Violin Beginner Music

FOLK MUSIC FOR THE VIOLIN LEARNER

Halamus Publishing - Volga Map

Note: This map (part of the 'Soviet Union, 1922-40'), Shows Stalingrad, formerly Tsaritsyn, now Volgograd,
and Samara (known as Kuibyshev between 1935 and 1990), the setting for Ilya Repin's famous painting of
the Volga Boatmen.
Map from Rand McNally Atlas of World History, 1975.

From its source in a small lake among the Valda Hills, the Volga flows South-East through Ostashkov and Selizharovo to beyond Rzhev, where it turns North-East to Tver, then East to Dubna, North of Moscow. The Volga again flows North-East to Rybinsk , then generally South-East past Yaroslav, Kostroma, Kineshma, Nizhniy Novgorod and Cheboksary to Kazan. The Volga is now a very wide river. It continues on its way South past Simbirsk and Togliatti, East to the great semi-circular bend at Samara.

SAMARA (Kuybyshev, city, capital of Samara (Kuybyshev) Oblast, Russian SFSR, in East European USSR). Located at the confluence of the Volga and Samara rivers, the city is an important port and a rail and industrial center (and a major stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was completed to Vladivostok a few years after 1900. Manufactures include motor vehicles, railroad equipment, chemicals, and machinery.

Founded in 1586 as a defense outpost, the city developed into an important grain-trade center of the Volga River region. Major industrial growth began in the early 20th century. The city's name was changed from Samara to Kuybyshev in 1935. When Moscow was threatened by the Germans during World War II, Kuybyshev served (1941-43) as the administrative center of the USSR. Pop. (1989 est.) 1,257,000. The name Samara was restored to both the City and the Oblast in 1990.

The Volga then flows West to Syzran, then South-West past Balakovo and Saratov, then South-South-West past Kamyshin and Volzhskiy to Volgograd.

VOLGOGRAD was founded in 1589 as Tsaritsyn, a fortress on the South-East frontier of Russia. It was taken by cossack rebels twice: in 1670 by Stenka Razin (d. 1671) and in 1774 by Yemelyan Pugachov (1726- 75). With the expansion of the Russian Empire in the 19th century, Tsaritsyn became an important port for products shipped down the Volga R.

Early in the Russian Revolution the city was taken (1917) by the Bolsheviks. During the civil war that followed it was occupied by White Russian troops for three months in 1919. In 1925 the city was renamed Stalingrad, for Joseph Stalin, who had retaken the city for the Communists, and held out against the White Russians.

During World War II, Stalingrad, a strategically located industrial center, was a vital German objective. A large German force mounted an assault on the city on Aug. 20, 1942, after a period of heavy air raids. A successful Soviet counter-offensive began on November 19, and on February 2, 1943, the Sixth German Army surrendered, thus ending the German advance into the USSR. German casualties alone came to more than 300,000, and the Soviet city was almost completely destroyed. Reconstruction began immediately after the war. The city was renamed Volgograd in 1961.

Between Volzhskiy and Volgograd, the Volga sends off a branch, the River Akhtuba, South-East to the Caspian Sea, and after Volgograd, the remainder of the Volga turns South-East and follows, and interweaves its own sub-branches with sub-branches of the Akhtuba, and they all flow past Astrakhan, on the main Volga River, and enter the Caspian Sea as the mouths of the Volga Delta.

The chief tributaries of the Volga include the Oka, Vetluga, Sura, Kama, and Samara Rivers. The Volga and its tributaries drain an area of about 1,450,400 sq km (about 560,000 sq mi). The river is navigable for most of its course from about March to mid-December. During May and June, fed by the melting snow, it is subject to great floods.

Canals connect the Volga with the Baltic Sea, Sea of Azov, Black Sea, Don River, and the city of Moscow. The lower reaches of the river are major fishing areas. The entire Volga Valley was claimed for Russia by Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) during the 16th century.