The history of Kharkov originates in the Middle Ages. In the territory where this city is now located, in ancient times there was a great variety of tribes, each with its own culture. About Kharkov, an interesting history of the city, as well as its features, is written in this article.
Middle Ages
As noted above, the history of the emergence of Kharkov began a long time ago. Even in the early Middle Ages, various tribes lived in the territory of the present Kharkov region, such as:
- Alans;
- Polovtsy;
- Pechenegs;
- Goths
- Khazars.
According to the information obtained as a result of excavations by archaeologists, on the lands of the modern city there lived carriers of Scythian, Romny, Penkovsky, Bondarikhinsky, Chernyakhovskaya, Saltovo-Mayatsky and Srubnaya cultures, which replaced each other.
From the XI to the XIII century there existed a whole system of fortresses that were built by the Old Russian, Novgorod-Seversky, Kiev, Kursk and Chernihiv princes. These fortresses were located on the border with the steppe and protected the lands of the Slavic principalities from raids of enemy tribes, such as the Pechenegs, Torques and Polovtsy.
Considering the history of the creation of Kharkov, it should be said that the area around the city itself has been controversial for quite some time. She could not share the nomadic tribes of the steppes and the settled Slavs. At the beginning of the XI century, on the Kharkiv part of the banks of the Donets River, in the area between Chuguev and Kharkov, was the Polovsk capital - Sharukan.
The waterway along the Donets River, leading to the Principality, called Tmutarakan, was under the control of the Russian princes. It was along this path that Prince Igor (Old) returned after a campaign on Constantinople. Vladimir the Great brought Princess Anna from Byzantium at the Donets River. It is also worth noting that the history of the city of Kharkov is associated with the events that were described in the "Word on Igor's Regiment", since they took place next to it.
Name origin
The history of the name of the city of Kharkov also begins in the Middle Ages. In Persian and Arabic sources it is recorded as "Harka." It is also mentioned that it was the fourth largest Russian city and existed long before the official founding date, already at the beginning of the X century.
The age of the city is counted from 1654, when an official Russian source mentions the ruin of church lands belonging to Belgorod residents by the Kharkov Cherkess. Historians did not refer to the Bulgarian and Arab sources, in which the city is mentioned much earlier.
As for the history of the name of Kharkov, it must be mentioned that there are as many as 16 versions of its occurrence. Most historians and local historians adhere to the classical version, which says that the city got its name thanks to the river of the same name. According to Metropolitan Filaret Gumilevsky, who was also a historian, the river bore this name back in the 12th century.
Kharkiv ancient settlement at the time of its settlement began to immediately be called Kharkov. In no one source is the city called otherwise.
Kharkiv Voivodeship and Fortress
In continuation of the consideration of the history of the emergence and development of Kharkov, it must be said that it appeared on the watershed elevated plateau of the Lopan and Kharkov rivers. It arose on the spot where the ancient Russian ancient settlement was completely destroyed, which had an area of about 530 fathoms (1,080 meters 2 ).
The fortress had an extensive network of underground passages, which made it possible to quietly leave it if necessary. For example, armed groups came out through underground passages to the rear of the enemy, who tried to besiege the fortress and attack it from the rear. The fortress belonged to the Moscow state, being on the lands of the Belgorod Voivodeship.
In the voivodship, Little Russians gathered for the settlement, moving from Polish and Dnieper Little Russian places and cities. They built small settlements of wood, strengthening them.
Near the fortress in 1651 (according to other sources in 1652) there were immigrants from the Dnieper and Dnieper Ukraine. They fled from the Ruins in the possession of the Russian kingdom during the Khmelnitsky region (the uprising of Bogdan Khmelnitsky).
The first jail of Kharkov was rebuilt into a fortress under the control of the first Kharkov governor of the Warrior Selifontov. Initially, the restructuring was carried out incorrectly, with a large number of violations. In 1656, its second alteration began, which was completed in 1660. The decree on the construction of a fortress in Kharkov was issued by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The fortress was home to 587 people who could defend it.
