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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF RUSSIA

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

"Kostroma State Technological University"

(FGBOU VPO "KSTU"; KSTU)

Test

in Cultural Studies

on the topic: "The lifestyle of the ancient Indians: traditions, rituals, rituals and holidays"

Performed

Mochalova Olga Radmirovna

1st year student

Kostroma 2014-2015

Work plan

Introduction

1. Indians and their way of life

2. Traditions of the ancient Indians

2.1 Life traditions

2.2 All children are our children

2.3 Natural Native American parenthood

3. Rites of the American Indians

4. Rituals-customs of the ancient Indians of the Maya tribe

4.1 Cruel customs of the Indians

4.2 Indian bath rituals

5. Holidays of the Indians

Conclusion

Bibliography

ATconducting

Of course, the theme of Indians and cowboys has attracted boys at all times! Their traditional battle cry could be heard at one time in every courtyard. Bright coloring, serious confident faces of Indian warriors, beautiful strong horses - this is the atmosphere that attracts with its exoticism. And of course, the theme of the Indians is firmly established on the wide screen! Goiko Mitic is a legend of cinema, thanks to this outstanding actor, the world learned many stories from the life of the Indians, about the enmity between the red brothers and the pale-faced ones!

And if we talk about culture, then there is no doubt that the Indians have always been distinguished by unity with nature, a deep understanding of the laws of the universe and harmony ... No wonder the legends about the Mayan tribe still live. Modern man, despite all his progressive manufacturability, has never been able to approach the level of understanding of the processes occurring in nature, as far as the ancient tribes understood these patterns.

And what connects the children of the whole world with the Indians? Chocolate, popcorn, chewing gum and the ability to run freely with battle cries in any space! All of these goodies were invented by the Indians: popcorn - having discovered the ability to “self-explode” in maize grains, chewing gum from hevea juice (rubber), and the word “chocolate” was first heard from the lips of the Mayan tribe.

Despite such funny inventions, the eyes of an Indian are always sad, they are a sad people, and even when viewing photos in search engines, you will rarely find a smiling representative of the indigenous population of America. But the incredible natural depth and amazing desire to preserve their history - this can be found in any Indian.

Many nationalities in the modern world are gradually losing their traditions. Many of us do not know the history of our families. The efforts of folklorists bit by bit to restore holiday scripts, songs, epics, legends, folk recipes “go into the sand”: things don’t go beyond writing books and conversations, traditions don’t return to everyday life.

And the look of an Indian from any portrait or photograph speaks of his pride in his great people, because his greatness is in knowledge, in the fact that they, in spite of everything, pass on to their grandchildren and thus preserve every action and skill.

1. Indians and their way of life

Indians - the general name of the indigenous population of America (with the exception of the Eskimos and Aleuts). The name arose from the erroneous idea of the first European navigators (Christopher Columbus and others) at the end of the 15th century, who considered the transatlantic lands they discovered to be India. According to the anthropological type, the Indians belong to the Americanoid race. The total approximate number of Indians in America is over 30 million people. (estimated for the mid-1960s).

About the history: According to the genetic studies of the University of Michigan, the ancestors of modern Indians and Eskimos moved to America from Northeast Asia through the so-called "Bering Bridge" - an ancient wide isthmus between America and Asia at the site of the current Bering Strait, which disappeared more than 12 thousand years ago. years ago. Migration continued between 70 thousand years BC. e. and 12 thousand years BC. and had several independent waves. The level of culture of the first settlers corresponded to the Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic cultures of the Old World. The settlement of the Indians on both continents and the development of new lands by them dragged on for many millennia.

Prior to European colonization (began in the 16th century), most of the tribes of North and South America were at various stages of the communal tribal system: some were dominated by the maternal clan (Iroquois, Muskogee, Hopi, many tribes of the Amazon basin, etc.), while others formed the paternal clan (tribes of the northwest and southwest of North America, many tribes of South America). Some peoples were at various stages of transition from tribal to class society. The Indians of Central and South America (Aztecs, Mayans, Incas) already lived in class societies.

2. Traditions of the ancient Indians

Indians are settled throughout South and North America, from Alaska to Argentina, some of them live on reservations (example: the Navajo tribe), some are full-fledged citizens of the country (Maya, 80% of the population of Guatemala), while others still since they live in the Amazon jungle (Guarani) and have no connection with civilization. Therefore, the way of life is different for everyone, but the traditions of raising children and attitudes towards adults are surprisingly preserved.

The Indians of North America are mostly Catholics and Protestants, the Indians of Latin America are mostly Catholics. For most Indians of South and Central America, pre-Hispanic beliefs are inextricably merged with Christianity. Many Indians retain traditional cults. Now these are, as a rule, theatrical performances, accompanied by masked dances, including during Catholic and Protestant holidays.

Each tribe has its own dialects, many speak two languages, their own and English, but some tribes do not even have their own script, so the elders are the most respected adults and beloved children in the tribe. They teach wisdom, preserve and tell stories and legends, know the intricacies of any skill - weaving carpets, making dishes, fishing and hunting. They monitor the observance of all rituals, and in wild tribes even the daily routine.

2.1 Traditions of life

The Indians have preserved the tradition of sitting down, forming a circle, and sharing with everyone what is in their hearts. Some tribes gather in a circle on certain days, while others daily share everything that happened during the day, ask for advice, tell stories and sing.

A song for an Indian from childhood is like air, they can talk with nature through songs, express their emotions and convey the history of an entire nation. There are ritual songs, festive ones, and the Kofan tribe has its own song for everyone.

The same “figVam” that Sharik from the cartoon “Prostokvashino” painted on the stove and which we build when playing Indians is actually not a wigwam, but a portable tipi dwelling used by steppe nomads.

A wigwam is a hut on a frame, covered with straw. Visually, this dwelling looks like a large haystack and is traditional for the Indians of North America. The tribes of the Amazon live in such wigwams or stilt houses covered with thatch or leaves. Closer to civilization, the peoples of the Indians on the US reservations, such as the Navajo tribes, live in houses similar to our usual Russian log cabins or huts.

I will note that women and children usually build wigwams. In the wild tribes, almost all work in the village is considered female - cooking, sewing, raising children, all agricultural work, searching for firewood. A man's task is to hunt, to learn military affairs daily in order to confidently use a spear, a bow and a tube with poisonous arrows. Because the jaguar-tusk necklace is a document, the only document of the Indians living in the jungle, certifying his fearlessness. Only boys become shamans, a shaman teaches many in the village and passes on his knowledge, but after his death, one of his young patients, and not a student, becomes a shaman, because it is believed that along with the energy of treatment, all the knowledge of the shaman is transferred to the patient.

The main food is what they got on the hunt, and in families who are engaged in agriculture, the main dishes are potatoes, cereals, rice, chicken, turkey and, of course, all kinds of legumes, favorite dishes from pumpkin and corn. Sweet maple syrups and dried wild berries occupy a special place in the diet of the Indians.

Indian life ritual tradition

2.2 All children are our children

The attitude towards strangers in the tribes varies, only "whites" for all Indians are definitely unwanted guests. As for intertribal and clan relations, for example, for Kofans, there is no concept of their own and other people's children at all. Kofan parents take the name of their firstborn and use it until their marriage. Then they take the name of the next unmarried children. The study of family relations in this case becomes quite a difficult task.

2.3 Natural Indian Parenthood

Even those Indian women who live in large cities adhere to the natural course of childbirth. More often they give birth at home, sometimes in the presence of an obstetrician or in a hospital, observing the basic principles of natural childbirth - without a caesarean section, stimulant drugs and anesthesia. Tribes in which the standard of living does not allow giving birth with the help of an obstetrician, and even more so in a hospital, childbirth takes place in sand or in water, often a woman gives birth alone. Indians feel great affection for children and take great care of them. According to people who have studied Indian customs and customs for a long time, "in the attitude of parents to children, the best traits of Indian character are manifested."

From birth, children are present at any activity of their parents, the baby is worn in a scarf, mantle (a special sling for carrying not only children, but also products, any things), or in a portable crib made of wood or reed, made by the father.

