realized through jhe building of the Trans-SiberiarTnulway, which was to become and remaJrrtEeTon'gest in me world, Lenin's arrival at toe Finland stationj2?J5t. Petersburg_in_a sealed train in''Xpruot''?9jy'was a key
moment of charisma in the development of BoishevJaSTTroj sione^forensic forays into the countryside in his famed armored
'FaTrymg' amieSrsupportfor the
?1???'???? importanTand dramatic roli
Revolution, and the vast and pretentiously adorned stations of the Moscow subway became symbols of the new civicreligion of the Stalin era.
's impas- Hm
V. ON TO NEW SHORES
The first Russian railroad had been a short line from St. Petersburg to
Tsarskoe Selo in 1835. Sixteenjears later. Moscow was joined by rail with
St. Petersburg, thanks largely to the American engineer^ George Washfogton _
Whistler (the nusbandof James Whistler's famous mother), who helped
standardizein R'ussia.a' track gauge broader_jhau-the accepted European _
norm By 185b, tKe'fTrst year of Alexander's reign, construction was under
way on two new stations in St. Petersburg for lines leading to the west and
east; construction accelerated rapidly under the new tsar. French Saint-
Simonians, who financed much of this program, were fascinated by the
parallel extension of railroads across America and Russia ('these two
Hercules in their cradles'), considering the Russian expansion less impres-
sive technically, but far more important TnstoricaJryinits linking of Europe
wth^iZ^T^ie~RTbsiarrprog7anrwas 'arTopeTaBonwithout ????11????'???'
continent,' destined to '^Iace~^poTn1caldTvmoni~wTEK' a' new jwonomic
community^Jhjit will unite Eastern and WestarrTEurope, and become 'like
Russia itself . . . ???????????????????'29™'*~~'~~~-
Tot Russia, the newTajEoaaTrJroBglit the first massive intrusion of
mechanical force into thetoieIess,l^egeTatttg^vwl(^gi ruralJRussia, anda
greaTincrease in ?????????? class mobility throughout the empire. The '
firsFtxiiffini^J?!^momgnl.1^
of departure from native surroundings-probably for a lifetime in the army
or'the urban work force.. The ride was long and cold; and he was demed~the'*~ use of toilet facilities during brief station stops and then beaten for 'offensive conduct' if caught relieving himself on or near the tracks.
Railroads nevertheless became_a symbol of progress to the new »^^ateriali^ticaria^egalitarian stu^rentsjjT^the sixties, who generally enjoyed'' ?^7????*^?1?1????????1 rides. One of the most gifted young technologisTToT* thTs generation, Nicholas KiBalchich, came eagerly to St. Petersburg in order to study the engineering subjects that would equip him to participate in the railroad-building program, declaring:
For Russia railroads are everything. This is the most necessary, most
vital problem of our time. Covering Russia by sections with an inter
connected network of railroads such as exists for example in England,
we shall prosper and blossom forth [with] unheard-of progress . . . num
berless factories;_____
f~ Civilization will go rapidly fofwafa,''arid we--true, not all at'once^''--%
will overtake the rich and advanced nations of Western Europe.30,.---
Yet within a few years this apostle of progress and railroad building ???1 become a full-time revolutionary r whose talents were completely absorbed in
– the body of Tsar Alexander II himself. This sense of lost opportunity was given 'added poignancy by the fact that he devoTeoThls last days in prison priorTo hls~rlanging_to designing _a_flying machine, which he felt was destin^to^siuDpJanttiie railroad as a bearer ofmajerjaJ__progrgss. To under-stand~why this giftedyouth became an apostle and technician of assassination, one must turn to the disturbed reign of Alexander II and the psychology of the new revolutionary generation.
Under Alexander the dilemma of the reforming despot was lifted to the
level of highkony as the virus of social thniign't'negnntri~mfer^ wirier
ckcleT^i^flbtejpopTnation!' '
DSFTnFTeign''of Alexander JLJhat of Alexander II lasted almost
exactly a quarter of a cenluPLandcan be roughly divided ialalwrt hakteg^-a
