Two centuries ago, planet Earth experienced the famous “year without a summer” when summer months Instead of warmth and sunshine they brought snow and cold rains and winds. People tended to think this a natural phenomenon divine punishment, but what really happened?
What was the “year without summer” like?
Summer of 1816 North hemisphere was hit by bad weather of biblical proportions. After the usual and expected spring, the temperature dropped so much that the east of the North American continent from New England to Virginia again experienced snowfalls and frosts that destroyed almost the entire crop.
Europe was also chilled unseasonably. In the northern part winter snow never melted, but southern regions, accustomed to the sun, experienced 130 days of heavy rain between April and September. The constant cold and darkness inspired young Mary Shelley to write the famous novel Frankenstein.
In Europe and Asia there are many farms suffered incredible losses, causing famine and an epidemic of typhoid and other diseases. In India, famine and cold resulted in a new strain of cholera, killing millions of people.
What caused such a low temperature?
Religious interpretations aside, scientists are blaming the weather on the eruption of Indonesia's Mount Tambora. In April 1815, a strong eruption occurred, which is considered one of the most destructive in the history of mankind. The release of volcanic ash reached the stratosphere, and a huge cloud caused a shroud that blocked Sun rays.
More than 10 thousand residents of the Indonesian island of Sumbawa died from the direct eruption. As a result volcanic activity The unique Tambor culture and language were destroyed. The ash blanket caused a rapid drop in the Earth's temperature by several degrees and not only deprived the planet of summer, but also claimed the lives of almost 100 thousand people.
On March 26, 1953, Lavrentiy Beria launched one of the most massive amnesties of all time. national history. The “cold summer of ’53” began. Dangerous criminals were released, which significantly changed the cultural and social life THE USSR.
Reboot of the Gulag
The 1953 amnesty was not a thoughtless gesture of mercy from the former people's commissar. This was a reform of the Gulag, which under Stalin had grown to enormous proportions. They talked about the crisis of the prison system back in the early 50s. But, as the historian Moshe Levin subtly noted, during the life of the dictator the system was “mummified”; there could be no talk of any solutions to the problem. But not even two weeks had passed since Stalin’s death before Beria completely reorganized the Gulag. He transferred it to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. Without a large-scale amnesty, changes would take a long time. Therefore, on March 28, 1953, an article from Pravda thundered throughout the country, declaring an amnesty for half of the Gulag prisoners.Liberal Beria
Beria's amnesty made him "the first liberal of the USSR." The policy of weakening the regime or, as historians often call it, a “sharp liberal turn” became Beria’s unexpected trump card in the struggle for power. The very phrase “liberal Beria” sounds ironic. Wasn't he known as one of the main organizers Stalin's repressions? Even Svetlana Alliluyeva, Stalin’s daughter, called him “a scoundrel, a creeping bastard and a murderer of her family.” The Katyn tragedy also began with a note from Beria to the leader with a request to apply to Polish officers highest degree punishments. Amazingly, it was this man who announced a large-scale amnesty. In his explanatory note, Lavrentiy explained that out of 2,526,402 Gulag prisoners, only 221,435 people are “particularly dangerous state criminals" He also abolished the Special Meeting under the USSR Minister of Internal Affairs. From now on, no one could be convicted without a court decision.Crime on the go
The 1953 amnesty was subject to all persons sentenced to a term of up to five years; those convicted of official, economic and military crimes; pregnant women; women with children under 10 years of age (and this happened in prisons), as well as minors under 18 years of age. The decree applied to men over 55, women over 50 and the terminally ill. As a result, 1,201,606 people were released and sent to “nowhere” - the program social adaptation We didn’t have time to develop it. Together with the innocent people, the entire criminal riffraff was released - former thieves, rapists, who were lucky enough to get away for a short period of time. And this whole crowd moved to Moscow and the south. Crime situation in the USSR became critical. The police could not cope with the rampant criminal banditry, prestige law enforcement reduced to zero. Some cities, for example, Ulan-Ude or Magadan, completely came under the control of former prisoners and turned into “hot spots.” The authorities called on citizens to barricade their windows and not go out into the streets. In the mornings we had to collect the corpses of those robbed and killed at night. Additional units were transferred to Ulan-Ude and Kazan army units.Beria's dark plan
Such unexpected consequences The amnesties gave rise to a rumor that Beria initially planned to release only criminals and, having provoked a wave of violence, establish a “harsh hand regime.” However, the NKVD's oversight was evident here. Many real criminals could not be convicted for a long time due to the lack of necessary evidence. Under Beria, there was no targeted release of crime bosses. This is evidenced by the text of the Amnesty Decree; according to it, persons convicted of banditry and premeditated murders did not receive the right to be released. Dangerous “chicks” Before starting such a large-scale action, Beria should consider examples from previous years. It's about about the amnesty of Kerensky in 1917, when 90 thousand prisoners were released. The number is incommensurate with the scale of Lawrence, but this was enough for devastation to begin in the country. Among those amnestied were thousands of thieves and raiders, who were called “Kerensky’s chicks.” And all because the intelligentsia saw the causes of crimes in tsarism. No king, no crime. "New public order opens the way to renewal and a bright life for those who have fallen into criminal offenses!” - Kerensky spoke. Meanwhile, the “Keren Chicks” were in no hurry to lead a bright life. In the first month after the March amnesty in Moscow, 6,884 thefts alone were committed. The provisional government did not last long; Lavrentiy Beria should have paid attention to this important detail.Prison strikes
At the beginning, Beria's amnesty did not apply to political prisoners at all. However, the Party felt a weakening of its position towards the “enemies of the people.” Immediately after the first wave of liberation, on April 4, Pravda whitewashed the “killer doctors.” This gave rise to new hopes, which gave rise to numerous actions: the judiciary was inundated with requests for rehabilitation. Feeling the crisis of the repressive system, the prisoners unanimously refused to work. On May 14, 1953, more than 14,000 prisoners of the Norilsk camps went on strike and organized committees in which key roles Ukrainians and Balts played. As a result, many dissidents were released, including the “forest brothers” - aggressive nationalists who fought for the freedom of the Baltic states.Cultural Revolution
The 1953 amnesty led to a real culture shock, a critical turning point in Soviet ideology. Two worlds collided in the country - the exemplary builders of socialism and their antagonists, former criminals, “thieves” - people whom the system sent to the very bottom. Once free, in the absence of a social adaptation program, all they could do was return to their previous path of “gentlemen of fortune.” The surge in the criminal element has contributed to public culture. Fashion and habits have changed. The Gulag camps had their own life, they had their own language, their own folklore, their own laws. In the Soviet Union, guidelines began to change - life began to “according to concepts.” The “cold summer of ’53” dictated its foundations. The policemen, who could not cope with the rioting crowd, began to be seen as enemies. Thieves' chanson developed in music - heroic songs about war were not suitable for new members of society. The art of tattooing became widespread in the USSR. Beri's amnesty only started the process, becoming the first in a series of mass liberations that created a “thieves' aesthetics” - an alternative model to the values of socialism.There is an opinion that in order to start a conversation with a stranger, it is enough to talk about the weather. We can talk about what is happening outside the window now, but it is much more interesting to find out what the coldest summer humanity has experienced. When did this happen, and how will humanity remember this year? It turns out that the coldest time on Earth during the summer months was in 1816.
