Construction of the road began in the mid-1860s. The government gave a concession for the construction of the Ryazan-Kozlov line on March 12, 1865, and a joint-stock company was created. Founder - Pavel Grigorievich von Derviz. The line opened to traffic in September 1866. In the same year, construction of the Kozlov-Voronezh line began. The founder of the Kozlovo-Voronezh Road Society was the Voronezh provincial zemstvo. The construction contractor is merchant Samuil Solomonovich Polyakov. Regular passenger service began in 1868. Since 1868, construction of the Voronezh - Rostov line has been underway, traffic along which was opened in 1871. After this, the road became the second railway exit from Donbass to the center of European Russia.
At the same time, since 1866, the construction of the lines Orel - Gryazi, Gryazi - Borisoglebsk, Borisoglebsk - Tsaritsyn was underway. Train traffic from Orel to Tsaritsyn began in 1871. The line from Gryazi station to Orel station and further to Riga station provided an outlet for grain exports from Central Black Earth Region via ports Baltic Sea to Europe. Since the 1870s, up to 15,000,000 pounds of grain have been transported along this line annually. In 1869 the Kozlov-Tambov line came into operation, in 1871 the Tambov-Saratov line. The commissioning of these lines played a major role in the development of the Russian grain market. In 1873, the Kozlovo-Voronezh Line and the Voronezh-Rostov Line merged into one South-Eastern Railway.
In 1874, over 15,000,000 pounds of grain were transported along these road lines, including 7,000,000 pounds of grain to seaports for export. In 1883, the purchase of railway lines to the treasury began. On August 1, 1893, the South-Eastern Railways Society was established, the charter was approved by the government in the same year. In the mid-1890s, construction began on railway lines from Kharkov through the city of Liski, the city of Bobrov, the city of Novokhopyorsk to the city of Povorino and further to Rtishchevo (660 versts). Liski station became a major railway junction. In 1894, the construction of the Voronezh - Kursk line was completed. With the commissioning of the Grafskaya - Anna and Talovaya - Kalach branches (1896), the construction of the South-Eastern railway was largely completed. By 1913, the lines of the South-Eastern Railway stretched from Ryazan to Rostov and from Kharkov to Tsaritsyn. The total length of the tracks of the South-Eastern Railway was 5,148 kilometers, including the main tracks - 4,019 kilometers.
In the first decades Soviet power the road was playing important role in recovery National economy and the development of industrialization of the Central Black Earth region. During the Great Patriotic War the road ensured the advancement of front-line echelons and evacuation transportation. The South-Eastern Railway served the Voronezh Front, Southwestern Front, Don Front and Stalingrad Front with a territory of about 400,000 km2. In 1943, her team was transferred to eternal storage the challenge Red Banner of the State Defense Committee and the Red Banner of the People's Commissariat of Transport of the USSR.
In the early 1960s, the road was electrified. In 1964, the Rossosh - Liski and Otrozhka - Kochetovka lines with a call at Voronezh were the first to switch to electric traction. Electrification was completed by 1966.
After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the configuration of the South-Eastern Railway lines underwent changes.
The South-Eastern Railway runs through the territory Voronezh region, Lipetsk region, Tambov region, Belgorod region, partially Kursk region, Saratov region, Penza region, Ryazan region, Tula region. Connects the Donbass, North Caucasus and Transcaucasia with the regions of the Center and the European North, the Volga region.
Main activities: transportation of passengers, cargo, luggage; loading and unloading activities, repairs, Maintenance and operation of railway rolling stock; escort and security of cargo, luggage and hand luggage of passengers; transport and forwarding activities; provision of communication, information, marketing, maintenance and other services; organization and operation of logistics centers.
The main cargo of the line: iron ore raw materials, ferrous metals, Construction Materials. We carry out transportation of products from metallurgical plants, agro-industrial complex, oil, cement, chemical and mineral fertilizers, industrial raw materials.
