The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway bypassing Tomsk is one of the most complex historical issues of the late 19th century . It arose due to the fact that the main railway line of Siberia ran past the largest at that time city and transport center of the region. To Tomsk from Transsib only a branch was laid.
There are four main versions of the answer to this question:
- official: it was economically unprofitable to build a road through Tomsk;
- Tomsk merchants involved in Yamsky carting , gave bribes to engineers so that they would take the highway as far as possible from the city;
- on the contrary, Tomsk merchants refused to bribe engineers, and they acted maliciously;
- the trunk bypassed Tomsk not for economic, but for geopolitical reasons.
An important circumstance is that for the sake of cost savings, the priority of construction was a connection with the Far East, and not between the existing cities of Siberia. It was also decided not to lay roads through the centers of cities in order to avoid unnecessary costs and problems with landowners. Omsk , Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk only later absorbed their stations within the city limits.
The main disputes about the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the Ob-Tomsk interfluve were in 1887-1893 .
Content
Economic disadvantages of laying a route through Tomsk
The bridge over the Ob near the village of Dubrovina (30 km north-east of Kolyvan ) was most convenient for the direction of the highway to Tomsk. An alternative was later implemented option in the village Krivoshchekovo (on the site of the future of Novosibirsk ).
In favor of the low efficiency of the first variant, the fact is that, despite the possibility of Ob’s transition from Dubrovina, the soil in these places is clay, and not stone, like in Krivoshchekov. In addition, Krivoshchekov has the floodplain of the Ob already.
According to the calculations of N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky , who led the work on the Chelyabinsk - Ob section of the West Siberian Railway and personally participated in the surveys, the option of laying through Tomsk would extend the line by 120-150 versts [1] , which would lead to excessive transit of cargo and increased transportation costs.
In the accepted version of Tomsk, one of the important transport hubs of Western Siberia, it was connected to the Zapsib by a branch, set aside from the main highway.
Tomsk merchants bribed engineers
The variant has grounds, since the Tomsk merchants, having rolled up the cab, could lose a lot. At the same time, they could not have foreseen that sooner or later the railway would put an end to their business . In addition, in addition to the directions to the east and west covered by the railway, there were still north and south, which for a long time would have been served by the driver. Finally, in Omsk , Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk, they were also engaged in Yamsk transportation, but in those cities there was no problem.
Not Tomsk, but new-Nikolaev merchants gave bribes to engineers
At first glance, this is a very convincing version. However, it is worth noting that Novonikolayevsk became a city only in 1903 , that is, ten years after disputes, and at the site of the future Novosibirsk in 1893, when building a bridge across the Ob, only the tiny New Village arose.
Kolyvan merchants gave bribes to engineers
At the end of the 19th century, the cities of Kolyvan and Berdsk were important trade hubs on the southern branch of the Siberian highway, heading for Kuznetsk (now Novokuznetsk ). And although the road was away from Kolyvan, it should be noted that the survey was conducted by Nikolai Garin-Mikhailovsky , who himself admitted the shortcomings of the obviously unprofitable option (the Ob river floodplain is very wide in this place, on the left bank of the marshland).
Tomsk merchants refused to bribe engineers
According to this version, engineers extorted bribes from Tomsk citizens, and, not convincing them, did out of spite.
Since engineer Konstantin Mikhailovsky was the first to insist on a railway bypassing Tomsk, according to this version, he should be the main one who demanded a bribe. However, his reputation has never been questioned, he was a truly outstanding engineer, and he was also well-off. If any of the engineers demanded a bribe, then this would certainly be reflected in the Tomsk press , on which the merchants had a great influence. However, reports of bribes did not appear - there were only reports in the newspapers about misuse of state treasury funds.
Tomsk was circumvented for geopolitical reasons
The Russian authorities did not want the development of Tomsk - a university town, the center of a large province that concentrated free-thinkers . This option indicates the fear of the Russian leadership to lose Siberia. In the XIX century, many colonies managed to secede from their metropolises ( Argentina , Brazil , Mexico ). The concentration of free-thinkers, intellectuals and transport communications in one city could lead to the formation of strong opposition in Siberia to the current government, and then to a possible separation from Russia and the formation of an independent republic .
However, this version does not clearly trace the logical chain (the transport center is the center of free-thinkers). Also the elevation of Tomsk (like the elevation of Moscow) could, on the contrary, help the tsarist regime to strengthen its political position in Siberia. In addition, Siberia was not a colony, and the main population of Western Siberia was Russian immigrants. The question of the possible development of regional separatism could somehow influence the tsarist policy with regard to the recently annexed regions of the Far East, but not with respect to Tomsk.
At the same time, according to some information, Asynkrit Lomachevsky , who held the post of Tomsk governor in 1895−1900 [2] [3] , was a supporter of laying the Great Siberian route through Krivoshchekovo (that is, away from Tomsk).
Notes
- ↑ Garin-Mikhailovsky NG In Korea, Manchuria and the Liaodong Peninsula. - Collected works in five volumes. V. 5. M. 1958. - p. 22.
- ↑ City stories . - Siberian lights. 2008. - № 9.
- ↑ We could walk around Red Square . - Evening Novosibirsk. - 2008. - 13 August.