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...)
Image 2
The Shuttle–Mir program was a collaborative 11-mission space program between Russia and the United States that involved American
Space Shuttles visiting the Russian
space stationMir, Russian cosmonauts flying on the Shuttle, and an American astronaut flying aboard a
Soyuz spacecraft to engage in long-duration expeditions aboard Mir.
The project, sometimes called "Phase One", was intended to allow the United States to learn from Russian experience with long-duration spaceflight and to foster a spirit of cooperation between the two nations and their
space agencies, the US
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the
Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). The project helped to prepare the way for further cooperative space ventures; specifically, "Phase Two" of the joint project, the construction of the
International Space Station (ISS). The program was announced in 1993, the first mission started in 1994 and the project continued until its scheduled completion in 1998. Eleven Space Shuttle missions, a joint Soyuz flight and almost 1000 cumulative days in space for American astronauts occurred over the course of seven long-duration expeditions. In addition to Space Shuttle launches to Mir the United States also fully funded and equipped with scientific equipment the
Spektr module (launched in 1995) and the
Priroda module (launched in 1996), making them de facto U.S. modules during the duration of the Shuttle-Mir program. (Full article...)
Olga was raised at the
Gatchina Palace outside
Saint Petersburg. Olga's relationship with her mother, Empress
Marie, the daughter of King
Christian IX of Denmark, was strained and distant from childhood. In contrast, she and her father were close. He died when she was 12, and her brother Nicholas became emperor. In 1901, at 19, she married
Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, who was privately believed by family and friends to be homosexual. Their marriage of 15 years remained unconsummated, and Peter at first refused Olga's request for a divorce. The couple led separate lives and their marriage was eventually annulled by the Emperor in October 1916. The following month Olga married cavalry officer
Nikolai Kulikovsky, with whom she had fallen in love several years before. During the First World War, Olga served as an army nurse and was awarded a medal for personal gallantry. At the downfall of the
Romanovs in the
Russian Revolution of 1917, she fled with her husband and children to
Crimea, where they lived under the threat of assassination. Her brother Nicholas and his family were
shot and bayoneted to death by revolutionaries. (Full article...)
Image 4
Lenin in 1920
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (22 April [
O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He served as the first and founding
head of government of
Soviet Russia from 1917 until
his death in 1924, and of the
Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia, and later the Soviet Union, became a one-party
socialist state governed by the
Communist Party. Ideologically a
Marxist, his developments to the ideology are called
Leninism.
The
referee for the final, played in front of an attendance of 79,115 spectators, was
Arthur Holland from England. In the sixth minute,
Marcelino dispossessed
Valentin Ivanov and
crossed for
Chus Pereda, who scored to give Spain a 1–0 lead. Two minutes later,
Viktor Anichkin passed to
Galimzyan Khusainov, who equalised. With six minutes of the match remaining, Pereda beat Anichkin and played in a cross which
Viktor Shustikov failed to clear, before Marcelino
headed the winning goal inside the near post. Spain won the match 2–1 to win their first European Championship title. (Full article...)
Image 6
Marshal Mortier at the battle of Durenstein in 1805, Auguste Sandoz
The Battle of Dürenstein (
German: Schlacht bei Dürnstein; also known as Dürrenstein, Dürnstein and Diernstein) or the Battle of Krems (
Russian: Сражение при Кремсе), on 11 November 1805, was an engagement in the
Napoleonic Wars during the
War of the Third Coalition. Dürenstein (modern
Dürnstein),
Austria, is located in the
Wachau valley, on the river
Danube, 73 kilometers (45 mi) upstream from
Vienna, Austria. The river makes a crescent-shaped curve between Dürnstein and nearby
Krems an der Donau, and the battle was fought in the flood plain between the river and the mountains.
At Dürenstein, a combined force of
Russian and
Austrian troops trapped a
French division commanded by
Théodore Maxime Gazan. The French division was part of the newly created
VIII Corps, the so-called Corps Mortier, under command of
Édouard Mortier. In pursuing the Austrian retreat from
Bavaria, Mortier had over-extended his three divisions along the north bank of the Danube.