The road includes: 5 departments - Rtishchevskoye, Liskinskoye, Belgorodskoye, Yeletskoye, Michurinskoye, 14 locomotive, 6 operational and 10 freight car depots, 21 track distances, 11 track machine stations for signaling and communication, 10 power supply distances; 19 inter-road junction points for the reception and transfer of cargo and wagons; traffic center transportation management. There are about 3,000 stations and terminals on the South Eastern Railway.
IN different years the railway was led by: F.M. Tkachenko (1936-1937, 1938-1942, 1943-1944), N.P. Chaplin (1937-1938), A.P. Molchanov (1942), V.S. Levchenko (1944-1950), Arkady Vasilievich Okhremchik (1950-1953, 1959-1971), N.T. Zakorko (1953-1959), V.P. Leonov (1971-1979), Anatoly Semenovich Goliusov (1979-1987), V.A. Shevaldin (1987-1990), Viktor Grigorievich Atlasov (1991-1998), I.S. Vasiliev (1998-2000), M.P. Akulov (2000-2002), A.I. Volodko (since 2002).
The South-Eastern Railway runs through the territories of regions located in the southern and south-eastern parts of European Russia - Belgorod, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Tambov, Kursk, Ryazan, Volgograd, Penza, Saratov, Tula, Rostov. The highway connects the southern regions of Russia with the center, the Volga region and the Urals.
The South-Eastern Railway runs through the regions located in the southern and south-eastern parts European Russia, - Belgorod, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Tambov, Kursk, Ryazan, Volgograd, Penza, Saratov, Tula, Rostov. The highway connects southern regions Russia with the center, the Volga region and the Urals.
The South Eastern Railway includes lines built mainly in the second half of the 19th century. In development railway transport Russia is distinguished by two periods of recovery: the end of the 60s - the beginning of the 70s. XIX century and the second half of the 90s of the XIX century. In the first period, the following were put into operation: in 1868 the Yelets - Gryazi line and the Kozlov - Voronezh line, extended in 1871 to Rostov-on-Don, in 1870 - Gryazi - Borisoglebsk and in 1870 - 1871. - Borisoglebk - Tsaritsyn.
In 1865, the concession was approved and the joint-stock company of the Ryazan-Kozlov Railway was created. The highway was built with money from private capital on the initiative of the Voronezh and Tambov zemstvos. The Ryazan - Kozlov section was put into operation on September 4, 1866. In the same year, the line was continued from Kozlov to Voronezh. And in 1968, the first train arrived at Voronezh station. Soon the need arose to extend the road south to the Donetsk coal deposits. Organization construction work Voronezh zemstvo took over. Construction of the road began in the summer of 1869. The single-track section from Razdelnaya (Otrozhka) to Liski, 86 miles long, was ready on December 27, 1870, and regular traffic began along it on January 1, 1871. On November 28, 1871, train traffic from Voronezh to Rostov was opened. The road management was located in Novocherkassk. As the Southeastern Railway directory reported, as of December 1, 1872, there were 19 passenger cars, 653 boxcars, and 3 baggage cars operating on this section. Steam locomotives of that time were low-power, designed for 10 - 15 cars. To service the rolling stock, workshops were built, and then locomotive and carriage depots.
The Kozlov - Rostov line, which served as a continuation of the Moscow - Ryazan road, opened the way to the "breadbaskets" of Russia - Tambov and Voronezh province. On the other hand, thanks to the construction of this road, it became possible to export grain through ports Sea of Azov abroad. The Yelets - Gryazi road was built as a continuation of the Rigo-Orlovskaya road. It connected the lower reaches of the Volga with the central provinces, as well as with the Baltic ports, which played big role in the development of grain exports from the richest regions of the country. In 1868, one of the first technical educational institutions in Russia was opened at Yelets station.
