Ladies and
gentlemen, today we are presenting part two of our new feature called "The
20th Century: Year After Year" prepared for you by Vladimir Zhamkin,
who is the head of our English-language service. The year 1902... In our
opening program last week we were talking about the European predominance
at the start of the 20th century and today we'll take a look at what was
going on in the other parts of the world, say, in the United States of
America. As we all know, the United States was an extension of the European
civilisation in America. Before long, the settlers, energetic and enterprising
people all, turned their vast and minerals-rich new homeland into a major
superpower whose industrial output was fast putting it ahead of the good
Old World... Big-time businessmen like Carnegie, Rockefeller and Morgan
were coming to symbolise the American spirit rallying behind them thousands
of people who eventually made America the world leader it now is...
At the start
of the century China emerged as the world's most populous nation. It was
a highly organised state where no one dared to say no to the authorities.
Rightfully proud of their achievements, the Chinese showed little interest
in the outside world hating even to think about changing their time-tested
lifestyle. The same was true about India and countries in the Near and
Middle East even though the European influence was being increasingly felt
there too.
The Europeans,
meanwhile, were trying to establish a well-balanced system which would
effectively guarantee each country's survival. Prince Otto von Bismark,
the founder and first chancellor of the German empire, hated to see France
allying with anyone. In her turn, France, uneasily aware of Germany's growing
might, was seeking a more balanced distribution of force in Europe and
this anxiety eventually led to the establishment of the Triple Alliance
and the so-called Entente. We'll discuss this in greater detail in one
of our upcoming programs.
The year 1902
wrote an end to the South African War, also known as the Boer War, which
was faught between Great Britain and the two Boer republics, the South
African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free state between 1899 and
1902. What only few people knew, however, was that the war came as a veritable
baptism of fire for the man who was destined to make British and world
history. Winston Churchill, then a 25 year-old correspondent for The Morning
Post newspaper, headed for South Africa having more in mind than just reporting
the war. Eager to distinguish himself, the young aristocrat joined the
Lancashire Hussars and served on an armored train which took him close
to the frontlines in the Natal Province. The train was ambushed and, after
a fierce hand to hand fight, Churchill was taken prisoner and moved to
Pretoria. Before long he broke out of the local jail and reached Durban
where was given a hero's welcome. Despite all these misfortunes, Churchill
stayed on until the war ended in May 1902.
In 1902 France
celebrated the centennial birthday of one of her greatest writers and poets
Victor Hugo unveiling a monument in a Paris square appropriately named
after this larger-than-life novelist. Victor Hugo is a well-known name
in Russia where his books are still being published plentifully and film
versions of his novels can often be seen on television and in movie theaters.
A couple of years ago Hugo's Hernani was the hit of the season at one of
Moscow's drama theaters. Just as they were celebrating Hugo's centenary
in
France, Lyubov
Orlova was born in Russia. By far and without a doubt the greatest Russian
film actress of the century, Orlova shone equally brightly playing tragic
roles, singing songs and dancing. Her fairy-tale marriage to the outstanding
film director Grigory Alexandrov spawned a host of all-time classics like
Volga-Volga, Circus, Springtime and many others.
In 1902 the
air was thick with heavy premonitions of major upheavals soon to come...
And come they did when the humiliating loss of the Russia-Japanese War
of 1904-05 ingnited the 1905 revolution. The 32-year-old Vladimir Lenin
published his fundamental work "What Is To Be Done?" which outlined
the revolutionary principles of fighting the autocratic rule. The Socialist-Revolutionaries
set up a party all their own and, even though they formally denounced terror
as a means of political struggle, they often used it in their everyday
practice. Meanwhile, disgruntled peasants in the south launched a series
of uprisings looting and torching their landlords' households. The disturbances
were brutally suppressed, but such traditional irritants as overpopulation,
land shortages and overtaxation persisted.
The year 1902
saw the release of Maxim Gorky's Lower Depths play which was a vivid portrayal
of the life lived by the city underclass. Simultaneously, Gorky was put
at the head of the Knowledge Publishers of cheap books for the poor.
We end this
program with a really fascinating report that appeared in one of the 1902
issues of the Niva magazine. It goes like this: "...A woman in India
gave birth to a pair of Siamese twins whom she named Radika and Dudika.
The mother sold her 12 year-olds to a Mrs.Kalman who would take them around
the country and demonstrate for money. During one of these trips, Dudika
went down with tuberculosis and, to save Radika's life, they had to separate
the twins. The operation went off successfully. Radika was saved but she
missed her sister so much..."
These were
the main highlights of the year 1902 and in our next program Vladimir Zhamkin
will take a look at what happened in 1903.
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