Mikhail Kutuzov, commander of the Coalition force, enticed Mortier to send Gazan's division into a trap and French troops were caught in a valley between two Russian columns. They were rescued by the timely arrival of a second division, under command of
Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. The battle extended well into the night, after which both sides claimed victory. The French lost more than a third of their participants, and Gazan's division experienced over 40 percent losses. The Austrians and Russians also had heavy losses—close to 16 percent—but perhaps the most significant was the death in action of
Johann Heinrich von Schmitt, one of Austria's most capable chiefs of staff. (Full article...)
Image 7
German reconnaissance picture of Sovetsky Soyuz taken in June 1942
The Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships (Project 23,
Russian: Советский Союз, "Soviet Union"), also known as "Stalin's Republics", were a class of
battleships begun by the
Soviet Union in the late 1930s but never brought into service. They were designed in response to the
Bismarck-class battleships being built by Germany. Only four hulls of the fifteen originally planned had been
laid down by 1940, when the decision was made to cut the program to only three ships to divert resources to an expanded army rearmament program.
These ships would have rivaled the
Imperial JapaneseYamato class and America's planned
Montana class in size if any had been completed, although with significantly weaker firepower: nine 406-millimeter (16 in) guns compared to the nine 460-millimeter (18.1 in) guns of the Japanese ships and a dozen 16-inch (406 mm) on the Montanas. The failure of the Soviet armor plate industry to build
cemented armor plates thicker than 230 millimeters (9.1 in) would have negated any advantages from the Sovetsky Soyuz class's thicker armor in combat. (Full article...)
Image 8
King Władysław II Jagiełło, detail of the Triptych of Our Lady of Sorrows in the
Wawel Cathedral,
Kraków
Jogaila was the last pagan ruler of
medieval Lithuania. After he became King of Poland, as a result of the
Union of Krewo, the newly formed Polish-Lithuanian union confronted the growing power of the
Teutonic Order. The allied victory at the
Battle of Grunwald in 1410, followed by the
Peace of Thorn, secured the Polish and Lithuanian borders and marked the emergence of the Polish–Lithuanian alliance as a significant force in Europe. The reign of Władysław II Jagiełło extended Polish frontiers and is often considered the beginning of Poland's
Golden Age. (Full article...)
Nadezhda Vasilievna Stasova (Russian: Надежда Васильевна Стасова; June 12, 1822 – September 27, 1895) was a Russian educator, activist, and feminist. Stasova was born into a noble and wealthy family; Tsar
Alexander I of Russia was her godfather, and she received extensive private tutoring as a child. After experiencing family tragedy and personal disappointment as a young woman, she dedicated herself to women's education and economic empowerment. Alongside
Anna Filosofova and
Maria Trubnikova, Stasova was one of the earliest leaders of the
Russian women's movement. Together, the three friends and allies were referred to as the "triumvirate".
The triumvirate founded and led several organizations designed to promote women's cultural and economic independence, including a publishing cooperative. Subsequently, the triumvirate pushed government officials to allow higher education for women, although continuing opposition meant that their successes were sometimes limited or reversed. Stasova eventually became the lead organizer of the
Bestuzhev Courses in 1878, but a decade later was forced to resign under political pressure. In her final years, she continued her support for the cause of women's rights in Russia. Stasova died in 1895. (Full article...)
After the mutineers sought asylum in
Constanța,
Romania, and after the Russians recovered the ship, her name was changed to Panteleimon. She accidentally sank a Russian submarine in 1909 and was badly damaged when she
ran aground in 1911. During
World War I, Panteleimon participated in the
Battle of Cape Sarych in late 1914. She covered several bombardments of the
Bosphorus fortifications in early 1915, including one where the ship was
attacked by the
OttomanbattlecruiserYavuz Sultan Selim – Panteleimon and the other Russian pre-dreadnoughts present drove her off before she could inflict any serious damage. The ship was relegated to secondary roles after Russia's first
dreadnought battleship entered service in late 1915. She was by then obsolete and was reduced to
reserve in 1918 in
Sevastopol. (Full article...)