On June 13, 1893, the merger took place joint stock companies Kozlovo-Voronezh-Rostov, Oryol-Gryazinskaya and Gryazi-Tsaritsynskaya roads. The South-Eastern Railways Society was created, uniting all these lines. Soon the Society began construction of a railway line from the city of Kharkov through the stations of Liski, Bobrov, Novokhopersk to Povorino and Balashov, with a total length of 660 miles. Construction cost approximately 25.8 million rubles. In addition, it was planned to lay a branch from Kupyansk to Lisichansk (117 versts) and from Talovaya to the villages of Buturlinovka and Kalach (90 versts).
Work began on August 1, 1893 and on December 17, 1895 the Kharkov - Balashov road was put into operation. The Talovaya - Kalach line came into operation on May 12, 1896. The work of tens of thousands of diggers was not mechanized; the tracks were built almost by hand.
In 1895, the latitudinal line Kharkov - Balashov - Penza was built, which, along with others built in the same period, contributed to further development coal industry and metallurgy of Donbass.
In 1917, the South-Eastern roads included the following lines: Kozlov - Rostov with branches Grafskaya - Anna and Grafskaya - Ramon; Orel - Gryazi - Tsaritsyn; Kharkov - Balashov with the Talovaya - Kalach branch; Dashing - Tsaritsyn; Yelets - Valuyki. The operational length of the road was 3252 versts, or 3470 kilometers.
The road was subjected to great destruction during the First World War and civil war. Up to 70% of the locomotives were destroyed, 78 were blown up large bridges, 67 depots and workshops destroyed, hundreds of kilometers railway tracks.
In 1918, the railway was nationalized. Restoration and reconstruction of the second half of the 20s made it possible to reach the pre-war level in cargo transportation. In the 30s, the road turned into one of the country's powerful highways.
During the Great Patriotic War, the road served Central, Southern, and then Bryansk, Voronezh, South-Western, Don and Stalingrad fronts. Particularly tense times are the periods of preparation and conduct of the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk.
Currently, the South-Eastern Railway provides transportation to ore mining enterprises of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, Novolipetsk Metallurgical and Oskol Electrometallurgical Plants, chemical and processing industry enterprises. The road management is located in the city of Voronezh. The road borders on a number of railways: Moscow (st. Ryazhsk, Pavelets, Yelets, Efremov, Volovo, Kastornaya-Kurskaya, Kursk, Gotnya), Privolzhskaya (st. Du-plyatka, Blagodatka, Abadurovo), Kuibyshevskaya (st. Krivozerovka), North Caucasus (Chertkovo station). The road includes the following departments: Michurinskoye, Yeletskoye, Rtishchevskoye (since 1985), Liskinskoye, Belgorodskoye (since 1991) and Voronezhskoye (as a branch of the road since 2000).
When preparing the material the following were used:
History of railway transport in Russia. T. I: 1836-1917. - St. Petersburg, 1994;
Railway transport: Encyclopedia. M.: Bolshaya Russian encyclopedia, 1994.- 559 pp.: illus;
Kulzhinsky S.N. Essays on the economy of South-Eastern roads, Voronezh, 1908;
South-Eastern for 40 years, Voronezh, 1957;
The youth of the hundred-year highway, Voronezh, 1966;
Karmanov A., Winds of steel highways, M. 1970.
South Eastern Railway website
Russian Civilization
Railway network Russian Federation quite extensive. It consists of several sections of highways, which are owned by Russian Railways OJSC. At the same time, everything regional roads Formally, they are branches of JSC Russian Railways, while the company itself acts as a monopolist in Russia:
The road runs through the territory of Irkutsk and Chita region and the republics of Buryatia and Sakha-Yakutia. The length of the highway is 3848 km.
The road runs along two parallel latitudinal directions: Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod- Kirov and Moscow - Kazan - Yekaterinburg, which are connected by roads. The road connects Central, Northwestern and Northern regions Russia with the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia. Gorky road borders on the railways: Moscow (st. Petushki and Cherusti), Sverdlovsk (st. Cheptsa, Druzhinino), Northern (st. Novki, Susolovka, Svecha), Kuibyshevskaya (st. Krasny Uzel, Tsilna). The total developed length of the road is 12066 km. The length of the main railway tracks is 7987 km.
