There are four primary routes that may be taken. The main Trans-Siberian line runs from Moscow, Before reaching
The Trans-Siberian Railway
RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR (Н904-5)
Conflict between Russia and Japan over territorial expansion in East Asia
After Russia leased the strategically important Port Arthur (now Lushun, China) and expanded into Manchuria (northeastern China), it faced the increasing power of japan. When Russia reneged on its agreement with Japan to withdraw troops from Manchuria, the Japanese fleet attacked the Russia naval squadron at Port Arthur and began a siege of the city in February 1904. Japanese land forces cut the Russian army off from coming to aid Port Arthur and pushed it back to Mukden (now Shenyang). The reinforced Russian army took the offensive in October, but poor military leadership blunted its effectiveness.
After the long Japanese siege of Port Arthur, in January 1905 the corrupt Russian commander surrendered the garrison without consulting his officers, despite adequate stores and ammunition for its continued defence. Heavy fighting around Mukden ended in March 1905 with the withdrawal of Russian troops under Aleksey Kuropatkin. The decisive naval battle of Tsushima gave the Japanese the upper hand and brought Russia to the peace table. With the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, Russia abandoned its expansionist policy in eastern Asia, and Japan gained effective control of Korea and much of Manchuria.
Siberia it passes through the historic city of Yaroslavl on the Volga, Perm on the Kama River, and Yekaterinburg on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains, and in Siberia it takes in the industrial cities of Irkutsk and Khabarovsk before terrnin-
ating in Vladivostok at the extreme south-eastern tip of Russia. The Trans-Manchurian line runs alongside the Trans-Siberian as far as Tarskaya, east of Lake Baikal, and then diverts southeast into China, progressing down to Beijing, the Chinese capital. The Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian lines run side by side as far as Ulan-Ude, at the confluence of the Selenga and Uda rivers, but the Trans-Mongolian line then continues south to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, and eventually terminates in Beijing. The fourth and most recent addition to the railway, the Baikal-Amur Main Line - completed as an alternative to the primary Trans-Siberian line - diverges from the main route several hundred miles west of Lake Baikal, passing the lake at its northernmost shore. Its eastern terminus is at Sovetskaya Gavan, on the Pacific.
Travellers who take the full rail trip on the passenger train Rossiya from Moscow to Nakhodka (including a compulsory overnight stay in Khabarovsk) will spend about eight days on board. There are nearly 1,000 stations — one every 6 miles (10 km) — along the main route. Numerous fascinating Russian cities and towns can be seen and visited along the route.
Yaroslavl
The city of Yaroslavl lies on the right bank of the Volga River, 175 miles (282 km) north-east of Moscow. Believed to have been founded in 1010 by Prince Yaroslav the Wise, it served as the capital of an independent principality from 1218 until 1471, when it came under the rule of Moscow. Yaroslavl was sacked by the Tatars in 1238 and by Ivan I Kalita in 1332, and was captured by Novgorod in 1371, but on each occasion its recovery was swift. The opening of trade with the West during tlie sixteenth century brought prosperity to the town, which occupies a fortunate position at the intersection of the great Volga River and Moscow-Arkhangelsk trade routes. The Yaroslavl Great Manufactory, one of the earliest and largest textile mills in Russia, was established in 1722, and by the late eighteenth century Yaroslavl had become an important industrial centre, which it remains to this day.
There are many fine churches in Yaroslavl, including the Transfiguration Cathedral (1505-16) of the Saviour Monastery. The churches of Elijah the Prophet, Nikola Nadein, and St John the Baptist all date from the seventeenth century. The historical centre of Yaroslavl was awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2005.
Perm
Perm's position on the navigable Kama River, leading to the Volga, and on the Great Siberian Highway (established in 1783) across the Ural Mountains helped it become an important trade and manufacturing centre; copper-smelting was once carried out there. Perm grew considerably as industrialization proceeded in the Urals during the Soviet period.
Modern Perm, with a population of just over 1 million, is the administrative centre of the Perm region in western Russia. The city, which extends for approximately 30 miles (50 km) along the high river-banks, is still a major railway hub and one of the chief industrial centres of the Urals region. Its diversified metallurgical and engineering industries produce equipment and machine tools for the petroleum and coal industries, as well as agricultural machinery. A major petroleum refinery uses oil transported by pipeline from the West Siberian oilfields, and the city's large chemical industry makes fertilizers and dyes.
Perm is a thriving cultural centre, with a university (the A. M. Gorky State University was established in 1916) and numerous theatres, including a puppet theatre. The P. I. Tchaikovsky Perm State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre was founded in Russia's imperial past, and today the ballet company enjoys an international reputation and tours regularly. The Perm State Art Gallery, founded in 1922, has both local and international collections, exhibiting Perm wooden sculpture and work by classical and contemporary Russian artists, as well as pictures of the Italian, Dutch, and French schools of the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The city offers many other opportunities for entertainment, from classical musical concerts (with the Philharmonic Orchestra), to folk concerts and folk dance, ice and circus shows, and many sporting events.
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg lies along the Iset River, a tributary of the Tobol River, slightly east of the border between Europe and Asia, on the slopes of the Urals.
In 1723 a settlement on the site of an ironworks was named Yekaterinburg in honour of Catherine I, the wife of Peter I. The town grew as the administrative centre for all the ironworks of the Urals region, and its importance increased after 1783 when the Great Siberian Highway was built through it. After 1878 the Trans-Siberian Railway linked the city with Siberia. After the October Revolution of 1917, Yekaterinburg achieved notoriety as the scene of the execution of the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in July 1918. In 1924 it was renamed Sverdlovsk in honour of the Bolshevik leader Yakov M, Sverdlov, but the city reverted to its original name in 1991.
Modern Yekaterinburg is one of the major industrial centres of Russia. The city, laid out on a regular gridiron pattern, sprawls across the valley of the Iset - there dammed to form a series of small lakes - and the low surrounding hills. Boris Yeltsin, the first democratically elected president of Russia, was educated and spent much of his political career in the city.
Omsk
Omsk is another modern Russian city that owes its development primarily to the existence of the Trans-Siberian Railway and to its proximity to Siberia's mineral resources. Omsk is located in west-central Russia, on the lrtysh River at its junction with the Om. A settlement was founded in 1716 as a stronghold at the eastern end of the Ishim fortified line between the Tobol and the lrtysh: it developed as an agricultural centre and became a city in 1804. Its military function as headquarters of the Siberian Cossacks lasted until the late nineteenth century. In 1918-19 Omsk was the seat of the anti- Bolshevik government of Admiral Kolchak.