HOME OF THE COSSACKS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 25 October 1941, Page 7

HOME OF THE COSSACKS

AT.VV/I

Although the Germans are now making a drive for Moscow, the operations on the southern front are of very great importance. Probably the Germans will not attempt to push further eastward than the great industrial area of the Donets Basin. Should they gain this objective one wing of their army will certainly wheel to the south and try to reach the all-important oil fields of Transcaucasia. The route of this attack 'if the Nazis are ever in a position to make iti traverses a region which is varied, picturesque and generally unknown to foreigners. Between llu* Don and the Kuban lies one of the most fertile districts on earth. Immense level fields of wheat and barley and maize alternate with melon and tobaceo plantations. Large areas of what was formerly malaria-ridden swamp have been drained and sown with riee. and thousands of acres have recently been planted with crops like cotton and soya bean, which were previously unknown in this part of Russia. HOME OF THE COSSACKS For centuries these rich black-soil steppes have been the traditional home of the Cossacks. To-day they are a land of State and collective farms. Each farm has its central “city.” with permanent residences for its workers, theatres, clubs, communal restaurants, schools, hospitals and usually a newspaper. The two most famous centres are the “Gigant” (Giant), and the “Verblud” (Camel). The largest is Zernagrod (City of Grain). The metropolis of this vast region, and the gateway to the Caucasus, is the pleasant city of Rostov-on-Don. Although it is only 200 years old, its population numbers more than half a million, and local residents jokingly claim that its very name is derived from the Russian word ‘Tost,” meaning "growth.” Its many parks and gardens, and broad treelined streets, sloping down to the mighty river, recall the spacious atmosphere of Kiev. At the same time, numerous blocks of new flats and modern public buildings suggest the brisk and bustling commerciality of Kharkov. The most striking piece of architecture at Rostov is the very modernistic Maxim Gorky Stale Theatre of Drama, which, according to Ethel Mannin, looks like "a wedge of cheese between glass towers.” It accommodates more than 2000 people, and has several revolving stages. The plays of Shakespeare are a specialty of its productions. The industrial energy of Rostov is concentrated on the manufacture of agricultural machinery. The chief enterprise of this kind is the ultramodern Rossclmash factory, where all work processes arc electrically operated. It employs 20,000 workers, nearly half of whom are women, and has a larger output than all the similar factories of Czarist Russia combined. Further south in the Cheheno-In-gush A.S.S.R. lies Grozny, Hitler’s first definite military objective in this territory. Its main industry is the extraction of petroleum, in which it is responsible for about 12 per cent, of the total Russian output. Grozny is second only to Baku in the total volume of its production, and even surpasses it in the benzine content of its oil. Large refineries are established in the town itself, and pipe-lines have been laid to Tuapse on the Black Sea, to Makhach-Kala on the Caspian, and to the Donetz Coal Basin. AN ENCHANTED LAND Should the Germans gain possession of the Crimea they will undoubtedly use it as a base for a combined sea and air attack on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. This is another health and holiday resort, and generally has been set apart for hotels, rest homes and sanatoriums. In most places all forms of industry have been specifically excluded. It is an enchanted land of flowering mimosa, date palms and brilliant sunlight. The classical style of the buildings, combined with

Gateway to Caucasus VAST AND FERTILE REGION Rostov - the Soviet Chicago (From the Melbourne "Age”)

