during the 1920's-40's, I think the mid 20's, by a European scholar. It never became popular. This ...
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1answer
143 views
Which English ship was in Kamchatka in 1793?
In 1795, Alaskan colonial supremo A.A. Baranov sent a letter to his bosses in Irkutsk. The text in Tikhmenev's History, Volume II, Documents, says:
An English ship wintered in Kamchatka in 1793.... ...
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0answers
121 views
Did the Russian alcohol monopoly cover the whole Russian territory?
Crownhart-Vaughn's introduction to her translation of Krasheninnikov mentions an Imperial monopoly on liquor, and the state's difficulty in enforcing it, in 1750s Kamchatka. One main principle of the ...
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2answers
276 views
Was there a precursor to the Bolshevik Party?
My family is originally from the Odessa, Russia area and my whole life I've been fed the following story about my great grandfather:
My great grandfather, a man named Isaac Wasserman, who apparently ...
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1answer
194 views
Before the Great War, was the word “Poland” typically used to refer only to the Russian partition of Poland?
Before World War 1, Poland was partitionned between Prussia, Austria-Hungary and Russia. However I have strong reasons to suspect that the word "Poland" was at that time referring specifically to the ...