The railway passes through the territory of five constituent entities of the Russian Federation - Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territory, Amur and Jewish Autonomous Regions, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Its service area also includes the Magadan, Sakhalin, Kamchatka regions and Chukotka - over 40% of the territory of Russia. Operating length - 5986 km.
The Trans-Baikal Railway runs in the south-east of Russia, across the territory Trans-Baikal Territory And Amur region, is located near the border of the People's Republic of China and has the only direct land border railway crossing in Russia through the Zabaikalsk station. Operating length - 3370 km.
The West Siberian Railway passes through the territories of Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk regions, Altai Territory and partly the Republic of Kazakhstan. The developed length of the main tracks of the highway is 8986 km, the operational length is 5602 km.
The road operates in special geopolitical conditions. The shortest route from the center of Russia to the countries lies through Kaliningrad Western Europe. The road has no common borders with Russian Railways. The total length of the highway is 1,100 km, the length of the main routes is over 900 kilometers.
The highway passes through four large regions - Kemerovo region, Khakassia, Irkutsk region And Krasnoyarsk region, connecting the Trans-Siberian and South Siberian railways. Figuratively speaking, this is a bridge between the European part of Russia, its Far East and Asia. The operational length of the Krasnoyarsk road is 3160 km. The total length is 4544 kilometers.
The railway stretches from the Moscow region to the Ural foothills, connecting the center and west of the Russian Federation with large socio-economic regions of the Urals, Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The road consists of two almost parallel lines, running from West to East: Kustarevka - Inza - Ulyanovsk and Ryazhsk - Samara, which are connected at the Chishmy station, forming a double-track line ending at the spurs Ural mountains. Two other lines of the road Ruzaevka - Penza - Rtishchevo and Ulyanovsk - Syzran - Saratov run from North to South.
Within its current boundaries, the Moscow Railway was organized in 1959 as a result of the full and partial unification of six roads: Moscow-Ryazan, Moscow-Kursk-Donbass, Moscow-Okruzhnaya, Moscow-Kiev, Kalinin and Northern. The deployed length is 13,000 km, the operational length is 8,800 km.
The Oktyabrskaya Mainline passes through the territory of eleven constituent entities of the Russian Federation - Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod, Vologda, Murmansk, Tver, Moscow, Yaroslavl regions, the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg and the Republic of Karelia. Operating length - 10143 km.
The Volga (Ryazan-Ural) railway is located in the southeast of the European part of Russia in the region of the Lower Volga and the middle reaches of the Don and covers the territories of Saratov, Volgograd and Astrakhan regions, as well as several stations located within Rostovskaya, Samara regions and Kazakhstan. The length of the road is 4191 km.
The highway connects the European and Asian parts of Russia, stretches for one and a half thousand kilometers from west to east and crosses in the northern direction Arctic Circle. Passes through Nizhny Tagil, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Surgut, Tyumen. Also serves Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous okrugs. Operating length - 7154 km. The deployed length is 13,853 km.
The highway originates in the center of Russia and extends far to the north of the country. Most of The Northern Mainline operates in harsh conditions Far North and the Arctic. The unfolded length is 8500 kilometers.
In the service area of the road there are 11 constituent entities of the Russian Federation Southern federal district, it directly borders Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The operational length of the highway is 6358 km.
South Eastern Railway occupies central position through the railway network and connects eastern regions and the Urals with the Center, as well as regions of the North, North-West and Center with Northern Caucasus, Ukraine and the states of Transcaucasia. The South-Eastern Road borders on the Moscow, Kuibyshev, North Caucasus, and Southern Railways of Ukraine. Operating length - 4189 km.
