WHITE-WALLED CITY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 4 August 1941, Page 2

WHITE-WALLED CITY

MOSCOW, SOVIET CAPITAL FOUNDED IN U!th CENTURY Moscow, city of the white walls. ■Momow while the Russians have the .hoM of a chance to hold it For lUos ti w mean.- a 10l to the Russians, slates writer >n the Melbourne “Argus.' Founded in the 12th century in a ' clearing among endless pinewoods v Inch sti'.' cover much of the district. Moscow has always held pride of place it, the hearts of Russians. Although Peter the Great transferred the capital v his new port of St. Petersburg, later Petrograd (now Leningrad). Moscow ’ remained the heart of Russia, and under the Soviets it has again become the capital. To-day it is a mystery city to most o' the world, but to Soviet citizens it is a source of boundless pride. Under the Tsars it was a semi-Oriental mixture . f Slavic churches, opulent palaces, and , : ov. dcd wooden slums. The old Moscow was built mainly of wood, and its nalaccs and hovels were huddled together in insanitary disorder. The population never reached 2.000.000. Since the revolution the population ' has lumped to over 4.000.000. about equal to Berlin, or Greater Paris, and behind only London. New York and . Tokio. After a period of acute housing shortage, a van town-planning m heme has been progressively carried rut. Whole areas were dynamited and replaced by dignified and spacious modern buildings. Hospitals, schools, . power stations, factories, blocks of - workers’ fiats have sprung up covering - acres in the centre of the city. STILL IN TRANSITION To-dav Moscow is still in transition. Modern skyscrapers tower over quaint relies of Tsarist Russia ancient winding streets suddenly enter modern squares with wide flower-beds and fleets of taxis. The work of transition has been carried out on a big scale. The modem Gorki street (named after Maxim Gorki) appeared almost over- ' night. A new row of buildings was ’ erected behind the old tumbledown shops, and a salvo of dynamite remov- [ eel the old street, leaving a new thoroughfare several times the width. ' But the Russians are most proud of * the Moscow Metro., an underground .'railway system, said to be unequalled anywhere for efficiency and comfort. , i Each of the stations is built to a difj ferent design, and Soviet citizens take l j pride in the spotless beauty of these j | underground halls They represent one t! of the most visible achievements of ; | the 5-year plans. -1 The Metro was built with another -1 end in view—it was specifically design- », ed as a deep air-raid shelter. Com- \ plete arrangements for sleeping and ; sanitation were incorporated in the t underground sttations. This foresight - is now being rewarded. Moscow, too. is the site of the famous * Red Square, heart of Russia’s life, 7 where the great May Day processions f .ire held annually. On one side is the : i ancient fortress of Moscow, the Krem'i 1 in. fronting the Moscow river. In i'fiont of it is a site of universal pil—--1 grimage, Lenin's tomb, where every day a long queue waits to do homage to the leader of the revolution. In the past the Kremlin has been the - home of the Supreme Soviet, the Parfiament of U.S.S.R. To this ancient 1' Tsarist fortress-palace peasants, workl j ers, and Red Army men from Russian '(and Asiatic provinces have gathered 1 for their half-yearly meetings. After ' the second 5-vear plan had been suc--1 cessfully finished a new meeting-place was projected as a symbol of the new Russia —a Palace of the Soviets. After an open competition a design ' was accepted which would dwarf any ' other building in the world. In the | base was to be a vast domed hall, unsupported by pillars, as a meeting- ’ place or theatre. Above it was to rise ; -i great tower, holding offices, and top- ; ped by a gigantic figure of Lenin—the .’.hole over 1.300 ft high. It was to be set in an open circus, from which . streets were to radiate to all parts of i the city. The figure of Lenin was to ’ ! dominate the skyline for miles around. . Pc-rhaps it is as well that this valuable , direction-finder for Nazi bombers has ’ been left until after the war. COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE Military experts point out that the ‘ loss of Moscow would not mean as. much to the Russians as the loss of 1 Paris to the French. The Russians ' have lost Moscow before —to the Poles and later to Napoleon, but each time they have returned to the attack and regained the ancient cradle of their But it is well worth holding, apart 1 from its sentimental value. The centre of an important industrial area, it is also the focus of a network of com--1 munications —roads. railways. and 1 canals. The development of Russia’s J inland waterways is one of the most remarkable achievements of U.S.S.R. Making use of her magnificent rivers, a ) .series of inland waterways has been . cut which links Moscow —hundreds of . miles from any coast —with five seas. ' Barges, freighters, oil tankers, and j passenger steamers unload at the Mos- , cow canal station from the White Sea, the Baltic, the Sea of Azov, the Black . Sea and the Caspian. Moscow has also approached a uni- . que position among the great cities of the world. With its maze of surround- . ing vegetable gardens and farms it is i practically self-supporting in perish- . able foods. T! is achievement, part, of a long-range Soviet plan to save - freightage, is a triumph over the severe Russian winter, which holds the .* area snowbound for months each year, i The city waste, scientifically treated, is - used as mould, and creates sufficient ’ warmth to nullify frost anti snow. If r the city's communications are cut this 1 • may be an important factor in the de- -; fence of the city. -1 Centuries of tradition and 20 years ■ ot intensive construction have gone .into the making of th ■ Moscow of to1j day. Millions of sympathisers the - world over will join the Russians in ' their (Titter struggle to save it from desecration and destruction by the forces of modern barbarism.