Ekaterinburg
Situated on the eastern foothills of the Ural mountains, for two hundred years Ekaterinburg has been the gateway between the two halves of Russia. A barely civilised eastern Europe, and the wild east of Siberia.
Founded in 1723 and named after Empress Catherine I (Consort of Peter the Great and Empress in her own right). Ekaterinburg rapidly grew to become the largest city in Siberia. A capital of mining, and the main route from Europe to North Asia. During the reign of Catherine The Great the Moscow Highway was built though the city, becoming a key point on the main overland route from Moscow to Peking. The trans-Siberian railway, running from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok also runs through the city. Throughout the nineteenth century her population and industry boomed as she became a key site for harnessing the vast resources of Siberia. Not the least of which was gold as at that time, four fifths of Russia's coins were minted in Ekaterinburg. Yet not all was well. within her. Poverty was no stranger to any modern city in those days. In Russia or anywhere else. Thus, as the century marched on, the city became a site, then a hotbed, then a center of radical and revolutionary activity and terrorism. With the collapse of the Imperial government Ekaterinburg quickly came under bolshevik control, governed by a committee from the Ural Soviet. From October 1917 until July 1918 the city was a major base for red operations in the east. However Admiral Kolchak's army took the city in July as it advanced along the trans-Siberian railway. Unfortunately, the arrived just hours too late to rescue the Tsar, his family and their entourage, who were held prisoner in the city and were murdered to prevent their rescue by Kolchak. Since those dark days it seems as though Ekaterinburg has come to renounce its revolutionary past. The wounds inflicted by the civil war are as deep here as they are anywhere else in Russia, if not deeper. The murder of the Tsar and his family has left a scar on the city's soul. One that many, since they cannot make it right, have at least sworn to never forget it.
Founded in 1723 and named after Empress Catherine I (Consort of Peter the Great and Empress in her own right). Ekaterinburg rapidly grew to become the largest city in Siberia. A capital of mining, and the main route from Europe to North Asia. During the reign of Catherine The Great the Moscow Highway was built though the city, becoming a key point on the main overland route from Moscow to Peking. The trans-Siberian railway, running from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok also runs through the city. Throughout the nineteenth century her population and industry boomed as she became a key site for harnessing the vast resources of Siberia. Not the least of which was gold as at that time, four fifths of Russia's coins were minted in Ekaterinburg. Yet not all was well. within her. Poverty was no stranger to any modern city in those days. In Russia or anywhere else. Thus, as the century marched on, the city became a site, then a hotbed, then a center of radical and revolutionary activity and terrorism. With the collapse of the Imperial government Ekaterinburg quickly came under bolshevik control, governed by a committee from the Ural Soviet. From October 1917 until July 1918 the city was a major base for red operations in the east. However Admiral Kolchak's army took the city in July as it advanced along the trans-Siberian railway. Unfortunately, the arrived just hours too late to rescue the Tsar, his family and their entourage, who were held prisoner in the city and were murdered to prevent their rescue by Kolchak. Since those dark days it seems as though Ekaterinburg has come to renounce its revolutionary past. The wounds inflicted by the civil war are as deep here as they are anywhere else in Russia, if not deeper. The murder of the Tsar and his family has left a scar on the city's soul. One that many, since they cannot make it right, have at least sworn to never forget it.
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