I the exotic vegetation, is strongly rest miniscent of Italy, and is unlike 'ho I | sombre forests and bleak plains of ; northern Russia as is possible to _ | imagine. Thousands of workers come ~ here every year to bathe, drink the ( > balmy sub tropical climate. v The loveliest village of all is Gagry. I, ' which is shielded by the Caucasus ; Jaaginst the winds, and even the sea' r I seldom shows its anger in the tiny , G harbour. Far more sophisticated i.s , I Sochi, the metropolis of the Black Sea ' 1 Riviera. Stalin maintains a summer 0 I villa hero, and Uic Riviera Hotel is the 1 favourite resort of military officers on leave. The most imposing building is the Voroshilov Sanatorium, which is open to all ranks of the Red Army. It is connected by a funicular railway to the beach; and its glass walls slide ! open, converting each room into a sunny verandah. Novorossuk, to the north, i.s primarily ; a commercial port. It has the biggest | cement works in the U.S.S.R.. and the' ■ largest grain elevator in the world. . Next to Sebastopol, it is the chief base of the Russian Black Sea fleet. It is an \ ugly town, and owing to its Hat hinter- j land has no shelter against the winds j which sweep down from the steppes. ; I The name New Russia was bestowed i e upon it by the Turks. FAMOUS SPRINGS h j - i Those who in peace time preferred - a holiday in the mountains or who suf-j | fered from a complaint which could not j _ jbe cured in the seaside resorts had a ; s j very Agreeable alternative in the pa c j sanatoriums of the Caucasus. The, s variety and curative powers of these I mineral springs and mud baths are , , probably unrivalled in the world. s By a strange coincidence all the lead- j i | ing centres in this wide curative area j are oil the main railway line. Kislo- (• vodsk i.s famous for the great Narzan _ j spring which supplies the Soviet Union i . | with its most popular mineral water. i Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino- ; L j Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist 1 I Republic, is the main base for the as- J " cent of Ml. Elbrus, the highest peak in c ! Europe (18,526 feet). But more im- ~ i portant than either is Ordjonikidze. j Originally called Vladikavkaz, this j ■‘ town was founded in 1784 by Catherine! c | the Great as a fortress to hold the j f mountain tribes iji check and pre- * vent them making raids upon Russian , y territory. Its name has recently been ; e | changed to Ordjonikidze in honour of j o , the late Commissar of Heavy Industry, ! 4 j who led the Bolsheviks in the lighting -! by which they eventually won it. In d j appearance it is a typical small pro-I e i vincial centre of Czarist days, and there if i.s still a notice on the park gates bear- ! ing the notorious proclamation of the iS last Romanov; "No soldiers or dogs ,f admitted.” But to-day Ordjonikidze ■f Jis of immense strategic significance as _ | the starting point of one of the most II j vital arteries in history. v | HIGHWAYS OVER MOUNTAINS a i No railroads penetrate the titanic " i barrier of the Caucasus. The main i line from Russia skirts the northern “ j foothills, and turning due east to meet s ; the Caspian, at Makhach-Kala, proceeds • s ; along its shores to Baku. On the Black ~ ; Sea side a railway is being constructed s l to link up the chief ports, but it is still * | far from complete. p | Engineering skill, however, has sue—--1 ceeded in penetrating the mountain o i fastness (which, incidentally, contains if 20 peaks higher than Mont Blanc) with - : three great military highways—the s Ossetian, the Sukhumi and the Geork gian. t, As a strategic thoroughfare the last must rank with the famous Khyber Pass. It is 135 miles long and connects Ordjonikidze with the Georgian capital. Tbilisi, and can be traversed by car in about nine hours. It fol- \ lows the historic route through the great Daryal Gorge, which was used . , by the Cimmerians in their ox carts and by the Mongol hordes of the terrible 1 Tamarlane. A regular road was first ] constructed in 1783 by Paul Potemkin, j a cousin of Catherine's favourite. The . j present highway was begun in 1811, C 1 ; and completed in 1864. ‘l The scenery along this route has a | reputation for beauty. It could, how--1 ever, be more accurately described as _ sombrely impressive. The track rises to an altitude of 8000 feet, but always looming in the background is the mighty bulk of Kasbek. which soai's to twice that height. According to the legend. ! i<; was one of its twin peaks that S Prometheus was chained by Zeus for having revealed the secret of fire to , mankind. The first party of ordinary i mortals to climb Kasbek was led by the j famous English mountaineer Freshfield in 1868. MEDLEY OF PEOPLES The whole Caucasian region i.s a medley of mysterious peoples whose [ origin is obscure. and whose lanI guage baffles philologists. Perhaps the most interesting inhabitants of the northern slopes are the Ossetians. They : » are a •fair-haired, blue-oyecl race, al- * IT ’ost certainly of Indo-European j l stock, and may even have been partly I . Nordic. The most likely theory is j f that they are descendants of the Alans. I who came to the Caucasus from around j the northern shores of the Black Sea j about the time of the great barbarian j » invasions of Europe. In this connec- ; tion a significant point of evidence is , that the Ossetian word for water, Don. | prefixes the name of all the great j rivers in what is now known as the ; Ukraine. The most primitive and the most i backward of all the Caucasian autonomous republics is Daghestan. Four- • fifths of its area consists of inacces- j ■ sible mountains, and most of the plain land is swamp and marsh. There j I is such a light rainfall that the coun- i i try is largely treeless. , The tribesmen live in mountain vil- > lages or auls. Their houses, which are square and built of stone, are - ranged in terraces up the steep slopes. They are packed so closely together that often the fiat roof of one will serve as a courtyard for the dwelling immediately above it.. The capital of Daghestan i.s Mak-rach-Kala. a town of 30.000 inhabitants It was founded in 1844 near the site of a fort established by Peter • the Great on his ill-fated expedition , to Persia in 1722. and for this reason j was originally called Petrovsk. Its ' main industries are oil refining and , fish canning. The national hero of Daghestan i was Shnmyl (Samuel) probably the most remarkable Moslem of the nineteenth century. By preaching a holy war against the Christian infidel lie secured the allegiance of the wild Caucasian tribesmen, and for 25 years was forced to defy the whole military might of the Russian Empire. But eventually he was deserted by his followers, and forced to surrender to j the invader at aul Gunib in 185‘J. For a number of years he lived in exile rear Moscow. He died in 1871 while j on a pilgrimage to Mecca. I