In mid- to late-19th-century Russia,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and a group of
composers known as
The Five had differing opinions as to whether
Russian classical music should be composed following Western or native practices. Tchaikovsky wanted to write professional compositions of such quality that they would stand up to Western scrutiny and thus transcend national barriers, yet remain distinctively Russian in melody, rhythm and other compositional characteristics. The Five, made up of composers
Mily Balakirev,
Alexander Borodin,
César Cui,
Modest Mussorgsky, and
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, sought to produce a specifically Russian kind of
art music, rather than one that imitated older European music or relied on European-style conservatory training. While Tchaikovsky himself used folk songs in some of his works, for the most part he tried to follow Western practices of composition, especially in terms of tonality and tonal progression. Also, unlike Tchaikovsky, none of The Five were academically trained in composition; in fact, their leader, Balakirev, considered academicism a threat to musical imagination. Along with critic
Vladimir Stasov, who supported The Five, Balakirev attacked relentlessly both the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which Tchaikovsky had graduated, and its founder
Anton Rubinstein, orally and in print.
As Tchaikovsky had become Rubinstein's best-known student, he was initially considered by association as a natural target for attack, especially as fodder for Cui's printed critical reviews. This attitude changed slightly when Rubinstein left the Saint Petersburg musical scene in 1867. In 1869 Tchaikovsky entered into a working relationship with Balakirev; the result was Tchaikovsky's first recognized masterpiece, the fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet, a work which The Five wholeheartedly embraced. When Tchaikovsky wrote a positive review of Rimsky-Korsakov's Fantasy on Serbian Themes he was welcomed into the circle, despite concerns about the academic nature of his musical background. The finale of his
Second Symphony, nicknamed the Little Russian, was also received enthusiastically by the group on its first performance in 1872. (Full article...)
The construction of the cathedral was approved in 1894 by the
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire.
Groundbreaking was in 1899; construction work began in 1901 and was completed ten years later. Three-aisled and built from red brick, the cathedral is based on a design by architect
Tomasz Bohdanowicz-Dworzecki. The style was influenced by
Westminster Abbey and
Milan Cathedral. With the help of funds from Catholic parishes in Russia and its neighbouring states, the church was consecrated as a chapel for Moscow's Polish parish in 1911. In the aftermath of the
Russian Revolution in 1917, the
Provisional Government was overthrown by the
Bolsheviks and Russia eventually became part of the
Soviet Union in 1922. Because the promotion of
state atheism was a part of
Marxist–Leninist ideology, the government
ordered many churches closed; the cathedral was closed in 1938. During World War II, it was threatened with demolition, and was used after the war for civil purposes, as a warehouse and then a hostel. Following the
fall of communism in 1991, it returned to being a church in 1996. In 2002 it was elevated to the status of cathedral. Following an extensive and costly programme of reconstruction and refurbishment, the cathedral was reconsecrated in 2005. (Full article...)
The army was formed at
Khabarovsk in the
Soviet Far East in 1938 as the 2nd Army. After the Far Eastern Front was split in September that year it became the 2nd Independent Red Banner Army. When the front was reformed in June 1940, the army was redesignated as the 2nd Red Banner Army, stationed in the
Blagoveshchensk area. It spent the bulk of World War II guarding the border in that area, sending formations to the
Eastern Front while undergoing several reorganizations. In August 1945, the army fought in the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria, capturing the Japanese fortified regions of
Aihun and
Sunwu adjacent to its sector of the border, and advancing into Manchuria to
Qiqihar. The army was disbanded after the war in late 1945. (Full article...)
Alexis (1629–1676) was the
tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death. Born in
Moscow on 29 March 1629, the son of
Tsar Michael and
Eudoxia Streshneva, the sixteen-year-old Alexis acceded to the throne after his father's death.
Boris Morozov, a shrewd
boyar open to Western ideas, took charge of Russia in the early years of Alexis's reign, but was exiled from Moscow following
a popular uprising. Alexis responded to the uprising with
a new legal code. His reign saw wars
with Poland and
with Sweden,
a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church, and the major Cossack revolt of
Stenka Razin. Alexis was married twice and had sixteen children, including tsars
Fyodor III;
Ivan V;
Peter the Great; and
Sofia, who ruled as regent for her brothers from 1682 to 1689.
This oil painting, made by an unknown artist in the 1670s, is now located in a museum in
Ptuj, Slovenia.