According to researchers, some tribes did not allow children to drink colostrum and gave breasts only when a steady stream of milk appeared. Children always have access to milk, at any time of the day or night they are not denied feeding and they drink mother's milk until the milk runs out. Even if an Indian woman has given birth to several children in a few years, the older ones are not weaned.

Indian women rarely punish children, but they introduce them to work early, believing that there is no better way to know life. From an early age, children are taught that it is very bad to be noisy and noisy, that elders must be respected. Therefore, the children of the Indians are not capricious, not loud and not whiny, very independent and friendly.

Nothing is forbidden to children, and adults are so sure of them that nothing happens to children. The relationship between parents and children is so close that they are really like one whole. Kids themselves know what they need, and Indian parents allow them to get it and taste life, live in unity with nature and its laws.

Now Indian "natural parenting" is a whole science that gained popularity in America and Europe in the 70s. Jean Ledloff, who made an expedition to the Indian tribes, was so amazed by what she saw that she devoted her whole life to studying Indian “methods” of raising children, wrote the book “How to Raise a Happy Child” and became the founder of the so-called “natural parenthood”.

Before Ledloff, Dr. Benjamin Spock reigned in the world of pedagogy, everyone read his works and “raised children according to Spock” - fed by the hour, talked about the lack of connection between the child’s health and the type of feeding, did not indulge, observed the daily routine, forbade and limited the child a lot believing that the child should have authorities. The new theory of Jean Ledloff turned the idea that a child needs to be strict and restrained, early weaning, not indulging whims and setting their own adult rules. Ledloff, on the other hand, watched the Indians and saw that they had the opposite, and there were no happier children.

3. Rites of the American Indians

The origins of American Indian holidays are lost and have come down to us in scattered ideas.

Most of the holidays celebrated by the Indians were directly related to religious rites and traditions. Among the American Indians, animalism and totemism were widespread, that is, faith in the animation of the surrounding world and natural phenomena and the worship of a sacred totem animal - each tribe had its own.

That is why all the holidays were timed to coincide with some special state of nature. Most often, such states were the days of the spring and autumn equinoxes, the days of the solstice, full moon and new moon. So, it is known that the Indians celebrated the holiday of the rebirth of the world, similar to the Christian Christmas - on December 25, after the end of the solstice days, when the sunny day increases. Such a countdown of the new year was connected with the "living" sun, which, sinking low to the ground, could be eaten by spirits.

Each tribe had its own totemic animal - the patron. Celebrations were also held in honor. Each such holiday had a structure, rituals, traditions.

In fact, this is not even a holiday, but a day when the necessary rituals were performed.

The main character of any ritual was a shaman. He performed ceremonies, communicated with spirits, cast out evil forces. He was also a doctor: it was believed that a human disease is the result of bad thoughts, actions that attract evil beings to themselves, into the human body.

To heal a sick person means to expel malice from the body along with those bad spirits that have settled there.

Unfortunately, the culture of the American Indians, along with holiday traditions, has not come down to us in full.

Violent changes were introduced to it by the Spanish conquistadors, who in 1700 began the conquest of America.

Over time, traditions were increasingly exposed to other cultures - English, Dutch, Spanish.

Until our time, those pitiful remnants of the once integral and beautiful culture of the indigenous population of America have survived only thanks to recreation - territories assigned to the former masters of the continent.

4. Rituals-customs of the ancient Indians of the Mayan tribes

Despite the fact that the Mayan civilization disappeared centuries before the arrival of the conquistadors, information about some of the religious customs of the Maya still survived to this day. This happened thanks to the Indians of Yucatan, close to the Mayans and who managed to preserve the most important customs of the Indians. The information recorded by the pioneers as early as the middle of the 16th century has allowed scientists today to get an idea of all the major customs of the ancient Maya and other tribes of America, such as the Aztecs and Incas. Most of the ancient customs of America that have survived to this day are religious in nature. So, for example, it is known that the beliefs of the late Maya contained "baptism".

Imagine how surprised the Catholic missionaries were when they saw these customs of the Indians with their own eyes. As in the customs of the Old World established thousands of years ago, the Indians sprinkled the child with water, giving him a name. Diego de Landa, in his writings "People and Gods of the Maya", wrote that the priest held the child in his arms, like a Catholic bishop. In addition, Mayan customs included absolution and communion ceremonies. During such services, bread was shared between all participants in the ceremony. The Spaniards, who were the first to arrive on the lands of America, were also surprised to a large extent by the presence of crosses in the attributes of the Mayan religion and their descendants. Marriages were blessed with such crosses. By the way, a man and a woman were not allowed to live without a blessing, the only exceptions were widows and widowers. The modern Maya inherited a significant part of the culture of the Old World. The Spaniards, who settled side by side with the descendants of the ancient Maya, who saw with their own eyes the customs of the Indians, described some of the most significant celebrations. So, May 16 is the day of the blessing of water. In Catholic Europe, St. John, who was the patron of the water element. March 8 in the religion of the Indians is the birthday of the mother of the White God.

4.1 Cruel customs of the Indians

While in Christian beliefs - this is the birthday of the Virgin Mary. The Mayan religion says that the White God was born on December 25, which needs no explanation. The first settlers and researchers of the Maya civilization noted the predilection of the descendants of the ancient Indians for cleanliness and incense. So in the Mayan cities and villages, almost every day was accompanied by an abundance of all kinds of smells, from fragrant herbs to exotic fruits and flowers. And important Indian customs and ceremonies were always accompanied by preliminary cleaning, symbolizing the purification and preparation of the soul for the celebration.

4.2 Bath rituals of the Indians

Hygiene was not alien to the ancient Indians. Moreover, various Indian tribes (sometimes even neighboring ones) were at completely different levels of cultural and social development. However, the culture of one form or another of the steam bath existed among almost all the indigenous peoples of Central and North America: the highly developed tribes of the Maya and the Aztecs, the slightly less developed Mixtecs and Zapotecs. The first mention of ancient Indian baths dates back to 900 BC.

The Indians used these baths not only for direct washing, but also for ritual sacraments and consecrations, as well as therapeutic and prophylactic procedures: the sick were cured in the steam baths, childbirth was taken, etc.

Baths for Indian tribes have become a fairly common social phenomenon. During the construction of palace complexes, Indian architects necessarily allotted a place for arranging baths. Also, almost every Indian settlement had a "city public bath", and sometimes mini-baths were equipped by individual families for private use.

After the discovery of a new continent by Columbus and the active expansion of the Spanish conquistadors to uncharted lands, the colonialists actively began to plant their cultural values on the indigenous population of America. The changes also affected the baths - the newcomers from the old continent could hardly understand the craving of the tribes for bath rituals. Yes, and in Europe itself in the Middle Ages, they did not actively monitor their own hygiene, on the contrary, they practically refused to bathe (the Spanish queen was proud that she allowed her body to be “defiled” with water only twice in her life - the first time at birth, the second time before own wedding). Yes, and bodily joys were not approved in a society that cultivated, above all, the purity of the soul, and not the flesh.

In addition, the active imposition of Christianity involved the fight against all manifestations of paganism, and the colonialists believed that the baths were one of the places where the natives worshiped local gods and idols. The Indians, in their bathing rituals and sacraments, often used incense, special "sounding shells", and healing herbs. Special prayers sounded there, chants took place.

All this led to the fact that the conquistadors introduced the strictest ban on baths (up to the death penalty), but they failed to completely eradicate these rituals and customs. After some time, baths again became a normal occurrence in colonial America, and Europe, wiser in terms of cleanliness and hygiene, even began to adopt bath traditions.

In the language of the ancient Mayan Nahuatl, the word "temazcal" means "hot stones" ("hot steam from stones"). It should be noted that the natives also called the Indian patroness of treatment and health Temascaltietl.

The Indian bath was built from rough volcanic stones and, as a rule, had the shape of a smooth truncated cone with a diameter at the base of about 3 meters, so that several people could easily fit in it. The height of the cone was at the level of the average human height. A narrow window was left in the roof to draw smoke. The entrance to the bath was usually located on the south side, and it was rather narrow and closed with a reed "door" in order to economically expend the heat that was being injected.

Inside, at the opposite end from the entrance, there was a stove that gave quite acceptable heat. Steam, similarly to the Russian bath, was formed after splashing a small amount of water from a special jug on the stove or heated stones of the wall near which the stove stood. The water in the jug was infused with medicinal herbs.

