Geographical discoveries of Russian travelers
XVIII-XIX centuries
Eighteenth century. Russian Empire broadly and freely turns his shoulders and turns his gaze to the east, to where for thousands of kilometers everything is wild and free, where wild tribes and entire peoples live among nature and where great forces are hidden underground. Who will awaken these forces? For whom are untold riches prepared? For whom are these expanses, this earth, this sky and these waters, which have no end or edge? Why and where did Shelikhov, Rezanov, Kuskov, Baranov and, along with them, thousands of unknown pioneers go? How did these people live, what was their feat for? What drives a person from his home? What does he imagine beyond the horizon, where watery clouds envelop black rocks and where the freezing ocean is so majestically deserted?
1757
The sailor Bashmakov visited the Rat Islands.
1758 - 1759
The project (unrealized) of the Irkutsk merchant Bechevin of sailing from Okhotsk to Kamchatka and around the Chukotka Nose to the river. Lena.
1759
M.V. Lomonosov gave a speech “Discussion on the great accuracy of the sea route.”
1759 - 1762
Yarensky Posad Stepan Glotov visited the islands of Umnake and Unalaska and put them on the map.
1760
Lieutenant Colonel F. Kh. Plenisner was appointed chief commander of the Anadyr Territory.
1760 - 1764
Selenga merchant Andrian Tolstykh explored the islands, which later received his name.
1761
The merchant Bechevin's ship reached the Alaska Peninsula and spent the winter in the Isanak Strait.
1762 - 1763
Stepan Glotov visited Fr. for the first time since Bering. Kodiak.
1762
The first (unsuccessful) voyage of I. Sindt to the shores of North America.
1763
M.V. Lomonosov introduced Catherine II " Brief description various journeys through the northern seas and showing the possible passage of the Siberian Ocean to Eastern India,” presented “Thoughts on the origin of ice mountains in the northern seas” to the Swedish Academy of Sciences. The first campaign of Sergeant Andreev from Nizhnekolymsk to the Bear Islands.
1764 - 1767
Expedition of I. Sindt from Okhotsk to the Bering Strait. During the navigation of 1766 on the galliot “St. Ekaterina” she managed to get close to the American coast in the Bering Strait area. Open. Matthew (1766).
1764 - 1765
N. Daurkin's travels around the Chukotka Peninsula. Visited about. St. Lawrence and visited Kolyuchinskaya Bay.
The beginning of the 60s of the XVIII century.
Olonchan resident Savva Loshkin circumnavigated Novaya Zemlya for the first time in two navigations.
1765 - 1766
Voyage of the first high-latitude expedition to find the Northeast sea passage from Spitsbergen to the Bering Strait under the command of V. Ya. Chichagov.
1764 - 1771
A secret Russian expedition to inventory and map the American territories of Russia and the Aleutian Islands under the command of Levashev and Krenitsyn.
1766
The Veliky Ustyug merchant Vasily Shilov presented Catherine II with a map of the Aleutian Islands to Fr. Amki (Andrianov Islands). Yakov Chirakin walked through the Matochkin Shar Strait from west to east all the way to the Kara Sea and drew up a plan for the strait.
1768
The tallow fishery and herring trade were seized from Shuvalov's company and transferred to the ownership of the Arkhangelsk merchants.
1773 - 1779
Navigator Potap Zaikov sailed to the Aleutian Islands and gave the first map of them close to reality.
1778 - 1779
The expedition of the East India Company, led by D. Cook, visited the coast of Russian America (Alaska), passed through the Bering Strait to the north and visited Kamchatka.
1803 - 1853
Vessels of the Russian sailing fleet have completed sixty round-the-world voyages.
1804
On about. Sith founded Novoarkhangelsk - the residence of the main ruler of the Russian possessions in North America.
1821
The expedition of the Russian-American company on the brig “Golovin” under the command of Khromchenko described the northwestern shores of Alaska. The Russian government banned foreign ships from sailing in the Pacific Ocean north of 51" latitude.
1838
The expedition of the Russian-American company on the brig Polyphemus under the command of Kashevarov made an inventory of the northern coast of Alaska from Cape Lisburne to Cape Barrow.