Narrating the history of the emergence of Kharkov, it is necessary to mention the following event. In early March 1666, the Kharkov fortress, which was loyal to the Russian Tsar, was attacked by rebel Zaporozhye Cossacks led by the ataman I. Sirko. However, the unexpected counterattack of the Kharkov Cossacks, led by the centurion G. Donets, forced the Cossacks to flee. They were driven to Valok and Merefa, while capturing two guns that are now in the Kharkov Museum of Local Lore. The voivodship lasted until 1706, after which it was abolished.
The city in the XVIII-XIX centuries
In the history of Kharkov, its status changes after the Kharkov province was established. The city became the provincial center in 1765. He had a military-defense and handicraft-agricultural status. That is, the city was very important for the state.
In the XVIII century, various fairs (exhibitions) are held in it, the city eventually turns into a commercial and industrial center. Factories and factories are being erected here, trade and various crafts are developing.
From 1780 to 1796, the city became the central part of such an administrative territorial unit as Kharkiv governorate. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Kharkov was the trade, industrial, and cultural center of Slobozhanshchina. In 1789, the first theater in the territory of Little Russia was opened in the city.
In Kharkov already in 1837 there were more than 70 thousand industrial productions such as:
- mills;
- distilleries;
- salotopni;
- tanneries.
Continuing to get acquainted with the history of the development of Kharkov, it is worth saying that by the middle of the XIX century the number of city residents was more than 30 thousand people. In the same period, namely in 1852, the regular passenger and mail traffic of stagecoaches between Kharkov and Moscow was opened.
City development
In 1805 Kharkov University was opened. It should be said that today this university is the second most important in the territory of modern Ukraine. After a little over a hundred years, the Kharkov Commercial Institute (Higher Commercial Courses) is opened in Kharkov.
The history of the development of Kharkov is directly related to the laying of the railway through the city. The following railway traffic was opened:
- in 1869 - Kursk-Kharkov-Azov, as well as the Baltic line;
- in 1871 - the Kremenchug-Kharkov line.
Since 1896, Kharkov has become not only one of the main railway junctions of the southern direction, but also the South Russian steam locomotive building center. The Kharkov Locomotive Plant is opening.
Health care is actively developing, in 1869 the Alexander Hospital was opened. This is the first hospital in the city where the hospital was located. It was intended for absolutely all patients, any estates and religion. Almost all diseases were treated here, with the exception of only mental disorders, which were treated in Saburova Dacha (Kharkov Psychiatric Hospital).
Continuing to study the history of Kharkov, it is necessary to give figures for the ethnic composition (language) at the time of 1897. For example, the vast majority of the inhabitants were Great Russians - 63% (109 914), Little Russians - 26% (45 092), Jews - 5.7% (9 848), Poles - 2.3% (3 969), Germans - 1.35% (2,353), Tatars - 0.4% (760), Belarusians - 0.35% (612), Armenians - 0.3% (468), French - 0.1% (241), others nationalities - 0.4% (732). In total, 173,989 people lived in Kharkov at that time.
City during the Civil and World War I
The history of the city of Kharkov is connected with these events. In the period from 1918 to 1919, it was the capital of the UNSR and the DKSR (Ukrainian People's Soviet and Donetsk-Krivorozhsky Soviet Republics) and was part of Soviet Russia. at the end of 1919, Kharkov became the regional center of the All-Union Socialist League of the Soviet Union (Armed forces of the South of Russia). From the same year until 1934, it was the capital of the USR (Ukrainian Soviet Republic), which since 1922 became part of the USSR.
In 1916, during the height of the First World War, cloth shops were opened in Kharkov, which were engaged in sewing various uniforms for the Russian army. The largest workshop, which was evacuated from the city of Lodz in 1915, acquired a new name - “Red Thread”. It is worth saying that after a few years at this factory was concentrated almost all the cloth and weaving production of Kharkov. During the war, the RBEZ (Russian-Baltic Electrotechnical Plant) was transferred from Riga, which, by the way, is still operating under a different name.
The history of the city of Kharkov in December 1917 developed as follows. The military units that arrived from Moscow and the region disarmed all the troops of the Main Rada, and then with bloody battles took the city government under their control. Closures of anti-Soviet newspapers began, and arrests were also carried out.