Over time, exposure to steam led to profuse sweating. The Indians also used brooms made from corn leaves. Wealthy Indians and leaders often used the services of special bath attendants: often they were dwarfs or hunchbacks, who, due to their small stature, could freely use brooms and other attributes of bathing rituals in a fairly low room. It was also considered chic of those times to use persons of the opposite sex as bathers (and only men were steamed). Sweat was washed off with water from jugs, and ablution took place on a special mat.

The Indians believed that the unification of the spiritual energies of all participants in the bathing ceremony contributed to the creation of a single powerful energy channel for communication with the gods. Through this channel, an exchange of energies took place - everything negative was given away, positive and positive were obtained, secret knowledge and secrets of the gods were revealed.

Having been in a temazcal, he was considered to be reborn. Indeed, there are three conditions inherent in the mother's womb: it is dark, warm and humid in the temazcal.

5. HolidaysIndians

The ritual holidays of the Indians of America are associated with the most important events in the life of each member of the tribe (birth, maturity, marriage and death), with animals and birds, as well as devoted to agriculture and various crops.

Celebrations associated with puberty and initiation into men and women are especially solemn and impressive. Among modern Navajos and Apaches, the procedure for the entry of boys and girls into adulthood lasts for four days. Girls are specially dressed up so that they look like a beautiful Turquoise Woman. They cook cornmeal and take part in horse races. Both boys and girls dance together with the characters in the masks of the gods, at the end of the festive dance they put on masks themselves. During the entire fourth day of the holiday, the entire tribe participates in non-stop chants that continue throughout the day.

Of all the ritual holidays for the Indians, the most important were rituals associated with animals and birds. If, during a ritual dance, an Indian was adorned with feathers or fur of a bird or animal that was considered sacred to his family, then, in contact with this sacred creature, he, as it were, let in his spirit and thus strengthened his inner strength.

Unlike the whites, the Indians, like all primitive peoples, considered themselves inferior creatures compared to animals and birds, since they are faster and sharper, they have a sharper hearing and a more developed sense of danger.

Holidays associated with agriculture and various crops are characterized by the fact that the Indians considered the plant world to be the same part of nature as the animal world. Like people, nature around was born, flourished, withered and died. These phases corresponded to spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each of them was marked by holidays dedicated to it.

Special rituals were devoted to plowing the land, sowing it with seeds, their successful ripening and harvesting. Special rituals were performed to bring rains, ward off drought, ensure a rich harvest and minimal harvest losses. Usually, each major crop had its own festival: Pumpkin Festival, Bean Festival, Acorn Festival, Strawberry Festival.

The most important of all agricultural rituals was the Corn Festival, followed by the Corn Dance. The Indians deified corn. When addressing her, she was called "mother" and "father". A number of holidays were dedicated to her: the Freshly Harvested Corn Festival, the Green Corn Festival, the Young Corn Festival, the Ripe Corn Festival.

If the Dance of the Corn was the main ritual of the agricultural tribes, then the dance of the sun was the main and obligatory ritual of the hunters of the plains region. It was a very spectacular and complex ritual, carried out everywhere from Manitoba (a province in Canada) in the north to Texas in the south.

Very often it not only lasted four days, but it was also preceded by four days of preparation. In most cases, the Dance of the Sun was combined with the Dance of the Buffalo, since it was the bison hunt that was the main source of food for the Indians.

And the North American Indians have a New Year's tradition to celebrate this holiday with a large company, with a huge bonfire in the center of the village. All the inhabitants dance, holding sticks with feathers in their hands. At some point, the feathers are set on fire, and there is general rejoicing. Immediately after this, 16 men carry out a large red ball and raise it to the top of the pillar. This is considered a symbol of the birth of a new sun - the onset of the New Year.

Conclusion

We see that the ancient Indian tribes have existed since ancient times. They do not change their customs and traditions, which do not allow their unusual life to fade away. Even in our real life, there are some traditions of everyday life, such as raising children and celebrating the New Year. I know that the ancient tribes of the Mayan Indians who have survived to this day still live in wigwams and food preferences remain unchanged.

Bibliography

1. http://indianculture.ru/

2. https://ru.wikipedia.org/

3. http://www.liveinternet.ru/

4. http://holidays-mira.rf/

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Habitat and abundance

The natives of the New World lived here in prehistoric times, but today, in fact, little has changed for them. They unite in separate communities, continue to preach their religious dogmas and follow the traditions of their ancestors. Some representatives of the original American race assimilate with Europeans and completely adopt their way of life. Thus, you can meet a pure Indian or mestizo in any country in the northern, southern or central part of Novaya Zemlya. The total "Indian" population of America is 48 million people. Of these, 14 million live in Peru, 10.1 million in Mexico, 6 million in Bolivia. The next countries are Guatemala and Ecuador - 5.4 and 3.4 million people respectively. 2.5 million Indians can be found in the USA, but in Canada there are half as many - 1.2 million. Oddly enough, in the vastness of Brazil and Argentina, such huge powers, there are not so many Indians left. The indigenous population of America in these places is already in the thousands and amounts to 700,000 and 600,000 people, respectively.

The history of the emergence of tribes

According to scientists, representatives of the Americanoid race, despite all their differences from any other known to us, moved to their continent from Eurasia. For many millennia (approximately 70-12 millennium BC), the Indians came to the New World along the so-called Bering Bridge, on the site of which it is now located Then, not yet the indigenous population of America, gradually mastered the new continent, starting from Alaska and ending with the southern shores current Argentina. After America was mastered by them, each individual tribe began to develop in its own direction. The general tendencies observed among them were as follows. The Indians of South America honored the maternal race. The inhabitants of the northern part of the continent were content with patriarchy. In the tribes of the Caribbean, there was a tendency to move towards a class society.

A few words about biology

From a genetic point of view, the indigenous population of America, as mentioned above, is not at all such for these lands. Scientists consider Altai to be the ancestral home of the Indians, from where they came out with their colonies in distant, distant times in order to develop new lands. The fact is that 25 thousand years ago it was possible to get from Siberia to America by land, moreover, people probably considered all these lands to be a single continent. So the inhabitants of our lands gradually settled in the northern part of Eurasia, and then moved on and where they turned into Indians. The researchers came to this conclusion due to the fact that in the natives of Altai, the type of Y-chromosome is identical in its mutations to the chromosome of the American Indian.

northern tribes

We will not touch the Aleut and Eskimo tribes that occupy the subarctic zone of the continent, since this is a completely different racial family. Indigenous occupied the territory of present-day Canada with the United States, ranging from eternal glaciers to the Gulf of Mexico. Many different cultures developed there, which we will now list:

The northern Indians who settled the upper part of Canada are the Algonquian and Athabaskan tribes. They hunted caribou deer and also fished.
Northwestern tribes - Tlingit, Haida, Salish, Wakashi. They were engaged in fishing, as well as sea hunting.
California Indians are famous acorn gatherers. They also engaged in ordinary hunting and fishing.
The Woodland Indians occupied the entire eastern part of the modern United States. The indigenous population of North America here was represented by the Creek, Algonquin, and Iroquois tribes. These people were engaged in sedentary agriculture.
The Indians of the Great Plains are famous hunters of wild bison. There are countless tribes here, of which we will name but a few: the Caddo, Crow, Osage, Mandan, Arikara, Kiowa, Apache, Wichita, and many others.
In the south of North America, the Pueblo, Navajo, and Pima tribes lived. These lands were considered the most developed, since the natives were engaged in agriculture here, using the method of artificial irrigation, and part-time raising livestock.

caribbean

It is generally accepted that the indigenous population of Central America was the most developed. It was in this part of the continent that the most complex slash-and-burn and irrigated farming systems developed at that time. Of course, the tribes of this region widely used irrigation, which allowed them to be content not with the simplest grain crops, but with the fruits of such plants as maize, legumes, sunflowers, pumpkins, agaves, cocoa, and cotton. Tobacco was also grown here. The indigenous on these lands were also engaged in cattle breeding (similarly, the Indians lived in the Andes). In the course there were mainly llamas. We also note that they began to master metallurgy here, and the primitive communal system was already moving to a class system, turning into a slave-owning state. Among the tribes that lived in the Caribbean are the Aztecs, Mixtecs, Maya, Purépecha, Totonacs, and Zapotecs.