1840
Etolin, on the brig of the Russian-American company Chichagov, undertook a voyage from Novoarkhangelsk to the Bering Strait and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
1842 - 1844
Lieutenant L.A. Zagoskin examined the river basins in Alaska. Kwihpak (Yukon) and Kuskokwim and compiled a “pedestrian inventory” of a significant part of Russian America.
1867
The tsarist government sold the possessions of the Russian-American Company to the United States - Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.
RUSSIAN DISCOVERERS AND TRAVELERS OF THE 19TH CENTURY
Prepared by an 8th grade student:
Barinov Alexey
19TH CENTURY – TIME OF DISCOVERIES
- The 19th century was the time of the largest geographical discoveries made by Russian explorers. Continuing the traditions of their predecessors - explorers and travelers of the 17th - 18th centuries, they enriched Russians’ ideas about the world around them and contributed to the development of new territories that became part of the empire. For the first time, Russia realized its long-standing destination: its ships entered the World Ocean.
EXPEDITION OF KRUZENSHTERN AND LISYANSKY
- In 1803, an expedition was undertaken to explore the northern part Pacific Ocean. It lasted 3 years. The island of Sakhalin, one of the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, was explored. Data was collected on the Aleutian Islands and Alaska, the islands of the Pacific and Arctic oceans.
KRUZENSHTERN IVAN FEDOROVYCH
- Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern, born Adam Johann von Kruzenstern (November 8, 1770 - August 12, 1846) - Russian navigator, admiral. Descended from the Baltic nobility. Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky on the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva” made the first Russian round-the-world expedition.
LISYANSKY YURI FYODOROVYCH
- Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky (August 2, 1773, Nezhin - February 22, 1837, St. Petersburg) - Russian navigator and explorer. Captain of the first rank.
EXPEDITION OF BELLINGHAUSEN AND LAZAREV
- Expedition 1819 - 1821 - Bellingshausen, together with Lazarev, approached the shores of Antarctica. After stopping in Australia, sailors discovered new islands in the Pacific Ocean and called them the Russian Islands.
Bellingshausen FADDEY FADDEEVICH
- Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen (born Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen; September 9, 1778 - January 13, 1852, Kronstadt) - Russian navigator, admiral (1843), discoverer of Antarctica. By origin - a Baltic German from the Baltic noble family of Bellingshausen.
LAZAREV MIKHAIL PETROVICH
- Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (November 3, 1788, Vladimir - April 11, 1851, Vienna, buried in Sevastopol) - Russian naval commander and navigator, admiral (1843), holder of the Order of St. George IV class for long service (1817), commander of the Black Sea Fleet and discoverer of Antarctica.
BARANOV'S EXPEDITION
- A.A. Baranov explored Kodiak Island, searched for minerals, and founded new Russian settlements. Secured the coast of North America to Russia.
BARANOV ALEXANDER ANDREEVICH
- Alexander Andreevich Baranov (February 3, 1746, Kargopol - April 16, 1819, near the island of Java) - Russian statesman, entrepreneur, first Chief Ruler of Russian settlements in North America (1790-1818).
EXPEDITION OF NEVELSKY AND PUTYATIN
- Nevelskoy G. And in two expeditions he discovered a number of new territories and entered the lower reaches of the Amur. Here he founded a new settlement - the Nikolaevsky post. His travels proved that Sakhalin Island is a separate island.
- Putyatin traveled around the world and left a description of what he saw for his descendants. Discovered the Rimsky-Korsakov Islands. The first Russian who managed to visit closed Japan.
NEVELSKOY GENNADY IVANOVICH
- Gennady Ivanovich Nevelskoy (November 23, 1813, Drakino, Kostroma province- April 17, 1876, St. Petersburg) - Russian admiral (1874), explorer of the Far East, founder of the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. He proved that the mouth of the Amur is accessible to ships and that Sakhalin is an island.
PUTYATIN EVFIMIY VASILIEVICH
- Count Evfimy (Efim) Vasilyevich Putyatin (November 8, 1803, St. Petersburg - October 16, 1883, Paris) - Russian admiral, statesman and diplomat. In 1855 he signed the first treaty of friendship and trade with Japan, Honorary Member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.