The Great Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire, as presented to Emperor
Paul I in October 1800. The use of the
double-headed eagle in the coat of arms (seen in multiple locations here) goes back to the 15th century. With the
fall of Constantinople and the end of the
Byzantine Empire in 1453, the
Grand Dukes of Moscow came to see themselves as the successors of the Byzantine heritage, a notion reinforced by the marriage of
Ivan III to
Sophia Paleologue. Ivan adopted the golden Byzantine double-headed eagle in his seal, first documented in 1472, marking his direct claim to the Roman imperial heritage and his assertion as sovereign equal and rival to the
Holy Roman Empire.
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.
This photograph of Skudina, taken in 2009, is part of a collection of 500 images of Russian sportspeople released to
Wikimedia Commons by Bolshoi Sport.
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in
Moscow, Russia, which holds ballet and opera performances. The company was founded on 28 March [
O.S. 17 March] 1776, when
Catherine the Great granted Prince
Pyotr Urusov a licence to organise theatrical performances, balls and other forms of entertainment. Usunov set up the theatre in collaboration with English tightrope walker
Michael Maddox. The present building was built between 1821 and 1824 and designed by architect
Joseph Bové.
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.
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.
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.
Barge Haulers on the Volga is an oil painting on canvas completed between 1870 and 1873 by the
realist artist
Ilya Repin. It depicts eleven men
physically dragging a
barge on the banks of the
Volga River. Depicting these men as at the point of collapse, the work has been read as a condemnation of profit from inhumane labor. Barge Haulers on the Volga drew international praise for its realistic portrayal of the hardships of working men, and launched Repin's career. It has been described as "perhaps the most famous painting of the
Peredvizhniki movement [for]....its unflinching portrayal of backbreaking labor". Today, the painting hangs in the
Russian Museum in
Saint Petersburg.
Saint Basil's Cathedral is a church in
Red Square in
Moscow, Russia. It was built from 1555 to 1561 on orders from
Ivan the Terrible and commemorates the
capture of Kazan and
Astrakhan. The city's tallest building until the completion of the
Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600, the original building contained eight side churches arranged around the ninth, central church of
Intercession; the tenth church was erected in 1588 over the grave of venerated local saint
Vasily (Basil). Although the
Bolsheviks considered demolishing the church in the 1930s, it was spared. Since 1991 it has housed a branch of the
State Historical Museum and hosted occasional church services.
Kurnik (
Russian: курник; "chicken
pirog"), also known as wedding pirog or tsar pirog, is a dome-shaped savoury
Russian pirog (loosely, a
pie) usually filled with chicken or turkey, eggs, onions,
kasha or rice, and other optional components. Sometimes filled with boiled rooster combs, this
pirog originated in
Southern Russia, especially in
Cossack communities, and was used as a "wedding pirog" in the rest of the country. It is dome-shaped, unlike any other non-sweet pirog. In special cases, it was served to tsar himself. Even today, this pirog is served on special occasions in most of
Russia. (Full article...)
Eduard Anatolyevich Streltsov (Russian: Эдуа́рд Анато́льевич Стрельцо́в, IPA:[ɨdʊˈartɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲitɕstrʲɪlʲˈtsof]ⓘ; 21 July 1937 – 22 July 1990) was a Soviet
footballer who played as a
forward for
Torpedo Moscow and the
Soviet national team during the 1950s and 1960s. A powerful and skilful attacking player, he scored the fourth-highest number of goals for the Soviet Union and has been called "the greatest outfield player Russia has ever produced". He is sometimes dubbed "the Russian
Pelé".
Born and raised in east Moscow, Streltsov joined Torpedo at the age of 16 in 1953 and made his international debut two years later. He was part of the squad that won the gold medal
at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and came seventh in the
1957 Ballon d'Or. The following year, his promising career was interrupted by allegations of
sexual assault shortly before the
1958 World Cup. Soviet authorities pledged he could still play if he admitted his guilt, after which he confessed, but was instead prosecuted and sentenced to twelve years of
forced labour under the
Gulag system (abolished in 1960 and replaced by prisons). The conviction was highly controversial, with many pointing to conflicts between Streltsov and government officials. (Full article...)
... that a Cossack detachment led by Imperial Russian Lazar Bicherakhov joined forces with British general
Lionel Dunsterville's expeditionary corps to prevent Ottoman advance?
... that Michael S. Farbman's reporting of the
Russian Civil War in winter 1917–18 was described by The Observer as "one of the outstanding successes of the time in special correspondence"?
This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by
JL-Bot (
talk·contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is
tagged or
categorized (e.g.
