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A review by wyntrchylde
To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Railway by Christian Wolmar
3.0
To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Express
Author: Christian Wolmar
Publisher: Public Affairs
Publishing Date: 2013
Pgs: 283
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Genre:
History
Nonfiction
Railroads
Russia
Why this book:
I love a good travelog, build-it-and-they-will-come story. Found this while looking for something else.
_________________
Hmm Moments:
Wonder if all these foreign loans and partnerships coming due is a contributing factor to the specter of the Russian Revolution?
Surprising, based on Russian isolationist policies, that they would consider running part of the Trans-Siberian Railway through Chinese Manchuria. Just seems like giving away too much control of a Russian enterprise. Even in a situation where they are taking loans and giving subsidies to foreign interests, the actual concrete construct not being wholly on Russian soil seems to go against the idea of Russianness.
Using the building of the southern, easier, route of the Trans-Siberian through Manchuria as a de facto annexation of the land from China is very with the imperialism of the era. The agreed to in treaty, Railway Guard, made up of Russians, growing to over 25,000 members is a army on site under another name.
Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, the eventual leader of the White Russians in the Russian Civil War, via coup, being described as, despite calling himself Supreme Ruler of All the Russias, “an unsuitable candidate for high political office, neurotic, quick to lose his temper, and with no idea of the hard realities of life, no plans of his own, no system, no will; like soft wax from which his advisers and intimates can fashion whatever they like.”
Uhm Moments:
It’s surprising that from a freight standpoint that the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway didn’t bring with it an influx/outflux of trade with the Americas via Vladivostok. Which was one of the promises floated by the many, many who tried and failed to get a construction contract and lease, or subsidy, on the line on completion.
Calling the Ball:
Guarantee that the “real” body count for the construction crews is far, far higher than reported, between prisoner and immigrant labor “not counting” and supervisors and managers committing fraud by saying that someone was still working when they were actually dead so that they could continue to receive their pay and rations, that reported number is far lower. Yes, the Russian authorities wanted to micromanage the project, especially the Finance Ministry, but the sheer distance and inadequate communications made this difficult.
Turd in the Punchbowl:
Vysnegradsky, the Russian Finance Minister who held sway before Witte, may have been right in his reticence to build the Trans-Siberian Railway, considering what happened to the Tsar and his people when the bills came due on the rail line. …and the heavy price paid at the time in taxes and lives.
Wisdom:
Short shrift is given to the idea of the Trans-Siberian’s unifying mission. Yes, it’s military implications being able to move military more efficiently was important. But unifying the Siberian territories more fully into Russia proper. Once it was open and in operation, fitful though it was, it succeeded magnificently in that role.
Juxtaposition:
The building of the Trans-Siberian Railway makes an interesting trichotomy between proto-Soviet planning and control and capitalism in an absolute monarchy.
The settlers vs nomads paradigm was there in the Trans-Siberian Railway migration. It was clamped down tight by the attempts of the absolute monarchy trying to control the populace in the same way that it always had. These people had only escaped serfdom 40 years earlier, but the society and culture hadn’t evolved much from that point due to the government, the commune, and the commune elders using that system to maintain control. In the case of the migrants, any travel beyond their local area required an internal passport. Many went without one and due to the maelstrom of people coming in got lost in the shuffle on the other end in Siberia, effectively an illegal emigre problem in the Russian Far East. The book doesn’t mention how the internal passport system worked with the nomadic people living in Siberia before and after the railway.
Missed Opportunity:
Surprised that the Allied victory in the Crimean War didn’t lead to British adventurism/colonialism in Siberia since they coveted Siberian resources.
If the Japanese had kept their attention to the north and away from Pearl Harbor, especially when Stalin pulled Zhukov and the majority of his army back west to face Hitler’s Germany, we would probably be living in a much different world today.
_________________
Last Page Sound:
Trying to give the Trans-Siberian Railway an uplifting picture in the denouement doesn’t ring true with the story told here. Awesome as the achievement was, this is a tragedy writ in blood. And we’ll likely be deep, deep into the next century before it pays for itself. With the seeming determination of the Russian government to shoot itself in the foot, one has to wonder if the container traffic making use of the railway is safe. If the sea ice clears to a point in climate change to allow an Arctic Ocean trade route, the railway may find itself bypassed. The Trans-Siberian and the BAM are already littered with ghost towns. That could become worse.