The South Ural Railway is located in two parts of the world - at the junction of Europe and Asia. It includes Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Orenburg and Kartalinsk branches. Several mainline railway lines pass through the territory of Kazakhstan. The South-Eastern Road borders on the Moscow, Kuibyshev, North Caucasus, and Southern Railways of Ukraine. Operating length - 4189 km. The developed length is over 8000 km.
South Eastern Railway- one of 16 railways in Russia, a branch of JSC Russian Railways.
Activity
Despite historical name, inherited from the times of the Russian Empire, the road runs through the territory of regions located on southwest the European part of present-day Russia: Voronezh, Belgorod, Volgograd, Rostov, Kursk, Ryazan, Tambov, Tula, Lipetsk, Saratov, Penza. A 37-kilometer section of the road on the Voronezh-Rostov line passes through the territory of the Lugansk region of Ukraine and was the subject of Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental negotiations. Currently, construction is underway on a double-track electrified railway bypassing Ukraine from the Voronezh to the Rostov region on the Zhuravka-Millerovo section. It is planned to build stations Zaytsevka and Sergeevka in the Voronezh region, Sokhranovka, Kuteynikovo, Vinogradovka and Kolodezi in Rostov region and a bridge over the Belaya Kalitva River.
The road management is located in Voronezh. The head of the road is Anatoly Ivanovich Volodko.
The operational length of the road is 4189.1 km;
Number of employees - 22,608 people;
Average wage- 24,913 rubles;
Cargo transported - 82.5 million tons;
Passengers transported:
- V long distance communication- 23.7 million people;
The road borders the following railways:
- With Privolzhskaya Railway Russian Railways:
- according to Art. Duplyatka (inclusive) - with the Volgograd region of PrivZhD,
- according to Art. Ilmen (excluding it) - with the Volgograd region of PrivZhD,
- according to Art. Blagodatka (inclusive) - with the Saratov region of PrivZhD;
- With Kuibyshevskaya Railway Russian Railways:
- according to Art. Krivozerovka (excluding it) - with the Penza region of the Central Basin Railway;
- With Moscow Railway Russian Railways:
- according to Art. Kursk (excluding it) - with the Oryol-Kursk region of the Moscow Railway,
- according to Art. Dace
- according to Art. Efremov (excluding her) - with the Tula region of Moscow Railways,
- according to Art. Pavelets-Tulsky (excluding it) - with the Moscow-Ryazan region of the Moscow Railway,
- according to Art. Kastornaya-Kurskaya (inclusive) - with the Oryol-Kursk region of the Moscow Railway,
- according to Art. Gotnya (inclusive) - with the Oryol-Kursk region of the Moscow Railway,
- along the post 315 km (excluding it) - with the Moscow-Ryazan region of the Moscow Railway;
- With North Caucasus Railway Russian Railways:
- according to Art. Chertkovo (excluding it) - with the Rostov region of the North Caucasus Railway: the border with the North Caucasus Railway is located on the territory of the Chertkovo district of the Rostov region in front of the Chertkovo station (from the north);
- With Donetsk Railway UZD;
- With Southern Railway UZD.
Story
The first railway within the borders Southeast Road became the Ryazan-Kozlovskaya railway built in 1866. This line was extended to Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don in 1871. In 1871, the Yelets - Gryazi - Borisoglebsk - Tsaritsyn road and the Kozlov - Tambov - Saratov line were built (it was built by the Tambov-Saratov Railway Company, but now the South-Eastern Railway serves the section from Michurinsk to Blagodatka inclusive). Between 1890 and 1890, lines and branches of the railway were built: Kharkov - Balashov, Yelets - Valuiki, Talovaya - Kalach. In the same years, the Ryazan-Ural Railway Society built the lines Astapovo - Dankov, Lebedyan - Yelets, Bogoyavlensk - Chelnovaya, Ranenburg - Pavelets with a branch to Troekurovo - Astapovo, Dankov - Volovo, Inokovka - Inzhavino.