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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...)
Image 2
The Shuttle–Mir program was a collaborative 11-mission space program between Russia and the United States that involved American
Space Shuttles visiting the Russian
space stationMir, Russian cosmonauts flying on the Shuttle, and an American astronaut flying aboard a
Soyuz spacecraft to engage in long-duration expeditions aboard Mir.
The project, sometimes called "Phase One", was intended to allow the United States to learn from Russian experience with long-duration spaceflight and to foster a spirit of cooperation between the two nations and their
space agencies, the US
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the
Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). The project helped to prepare the way for further cooperative space ventures; specifically, "Phase Two" of the joint project, the construction of the
International Space Station (ISS). The program was announced in 1993, the first mission started in 1994 and the project continued until its scheduled completion in 1998. Eleven Space Shuttle missions, a joint Soyuz flight and almost 1000 cumulative days in space for American astronauts occurred over the course of seven long-duration expeditions. In addition to Space Shuttle launches to Mir the United States also fully funded and equipped with scientific equipment the
Spektr module (launched in 1995) and the
Priroda module (launched in 1996), making them de facto U.S. modules during the duration of the Shuttle-Mir program. (Full article...)
Olga was raised at the
Gatchina Palace outside
Saint Petersburg. Olga's relationship with her mother, Empress
Marie, the daughter of King
Christian IX of Denmark, was strained and distant from childhood. In contrast, she and her father were close. He died when she was 12, and her brother Nicholas became emperor. In 1901, at 19, she married
Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, who was privately believed by family and friends to be homosexual. Their marriage of 15 years remained unconsummated, and Peter at first refused Olga's request for a divorce. The couple led separate lives and their marriage was eventually annulled by the Emperor in October 1916. The following month Olga married cavalry officer
Nikolai Kulikovsky, with whom she had fallen in love several years before. During the First World War, Olga served as an army nurse and was awarded a medal for personal gallantry. At the downfall of the
Romanovs in the
Russian Revolution of 1917, she fled with her husband and children to
Crimea, where they lived under the threat of assassination. Her brother Nicholas and his family were
shot and bayoneted to death by revolutionaries. (Full article...)
Image 4
Lenin in 1920
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (22 April [
O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He served as the first and founding
head of government of
Soviet Russia from 1917 until
his death in 1924, and of the
Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia, and later the Soviet Union, became a one-party
socialist state governed by the
Communist Party. Ideologically a
Marxist, his developments to the ideology are called
Leninism.
The
referee for the final, played in front of an attendance of 79,115 spectators, was
Arthur Holland from England. In the sixth minute,
Marcelino dispossessed
Valentin Ivanov and
crossed for
Chus Pereda, who scored to give Spain a 1–0 lead. Two minutes later,
Viktor Anichkin passed to
Galimzyan Khusainov, who equalised. With six minutes of the match remaining, Pereda beat Anichkin and played in a cross which
Viktor Shustikov failed to clear, before Marcelino
headed the winning goal inside the near post. Spain won the match 2–1 to win their first European Championship title. (Full article...)
Image 6
Marshal Mortier at the battle of Durenstein in 1805, Auguste Sandoz
The Battle of Dürenstein (
German: Schlacht bei Dürnstein; also known as Dürrenstein, Dürnstein and Diernstein) or the Battle of Krems (
Russian: Сражение при Кремсе), on 11 November 1805, was an engagement in the
Napoleonic Wars during the
War of the Third Coalition. Dürenstein (modern
Dürnstein),
Austria, is located in the
Wachau valley, on the river
Danube, 73 kilometers (45 mi) upstream from
Vienna, Austria. The river makes a crescent-shaped curve between Dürnstein and nearby
Krems an der Donau, and the battle was fought in the flood plain between the river and the mountains.
At Dürenstein, a combined force of
Russian and
Austrian troops trapped a
French division commanded by
Théodore Maxime Gazan. The French division was part of the newly created
VIII Corps, the so-called Corps Mortier, under command of
Édouard Mortier. In pursuing the Austrian retreat from
Bavaria, Mortier had over-extended his three divisions along the north bank of the Danube.