It was under this name that the year 1816 went down in history. According to the chronicles of meteorologists who have been observing the weather since the 18th century, it is noted that in 1816 there was the coldest summer in the entire history of their observations. In America, the peak of cold weather occurred in June, and in England, record low temperatures were recorded in July. However, in other countries, this year was no less cold, which brought a lot of grief to people.
Why did such a weather anomaly occur? This is due to the eruption in 1815 of a volcano located on the island of Sumbawa. It is considered the most powerful in the entire history of mankind. As a result, the entire island was completely destroyed along with all its inhabitants, of whom there were at least 70 thousand people. It was noted that people heard the sound of the eruption even at a distance of 2 thousand kilometers.
The height of the mountain, which before this incident was 4300 meters, instantly decreased to only 2821 meters. Fragments of the mountain were scattered into the sea over a long distance. Residents of the island of Java, which was located 300 miles from the epicenter of the eruption, recalled that on that day the entire sky was covered with thick, black smoke, through which the rays of the sun did not pass. In addition, sounds similar to cannonade or very strong thunder were heard.
The explosion was so powerful that other volcanoes on Earth began to erupt. As a result, volcanic ash spread over the entire surface of the planet, which led to a significant decrease in air temperature, because the sun's rays could not normally penetrate this curtain and reach the surface of the earth. And the temperature record for the coldest summer has not yet been broken.
But the cold did not set in immediately after the volcanic eruption. Spring in America and Europe was not much different from usual. But already in early May, the anomaly made itself felt. And already on June 3, 15 cm of snow fell, which completely destroyed the crop that had managed to grow by this time. At the same time, there were gusts of strong and cold wind, which people compared with the November one. The stoves in the houses had to be lit, and winter clothes had to be worn outside. This went on for almost a week. But this was not the end, since at the beginning of July the frosts returned again. Another cold wave was recorded between 21 and 30 August.
As a result of the frost, all crops of grain and other agricultural crops, as well as many garden trees, were destroyed. There was also an unprecedented loss of livestock, which was due not so much to the cold as to the lack of food.
In Canada, small lakes were covered with a crust of ice. As for Europe, here many countries, weakened by the recent wars with the Napoleonic army, experienced a real catastrophe. This is due to the fact that due to a bad harvest, all food supplies quickly ran out, which were never replenished in 1816. The result was a real famine. Food prices have skyrocketed tenfold. Therefore, even buying bread was beyond the means of many. Everyone who could escape did so by moving to America or other countries where the consequences of the bad weather were less noticeable.
But the governments of America and England did not connect this with the disaster that occurred on the island of Sumbawa. They attributed this to the research of scientists, the construction of Franklin lightning rods, etc. Although the scientists themselves spoke about the huge amount of dust in the atmosphere and floating boulders that sailors encountered while swimming in the waters Pacific Ocean. Which was the result of nothing more than a powerful volcanic eruption, when clouds of volcanic ash did not dissipate in the atmosphere for a very long time, creating a kind of curtain from the sun's rays.
According to domestic meteorologists, the coldest summers for the entire period of their observation were the summers of 2006 and 2014. The maximum summer temperature in 2006 in the region Ural mountains did not rise above 16 degrees Celsius. And in 2014, a record minimum was recorded in Perm, which was +10 degrees.
Residents of Tver then shared that they fell asleep in the summer when the temperature was +30 degrees, and woke up in the middle of winter. That night the air temperature dropped sharply to -1 degree and even real snow fell. As a result, such natural anomaly Agricultural crops, gardens and other plantings were damaged. This also caused significant discomfort to motorists. A similar situation occurred at this time in Murmansk.
If we talk about the general temperature in the country, it is coldest at the top in summer Caucasus Mountains and on the Arctic islands. The temperature here in July usually does not exceed 0 degrees.
According to chronicles, such temperature anomalies have occurred periodically since the 10th century. It was from that time that observations of nature began, which were recorded by chroniclers. However, it is impossible to say what the temperature was at that time, since measuring instruments there was no way to define it then. There is evidence that there was frost in July in 1604, when people even managed to ride a sleigh, and during this period the snowdrifts reached the waist of an adult man. However, many scientists consider this just fiction.