In post-Soviet times, the South-Eastern Railway underwent a reduction in its rail network. The Lev Tolstoy - Troekurovo, Kulikovo Pole - Volovo branches were dismantled. In some directions volumes were reduced commuter service. Despite this, the road continues to update its rolling stock fleet with new electric locomotives EP1M, electric trains ED9M and a small number of diesel locomotives TEP70BS.
In 1987, the Likhovsky branch of the South-Eastern Railway was transferred to the jurisdiction of the North Caucasus; the border between the roads was moved from the station. Zverevo at the station Chertkovo.
Activity
Infrastructure
- Path distances (IF):
Mud PCH-1; Voronezh PCH-3; Liski PCH-4; Rossosh PCH-5; Rtishchevo PCH-6; Stary Oskol PCH-7; Rzhava PCH-8; Talovaya PCh-10; Valuyki PCH-11; Povorino PCH-12; Balashov PCH-13; Elets PCH-15; Lev Tolstoy PCH-16; Lipetsk PCH-17; Kochetovka PCH-18; Tambov PCH-20; Serdobsk PCH-21; Ranenburg PCH-22; Belgorod PCH-23.
- Signaling, centralization and blocking distances (ШЧ):
- Power supply distances (ES):
- Operational locomotive depots (LOD):
- Locomotive repair depots (LOD):
- Operational car depots (VChDE):
- Wagon repair depots (WCRD):
- Distance of civil structures (NCS)
Notable workers
- Dubinin, Anisim Antonovich (1888-1938) - first commissar of the road, party and statesman.
Write a review of the article "South-Eastern Railway"
Notes
Links
- [zheleznodorozhnik.rf/istoriya_magistraley/yugo_vostochnaya/ History of the South-Eastern Railway]
An excerpt characterizing the South-Eastern Railway
The tall fellow, not noticing the disappearance of his enemy the kisser, waving his bare hand, did not stop talking, thereby turning it on himself general attention. The people mostly pressed on him, expecting from him to get a solution to all the questions that occupied them.- Show him order, show him the law, that’s what the authorities are in charge of! Is that what I say, Orthodox? - said the tall fellow, smiling slightly.
– He thinks, and there are no authorities? Is it possible without bosses? Otherwise, you never know how to rob them.
- What nonsense to say! - responded in the crowd. - Well, then they’ll abandon Moscow! They told you to laugh, but you believed it. You never know how many of our troops are coming. So they let him in! That's what the authorities do. “Listen to what the people are saying,” they said, pointing to the tall fellow.
Near the wall of China City, another small group of people surrounded a man in a frieze overcoat holding a paper in his hands.
- The decree, the decree is being read! The decree is being read! - was heard in the crowd, and people rushed to the reader.
A man in a frieze overcoat was reading a poster dated August 31st. When the crowd surrounded him, he seemed embarrassed, but in response to the demand of the tall fellow who had pushed ahead of him, with a slight trembling in his voice, he began to read the poster from the beginning.
“Tomorrow I’m going early to the Most Serene Prince,” he read (the brightening one! - the tall fellow solemnly repeated, smiling with his mouth and frowning his eyebrows), “to talk with him, act and help the troops exterminate the villains; We too will become the spirit of them...” the reader continued and stopped (“Saw?” the little one shouted victoriously. “He will untie you all the distance...”) ... - to eradicate and send these guests to hell; I’ll come back for lunch, and we’ll get down to business, we’ll do it, we’ll finish it, and we’ll get rid of the villains.”
The last words were read by the reader in complete silence. The tall fellow sadly lowered his head. It was obvious that no one understood these last words. In particular, the words: “I will come tomorrow for lunch,” apparently even upset both the reader and the listeners. The understanding of the people was in a high mood, and this was too simple and unnecessary understandable; this was the very thing that each of them could say and that therefore a decree emanating from a higher power could not speak.
Everyone stood in dejected silence. The tall fellow moved his lips and staggered.