Mikhail Kutuzov, commander of the Coalition force, enticed Mortier to send Gazan's division into a trap and French troops were caught in a valley between two Russian columns. They were rescued by the timely arrival of a second division, under command of
Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. The battle extended well into the night, after which both sides claimed victory. The French lost more than a third of their participants, and Gazan's division experienced over 40 percent losses. The Austrians and Russians also had heavy losses—close to 16 percent—but perhaps the most significant was the death in action of
Johann Heinrich von Schmitt, one of Austria's most capable chiefs of staff. (Full article...)
Image 7
German reconnaissance picture of Sovetsky Soyuz taken in June 1942
The Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships (Project 23,
Russian: Советский Союз, "Soviet Union"), also known as "Stalin's Republics", were a class of
battleships begun by the
Soviet Union in the late 1930s but never brought into service. They were designed in response to the
Bismarck-class battleships being built by Germany. Only four hulls of the fifteen originally planned had been
laid down by 1940, when the decision was made to cut the program to only three ships to divert resources to an expanded army rearmament program.
These ships would have rivaled the
Imperial JapaneseYamato class and America's planned
Montana class in size if any had been completed, although with significantly weaker firepower: nine 406-millimeter (16 in) guns compared to the nine 460-millimeter (18.1 in) guns of the Japanese ships and a dozen 16-inch (406 mm) on the Montanas. The failure of the Soviet armor plate industry to build
cemented armor plates thicker than 230 millimeters (9.1 in) would have negated any advantages from the Sovetsky Soyuz class's thicker armor in combat. (Full article...)
Image 8
King Władysław II Jagiełło, detail of the Triptych of Our Lady of Sorrows in the
Wawel Cathedral,
Kraków
Jogaila was the last pagan ruler of
medieval Lithuania. After he became King of Poland, as a result of the
Union of Krewo, the newly formed Polish-Lithuanian union confronted the growing power of the
Teutonic Order. The allied victory at the
Battle of Grunwald in 1410, followed by the
Peace of Thorn, secured the Polish and Lithuanian borders and marked the emergence of the Polish–Lithuanian alliance as a significant force in Europe. The reign of Władysław II Jagiełło extended Polish frontiers and is often considered the beginning of Poland's
Golden Age. (Full article...)
Nadezhda Vasilievna Stasova (Russian: Надежда Васильевна Стасова; June 12, 1822 – September 27, 1895) was a Russian educator, activist, and feminist. Stasova was born into a noble and wealthy family; Tsar
Alexander I of Russia was her godfather, and she received extensive private tutoring as a child. After experiencing family tragedy and personal disappointment as a young woman, she dedicated herself to women's education and economic empowerment. Alongside
Anna Filosofova and
Maria Trubnikova, Stasova was one of the earliest leaders of the
Russian women's movement. Together, the three friends and allies were referred to as the "triumvirate".
The triumvirate founded and led several organizations designed to promote women's cultural and economic independence, including a publishing cooperative. Subsequently, the triumvirate pushed government officials to allow higher education for women, although continuing opposition meant that their successes were sometimes limited or reversed. Stasova eventually became the lead organizer of the
Bestuzhev Courses in 1878, but a decade later was forced to resign under political pressure. In her final years, she continued her support for the cause of women's rights in Russia. Stasova died in 1895. (Full article...)
After the mutineers sought asylum in
Constanța,
Romania, and after the Russians recovered the ship, her name was changed to Panteleimon. She accidentally sank a Russian submarine in 1909 and was badly damaged when she
ran aground in 1911. During
World War I, Panteleimon participated in the
Battle of Cape Sarych in late 1914. She covered several bombardments of the
Bosphorus fortifications in early 1915, including one where the ship was
attacked by the
OttomanbattlecruiserYavuz Sultan Selim – Panteleimon and the other Russian pre-dreadnoughts present drove her off before she could inflict any serious damage. The ship was relegated to secondary roles after Russia's first
dreadnought battleship entered service in late 1915. She was by then obsolete and was reduced to
reserve in 1918 in
Sevastopol. (Full article...)