The achievements of Russian scientists in the field of geographical research were of particular importance. Russian travelers We visited places where no European had ever set foot before. In the second half XIX century. their efforts were focused on exploring the interior of Asia.
Expeditions into the depths of Asia began Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1827-1914), geographer, statistician, botanist. He made a number of trips to the mountains Central Asia, in the Tien Shan. Having headed the Russian Geographical Society, he began to play a leading role in developing plans for new expeditions.
The activities of other people were also associated with the Russian Geographical Society Russian travelers- P. A. Kropotkin and N. M. Przhevalsky.
P. A. Kropotkin in 1864-1866 traveled through Northern Manchuria, the Sayan Mountains and the Vitim Plateau.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888) He made his first expedition along the Ussuri region, then his paths ran through the most inaccessible areas of Central Asia. He crossed Mongolia and Northern China several times, explored the Gobi Desert, Tien Shan, and visited Tibet. He died on the way, at the beginning of his last expedition. In connection with the news of his death, A.P. Chekhov wrote that such “ devotees are needed like the sun». « Constituting the most poetic and cheerful element of society, he added, they excite, console and ennoble... If the positive types created by literature constitute valuable educational material, then the same types given by life itself are beyond all price».
Overseas Russian travel scientists in the second half of the 19th century. have become more targeted. If previously they were mainly limited to description and mapping coastline, then now the life, culture, and customs of local peoples were studied. This is a direction that began in the 18th century. put by S.P. Krasheninnikov, it was continued Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay (1846-1888). He made his first trips to the Canary Islands and North Africa. In the early 70s, he visited a number of Pacific islands and studied the life of local peoples. He lived for 16 months among the Papuans on the northeastern coast of New Guinea (this place has since been called the Maclay Coast). The Russian scientist won the trust and love of local residents. Then he traveled to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malacca, and returned again to " Maclay coast" The scientist's descriptions of the life and customs, economy and culture of the peoples of Oceania were largely published only after his death.
World geographical science in those years relied heavily on the achievements of Russian researchers. TO end of the 19th century V. The era of geographical discoveries has ended. And only the icy expanses of the Arctic and Antarctic still kept many of their secrets. The heroic epic of the latest geographical discoveries, in which Russian explorers took an active part, falls at the beginning of the 20th century.
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Discipline: Cultural Studies
On the topic: “The development of geographical science in Russia in the 19th century”
Introduction
1. Geography in Russia in the first half of the 19th century
Conclusion
Geography is one of the main fundamental sciences. It studies the basic patterns of the formation of earthly nature, together with history, it makes it possible for an individual and humanity as a whole to know where and when we exist, in what natural conditions we live and what natural resources we have for our life activities. Such knowledge is of great importance not only for the natural-historical analysis of various territories and countries, but also for assessing their current state, as well as for predicting further development.
In the course of its long historical development, geography has gone through a number of important stages, each of which is reflected in certain features of modern geographical science. At the same time, geography invariably retains its main analytical features - territoriality, complexity, synergy, as well as globality, which are inherent in this science from the earliest stages of human knowledge of earthly nature, i.e. geographic envelope The Earth, which is a unique part of the cosmos known to us, where life exists and where humanity arose and is developing, actively using the resources of this shell for its existence (Grigoriev, 1932).
1. Geography in Russia in the first half of the 19th century.
Geographical thought in the first half of the 19th century. developed mainly in the directions laid down in the previous century. “Physical geography was born in the womb of natural science, and economic geography, not yet spun off from statistics and often identified with it, was formed in the bosom of the humanities. Statistical descriptions were mostly formal; the teaching of geography and statistics at universities was also built” (Esakov, 1976). At the same time, traditions continued complex descriptions, which included the state of the components of nature, the composition and activity of the population, settlements and transport communications. Almost all travel descriptions fall into this type of work. An integrated geographic approach was also used in experiments on geographic zoning. It is a fact, however, that natural history and socio-economic research are distinguished.