South America

Compared to the Totonacs and others, the indigenous population of South America was not so highly developed. The only exception can be the Inca Empire, which was located in the Andes and was inhabited by the Indians of the same name. On the territory of modern Brazil, there were tribes who were engaged in hoe-type agriculture, and also hunted local birds and mammals. Among them are Arawaks, Tupi-Guarani. The territory of Argentina was occupied by mounted guanaco hunters. Tierra del Fuego was inhabited by the tribes of Yaman, She and Alakaluf. They were very primitive in comparison with their relatives, and were engaged in catching fish.

Inca Empire

This is the greatest association of Indians that existed in the 11th-13th centuries in what is now Colombia, Peru and Chile. Before the arrival of Europeans, local residents already had their own administrative division. The empire consisted of four parts - Chinchaysuyu, Kolasuyu, Antisuyu and Kuntisuyu, and each of them, in turn, was divided into provinces. The Inca Empire had its own statehood and laws, which were mainly presented in the form of punishments for certain atrocities. Their system of government was, most likely, despotic-totalitarian. This state also had an army, there was a certain social system, over the lower layers of which control was carried out. The main achievement of the Incas is their giant highways. The roads they built on the slopes of the Andes reached 25 thousand kilometers in length. To move around them, llamas were used as beasts of burden.

Traditions and cultural development

The culture of the indigenous population of America is mainly their languages of communication, many of which are still not completely decipherable. The fact is that each tribe had not just its own dialect, but its own autonomous language, which sounded only in oral speech, but did not have a written language. The first alphabet in America appeared only in 1826 under the leadership of the leader of the Cherokee tribe, the Sequoyah Indian. Up to this point, the natives of the continent used pictographic signs, and if they had to communicate with representatives of other settlements, they used gestures, body movements and facial expressions.

Deities of the Indians

Despite the huge number of tribes that lived in different climatic conditions and regions, the beliefs of the indigenous population of America were very simple, and they can be combined into one. Most of the tribes of North America believed that the deity is a kind of plane that is far in the ocean. According to their legends, their ancestors lived on this plane. And those who committed a sin or showed negligence fell off it into a gaping void. In Central America, deities were given the appearance of animals, most often birds. The wise tribes of the Incas often considered the prototypes of people who created the world and everything in it to be their gods.

Modern Indian Religious Views

Today, the indigenous people of the American continent no longer adhere to the religious traditions that were characteristic of their ancestors. Most of the population of North America now professes Protestantism and its varieties. The Indians and mestizos who live in Mexico and the southern part of the continent, almost all adhere to strict Catholicism. Some of them become Jews. Only a few are still based on the views of their ancestors, and they keep this knowledge a huge secret from the white population.

mythological aspect

Initially, all fairy tales, legends and other folk writings that belonged to the Indians could tell us about their life, about life, about how to get food. These peoples sang of birds, wild mammals and predators, their brothers and parents. A little later, mythology acquired a slightly different character. The Indians have created myths about the creation of the world, which are very similar to our biblical ones. It is noteworthy that in many stories of American indigenous people there is a certain deity - the Woman with Braids. She is both the personification of life and death, food and war, earth and water. She has no name, but references to her power are found in almost all ancient Indian sources.

Conclusion

We have already mentioned above that the so-called Indian population of America is 48 million, according to official figures. These are the people who are registered in their own country, who belong to the colonial society. If we take into account those Indians who still live in tribes, then the figure will be much larger. According to unofficial data, over 60,000 representatives of the native American race live in America, which are found both in Alaska and Tierra del Fuego.

I would like to start the story about the Russo-Japanese War with a revolutionary proposal. Or maybe stop clinging to the dating of events in the old style? In the end, isn’t it tired to put “not ours” behind the “true” date in parentheses. The whole world knows that the battle in the Yellow Sea took place on August 10, 1904, and only in Russia they claim that the battle at Shantung took place on July 28 of the same year. But such a change would avoid much confusion, because nowhere else is the Julian style used. Of course, Patriarch Alexy II declared the Gregorian calendar "a diabolical invention invented to the detriment of true Christians," but we still live according to it. So, we will most likely be forgiven for a small sin in dating the events of the distant past.

Well, okay, back to the subject of conversation. The first big war, in which not only the ideas of the theoreticians of naval warfare, but also the ideas of shipbuilding engineers, were tested, was the Russo-Japanese War. With all the interesting facts and conclusions of the Japanese-Chinese and Spanish-American wars, they were still small local conflicts, although the second was formally fought on two oceans. But remember: Admiral Dewey's squadron at first stood peacefully in Chinese ports, then reached Manila, defeated the Spanish squadron and again anchored until the end of the war. Attempts by the Spaniards to send a squadron of Admiral Camarra to the Philippines and launch a cruising war in the Atlantic ended in nothing. And only the Russo-Japanese War forced the admirals and engineers to think seriously about a lot of things. In particular, about the role of cruisers.

The fact is that in this war all aspects of the combat activity of this class of ships were tested, but not always the cruisers successfully coped with the assigned tasks. By the beginning of the war, both opponents had a large number of cruisers of various types and sizes - from small scouts of the Novik type to ocean raiders like the Thunderbolt. Fast cruisers were supposed to serve as scouts for armored squadrons; the Japanese were forced to use their armored cruisers as "battleships for the poor"; the Russians tried to wage a cruising war; Japanese cruisers monitored and blocked Port Arthur; both opponents used cruisers to support their light forces and fight enemy destroyers. Interestingly, the Japanese did not even try to use their cruisers to protect communications and fight Russian raiders. Let's consider everything in order.

The odyssey of the Novik cruiser deserves a separate story. After the battle on August 10, the cruiser, together with the Askold, broke through the Japanese fleet, but at night the ships separated. The commander of the Novik, Captain 2nd Rank von Schultz, decided to go to Qingdao to take on an additional supply of coal. The loading took place in a hurry, it was not possible to take a full supply, but the cruiser managed to slip out of the port before dark and did not meet the Japanese detachment sent by Admiral Togo to block the port.

Von Schultz decided to try to break through to Vladivostok, bypassing Japan from the ocean. Given the far from the best state of the cruiser's machines, this was the best solution. Arguments that it was necessary to break through the Tsushima Strait are not serious. The cruiser had long lost its record speed, and such an attempt bordered on suicide. Even during a calm passage, the mechanics had to constantly fight so that the cruiser's machines would not fail. Fuel consumption jumped to 54 tons per day instead of the norm of 30 tons, so von Schultz decided to go to Sakhalin at the Korsakov post to receive coal, although at first he intended to break through the Sangar Strait. But it was there that the Novik was guarded by the Japanese cruisers Chitose and Tsushima, stationed in Hakodate.

However, on August 19, the commander of the Chitose, Captain 1st Rank Takagi, received a telegram stating that the Novik had been seen from the Atoya lighthouse, and immediately led his ships north to the La Perouse Strait. However, the Japanese did not find a Russian cruiser there, which caused them serious concern - the Novik could already slip into Vladivostok. Takagi remained to cruise in the strait, but sent the Tsushima to inspect the Korsakov post. The Japanese hoped that the Russians would mistake the three-pipe cruiser for the Bogatyr and be able to take them by surprise. It was naive, because the Arthurian sailors more than once encountered the same type of cruiser "Niytaka", so the enemy was identified immediately.

At 16.25, smoke was noticed on the Novik, the cruiser weighed anchor and tried to jump out of the bay, which became a mousetrap, but the Tsushima went to the intersection. At 17.10, when the distance was reduced to 40 cables, Novik opened fire, the Japanese immediately responded. For Tsushima, this was a combat debut, but the Russian ship participated in many clashes, and its gunners had a lot of experience, so the disparity in forces was smoothed out to a certain extent. However, the superiority of the Japanese, who had 6 152 mm and 10 76 mm guns against 6 120 mm Russian guns, was too much great. The skirmish lasted 45 minutes, after which von Schultz turned back to the Korsakov post. "Novik" received 3 underwater holes and began to land astern. "Tsushima" also got a leak, but the Japanese managed to cope with it, although they had no desire to continue the battle.