In mid- to late-19th-century Russia,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and a group of
composers known as
The Five had differing opinions as to whether
Russian classical music should be composed following Western or native practices. Tchaikovsky wanted to write professional compositions of such quality that they would stand up to Western scrutiny and thus transcend national barriers, yet remain distinctively Russian in melody, rhythm and other compositional characteristics. The Five, made up of composers
Mily Balakirev,
Alexander Borodin,
César Cui,
Modest Mussorgsky, and
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, sought to produce a specifically Russian kind of
art music, rather than one that imitated older European music or relied on European-style conservatory training. While Tchaikovsky himself used folk songs in some of his works, for the most part he tried to follow Western practices of composition, especially in terms of tonality and tonal progression. Also, unlike Tchaikovsky, none of The Five were academically trained in composition; in fact, their leader, Balakirev, considered academicism a threat to musical imagination. Along with critic
Vladimir Stasov, who supported The Five, Balakirev attacked relentlessly both the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which Tchaikovsky had graduated, and its founder
Anton Rubinstein, orally and in print.
As Tchaikovsky had become Rubinstein's best-known student, he was initially considered by association as a natural target for attack, especially as fodder for Cui's printed critical reviews. This attitude changed slightly when Rubinstein left the Saint Petersburg musical scene in 1867. In 1869 Tchaikovsky entered into a working relationship with Balakirev; the result was Tchaikovsky's first recognized masterpiece, the fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet, a work which The Five wholeheartedly embraced. When Tchaikovsky wrote a positive review of Rimsky-Korsakov's Fantasy on Serbian Themes he was welcomed into the circle, despite concerns about the academic nature of his musical background. The finale of his
Second Symphony, nicknamed the Little Russian, was also received enthusiastically by the group on its first performance in 1872. (Full article...)
The construction of the cathedral was approved in 1894 by the
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire.
Groundbreaking was in 1899; construction work began in 1901 and was completed ten years later. Three-aisled and built from red brick, the cathedral is based on a design by architect
Tomasz Bohdanowicz-Dworzecki. The style was influenced by
Westminster Abbey and
Milan Cathedral. With the help of funds from Catholic parishes in Russia and its neighbouring states, the church was consecrated as a chapel for Moscow's Polish parish in 1911. In the aftermath of the
Russian Revolution in 1917, the
Provisional Government was overthrown by the
Bolsheviks and Russia eventually became part of the
Soviet Union in 1922. Because the promotion of
state atheism was a part of
Marxist–Leninist ideology, the government
ordered many churches closed; the cathedral was closed in 1938. During World War II, it was threatened with demolition, and was used after the war for civil purposes, as a warehouse and then a hostel. Following the
fall of communism in 1991, it returned to being a church in 1996. In 2002 it was elevated to the status of cathedral. Following an extensive and costly programme of reconstruction and refurbishment, the cathedral was reconsecrated in 2005. (Full article...)
The army was formed at
Khabarovsk in the
Soviet Far East in 1938 as the 2nd Army. After the Far Eastern Front was split in September that year it became the 2nd Independent Red Banner Army. When the front was reformed in June 1940, the army was redesignated as the 2nd Red Banner Army, stationed in the
Blagoveshchensk area. It spent the bulk of World War II guarding the border in that area, sending formations to the
Eastern Front while undergoing several reorganizations. In August 1945, the army fought in the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria, capturing the Japanese fortified regions of
Aihun and
Sunwu adjacent to its sector of the border, and advancing into Manchuria to
Qiqihar. The army was disbanded after the war in late 1945. (Full article...)
Alexis (1629–1676) was the
tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death. Born in
Moscow on 29 March 1629, the son of
Tsar Michael and
Eudoxia Streshneva, the sixteen-year-old Alexis acceded to the throne after his father's death.
Boris Morozov, a shrewd
boyar open to Western ideas, took charge of Russia in the early years of Alexis's reign, but was exiled from Moscow following
a popular uprising. Alexis responded to the uprising with
a new legal code. His reign saw wars
with Poland and
with Sweden,
a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church, and the major Cossack revolt of
Stenka Razin. Alexis was married twice and had sixteen children, including tsars
Fyodor III;
Ivan V;
Peter the Great; and
Sofia, who ruled as regent for her brothers from 1682 to 1689.
This oil painting, made by an unknown artist in the 1670s, is now located in a museum in
Ptuj, Slovenia.