In 1802, the Ministry of Public Education was established and the opening of new universities began. In 1802, the University of Dorpat was founded, in 1803 - Kharkov and Vilna, in 1804 - the Kazan and St. Petersburg Pedagogical Institute as the embryo of a university, opened only in 1819, with departments combining history, statistics and geography.
2. Geography in Russia in the second half of the 19th century
In domestic geographical science, to one degree or another, all the same problems that were in the area of attention in foreign countries. But this was not a complete adherence to foreign models of theoretical thought and scientific polemics. In addition to methodological borrowings, noticeable features of originality were formed associated with one’s own experience in the development of science, distinctive features natural and socio-economic environment of activity and mentality of scientists. In Russian society, with enviable consistency, issues of the development of natural and socio-economic processes, problems of interaction and interdependence between natural lands and inhabitants, issues of optimization of natural and economic complexes were considered, fundamental problems of the role of geographical science in natural history and environmental management were developed. And there are numerous examples of this.
A talented thinker who died early, Dmitry Ivanovich Pisarev (1840-1868), sharply criticized T. Malthus’s conclusions about the future troubles of a growing population and a disproportionately slow increase in food products. In “Essays on the History of Labor” he wrote: “The earth and its productive forces appear to Malthus as a chest filled with money... In human labor he... sees the mechanical application of muscular force and completely forgets the activity of the brain, which constantly triumphs over physical nature and constantly discovering new properties in it." Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky (1828-1889) spoke with an understanding of the role of people's productive activity in the transformation of nature: "Only the tireless diligence of man can impart to nature a new, higher beauty in place of the wild, primitive beauty that uncontrollably disappears under his feet. .. Where man appears, there nature must be recreated by human labor. The people bring desolation and savagery to their country if they do not bring culture to it.” A high work culture can be opposed to the destructive influence of thoughtless economic activity. Now in this case we are talking about the environmental imperative, that is, the priority of preserving the environmental situation.
Many of our compatriots took environmental positions. About the interaction of forces of living and inanimate nature wrote A.T. Bolotov back in the 18th century. An ecologist in essence was K.F. Roulier. In 1845, he published an article “On the influence of external conditions on the life of animals,” which stated that organisms are not only under the influence of natural factors, but are influenced by other animals and plants, as well as humans. Under the influence of Roulier’s ideas, N.A.’s scientific views were formed. Severtsova. As emphasized by Yu.G. Saushkin, “none of the scientists of the last century so organically combined geographical and biological ideas as Severtsov did.” In 1855, he published the book “Periodic Phenomena in the Life of Animals, Birds and Reptiles of the Voronezh Province” with a substantiation of the influence of the habitat on the life of animals. Severtsov accepted Darwin's ideas about speciation, but noted Darwin's ignorance of the great influence external conditions as a shortcoming of this teaching. Severtsov told Darwin about this during their personal meeting in London in 1875. It is possible that, based on these conversations, a year later Darwin admitted: “In my opinion, the greatest mistake I made was that I attached too little importance for direct influence environment, that is, food, climate, etc., regardless of natural selection.”
The works of K.M. had a great influence on the development of geographical thought. Baer, who professed integrated approaches to the study of natural objects, including living organisms. V.I. Vernadsky said: “In St. Petersburg during the time of Nicholas there lived a great naturalist and a great sage. This is a historical fact of great importance in the creation of our culture, although few contemporaries were aware of it.” Baer's colleague at the academy, A.V. Nikitenko, in 1866, wrote in his diary: “An excellent scientist, a wonderful person, a young old man. It has philosophy, poetry, life.” On Russian soil, a galaxy of prominent scientists, authoritative in the world scientific community, developed. In domestic science, both complex geographical areas and highly specialized research have developed, in most cases, however, using complex geographical techniques for analyzing source material and synthesizing the results obtained. Geographers, Baer's contemporaries, were distrustful of the accelerated differentiation of natural science. A number of theorists perceived this process as a crisis of geography.
A significant contribution to the implementation of development ideas using the example of natural and natural-social systems was made by Russian scientists P.A. Kropotkin and L.I. Mechnikov, spiritually close to the famous French geographer, Elisa Reclus.