The next morning, the Chitose approached the Korsakov post, but found that the Novik was at the bottom. All attempts by the team to close the holes were unsuccessful, and the captain of the 2nd rank von Schultz ordered the cruiser to be flooded. It was not possible to blow it up, as the explosive cartridges remained in the flooded steering compartment. The city looked abandoned, so the Japanese began to calmly shoot the sunken cruiser. Then the Chitose came closer and made sure that the Novik was on the ground with a list of 30 degrees to starboard. The service of the brave cruiser has ended.

The Vladivostok detachment of cruisers stood out throughout the war for its activity. Yes, his actions were far from always successful, and he lost his only battle, but one cannot but agree with the famous historian V. Semenov, who argued that if Admiral Jessen did not win resounding victories, then he did not drop the honor of the Russian flag. As expected, Russia appreciated this: when after the war the armored cruisers "Gromoboy" and "Russia" returned to their homeland, Jessen received a reprimand based on the results of the inspection review and was dismissed the same year. After all, he didn’t sit out in dugouts like Admiral Grigorovich, but stood on the bridge under shells, and any fool will be able to do this. On the sea lanes of the enemy, the detachment sank 10 transports and 12 schooners, captured 4 transports and 1 schooner.

The first campaign of the detachment in the Sea of Japan began with the replacement of the commander - Captain 1st Rank Reitsenstein was appointed instead of Admiral Stackelberg. The result was the sinking of a small Japanese steamer. The next campaign was already under the command of Admiral Jessen - to Genzan. For this, ocean raiders were clearly not required, but another Japanese transport became the prey of the cruisers. Unfortunately, in May 1904, the detachment lost the Bogatyr cruiser, which landed on the rocks of Cape Bruce and did not go to sea until the end of the war. The Japanese could well have destroyed it, but the mythical system of total espionage failed. For some reason, the Japanese assured themselves that the Russian cruiser would remain on the rocks forever.

A new campaign to the Tsushima Strait was carried out under the command of Admiral Bezobrazov. He was appointed head of the battleship detachment, but never got to Port Arthur. Japanese official history briefly reports that on June 15, the Hitachi Maru and Izumi Maru transports were sunk, and the Sado Maru transport was also damaged. But this is a forced brevity, because otherwise one would have to admit that due to the frivolity of their own admirals, 18 280-mm howitzers, which were sent to Port Arthur, and about 1000 soldiers of the reserve guards regiment went to the bottom. The passivity of the Russian fleet led the Japanese to neglect elementary security measures and paid the price. At the time of the attack, only the small cruiser Tsushima was next to the transports, which, of course, could not do anything. Admiral Kamimura and his armored cruisers were too far away to help the transports. However, the Russians also showed frivolity, they did not make sure that the Sado Maru sank, although the losses of the Japanese turned out to be great without that. They could only console themselves with the manifestation of the unbending samurai spirit - Colonel Suti, who commanded the battalion, solemnly burned the banner and committed hara-kiri. Some consolation...

On the Russian cruisers they listened to the radio communications of the Japanese, and Admiral Bezobrazov correctly decided that Kamimura was not too far away. Since the "Rurik" could not develop high speed, he decided to deceive the Japanese and went to Vladivostok not directly, but leaned towards the shores of Japan. Meanwhile, the weather worsened, and this helped the Russians. Kamimura reached the island of Okinoshima, did not find anyone or anything, and stopped the pursuit.

This raid can be considered very successful in the sense that it delayed the fall of Port Arthur, terrible howitzers appeared there only in the fall. By the way, the Japanese also removed them from the coastal fortifications of Tokyo Bay, not only the Russians did strange things. The next raid on Genzan almost led to a collision with Kamimura, but the meeting took place in the evening, and the Russian cruisers safely avoided an unequal battle.

The next raid was made by Russian cruisers to the Pacific Ocean, and again under the flag of Jessen. Admiral Bezobrazov doubted the success of the campaign too much, and he had to be replaced by Jessen, who was temporarily removed from business after the accident of the Bogatyr. On July 17, the cruisers went to sea, and on the 19th they passed through the Sangar Strait. The Japanese could not prevent them - the entire defense of the strait at that moment consisted of 2 ancient gunboats and 3 tiny destroyers with a displacement of 50 tons. Having broken into the ocean, the Russians began operations in the coastal waters of Japan. They sank several transports, not only Japanese, but also English, the ships "Arabia" and "Calhas" were taken as prizes. It seems to be a success, but, on the other hand, the destroyed cargo was not of exceptional value, most often it was railway rails. By the way, this confirms that the cruising war at that time simply could not be particularly effective, the list of strategic cargoes was too short, and in addition, none of them were vital, like, say, aluminum during the Second World War.

Still, this raid gave the impression of an exploding bomb. Sums of insurance jumped sharply, shipping decreased. At the same time, one should not take seriously the tale of how outraged Japanese shipowners burned the house of Admiral Kamimura. I personally read a story about this, and in a book that few people pay attention to - the memoirs of the Belgian envoy to Tokyo, Baron d'Anetan, and still I don't believe it. Well, do with me what you want - I do not believe! By the way, where was he, Kamimura, at that time? The actions of the admiral, or rather inaction, during this period are rather difficult to explain. He hung around the southern entrance to the Tsushima Strait and seemed to expect Jessen to attempt to break into Port Arthur, although such an act would have been completely pointless.

On the way back, the Russian cruisers ran into an unexpected problem. The weather worsened, everything was covered in thick fog, and the squadron simply could not find the entrance to the Sangar Strait. After chatting for some time in the ocean, the cruisers managed to see the mountains around the strait and squeezed into it. The campaign lasted 16 days, and the ships practically used up the entire supply of coal. Somehow, quite unexpectedly for the admirals, it turned out that the raiders could no longer act as before. It was earlier famous sailing ships like the Alabama, which used a steam engine only as an auxiliary engine, could not think about coal. Now the organization of cruising should have been approached more thoroughly, and the Germans, preparing for a new war, took this into account when creating their famous system of stages.

No happiness lasts forever, and soon the Vladivostok detachment had to be convinced of this. When the Arthurian squadron went on a breakthrough, on the evening of August 11, the cruiser detachment received an order to meet it. An order is an order, Admiral Jessen led sailors who had barely had time to rest south to the Tsushima Strait. But when the cruisers were already at sea, it turned out that the campaign was useless, the Arthurian squadron was defeated, partially dispersed to neutral ports, and partially returned. That's when you should have contacted Jessen by radio and brought him back, that's where those same "200 miles of radio communication" would come in handy, if they weren't pure linden.

At dawn on August 14, the cruisers reached the Fuzan parallel, where they had already been, but this time the Japanese were much better prepared. At 04.50, the detachments of Kamimura and Jessen noticed each other, and the corresponding radiogram of Kamimura was received by all nearby patrol cruisers - 5 units. So, even if Jessen had missed the Japanese armored cruisers, he would probably have run into one of the sentinels, but if he was not lucky, then he was not lucky right away and thoroughly, because the Japanese were to the north of the Russian squadron and blocked her way to Vladivostok. However, in fact, the Japanese tried to watch for the Novik and Askold cruisers they had lost.

But then things began to happen that were not entirely clear, and Russian and Japanese descriptions differ sharply. The Russians claim that the battle began at 05.18, the Japanese - that at 05.23, this is not too significant. But the discrepancy in distances is already more serious, the Russians claim that it exceeded 60 cables, but according to Japanese data, it barely reached 46 cables, which looks much more realistic.

The battle developed according to the classical canons - an artillery duel on parallel courses, in this regard, the battle near Ulsan looks like the most “classic” of all naval battles of this war. The Japanese had some superiority in speed and gradually overtook the Russian squadron. And this is where one of the many incomprehensible moments arises. Looking at paper specifications, the Japanese had a noticeable advantage in speed, but it is also well known that their cruisers could only reach the nominal 20 knots in the most ideal conditions. On the other hand, the cars of the Russian cruisers were far from being in perfect condition, Rurik especially suffered from this, and here in the morning due to an accident on Rossiya 4 boilers failed, so in any case, Kamimura should have had superiority 2 or more node. But every time he needed to catch up with the Russian squadron, it happened painfully slowly.

