Geography
"Siberia is the region making up nearly all of Northern Asia. It is made up of the central and eastern portions of Russia and it encompasses the area from the Ural Mountains east to the Pacific Ocean. It also extends from the Arctic Ocean south to northern Kazakhstan and the borders of Mongolia and China."
"Nearly all of the vegetation in Siberia is taiga, but there are tundra areas on in its northern areas and an area of temperate forests in the south. Most of Siberia's climate is subarctic and precipitation is loc except for the Kamchatka Peninsula. The average January low temperature of Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city, is -4˚F (-20˚C), while the average July high is 78˚F (26˚C)."
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2004/10/russia-hill
*link to website that further goes in depth of Siberia's natural resources
Beginning of Russian Control
"Although Russian traders from Novgorod crossed the Urals as early as the 13th cent. to trade in furs with native tribes, the Russian conquest began much later. Czar Ivan IV's capture of the Kazan khanate in 1552 opened the way for Russian expansion into Siberia. In 1581 a band of Cossacks under Yermak crossed the middle Urals and took the city of Sibir (near modern Tobolsk), capital of the Sibir khanate, which gave its name to the entire region. Russia's conquest of the Tatar khanate was completed in 1598 (see Tatars), and during the 17th cent. Russia annexed all of W Siberia."
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| Map of Siberia in Russia |
"From the early 17th cent. Siberia was used as a penal colony and a place of exile for political prisoners; among the latter there emerged (especially after the exile of leaders of the Decembrist Conspiracy of 1825) a small but vocal Siberian intelligentsia, who agitated for an end of Siberia's colonial status. Meanwhile, Russian colonizers continued to push southward, establishing forts along the steppe to thwart nomadic raids. Newly emancipated (1861) Russian serfs were allowed to take free possession of Siberian land, but they received little state assistance and suffered intolerable hardships."
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| Guard tower at a gulag located in Siberia |
"In 1754 the Russian government decided to send petty criminals and political opponents to eastern Siberia. Sentenced to hard labour (katorga), the convicts had to travel mostly on foot and the journey could take up to three years and it is estimated about half died before they reached their destination."
"Over the next 130 years around 1.2 million prisoners were deported to Siberia. Some prisoners helped to build the Trans-Siberian Railway. Others worked in the silver and lead mines of the Nertchinsk district, the saltworks of Usolie and the gold mines of Kara. Those convicts who did not work hard enough were flogged to death. Other punishments included being chained up in an underground black hole and having a 48lb beam of wood attached to a prisoner's chains for several years. Once a sentence had been completed, convicts had their chains removed. However, they were forced to continue living and working in Siberia."
*Trans-Siberian Railway- A way of transportation that went from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok stopping in towns in Russia.
*link to more information below
http://spartacus-educational.com/RUSsiberia.htm
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| Prisoners at a Gulag in Siberia |
The harsh climates of Siberia made it difficult for prisoners to go about their days. The negative degree temperatures made it difficult to do work and to survive. The prisoners are only allowed one undershirt, one other shirt and a jacket. We see the challenge of staying warm in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich when they are checked daily at the checkpoint to make sure that they do not have any extra clothes on. In the book it also illustrates the challenge to stay warm throughout the day because the prisoners huddle around the stove for as long as they can to warm up.
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| cold, snowy conditions across the camps |
Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAcIzVbSVHI
* start at 34 seconds to 1:10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1pOjj49d9Y
* link that shows the harsh conditions of the taiga
Works Cited
Source: https://smallsight.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/travels-in-siberia/ (picture 1)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/serge/1930/year-one/ch08.htm (picture 2)
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/RussianHeritage/10.EMP/10.L/6.XI.18.html (picture 3)
Source:"Siberia." Infoplease. Pearson Education, 2000. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/siberia-history.html>. http://spartacus-educational.com/RUSsiberia.htm (picture 4)
Source: Simkin, John. "Prison Camps in Siberia." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus
Educational, 1997. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://spartacus-educational.com/
RUSsiberia.htm>.
Source: "Geography of Siberia." About Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
<http://geography.about.com/od/russiamaps/a/siberia.htm>.
http://thetravellingbrit.wordpress.com/category/culture/literature/ (picture 5)
I really liked how you began with the geography of Siberia so we got a good idea of the lay of the land. I tis amazing that in January the temperature can drop to -4 degrees Fahrenheit. I also liked how the blog was set up in chronological order so you saw the progress from the Russians gaining control to starting the Gulags. It is also very said that even "petty" criminals were sentenced to such hard labor. It is also sad that people would be forced to work in even negative degrees. I liked how you included how much more difficult that makes the labor for these prisoners. The video at the bottom was also very powerful showing how people had to leave there homes because of Stalin but is also refreshing that some people still maintained there core beliefs despite Soviet rule.
ReplyDeleteI learned that Siberia makes up almost all of Northern Asia. Most of their climate is subarctic. I found it pretty interesting that the convicts had to travel on foot after they were sentenced to hard labor. It could take up to 3 years for the convicts to reach their destination. About half of the convicts died on the journey. I really liked how your blog explains what the temperature and conditions are like in Siberia. The pictures really helped me get a better understanding of what it all looked like.
ReplyDeleteSiberia is such a hostile environment, and if I were searching for a place to settle I certainly would not settle there. I can see why the Russians sent the criminals to Siberia in the labor camps, because there is nothing to do out there but work. Also there is so much space up there to do all of the work. Siberia was so cold that the workers struggled to stay warm. It connects to the effects of the cold on the body because the negative temperatures of Siberia really caused the workers to be cold. Well done on the blog.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is very well organized and I liked how you started off your blog with some general information and geography about Siberia. It was shocking to me the difference of temperatures in the winter seasons and summers seasons. It was interesting to learn that many prisoners were sent there because of its harsh conditions. I liked how your connected your blog to the book and the pictures you chose to depict the icy tundra. It was also helpful that you gave us a specific time period of the video to watch, instead of us having to watch the entire thing. Overall, your pictures and descriptions helped me to visualize Siberia and the brutal conditions.
ReplyDeleteGood blog Kelsey, I did not know how big Siberia really was. Its crazy how people were able to live in these conditions let alone slave away in these conditions. I can see why it was the worst punishment and sometimes than death.
ReplyDeleteI did not know how big Siberia is and how cold that it can be. It's crazy that the temperature in January is on average -4 degrees Fahrenheit. It's nice how the blog is organized starting with the general geographic info to summaries about what happened in order. I didn't know that the Russians had started using Siberia for prisons all the way back in 1754. This blog really helped me understand what the conditions were like in the gulags and how hard the work must have been for the people to do.
ReplyDelete