The Plough that Broke the Steppes: Agriculture and Environment on Russia's Grasslands, 1700-1914OUP Oxford, 28 февр. 2013 г. - Всего страниц: 319 This is the first environmental history of Russia's steppes. From the early-eighteenth century, settlers moved to the semi-arid but fertile grasslands from wetter, forested regions in central and northern Russia and Ukraine, and from central Europe. By the late-nineteenth century, they had turned the steppes into the bread basket of the Russian Empire and parts of Europe. But there was another side to this story. The steppe region was hit by recurring droughts, winds from the east whipped up dust storms, the fertile black earth suffered severe erosion, crops failed, and in the worst years there was famine. David Moon analyses how naturalists and scientists came to understand the steppe environment, including the origins of the fertile black earth. He also analyses how scientists tried to understand environmental change, including climate change. Farmers, and the scientists who advised them, tried different ways to deal with the recurring droughts: planting trees, irrigation, and cultivating the soil in ways that helped retain scarce moisture. More sustainable, however, were techniques of cultivation to retain scarce moisture in the soil. Among the pioneers were Mennonite settlers. Such approaches aimed to work with the environment, rather than trying to change it by planting trees or supplying more water artificially. The story is similar to the Dust Bowl on the Great Plains of the USA, which share a similar environment and environmental history. David Moon places the environmental story of the steppes in the wider context of the environmental history of European colonialism around the globe. |
Содержание
Introduction | 1 |
PART I UNDERSTANDING THE STEPPE ENVIRONMENT | 33 |
PART II UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE | 89 |
PART III COMBATING THE STEPPE ENVIRONMENT? | 167 |
Conclusion | 279 |
Epilogue | 301 |
List of Archival Collections Cited | 304 |
307 | |
Другие издания - Просмотреть все
The Plough that Broke the Steppes: Agriculture and Environment on Russia's ... David Moon Ограниченный просмотр - 2013 |
The Plough that Broke the Steppes: Agriculture and Environment on Russia's ... David Moon Ограниченный просмотр - 2013 |
The Plough that Broke the Steppes: Agriculture and Environment on Russia's ... David Moon Недоступно для просмотра - 2014 |
Часто встречающиеся слова и выражения
2nd pagn agronomists Aleksandr Anadol arable farming areas argued black earth black fallow chernozem crop failure cultivation David Moon deep ploughing deforestation desyatiny district Dokuchaev Don Cossack Don region drifting sands drought Ekaterinoslav Ekaterinoslav province Engel’gardt Environmental History Ermolov erosion estate owners European example experience farmers fertile fields forest-steppe forestry forests Free Economic Society GARO GASO German grain grassland gubernii harvest failure Imperatorskogo irrigation Izmail’skii Kherson Kostychev land Lepekhin livestock Mennonites Ministry moisture Molotschna moreover Moscow natural nomads North Caucasus noted Obshchestva Odessa opisanie Palimpsestov Pallas peasants planting trees population ravines RGIA river Rossii roubles Russian Empire Samara province Saratov Sciences expeditions scientists sel’skogo khozyaistva settlement settlers SKhiL Sochineniya soil Southern Russian Agricultural specialists SSSpSG St Petersburg Stavropol steppe environment steppe region Tsaritsyn TVEO twentieth century uezd Vasilii vegetation Veinberg Velikii Anadol Voeikov Volga vols Spb Vysotskii winds woodland wrote Zapiski zemstvo Zhilinskii ZhMGI ZIOSKhYuR