And yet, by 05.52, the Japanese were exactly on the beam of the Russians, reducing the distance to 27 cables. Their superiority in artillery was beginning to show, and now the Japanese were directly in front of the rising sun, which prevented the Russians from aiming. Admiral Jessen first turned to the southeast, as if intending to pass the Tsushima Strait, but at 0600 sharply turned to the right, described a loop and went to the northwest, hoping to slip under the stern of the Japanese. Kamimura reacted to this turn late and turned left. The squadrons were on diverging courses, the distance increased to 50 cables, and the Japanese temporarily ceased fire. But it was at this moment that the trailing Iwate, which was walking, received a hit that could have been fatal. A 203-mm projectile exploded in the forward casemate of the upper deck, simultaneously detonating a projectile in the gun. The casemate was completely destroyed, part of the armor flew overboard. The casemate a deck below was out of order, and the 12-pounder gun standing above simply disappeared along with the crew. Another 152-mm gun failed, 32 people died, 43 were injured.

At 06.23 the battle resumed, and almost immediately the Rurik received a fatal hit that damaged the steering, from that moment the cruiser kept losing control. In addition, he began to gradually lag behind the lead cruisers. Shooting from both sides was chaotic and uncontrollable, no matter what historians try to write. Even in official Japanese works, it is recognized that Izumo is the flagship! - fired simultaneously at all three Russian cruisers. The fact that all the ships received hits from the Japanese indicates the lack of organization of fire in the Russian squadron.

Further events are not of particular interest. The Russian squadron tried twice to return to Rurik, apparently, Admiral Jessen hoped that he would be able to cope with his difficulties, but it was in vain. "Rurik" received more and more new hits and soon completely lost its combat capability. But still, he diverted the attention of Admiral Kamimura. The Japanese commander, apparently, decided to destroy at least one of the Russian cruisers for sure and at times almost stopped firing at Jessen's ships. For example, around 08.00, he generally ordered all fire to be concentrated on the damaged cruiser, and only the return of Rossiya and Gromoboy forced the Japanese to fire on them again.

At 0820, Admiral Jessen realized the futility of his attempts, besides, two other cruisers received noticeable damage, so he finally turned north towards Vladivostok. The Japanese, carried away by finishing off Rurik, were on his right shell and could not prevent a breakthrough. Kamimura followed him, but he couldn't - or didn't he want to? - shorten the distance. As we can see, this Japanese admiral showed the same caution as Admiral Togo in the battle in the Yellow Sea, although in this segment of the battle he had a double superiority in ships and almost a quadruple in artillery. By 09.45, the Japanese managed to reduce the distance to 27 cables, but then, as if frightened by their own courage, they dropped the course, and at 10.00 the distance again increased to 37 cables.

“The battle was protracted (about 5 hours). During the chase, all crews were ordered to fire slowly and carefully aim their guns. But at 1000, Admiral Kamimura was informed that the Izumo was running out of ammunition. Seeing that the enemy’s speed was not decreasing at all, although his fire had noticeably weakened, the admiral decided to use the remaining ammunition to sink the Rurik in order to definitely prevent his rescue, ”reports the Japanese Confidential History. In fact, by this time, Izumo had used up only half of its ammunition: 2255 203-mm shells, 1085 152-mm shells and 910 12-lb shells. Another factor that influenced the decision of the Japanese admiral was that he did not know about the results of the battle of the Togo squadron and could well expect a collision with the Arthurian squadron, and in the very near future

All this time, "Rurik" tried to finish off the approaching cruisers "Naniva" and "Takatiho", which prudently kept at a distance of 35 cables. But this did not save them from a couple of accidental hits, although Rurik, of course, had much worse. Both of these cruisers fired a total of over 650 152mm shells. At about 10.20 "Rurik" sank, calm weather allowed the Japanese to save almost all the surviving sailors.

Another proof of the inadequacy of the senior command staff of the Russian fleet was the ratio of losses on the "Russia" and "Gromoboy". The newer and much better armored Gromoboy lost twice as many people simply because Captain 1st Rank Dabich ordered the crews of small-caliber guns, obviously useless under the prevailing conditions, to be at combat posts. Moreover, he ordered the dead to be replaced by new sailors, which entailed new losses.

And one more strange nuance. For a hundred years now, a story has been circulating on the pages of books that on Russian ships, when firing at long distances, deck guns failed - the teeth of lifting arcs and gears were bent and broken. But no one bothered to compare the real distances of the battle with the limit. The battle near Ulsan took place mainly at distances of 30-35 cable, a couple of times the distance was briefly reduced to 25 cable, a couple of times it increased to 45. These values are far from the maximum range of the 152-mm Kane guns, what are the maximum elevation angles? But it seems that the assumption that the famous Obukhov plant supplied a frank marriage to the fleet does not suit anyone.

“After the death of Rurik, the active combat service of the Vladivostok detachment practically ceased,” one of the historians sadly writes. But attempts to conduct a cruising war did not stop, although now it was entrusted to auxiliary cruisers. The result was disgusting - without achieving anything serious, these ships, by their actions, managed to spoil Russia's relations with many European powers. By the way, if you look at the reference books, it suddenly turns out that the Japanese, not trying to officially start a cruising war, nevertheless caught more transports with smuggling than the Russians. The region of Vladivostok was especially fruitful for them.

In preparing for the cruising war, the Russian military-political leadership made several gross mistakes. First of all, the Russian command, without knowing it, let the genie out of the bottle, introducing a fundamentally new interpretation of the concept of "military smuggling" in Order No. 42 of the Maritime Department. Previously, only military goods were considered such: weapons, ammunition, uniforms, vehicles (read - horses). The Russians implicitly introduced the notion of “dual-use goods”, which is so fashionable today, that is, goods that may be used for military purposes though may and not be. Moreover, the Russian admirals immediately realized that anything could be dragged under such a definition. For example, cotton, which accounted for almost a third of Japan's imports, immediately turned out to be a forbidden product, because it could be used to produce nitrocellulose gunpowder and make uniforms.

Moreover, it was decided to start a cruising war in European waters, which obviously could bring nothing but scandals and exacerbation of tensions with Great Britain, which in 1905 owned half of the world's merchant fleet. This is not “the breadth and boldness of the strategic plan”, but outright stupidity. Along the way, it turned out that the preparation of Russia for a cruising war turned out to be zilch. The ships of the Voluntary Fleet, specially built for this, turned out to be unsuitable for this, only Petersburg and Moskva were converted into auxiliary cruisers, and the Maritime Department managed to turn even this quite ordinary business into an international scandal. These two ships were in Sevastopol, where gun platforms were installed and a trial installation of guns was made. After that, the guns were lowered into the hold and camouflaged. It was supposed to lead them through the Black Sea straits under the guise of merchant ships, and already at sea to install guns and raise the St. Andrew's flag. According to the international treaties in force at that time, Russia could not lead warships through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, but the Russian admirals hoped in this way to deceive everyone and everything. It would seem that it would be easier to prepare everything in the same Sevastopol, since the ports of the Baltic Sea were overloaded with work with the ships of the Second Pacific Squadron, bring them to Libau and officially turn them into auxiliary cruisers there. The loss of a couple of weeks meant absolutely nothing. But no, the main thing is to create problems for yourself.

These ships were intended for cruising in the Indian Ocean and left Sevastopol in June 1904. Only in the Red Sea, after the passage of the Suez Canal, they changed the commercial flag to a war flag and began operations in the Red Sea. "Petersburg" examined several ships and detained the English steamer "Malacca" with contraband cargo for Japan. In mid-July, the ships headed for the Indian Ocean. At Cape Gvardafuy, the cruisers split up: Petersburg headed north of the island of Madagascar, Smolensk went south. Having received an order to stop cruising on August 24, both ships arrived in Libau at the end of September. During this time, they examined 19 ships, of which they detained four and gave rise to the infamous case of the Malacca steamer.

Russian and English historians describe these events from directly opposite points of view, and the Russian one looks much less solid, and it is precisely the cited "evidence" that undermines it. Russia at that time considered it completely natural for itself to violate any international obligations and therefore shouted the loudest about the violation of the rules by others. To begin with, the Russo-Japanese War itself broke out due to the fact that Russia violated every single one multilateral and bilateral treaties concerning China, Manchuria and Korea. Therefore, the “war for Korean firewood” became inevitable.