Author: Christian Wolmar
Publisher: Public Affairs
Publishing Date: 2013
Pgs: 283
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Genre:
History
Nonfiction
Railroads
Russia
Why this book:
I love a good travelog, build-it-and-they-will-come story. Found this while looking for something else.
_________________
Hmm Moments:
Wonder if all these foreign loans and partnerships coming due is a contributing factor to the specter of the Russian Revolution?
Surprising, based on Russian isolationist policies, that they would consider running part of the Trans-Siberian Railway through Chinese Manchuria. Just seems like giving away too much control of a Russian enterprise. Even in a situation where they are taking loans and giving subsidies to foreign interests, the actual concrete construct not being wholly on Russian soil seems to go against the idea of Russianness.
Using the building of the southern, easier, route of the Trans-Siberian through Manchuria as a de facto annexation of the land from China is very with the imperialism of the era. The agreed to in treaty, Railway Guard, made up of Russians, growing to over 25,000 members is a army on site under another name.
Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, the eventual leader of the White Russians in the Russian Civil War, via coup, being described as, despite calling himself Supreme Ruler of All the Russias, “an unsuitable candidate for high political office, neurotic, quick to lose his temper, and with no idea of the hard realities of life, no plans of his own, no system, no will; like soft wax from which his advisers and intimates can fashion whatever they like.”
Uhm Moments:
It’s surprising that from a freight standpoint that the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway didn’t bring with it an influx/outflux of trade with the Americas via Vladivostok. Which was one of the promises floated by the many, many who tried and failed to get a construction contract and lease, or subsidy, on the line on completion.
Calling the Ball:
Guarantee that the “real” body count for the construction crews is far, far higher than reported, between prisoner and immigrant labor “not counting” and supervisors and managers committing fraud by saying that someone was still working when they were actually dead so that they could continue to receive their pay and rations, that reported number is far lower. Yes, the Russian authorities wanted to micromanage the project, especially the Finance Ministry, but the sheer distance and inadequate communications made this difficult.
Turd in the Punchbowl:
Vysnegradsky, the Russian Finance Minister who held sway before Witte, may have been right in his reticence to build the Trans-Siberian Railway, considering what happened to the Tsar and his people when the bills came due on the rail line. …and the heavy price paid at the time in taxes and lives.
Wisdom:
Short shrift is given to the idea of the Trans-Siberian’s unifying mission. Yes, it’s military implications being able to move military more efficiently was important. But unifying the Siberian territories more fully into Russia proper. Once it was open and in operation, fitful though it was, it succeeded magnificently in that role.
Juxtaposition:
The building of the Trans-Siberian Railway makes an interesting trichotomy between proto-Soviet planning and control and capitalism in an absolute monarchy.
The settlers vs nomads paradigm was there in the Trans-Siberian Railway migration. It was clamped down tight by the attempts of the absolute monarchy trying to control the populace in the same way that it always had. These people had only escaped serfdom 40 years earlier, but the society and culture hadn’t evolved much from that point due to the government, the commune, and the commune elders using that system to maintain control. In the case of the migrants, any travel beyond their local area required an internal passport. Many went without one and due to the maelstrom of people coming in got lost in the shuffle on the other end in Siberia, effectively an illegal emigre problem in the Russian Far East. The book doesn’t mention how the internal passport system worked with the nomadic people living in Siberia before and after the railway.
Missed Opportunity:
Surprised that the Allied victory in the Crimean War didn’t lead to British adventurism/colonialism in Siberia since they coveted Siberian resources.
If the Japanese had kept their attention to the north and away from Pearl Harbor, especially when Stalin pulled Zhukov and the majority of his army back west to face Hitler’s Germany, we would probably be living in a much different world today.
_________________
Last Page Sound:
Trying to give the Trans-Siberian Railway an uplifting picture in the denouement doesn’t ring true with the story told here. Awesome as the achievement was, this is a tragedy writ in blood. And we’ll likely be deep, deep into the next century before it pays for itself. With the seeming determination of the Russian government to shoot itself in the foot, one has to wonder if the container traffic making use of the railway is safe. If the sea ice clears to a point in climate change to allow an Arctic Ocean trade route, the railway may find itself bypassed. The Trans-Siberian and the BAM are already littered with ghost towns. That could become worse.