3. Geographical discoveries in Russia in the 19th century
In 1803, on the instructions of Alexander I, an expedition was undertaken on two ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva” to explore the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. This was the first Russian round-the-world expedition, which lasted three years. It was headed by corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern (1770-1846). He was one of the greatest navigators and geographers of the century. During the expedition, more than a thousand kilometers of the coastline of the island were mapped for the first time. Sakhalin. The participants of the trip left many interesting observations not only about the Far East, but also about the territories through which they sailed. The commander of the Neva, Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky (1773-1837), discovered one of the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, named after him. A lot of interesting data was collected by the expedition members about the Aleutian Islands and Alaska, the islands of the Pacific and Arctic oceans. The results of the observations were reported to the Academy of Sciences. They were so significant that I. F. Kruzenshtern was awarded the title of academician. His materials were used as the basis for the book published in the early 1920s. "Atlas of the South Seas". In 1845, Admiral Kruzenshtern became one of the founding members of the Russian Geographical Society and educated a whole galaxy of Russian sailors and explorers.
One of Krusenstern’s students and followers was Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen (1778-1852). He was a member of the first Russian round-the-world expedition, and after its return he commanded the frigate Minerva on the Black Sea. In 1819-1821 he was entrusted with leading a new round-the-world expedition on the sloops “Vostok” (which he commanded) and “Mirny” (Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev was appointed commander). The expedition project was drawn up by Krusenstern. Its main goal was “the acquisition of complete knowledge about our globe” and “the discovery of the possible proximity of the Antarctic Pole.” On January 16, 1820, the expedition approached the shores of Antarctica, unknown to anyone at that time, which Bellingshausen called the “ice continent.” After stopping in Australia, the Russian ships moved to the tropical part of the Pacific Ocean, where they discovered a group of islands in the Tuamotu archipelago, called the Russian Islands. Each of them received the name of a famous military or naval figure of our country (Kutuzov, Lazarev, Raevsky, Barclay de Tolly, Wittgenstein, Ermolov, etc.). After a new stop in Sydney, the expedition again moved to Antarctica, where islands were discovered. Peter I and the shore of Alexander I. In July 1821, she returned to Kronstadt. During 751 days of sailing, Russian ships covered a route of about 50 thousand miles. In addition to the geographical discoveries made, valuable ethnographic and biological collections, observation data on the waters of the World Ocean and the ice coverings of a continent new to mankind were also brought. Later, both leaders of the expedition showed themselves heroically in military service To the Fatherland. And M.P. Lazarev, after the defeat of the Turks at the Battle of Navarino (1827), was appointed chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet and Russian ports on the Black Sea coast.
The largest explorer of the Russian Far East in the mid-century was Gennady Ivanovich Nevelskoy (1813-1876). Having since the 18th century. vast possessions in the Far East, Russia never succeeded in developing them. Even the exact limits of the country's eastern possessions were not known. Meanwhile, England began to show attention to Kamchatka and other Russian territories. This forced Nicholas I, at the suggestion of the Governor General Eastern Siberia N.N. Muravyov (Amursky) equipped a special expedition to the east in 1848. Captain Nevelskoy was placed at its head. In two expeditions (1848-1849 and 1850-1855), he managed, bypassing Sakhalin from the north, to discover a number of new, previously unknown territories and enter the lower reaches of the Amur, where in 1850 he founded the Nikolaev Post (Nikolaevsk-on-Amur). expedition geography russia
Conclusion
Modern geographical science plays an important role in solving the problems of the country's development. It provides more complete knowledge about nature, population and economy, necessary for developing policies for its development; provides control over the state of nature, participates in the development of a system of measures to combat negative consequences human impact on nature; gives forecasts of changes and development of individual territories.
But it is impossible to make a forecast of changes in nature without taking into account data on human economic activity and its impact on nature. It is impossible to determine the development policy of a region without taking into account the characteristics of its nature and population. Thus, the solution to these problems requires a comprehensive, integrated study of the territory of the country as a whole and its individual regions, i.e., an interrelated study of their nature, population, economy and the relationships between them.
