Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2019 May 23

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May 23

Has Russia ever considered moving its capital elsewhere (excluding in times of war-related emergencies)?

Other than moving its capital to St. Petersburg and then back to Moscow, has Russia ever considered moving its capital elsewhere (excluding in times of war-related emergencies--such as during WWII, when Stalin considered moving the Russian capital to Kuybyshev (now Samara) if Moscow would have fallen to the Nazis)? If so, to where?

I seem to recall that there was some speculation that Russia could move its capital to Constantinople in the event of a Russian conquest of that city, but I'm not sure if such a move was ever actually considered by the Russian government itself.

Any thoughts on my question here? Futurist110 (talk) 00:08, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

I can't find any evidence that any cities OTHER than Moscow or Saint Petersburg have been ever considered as capitals. If you look at the history of Russia, it is understandable why only those two cities were capitals. Russia, historically, first grew out of the Grand Duchy of Moscow (Muscovy), Ivan the Great was the first Grand Duke of Moscow to unite the several disparate petty states under one ruler, and his grandson Ivan the Terrible was the one who changed the title from Grand Duke of Moscow to Tsar of All of the Rus' in 1547. The title changed to Emperor of all Russia by Peter the Great in 1721; it was Peter who moved the capital to Saint Petersburg. Peter's change of title AND moving his capital was all a part of his Westernization of the Russian State and Russian Society, attempting to transform Russia from (what was then seen) as an exotic, backwards, oriental state into a modern, advanced, European state. The Capital was returned to Moscow only after the October Revolution (the short-lived Russian Provisional Government under Georgy Lvov and Alexander Kerensky was based in Saint Petersburg); the Bolsheviks did so because Saint Petersburg was the city of the Royalty and their Bourgeoisie puppets; Moscow was the People's city. The only other city you might consider is Kiev, which had been the capital of what is often considered the first Russian state, the Kievan Rus'. But calling the Kievan Rus' "Russia" is about as inaccurate as calling the Roman Empire "Italy". --Jayron32 11:49, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Some information at Why did Russia pass up on two different chances to take Constantinople?. Alansplodge (talk) 21:21, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Apparently, Voltaire hoped that Russia would capture Constantinople in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) and move its capital there. In Age of Anger, Pankaj Mishra writes: "Envisaging conquered Constantinople as the new capital of the Russian Empire, Voltaire asked 'your majesty for permission to come and place myself at her feet' as she sat on 'Mustapha's throne' in her new court on the Bosporus." In the event, Russia failed to take Constantinople. Mishra does not claim that Catherine herself planned to relocate the capital there (had she captured it), only that Voltaire wished it. Lfh (talk) 08:48, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

The deal with Constantinople and Catherine, though, was not that Catherine wanted to make Constantinople the Russian capital; she wanted to make Constantinople the capital of a new Greek puppet state. She wanted a Greek Constantinople, ruled by her son; Saint Petersburg would still have been the Russian Capital. --Jayron32 14:07, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

In context of the current conflict, Kiev is sometimes claimed as an ancient Russian capital, by way of Kievan Rus'. I don't know enough to follow the argument beyond (or even to) what our article says. Wnt (talk) 21:54, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

Pollution

Is this plastic in the water? https://www.google.com/maps/place/Restaurant+Jeane/@3.6050528,125.4932681,1524m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x305a71a2bdeee5fd:0xe8d3e2bd15fe3719!2sSimilan+Islands!3b1!8m2!3d8.6578626!4d97.6466734!3m4!1s0x0:0x5acd9240b89e4faa!8m2!3d3.6119098!4d125.4968382

Thanks 81.131.40.58 (talk) 11:17, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

It's hard to say from that angle. It could just be spume (sea foam), or even just "choppiness" caused by ocean waves. Without a closer view, it is hard to determine the cause of the whiteness in the satellite view. While notable and widely-reported examples of large, ocean-going plastic deposits are well documented, the scope of the one you showed is particularly large, and absent any other evidence, I would give equal possibility that it is some other explanation, though I would not entirely discount plastic as a possibility.--Jayron32 11:25, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Quite obvious to me that this is NOT plastic. However, I would be very surprised if there were no plastic is this spume or algal bloom or whatever: when you zoom in, you see colored point more consistent with some plastic garbage than this white-grey (indeed the very color of spume I am familiar with). Gem fr (talk) 12:15, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

If you drop in to street view, you can get pretty clear close-ups of the water; I'm not really seeing much in the way of plastic - and certainly not to the extent suggested by the overhead view. The pictures were not taken at the same time, of course. Matt Deres (talk) 13:30, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

See also sunglint. ---Sluzzelin talk 18:38, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Identify these items

Is anyone able to identify any of the items on the wall here. https://www.google.com/maps/place/%E5%A1%94%E9%81%93%E6%96%AF%E8%A5%BF%E9%A4%90%E5%8E%85/@45.774737,126.6187385,3a,75y/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNydgoctjdCUmg4zTLHunn_zK2PBmTjQUf6BeF4!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNydgoctjdCUmg4zTLHunn_zK2PBmTjQUf6BeF4%3Dw203-h152-k-no!7i4000!8i3000!4m5!3m4!1s0x5e438015aa1d3e27:0xd2999381a7b3543!8m2!3d45.7747447!4d126.6187942

Thanks 81.131.40.58 (talk) 11:39, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Are you referring to the documents pinned in the display cases? It's going to be hard to identify them without being able to see the writing (which is in Chinese, to boot). The machine displayed is an early phonograph, but I don't know the model. Matt Deres (talk) 13:37, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

The framed document on the wall on the left looks like an invoice, dated to 1944. I love that lamp on the right. Also, you can see the photographer's reflection in the mirror. ;) -- œ^™ 07:42, 26 May 2019 (UTC)

Lucy

I am posting here to request that someone should write an article by that name. There are many Lucies here but the one I am interested in is not mentioned in Wikipedia as far as I know. The book I am reading now "Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict 1941-45" mentions an "entity" ?? called Lucy that supplied Stalin with a very accurate information about the German intentions and plans during the dark days of WWII. This person or a group seemed to have a direct access to the most inner circles of the German General staff. I understand the Russians somehow had no idea about the identity of this source and the book says that Lucy's identity has never been established, however after a certain period of mistrust, the Russian military planners, Stalin, Zhukov, made their moves according to the Lucy's instructions. I wonder if there is more information somewhere and it can be made a subject of a new article in Wikipedia. Thanks AboutFace 22 (talk) 17:13, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Rudolf Roessler, a German spy, apparently had the codename "Lucy". There's something about him here, if you read German. Fut.Perf. ☼ 17:39, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Thank you very much. It is a totally new page. Very interesting. 107.191.0.241 (talk) 17:53, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Hi AboutFace 22, we do have an article! Find it at Lucy spy ring. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 18:45, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Thank you too. It is a fascinating episode of history. AboutFace 22 (talk) 19:26, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

I have added "Lucy spy ring" to the "See also" section of our Lucy disambiguation page. Alansplodge (talk) 21:15, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

It got reverted on 25th May [1] LongHairedFop (talk) 12:44, 27 May 2019 (UTC)

That was me. Do I have some 'splaining to do? Lucy is a given name page; Lucy (disambiguation) is the proper place for the spy ring, and it was already there. Clarityfiend (talk) 06:33, 28 May 2019 (UTC)

Okay, thanks. Alansplodge (talk) 17:12, 30 May 2019 (UTC)