“I should ask him!.. That’s what he is?.. Well, he asked!.. But then... He’ll point out...” was suddenly heard in the back rows of the crowd, and everyone’s attention turned to the droshky of the police chief, accompanied by two mounted dragoons.
The police chief, who had gone that morning by order of the count to burn the barges and, on the occasion of this order, rescued a large amount money, which was in his pocket at that moment, seeing a crowd of people moving towards him, he ordered the coachman to stop.
- What kind of people? - he shouted at the people, scattered and timidly approaching the droshky. - What kind of people? I'm asking you? - repeated the police chief, who did not receive an answer.
“They, your honor,” said the clerk in the frieze overcoat, “they, your highness, at the announcement of the most illustrious count, without sparing their lives, wanted to serve, and not like some kind of riot, as said from the most illustrious count...
“The Count has not left, he is here, and there will be orders about you,” said the police chief. - Let's go! - he said to the coachman. The crowd stopped, crowding around those who had heard what the authorities said, and looking at the droshky driving away.
At that time, the police chief looked around in fear and said something to the coachman, and his horses went faster.
- Cheating, guys! Lead to it yourself! - shouted the voice of a tall guy. - Don't let me go, guys! Let him submit the report! Hold it! - voices shouted, and people ran after the droshky.
The crowd behind the police chief, talking noisily, headed to the Lubyanka.
- Well, the gentlemen and the merchants have left, and that’s why we are lost? Well, we are dogs, or what! – was heard more often in the crowd.
On the evening of September 1, after his meeting with Kutuzov, Count Rastopchin, upset and offended by the fact that he was not invited to the military council, that Kutuzov did not pay any attention to his proposal to take part in the defense of the capital, and surprised by the new look that opened up to him in the camp , in which the question of the calm of the capital and its patriotic mood turned out to be not only secondary, but completely unnecessary and insignificant - upset, offended and surprised by all this, Count Rostopchin returned to Moscow. After dinner, the count, without undressing, lay down on the sofa and at one o'clock was awakened by a courier who brought him a letter from Kutuzov. The letter said that since the troops were retreating to the Ryazan road outside Moscow, would the count like to send police officials to lead the troops through the city. This news was not news to Rostopchin. Not only from yesterday’s meeting with Kutuzov on Poklonnaya Hill, but also from the very Battle of Borodino, when all the generals who came to Moscow unanimously said that it was impossible to give another battle, and when, with the count’s permission, government property was already being taken out every night and the residents were half gone, Count Rastopchin knew that Moscow would abandoned; but nevertheless, this news, communicated in the form of a simple note with an order from Kutuzov and received at night, during his first sleep, surprised and irritated the count.
Subsequently, explaining his activities during this time, Count Rostopchin wrote several times in his notes that he then had two important goals: De maintenir la tranquillite a Moscou et d "en faire partir les habitants. [Keep calm in Moscow and escort the inhabitants out of it.] If we allow this dual goal, every action of Rastopchin turns out to be impeccable. Why was the Moscow shrine, weapons, and cartridges not taken out? , gunpowder, grain supplies, why were thousands of residents deceived by the fact that Moscow would not be surrendered, and ruined? - In order to maintain calm in the capital, Count Rastopchin’s explanation answers. Why were piles of unnecessary papers removed from public places and Leppich’s ball and others objects? - In order to leave the city empty, Count Rostopchin’s explanation answers. One has only to assume that something threatened the people’s peace, and any action becomes justified.
All the horrors of terror were based only on concern for public peace.
What was Count Rastopchin’s fear of public peace in Moscow based on in 1812? What reason was there for supposing there was a tendency towards indignation in the city? Residents left, troops, retreating, filled Moscow. Why should the people rebel as a result of this?
