Phi Eta's History Blog

For my history channel video, I watch the Modern Marvels episode on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. I thought that the program gave a very balanced depiction of the circumstances that lead to the construction of the railroad. The film discussed the politics behind the need for a railroad, including its importance to the maintenance of the Russian empire, the massive obstacles faced by Russia in terms of its creation and the cost in terms of lives that the railroad required to build it. In addition to all of these contemporary issues, the program also showed how important the railroad is to Russian life once it was built, both in the 20th century and today.
Russia faced the massive problem of creating the largest railroad ever conceived, costing more than any other peace-time governmental endeavor in history. In addition to this, the government lacked many of the resources that would be required to complete the project. For this reason, the film explained that the railroad was forced to use cheaper, less reliable materials. The film also explained where the labor required for the railroad came from. In desperation, the government employed convicts from throughout the empire, lessening their sentences. The film did a good job describing the severe and brutal environment faced by these men, and it gave a balanced description of why the government was willing to employ these laborers.
In addition to all of this, the film did a good job explaining why the Russians had such a hard time finding the resources for the railroad's construction compared to such countries as the USA. The Russian railroad crossed terrain that was much more difficult than anything faced by the US, and they also faced a lack of labor. The US railroad was build in the aftermath of the Civil War when hundreds of thousands of men were looking work. Russia had no such luck in their timing, which was why they resorted to convict labor.
Overall, I liked the program very much. It provided a balanced interpretation of a situation in a country that has often been slandered by films and popular culture. The film talked about how difficult life was for the men who built it, the men who had to organize it, and the people who had to pay for it. The film painted the project as something that was necessary for the development of modern Russia, and something that put on display the resilience of the Russian people. If there is one thing I would have liked to see in the film, it would have been the railroad's effect on Russian political stability. This was all build in the years leading up to the most important revolution of the 20th century, and I would be interested to see how this project weakened the Government, and how it effected the morale of the Russian people.