The Great Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire, as presented to Emperor
Paul I in October 1800. The use of the
double-headed eagle in the coat of arms (seen in multiple locations here) goes back to the 15th century. With the
fall of Constantinople and the end of the
Byzantine Empire in 1453, the
Grand Dukes of Moscow came to see themselves as the successors of the Byzantine heritage, a notion reinforced by the marriage of
Ivan III to
Sophia Paleologue. Ivan adopted the golden Byzantine double-headed eagle in his seal, first documented in 1472, marking his direct claim to the Roman imperial heritage and his assertion as sovereign equal and rival to the
Holy Roman Empire.
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.
This photograph of Skudina, taken in 2009, is part of a collection of 500 images of Russian sportspeople released to
Wikimedia Commons by Bolshoi Sport.
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in
Moscow, Russia, which holds ballet and opera performances. The company was founded on 28 March [
O.S. 17 March] 1776, when
Catherine the Great granted Prince
Pyotr Urusov a licence to organise theatrical performances, balls and other forms of entertainment. Usunov set up the theatre in collaboration with English tightrope walker
Michael Maddox. The present building was built between 1821 and 1824 and designed by architect
Joseph Bové.
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.
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.
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.
Barge Haulers on the Volga is an oil painting on canvas completed between 1870 and 1873 by the
realist artist
Ilya Repin. It depicts eleven men
physically dragging a
barge on the banks of the
Volga River. Depicting these men as at the point of collapse, the work has been read as a condemnation of profit from inhumane labor. Barge Haulers on the Volga drew international praise for its realistic portrayal of the hardships of working men, and launched Repin's career. It has been described as "perhaps the most famous painting of the
Peredvizhniki movement [for]....its unflinching portrayal of backbreaking labor". Today, the painting hangs in the
Russian Museum in
Saint Petersburg.
Saint Basil's Cathedral is a church in
Red Square in
Moscow, Russia. It was built from 1555 to 1561 on orders from
Ivan the Terrible and commemorates the
capture of Kazan and
Astrakhan. The city's tallest building until the completion of the
Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600, the original building contained eight side churches arranged around the ninth, central church of
Intercession; the tenth church was erected in 1588 over the grave of venerated local saint
Vasily (Basil). Although the
Bolsheviks considered demolishing the church in the 1930s, it was spared. Since 1991 it has housed a branch of the
State Historical Museum and hosted occasional church services.
Kurnik (
Russian: курник; "chicken
pirog"), also known as wedding pirog or tsar pirog, is a dome-shaped savoury
Russian pirog (loosely, a
pie) usually filled with chicken or turkey, eggs, onions,
kasha or rice, and other optional components. Sometimes filled with boiled rooster combs, this
pirog originated in
Southern Russia, especially in
Cossack communities, and was used as a "wedding pirog" in the rest of the country. It is dome-shaped, unlike any other non-sweet pirog. In special cases, it was served to tsar himself. Even today, this pirog is served on special occasions in most of
Russia. (Full article...)
Eduard Anatolyevich Streltsov (Russian: Эдуа́рд Анато́льевич Стрельцо́в, IPA:[ɨdʊˈartɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲitɕstrʲɪlʲˈtsof]ⓘ; 21 July 1937 – 22 July 1990) was a Soviet
footballer who played as a
forward for
Torpedo Moscow and the
Soviet national team during the 1950s and 1960s. A powerful and skilful attacking player, he scored the fourth-highest number of goals for the Soviet Union and has been called "the greatest outfield player Russia has ever produced". He is sometimes dubbed "the Russian
Pelé".
Born and raised in east Moscow, Streltsov joined Torpedo at the age of 16 in 1953 and made his international debut two years later. He was part of the squad that won the gold medal
at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and came seventh in the
1957 Ballon d'Or. The following year, his promising career was interrupted by allegations of
sexual assault shortly before the
1958 World Cup. Soviet authorities pledged he could still play if he admitted his guilt, after which he confessed, but was instead prosecuted and sentenced to twelve years of
forced labour under the
Gulag system (abolished in 1960 and replaced by prisons). The conviction was highly controversial, with many pointing to conflicts between Streltsov and government officials. (Full article...)
... that a Cossack detachment led by Imperial Russian Lazar Bicherakhov joined forces with British general
Lionel Dunsterville's expeditionary corps to prevent Ottoman advance?
... that Michael S. Farbman's reporting of the
Russian Civil War in winter 1917–18 was described by The Observer as "one of the outstanding successes of the time in special correspondence"?
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