Not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia, upon the entry of the enemy, nothing resembling indignation occurred. On September 1st and 2nd, more than ten thousand people remained in Moscow, and apart from the crowd that had gathered in the courtyard of the commander-in-chief and attracted by him himself, there was nothing. Obviously, it would be even less necessary to expect unrest among the people if after the Battle of Borodino, when the abandonment of Moscow became obvious, or, at least, probably, if then, instead of agitating the people with the distribution of weapons and posters, Rostopchin took measures to the removal of all sacred objects, gunpowder, charges and money, and would directly announce to the people that the city was being abandoned.
Rastopchin, an ardent, sanguine man, who always moved in the highest circles of the administration, although with a patriotic feeling, had no the slightest idea about the people he thought of governing. From the very beginning of the enemy’s entry into Smolensk, Rostopchin envisioned for himself the role of leader of the people’s feelings—the heart of Russia. It not only seemed to him (as it seems to every administrator) that he was managing external actions residents of Moscow, but it seemed to him that he controlled their mood through his proclamations and posters, written in that scornful language that the people despise among themselves and which they do not understand when they hear it from above. Rostopchin liked the beautiful role of the leader of popular feeling so much, he got used to it so much that the need to get out of this role, the need to leave Moscow without any heroic effect, took him by surprise, and he suddenly lost from under his feet the ground on which he stood, he absolutely did not know what should he do? Although he knew, he did not believe with all his soul until last minute to leave Moscow and did nothing for this purpose. Residents moved out against his wishes. If public places were removed, it was only at the request of officials, with whom the count reluctantly agreed. He himself was occupied only with the role that he made for himself. As often happens with people gifted with an ardent imagination, he knew for a long time that Moscow would be abandoned, but he knew only by reasoning, but with all his soul he did not believe in it, and was not transported by his imagination to this new situation.
All his activities, diligent and energetic (how useful it was and reflected on the people is another question), all his activities were aimed only at arousing in the residents the feeling that he himself experienced - patriotic hatred of the French and confidence in itself.
But when the event took on its real, historical dimensions, when it turned out to be insufficient to express one’s hatred of the French in words alone, when it was impossible even to express this hatred through battle, when self-confidence turned out to be useless in relation to one issue of Moscow, when the entire population, like one person, , abandoning their property, flowed out of Moscow, showing with this negative action the full strength of their national feeling - then the role chosen by Rostopchin suddenly turned out to be meaningless. He suddenly felt lonely, weak and ridiculous, without any ground under his feet.
Having received, awakened from sleep, a cold and commanding note from Kutuzov, Rastopchin felt the more irritated, the more guilty he felt. In Moscow there remained everything that had been entrusted to him, everything that was government property that he was supposed to take out. It was not possible to take everything out.
“Who is to blame for this, who allowed this to happen? - he thought. - Of course, not me. I had everything ready, I held Moscow like this! And this is what they have brought it to! Scoundrels, traitors! - he thought, not clearly defining who these scoundrels and traitors were, but feeling the need to hate these traitors who were to blame for the false and ridiculous situation in which he found himself.
All that night Count Rastopchin gave orders, for which people came to him from all sides of Moscow. Those close to him had never seen the count so gloomy and irritated.
“Your Excellency, they came from the patrimonial department, from the director for orders... From the consistory, from the Senate, from the university, from the orphanage, the vicar sent... asks... What do you order about the fire brigade? The warden from the prison... the warden from the yellow house..." - they reported to the count all night, without stopping.
To all these questions the count gave short and angry answers, showing that his orders were no longer needed, that all the work he had carefully prepared had now been ruined by someone, and that this someone would bear full responsibility for everything that would happen now.
“Well, tell this idiot,” he answered a request from the patrimonial department, “so that he remains guarding his papers.” Why are you asking nonsense about the fire brigade? If there are horses, let them go to Vladimir. Don't leave it to the French.
- Your Excellency, the warden from the insane asylum has arrived, as you order?
- How will I order? Let everyone go, that’s all... And let the crazy people out in the city. When our armies are commanded by crazy people, that’s what God ordered.