So, on June 30, 1904, the auxiliary cruiser Petersburg stopped and detained the British steamship Malacca of the Peninsular and Oriental company. under the pretext the presence of military contraband on it. The English newspapers of that time describe the colorful details of the search: the captain of the Malacca nailed the British merchant flag to the flagpole, and the Russian officer, threatening him with a revolver, tore off the flag. Captain 2nd rank Skalsky decided to send him to Libau with a prize team, without spending inspection of the cargo on the basis of mere "suspicions that the matter is unclean." Information about the allegedly smuggled nature of the cargo "came" from a variety of places that had nothing to do with the voyage of this steamer, for example, from Russian consuls in Malta and Alexandria, where "Malacca" did not enter.

Already on July 7, a note from the British ambassador followed, of course, completely unfounded, as all Russian authors have been writing in unison for a hundred years in a row. Yes, there were military supplies on the Malacca destined for Hong Kong, which the Russians stubbornly did not notice and do not notice today. There were proper documents, the cargoes were marked “Property of the EB government”, but if you really want to, you can not notice this, but say that “from the survey of the team” it turned out the presence of military contraband. Indeed, stokers and deckhands know better than anyone what, where and to whom the ship is carrying.

On June 10, a meeting was held on Malacca, at which opinions were sharply divided. Diplomats demanded the release of the ship, referring to the violations of international law committed by the sailors, the naval faction, led by "Prince Tsushima" Alexei Alexandrovich, defended the point of view "what I want, I turn back." The Grand Duke argued that England was so sharp in defense of Malacca on the grounds that the English king was among the shareholders of P&O. Imagine, as the French say! There are two different explanations for this delusion. Either the general-admiral was a complete fool and broadcast the rotten Russian experience to other countries, because in the famous scam with Korean firewood, the Romanov family was smeared up to their ears. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich became one of the leaders of the concession, and the largest stake belonged to the “EB cabinet”, that is, simply the king. It can be assumed that Aleksey Aleksandrovich bought into the title of "P&O" - "royal privileged" (Royal Charter), but this only means that the king granted certain privileges to the company, but by no means that he receives money for this. And again, such an interpretation means that the Admiral General was remarkably stupid. The second explanation is much shorter - the Grand Duke deliberately lied.

And the explanation for the sharp reaction of the British may be quite simple. Since 1841, P & O has been the official carrier of the British Admiralty mail, and a little later became the official carrier of the Royal Mail. In fact, in England, for an attack on the Royal Mail, they simply hung up without much ranting, because this was considered an attack on the guarantees given by the EB.

After some squabbling, already on July 14 the ship was released and continued the transition. In order to finally get off their backs, the Russians are unleashing a campaign of lies, in which Russian consuls in Shanghai and Hong Kong began to play the first violin. Now the Malacca is going to Singapore not for repairs, but to cover its tracks, then the French journalists have “reliably established” that the ship is going to Yokohama, but for some reason ends up in Sasebo. It suddenly turns out that the Iwate cruiser was equipped with 152-mm guns brought by the Malacca, although such guns did not exist in nature. In general, as Dr. Goebbels advised, in order for a lie to be believed, it must be monstrous.

The reliability of the work of these "sources of information" is well illustrated by the fable about the German transport "Sambia". The Russian agent in Berlin, Colonel Schebeck, reported that this transport was leaving Hamburg for Japan with 329 guns on board. The Russian admirals, without hesitation, immediately sent the auxiliary cruiser Ural to catch the smuggler. No one even bothered to think whether it is possible to believe these nonsense. After all, this is the artillery park of an entire army, the real deal of the century. It would be simply impossible to keep such a secret, but there were no other confirmations, except for the colonel's tales, then, and have not appeared now. But earlier, and especially today, most historians for some reason consider these tales to be true facts.

Smolensk also made a scandal when it detained the German steamship Prince Heinrich. Russian historians shyly write that they checked the mail on it and seized two letters containing documents about the departure of military contraband from Germany to Japan. In fact, everything was much more stupid and vile. The ship was confiscated all mail, after which it all perused and seized the two mentioned letters. All other letters were “sealed and set aside for transfer to the first postal steamer they met,” which was done two days later, when the English steamer Persia met. Is it any wonder after this that the Russian auxiliary cruisers were treated like pirates of the 18th century who had fallen out in our time?

In general, the actions of the Russian auxiliary cruisers brought nothing but trouble to Russia. Admiral Rozhdestvensky dragged the Kuban, Terek, Dnepr, Rion and Ural around the world, but they did nothing significant, except that the Ural ingloriously died in the Battle of Tsushima. The only auxiliary cruiser of the Vladivostok detachment "Lena" distinguished itself only by the fact that "due to a breakdown of the machines that prevented the continuation of cruising", it reached San Francisco!

Purely for reference, we give data on merchant ships captured by the Japanese fleet. The total number is 64, including 16 Russian, 22 English, 10 German and 5 American. And what will you say after that, who was helped by the British and Americans?

Probably the easiest way to deal with the reconnaissance and patrol activities of the cruisers. With what words the famous "dogs" of the Japanese fleet were not honored by the Arthurians! But, what is most interesting, the obviously stronger "Askold" never tried to drive away the observers who settled on the outer raid. Even in the most tense moments, when the Japanese squadron fired across Liaoteshan, shelling the harbor of Port Arthur, no one tried to interfere with the Japanese cruisers that were correcting the fire. These episodes, by the way, prove that the radio communication among the Japanese was two orders of magnitude better, and stories about pre-war experiments in communication at a distance of 200 miles are not convincing. Why did no one try to repeat them during the war?!

Another example of a well-established intelligence service is the organization of patrols in front of the Tsushima Strait. Both amateur and professional historians like to speculate about whether Rozhdestvensky's squadron could have slipped through the strait unnoticed by the Japanese. The answer is simple - it couldn't. Just to get this answer, I had to wait a very long time until the Japanese maps, considered secret for almost 100 years, finally appear. It turned out that four lines of patrols were organized, advanced almost to the island of Quelpart. Rozhdestvensky was lucky to slip through them at night, but what could happen if he passed this area during the day, hoping to find himself in the Tsushima Strait at night? It would have resulted in a total attack by Japanese destroyers and in the morning finishing off a battered squadron with the main forces of Admiral Togo. But what happened happened, in square 203, the auxiliary cruiser Shinano Maru discovered the Russians ...

Ships of the Russian fleet - participants in the Russo-Japanese War. Probably in the history of Russia there is no more unfortunate defeat.

cruiser I rank "Askold"

Laid down in 1898 in Kiel (Germany). Shipyard - "Germany" (Deutschland). Launched in 1900. Entered service in 1902. In 1903 he went to the Far East. One of the most active ships. In July 1904 he participated in an unsuccessful breakthrough to Vladivostok. Together with the Novik cruiser (subsequently sunk in Korsakov Bay on Sakhalin), he managed to get out of the encirclement. Unlike "Novik", "Askold" went to the nearest port - Shanghai, where he was interned until the end of the war. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, he became part of the Siberian Flotilla and was stationed in Vladivostok. During WWI, he participated in various combat operations together with the Allied ships against the squadron of Admiral Spee. After that, he went to the Mediterranean Sea, participated in the Dardanelles operation (a joint operation of the land and sea forces of the allies against the Ottoman Empire, the purpose of which was to break through to Constantinople, ended in the failure of the coalition forces despite the numerical advantage over the Ottomans). Then he went to Toulon, where he was under repair (spring 1916 - summer 1917). The cruiser left Toulon for Murmansk, where she joined the fleet of the Arctic Ocean. In 1918, in the Kola Bay, it was captured by the British and became part of the British fleet under the name "Glory IV". In 1922 it was redeemed by Soviet Russia. Due to the unsatisfactory condition of the hull and mechanisms, it was decided to sell the cruiser for scrap. In the same 1922 "Askold" was dismantled for metal in Hamburg.
During the Dardanelles operation "Askold" fought together with the British cruiser HMS Talbot - the one to which the Varyag team switched.