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Without Russian discoverers, the world map would be completely different. Our compatriots - travelers and sailors - made discoveries that enriched world science. The eight most notable ones are covered in our material.
Bellingshausen's first Antarctic expedition
In 1819, the navigator, captain of the 2nd rank, Thaddeus Bellingshausen led the first round-the-world Antarctic expedition. The purpose of the voyage was to explore the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, as well as to prove or disprove the existence of the sixth continent - Antarctica. Having equipped two sloops - "Mirny" and "Vostok" (under the command of Mikhail Lazarev), Bellingshausen's detachment went to sea.
The expedition lasted 751 days and wrote many bright pages in the history of geographical discoveries. The main one - the discovery of Antarctica - was made on January 28, 1820.
By the way, attempts to open the white continent had been made before, but did not bring the desired success: a little luck was missing, and perhaps Russian perseverance.
Thus, the navigator James Cook, summing up the results of his second voyage around the world, wrote: “I went around the ocean of the southern hemisphere in high latitudes and rejected the possibility of the existence of a continent, which, if it could be discovered, would only be near the pole in places inaccessible to navigation.”
During Bellingshausen's Antarctic expedition, more than 20 islands were discovered and mapped, sketches of Antarctic species and the animals living there were made, and the navigator himself went down in history as a great discoverer.
“The name of Bellingshausen can be directly placed alongside the names of Columbus and Magellan, with the names of those people who did not retreat in the face of difficulties and imaginary impossibilities created by their predecessors, with the names of people who followed their own independent path, and therefore were destroyers of barriers to discovery, which designate epochs,” wrote the German geographer August Petermann.
Discoveries of Semenov Tien-Shansky
Central Asia in early XIX century was one of the least studied areas globe. An undeniable contribution to the study of the “unknown land” - as they called it Central Asia geographers - contributed by Pyotr Semenov.
In 1856, the researcher’s main dream came true - he went on an expedition to the Tien Shan.
“My work on Asian geography led me to a thorough acquaintance with everything that was known about inner Asia. I was especially attracted to the most central of the Asian mountain ranges - the Tien Shan, which had not yet been touched by a European traveler and was known only from scanty Chinese sources.
Semenov's research in Central Asia lasted two years. During this time, the sources of the Chu, Syr Darya and Sary-Jaz rivers, the peaks of Khan Tengri and others were mapped.
The traveler established the location of the Tien Shan ridges, the height of the snow line in this area and discovered the huge Tien Shan glaciers.
In 1906, by decree of the emperor, for the merits of the discoverer, the prefix began to be added to his surname - Tien Shan.
Asia Przhevalsky
In the 70-80s. XIX century Nikolai Przhevalsky led four expeditions to Central Asia. This little-studied area has always attracted the researcher, and traveling to Central Asia has been his long-time dream.
Over the years of research, mountain systems have been studied Kun-Lun , ridges of Northern Tibet, sources of the Yellow River and Yangtze, basins Kuku-nora and Lob-nora.
Przhevalsky was the second person after Marco Polo to reach lakes-swamps Lob-nora!
In addition, the traveler discovered dozens of species of plants and animals that are named after him.
“Happy fate made it possible to make a feasible exploration of the least known and most inaccessible countries of inner Asia,” Nikolai Przhevalsky wrote in his diary.
Kruzenshtern's circumnavigation
The names of Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky became known after the first Russian round-the-world expedition.
For three years, from 1803 to 1806. - that’s how long the first circumnavigation of the world lasted - the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva”, having passed through the Atlantic Ocean, rounded Cape Horn, and then reached Kamchatka through the waters of the Pacific Ocean, Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. The expedition clarified the map of the Pacific Ocean and collected information about the nature and inhabitants of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.
During the voyage, Russian sailors crossed the equator for the first time. This event was celebrated, according to tradition, with the participation of Neptune.
The sailor, dressed as the lord of the seas, asked Krusenstern why he came here with his ships, because the Russian flag had not been seen in these places before. To which the expedition commander replied: “For the glory of science and our fatherland!”
Nevelsky Expedition
Admiral Gennady Nevelskoy is rightfully considered one of the outstanding navigators of the 19th century. In 1849, on the transport ship "Baikal" he went on an expedition to Far East.
