War in Ukraine makes amateur geographers of us all.
I was really interested in doing something different for a post, so here are all of the Soviet passenger train schedules as published in this reference as of April 1982 with particular interest in those cities located in Ukraine.
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| from: Canada and the Cold War; Whitaker, Hewitt; 2003; James Lorimer & Co. |
In 1982, the USSR had almost always appeared in black and white (on TV and in newspapers), so the image above sets the scene perfectly.
There is little reason to feel nostalgic about 1982. Some of us had become conditioned to expect that it would take only one stupid act or one reckless error to wipe out most of human life on earth.
Today, we are so fortunate that international diplomacy is devoid of reckless errors and stupid acts.
To continue with 1982, Gwynne Dyer, with his brilliant NFB/CBC series War, elucidated where the profession of arms had come from and where it stood in 1982 (link to series, below). The hydrogen bomb pictured with Dyer below, dropped over a large city, could kill one million people, he says.
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| from: Gwynne Dyer, Notes on Nuclear War; 1982 CBC/NFB ... on YouTube. |
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To the Trains
End of the timetables.
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In the early 2000s, I volunteered with a local non-profit agency which provided services to newcomers to Canada. This was a great experience and forever changed my perspectives on many things. For self-study, I purchased a book to provide a concise overview of cultural differences. I think a 2019 edition of this book is still available. Here is part of Ukraine's section.
... There is also an entry for Canada. We'd reasonably expect that the conclusions made in preparing every national entry are generalizations which could be open for debate and would not apply uniformly to every single person in the country.
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| from: Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands; Morrison, Conaway, Borden; 1994: Adams Media. |
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Here's a rough old map showing Europe 500 years ago.
A few years later in 1534, Jacques Cartier would be making his first exploration around the Gulf of St Lawrence.
As Cartier is 'our history', the cultural memory of this map would probably constitute 'Ukrainian history'.
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| from: World History; Hayes, Moon, Wayland; 1946; Macmillan. |
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What is the difference between Canadians and Americans?
What makes us think we're different?
A classic high school era answer was ... 'Well, we're NOT Americans!'.
In ... 1982 ... Pierre Berton wrote a concise little book explaining why we act like Canadians: The way we live today and our identities as Canadians are a product of our collective history. Having a nuanced understanding of history can make it easier to understand and explain why most Canadians would not want to be subsumed into a larger country.
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Russia in Europe, circa 1900
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| from: Handy Reference Atlas of the World; 1904; JG Bartholomew. |
... the map keeps changing ...
South Russia: The Don Cossacks!!
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Considering the current Ukraine invasion, which started in 2022, some bi- and tri-lingual interpreters of current events have recently pointed out that affluent ethnic Russians, particularly within the urban areas, are generally not being forcibly steered into military service. In effect, the President of the Federation is deliberately sparing 'his base'.
Someone also pointed out that it was Ukraine which bore the brunt of the German invasion of 1941. The scorched earth policy of the retreating USSR forces directly affected the surviving Ukrainians who found themselves dealing with the Germans ... and trying to live on that scorched earth.
The 27 million USSR war dead included a higher proportion of Ukrainians (40-44%) as the German tide went east and receded west. Ukraine constituted 16-18% of the population of the USSR at that point.
A retired RCAF airman once gave me the opinion that 'Russia won the war' ... because they had fatally weakened the German military before the D-Day landings.
So ... I guess ... if you appreciate your freedom: Thank a Ukrainian.
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| from: Atlas of World War II; Natkiel, Sommer; 1985; Bison. |
Above: If you look at the German front lines - shown in red - you can see that they fought east across Ukraine from June 1941 to November 1942.
Below: From the turning of the tide in November 1942, it was June 1944 before the fighting west had crossed most of Ukraine.
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| from: Atlas of World War II; Natkiel, Sommer; 1985; Bison. |
... and then there's the Holodomor (1932-33) ...
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| from: Canada and the Cold War; Whitaker, Hewitt; 2003; James Lorimer & Co. |