before launching

Hull "Askold" (left) in the water

at the outfitting wall - installation of the nasal tube, 1901

the cruiser has almost taken its final form, the winter of 1901

docking in the floating dock of Blom & Foss, Hamburg, 1901

sea trials, 1901

additional installation of the navigation bridge, autumn 1901, Kiel, Germany

acceptance tests. Since the cruiser has not yet been enrolled in the navy, on the flagpole is the state (tricolor), and not the naval (St. Andrew's) flag

in the Kiel Canal, 1902

Great Kronstadt raid, 1902

already in the Baltic Fleet, 1902

Dalian Bay, 1903

Port Arthur, 1904 The cruiser has already been repainted in the standard combat color of the Pacific formations of those years - dark olive

on a combat course, 1904

during the Dardanelles operation, 1915

in Toulon, 1916

as part of the flotilla of the Arctic Ocean, 1917

note from the Niva magazine, 1915

drawing and axonometric projection, "Modelist-Constructor" magazine. On axonometric view, mine nets are shown in a combat position

"Askold" while serving on the Baltic Sea, modern drawing

painting of the cruiser "Askold" during service in the Pacific Ocean

coloring of the cruiser "Askold" during the fighting in the Mediterranean

Laid down at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg on September 5, 1899, launched on July 21, 1901 and commissioned on June 20, 1904. Before moving to Libau and further to the Far East, he was completed by the Guards crew.
In the Tsushima battle, he led a column of Russian ships. Having received heavy damage to the bow, gave way to the lead ship of the EDB "Borodino". As a result of the loss of speed, he was under fire from the armored cruisers Nissin and Kassuga. There was a fire on board. The water that got through the holes worsened the situation and at 18-50 on May 14, 1905, the ship capsized and sank. The entire crew was killed. In the same year, he was formally excluded from the lists of the fleet.
Before leaving for Port Arthur, the captain of the 1st rank, the crew commander of the EBR "Emperor Alexander III" Nikolai Mikhailovich Bukhvostov said 2:

You want us to win. Needless to say, we want it. But there will be no victory! I am afraid that we will lose half of the squadron along the way, and if this does not happen, then the Japanese will defeat us: they have a better fleet and they are real sailors. For one thing I vouch - we will all die, but we will not surrender.

The squadron reached the Tsushima Strait without loss, and died there. But honor remained unsullied. N. M. Bukhvostov and his crew died all together. Your coffin is an armadillo. Your grave is the cold depth of the ocean. And the native family of faithful sailors is your age-old protection ... 1

squadron battleship "Emperor Alexander III"

before launching, 1901

during outfitting work at the Baltic Shipyard

transfer from St. Petersburg to Kronstadt

in the dry dock of Kronstadt, 1903

on the Kronstadt roadstead, 1904

August 1904

on the Reval raid, September 1904

view of the starboard side, given overhead crane with a steam boat

at one of the stops during the transition to the Far East, from left to right - EBR "Navarin", EBR "Emperor Alexander III", "Borodino"

Armored cruiser "Rurik" - the last ship of this class with full sailing weapons in the Russian Navy

The last Russian cruiser with full sailing equipment. Development of the project "Memory of Azov". Subsequent ships - "Russia" and "Gromoboy" became the development of this project (initially it was planned to build them according to the same project as the "Rurik"). The main task is to conduct hostilities and raider operations on British and German communications. A feature of the ship was that when loading an additional supply of coal, it could pass from St. Petersburg to the nearest Far Eastern bases for additional coal loading with a 10-knot course.
Began construction at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg in September 1889. Officially laid down in May 1890. Launched on October 22, 1892. Entered service in October 1895. Transferred from the Baltic Sea to the Far East as part of the 1st Pacific Squadron,
arrived in Nagasaki on April 9, 1896. He was a member of the Vladivostok detachment of cruisers. In the battle on August 1, 1904, near Fr. Ulsan is flooded by the crew as a result of the damage received. Of the 796 team members, 139 were killed and 229 were injured.

on the march, view of the deck from the foremast marshal platform

board painting in preparation for the show

on a hike

"Rurik" in black color

"Rurik" in Nagasaki, 1896

in the eastern basin of Port Arthur

in the dock of Vladivostok

Port Arthur

cruiser on a hike, Far East

cruiser stem - the decoration of the bow is clearly visible - the legacy of the "bow figures" of sailing ships

Squadron battleship "Sevastopol"

Laid down March 22, 1892. Launched May 25, 1895. Entered service July 15, 1900. Participated in the battle in the Yellow Sea. December 20, 1904 on the eve of the surrender of Port Arthur was flooded by the crew. The last ship of the Poltava type.

near Galerny Island before being transferred for completion to Kronstadt, 1898

"Sevastopol" and "Petropavlovsk" in Vladivostok, 1901

on the right (near the wall) EDB "Sevastopol". A crane carries a faulty 12-inch gun from the Tsesarevich, Port Arthur, 1904

EBR "Sevastopol" on the march

"Sevastopol", "Poltava" and "Petropavlovsk" at the wall of the eastern basin of Port Arthur, 1901-1903

a ventilation deflector torn by a shell, 1904

in Port Arthur. Ahead - stern to the photographer - "Tsesarevich", in the background - "Askold"

in Port Arthur, campaign of 1904, on the right is the stern of the destroyer of the Sokol type, on the left is the stern of the Novik

after being hit by a Japanese torpedo in White Wolf Bay, December 1904

sailors go to the land front. after that, the EDB "Sevastopol" will be flooded in the inner roadstead of Port Arthur on the eve of the surrender of the fortress

Squadron battleship "Sevastopol", color postcard

Armored cruiser II rank "Boyarin"

Laid down at the Burmeister og Wein plant, Copenhagen, Denmark in early 1900. The official bookmark took place on September 24, 1900. May 26, 1901 launched.
Entered service in October 1902. On October 27, 1902, the cruiser left Kronstadt and arrived in Port Arthur on May 10, 1903.
Blown up by a Russian mine near the port of Dalniy on January 29, 1904 (6 people died). The team left the ship, which remained afloat for another two days and only after a second explosion on a minefield sank.

still under the Danish flag, sea trials, 1902

1902 - St. Andrew's flag is already on the flagpole. Before moving to Kronstadt.

"Boyarin" in the Far East, 1903

in the Denmark Strait, 1903

in Toulon

Port Arthur, 1904

Armored cruiser II rank "Boyarin", photo postcard

1 - these are stanzas from the poem "In Memory of Admiral Makarov". Its author is S. LOBANOVSKY, a cadet of the Vladimir Kyiv Cadet Corps, graduated in 1910. It is completely engraved on the pedestal of the monument to Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov in Kronstadt. But these drains are a memory to all those who until the last remained with their crew, with their ship. Such as N. M. Bukhvostov, S. O. Makarov and many others...

Sleep, northern knight, sleep, honest Father,
Untimely taken by death, -
Not the laurels of victory - the crown of thorns
You accepted with a fearless squad.
Your coffin is an armadillo, your grave
Cold deep ocean
And faithful sailors native family
Your age-old protection.
Dividing laurels, from now on with you
They also share eternal rest.
The jealous sea will not betray the earth
The hero who loved the sea -
In a deep grave, in a mysterious haze
Cherishing it and rest.
And the wind will sing a memorial service over him,
Hurricanes will cry with rain
And the shroud will be spread with a thick cover
Thick fogs over the sea;
And the clouds, frowning, the last salute
Gromov will be given to him with a roar.

Let me remind you - Admiral Makarov died along with the Petropavlovsk EDB, which was blown up by a mine in Vladivostok. Also, along with the ship, the Russian battle painter Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (the author of the paintings "The Apotheosis of War", "Before the attack near Plevna", "Napoleon on the Borodino Heights", "Skobelev near Plevna", etc.) died.
2 - who regularly follows the TV project "Living History" of the TV channel "Channel 5 - St. Petersburg", could hear this quote in one of the parts of the film about the Russian fleet "Yablochko". True, Sergey Shnurov shortened it - he removed the words regarding the loss of ships in the campaign.

Portal for the student. Self-training

Japanese cruiser conceived by an English engineer who. Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War

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Portal for the student. Self-training

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