11958 RGS ONA Magazine 78_V 18/12/2009 20:37 Page 8
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ONA — Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Old Novos set the challenge to venturing pupils ONA Awards History Essay Prize
The ONA Vice President Adam Goldwater (87-97) explains the thinking behind ONA’s new award scheme:
How the Russians Choose to Remember their History Rory Allan (U6)
One cannot visit both Moscow and St. Petersburg and not be struck by how vastly different each city is. The chillingly ubiquitous concrete facades of former I was very interested to hear about the ministerial buildings and the somewhat (second) Sixth Form visit to Russia and how grim outlines of apartment block after thought-provoking the experience was for apartment block litter the skyline of those 44 students who ventured to St Moscow. The city encapsulates all too well Petersburg and Moscow. It seemed a perfect the communism that dominated it for nearly opportunity for the Old Novocastrians’ seventy years; the sickle and hammer is Association to work with the RGS History emblazoned over the entrances of Department on a new award scheme. buildings, in the various metro stations and even cast into the finery of street lamps. I’ve always been fascinated by Russian Only the occasional palatial grandeur of the history, from when I studied it at RGS, but assorted ‘Museums of Modern History’ that never visited Russia to experience it first hand, further chronicle the hold communism had and to be honest never really had the desire to on this place provide any insight into the travel there... until now. Everything I’ve ever pre-revolutionary life of Moscow. learnt about Russia is from books, from other people’s experiences, perspectives and St. Petersburg, on the other hand, is a startling views. It got me thinking about how everyday and somewhat irreverent antithesis to the in my profession, (the museum, gallery and monotony of Moscow’s communist apparel; it heritage sector) we’re not just communicating wears an altogether more regal garment. The facts and information about objects, paintings, hundreds of palaces casually nestled on and archaeological treasures in our care. almost every street reflect the opulence that We’re trying to give people an insight into characterised the life of Russia’s elite in the those artefacts and historical places through Tsarist era. It forsakes its ‘Museum of Modern inspiring stories – to inspire people to find out History’ for the inconceivable extravagance of more. I wanted to set about challenging the the Winter Palace, the Exhibition of Vodka and pupils who went on the trip to share their the rather unexpected Museum of Pickled experience – to write a short piece for the ONA Monsters (a personal collection of Peter the to judge about what most struck them about Great). Here the legacy of the Tsars lives on – their visit to Russia. This wasn’t to be judged an omnipresent magnificence that cannot be simply as academic writing; we were looking for replicated in any other city. inspiration, prescience and insight that might be associated with high quality feature reportage. But enough about the architecture, it is what They were asked to submit an article with the is encapsulated in that architecture that is title How the Russians Choose to Remember interesting. For beneath the concrete blocks their History. Four entries received prizes, and of Moscow and the ornate marble pillars of the winning entry by Rory Allan is printed St. Petersburg there is a fundamental opposite. I found it very thought provoking and difference in the attitudes of the cities’ enjoyable to read. The ONA is delighted to be inhabitants and, more importantly, a difference working with the History department and in how they remember their pasts. It is a looks forward to extending the award scheme difference forged by their individual to other trips in the future. city-histories that leads them to view what Russia is and was in quite separate lights. The antithesis of Tsarist Russia and the USSR is both responsible for and reflected in the antithesis of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Both cities were the seats of two very different governments; both cities have been moulded by them and the effect upon their populations is remarkable. In Moscow our tour guide, a surgically informative but slightly scary woman called Tatyana, would proudly tell anyone who listened of the various successes of Nikita Khrushchev: ‘the great Soviet reformer and statesman’ was her tribute to him at his graveside in the Novodevichy Cemetery. When a member of the audience ventured to point out he was also responsible for bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war, she simply glared and ignored the comment. Indeed, the various accounts we received of the 1917 October Revolution characterised the Bolsheviks as liberaters and the Tsars as cruel and tyrannical oppressors. The Museums we visited seemed to almost wantonly ignore the darker side of the USSR’s history, the Great Terror of the Stalinist regime, the Gulags, the Cuban Missile Crisis – all were either omitted or only fleetingly referred to. However, just as Moscow was shaped by the Communist government, so was St. Petersburg by the Tsarist rule. The Revolution, far from glorified, is keenly remembered for its more lethal consequences; a side chapel of the Peter and Paul Cathedral containing the tombs of Nicholas II and his family serve as a tragically poignant reminder of this. Just like the inhabitants of Moscow, the people of St. Petersburg are proud of their cultural heritage, proud of their Tsars who built great palaces, great cathedrals and the great Hermitage Museum. Rather than oppressors, they are seen as cultural innovators. This, then, is surely how the Russians choose to remember their history, not as a nation but as a city; not as citizens of Russia, but as citizens of Moscow or St. Petersburg. In each city one cannot help but be drawn into their chosen historical sphere, the influence of the USSR or Pre-Revolutionary Russia exudes from every part of the cities; from the buildings to the inhabitants of them to the very culture itself and it part of what makes Russia as a country so richly diverse and culturally intriguing.