The Amur expedition lasted until 1855, during which time Nevelskoy made several major discoveries in the area of the lower reaches of the Amur and the northern shores of the Sea of Japan, and annexed the vast expanses of the Amur and Primorye regions to Russia.
Thanks to the navigator, it became known that Sakhalin is an island that is separated by the navigable Tatar Strait, and the mouth of the Amur is accessible for ships to enter from the sea.
In 1850, Nevelsky’s detachment founded the Nikolaev post, which today is known as Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.
“The discoveries made by Nevelsky are invaluable for Russia,” wrote Count Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky “Many previous expeditions to these regions could have achieved European glory, but none of them achieved domestic benefit, at least to the extent that Nevelskoy accomplished this.”
North of Vilkitsky
The purpose of the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean in 1910-1915. was the development of the Northern Sea Route. By chance, captain 2nd rank Boris Vilkitsky took over the duties of the voyage leader. Icebreaking steamships "Taimyr" and "Vaigach" went to sea.
Vilkitsky moved through the northern waters from east to west, and during his voyage he was able to compile a true description of the northern coast of Eastern Siberia and many islands, received the most important information about currents and climate, and also became the first to make a through voyage from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk.
The expedition members discovered the Land of Emperor Nicholas II, known today as New Earth- this discovery is considered the last of the significant ones on the globe.
In addition, thanks to Vilkitsky, the islands of Maly Taimyr, Starokadomsky and Zhokhov were put on the map.
At the end of the expedition the First world war. The traveler Roald Amundsen, having learned about the success of Vilkitsky’s voyage, could not resist exclaiming to him:
“In peacetime, this expedition would excite the whole world!”
Kamchatka campaign of Bering and Chirikov
The second quarter of the 18th century was rich in geographical discoveries. All of them were made during the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions, which immortalized the names of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov.
During the First Kamchatka Campaign, Bering, the leader of the expedition, and his assistant Chirikov explored and mapped the Pacific coast of Kamchatka and Northeast Asia. Two peninsulas were discovered - Kamchatsky and Ozerny, Kamchatka Bay, Karaginsky Bay, Cross Bay, Providence Bay and St. Lawrence Island, as well as the strait, which today bears the name of Vitus Bering.
Companions - Bering and Chirikov - also led the Second Kamchatka Expedition. The goal of the campaign was to find a route to North America and explore the Pacific Islands.
In Avachinskaya Bay, the expedition members founded the Petropavlovsk fort - in honor of the ships "St. Peter" and "St. Paul" - which was later renamed Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
When the ships set sail to the shores of America, by the will of an evil fate, Bering and Chirikov began to act alone - because of the fog, their ships lost each other.
"St. Peter" under the command of Bering reached the west coast of America.
And on the way back, the expedition members, who had to endure many difficulties, were thrown onto a small island by a storm. This is where Vitus Bering’s life ended, and the island where the expedition members stopped for the winter was named after Bering.
Chirikov’s “Saint Paul” also reached the shores of America, but for him the voyage ended more happily - on the way back he discovered a number of islands of the Aleutian ridge and safely returned to the Peter and Paul prison.
“Unclear Earthlings” by Ivan Moskvitin
Little is known about the life of Ivan Moskvitin, but this man nevertheless went down in history, and the reason for this was the new lands he discovered.
In 1639, Moskvitin, leading a detachment of Cossacks, set sail to the Far East. The main goal of the travelers was to “find new unknown lands” and collect furs and fish. The Cossacks crossed the Aldan, Mayu and Yudoma rivers, discovered the Dzhugdzhur ridge, separating the rivers of the Lena basin from the rivers flowing into the sea, and along the Ulya River they reached the “Lamskoye”, or Sea of Okhotsk. Having explored the coast, the Cossacks discovered the Taui Bay and entered the Sakhalin Bay, rounding the Shantar Islands.
One of the Cossacks reported that the rivers in the open lands “are sable, there are a lot of all kinds of animals, and fish, and the fish are big, there is no such thing in Siberia ... there are so many of them - you just need to launch a net and you can’t drag it out with fish ....”