From December 24 to 25, in 1917, the first All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets was held in the former building of the Noble Assembly. It announced the overthrow of power by the main Kharkov and Kiev Rada, and Ukraine was proclaimed the Republic of Soviets. In particular, the establishment of federal relations between Soviet Ukraine and Soviet Russia was announced. The Central Executive Committee was elected, from which the People's Secretariat, in fact, the first Soviet Ukrainian government, was allocated.
German occupation and volunteer army
In the city from February 9 to 12, 1918, the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Soviet Republic was proclaimed as part of the RSFSR, and Kharkov was designated the capital. In early April, the city was occupied by German troops, the capital of the republic was moved to Lugansk. Together with the Germans, Kharkov occupied the Zaporizhzhya corps of Colonel P. Bolbochan.
From May 1, the city affirms the power of the hetman P.P. Skoropadsky. In early November, German troops left the city, and the Zaporizhzhya Corps announced in Kharkov the power of the Directory of the UNR (Ukrainian People's Republic).
In the history of the city of Kharkov on the night of January 1, 1919 there was an uprising of the Bolsheviks. Two days later, units of Soviet troops entered the city and the second time established Soviet power here. In March of the same year, at the Third All-Ukrainian Congress, the Ukrainian Soviet Republic was proclaimed later the USSR.
On June 25, 1919, Kharkov was occupied by the so-called Volunteer Army, which consisted of White Guards. Army headquarters is located in the building of the Noble Assembly. However, already on December 12 of the same year, the Red Army liberated Kharkov and proclaimed Soviet power in the city for the third time.
Kharkov from 1919 to 1939
Being the capital of Soviet Ukraine, the city grew and built up quite quickly. Its population also grew rapidly. So, for example, in 1917 about 280 thousand people lived here, and in 1939 - more than 833 thousand people. In 1934, the final project for the city planning was adopted. Various production rapidly began to develop, new industrial areas appeared.
It is worth noting that in terms of economic development, Kharkov ranked third after Moscow and Leningrad and in fact was the southern industrial center. The share of Kharkov in the mechanical engineering of the USSR was more than 5%, which was a very impressive figure nationwide. In just 20 years, Soviet Kharkov was able to make a rapid breakthrough in the development of the city.
City during World War II
In Kharkov, before the occupation, as of September 1941, together with the evacuated, the number of citizens was about one and a half million people (more than now). After the war, this figure was approximately 190 thousand people.
The Sixth Wehrmacht Army occupied the city from October 24 to 25, 1941. Some city dwellers perceived the fascist army as "liberating." Kharkov was surrendered almost without a fight, since there were practically no necessary forces for resistance.
In mid-May 1942, an attempt was made to liberate the city, which ended in a catastrophe for the Red Army, most of the soldiers were surrounded and captured.
There were several serious battles before in mid-February, at the expense of heavy losses, the Soviet troops managed to liberate Kharkov from the fascist army.
Post-war years
The damage received by Kharkov during the war amounted to 33.5 billion rubles. Foreign experts claimed that it would take 50 years to restore it. But the history of the streets of Kharkov did not end, despite the massive destruction of the city. However, already in 1947, as many as 112 factories were operating in Kharkov, as well as 28 educational institutions. The year before, a new master plan for urban planning was approved, which they began to implement at an accelerated pace.
According to data from 1965 in Kharkov, there were 2,250 streets, squares and lanes that were restored. New residential buildings, shops were built, sports palaces and schools were opened, a new history of Kharkov houses began. The city was rebuilt in record time, already in the 60s it was restored, moreover, it began to develop. It is worth noting that in 1975, just 30 years after the end of the most bloody war in the history of mankind, a subway was opened in Kharkov. This, given the fact that Western experts gave half a century only to restore the city. The metro example clearly and clearly shows the pace of the restoration and development of the city in the Soviet post-war period.
Kharkov since 1992
As of 1990, Kharkov was one of the largest industrial centers of the USSR. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Soviet citizens voted in a referendum to preserve the country, with the help of external forces and de facto traitors in the highest echelons of power, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
Ukraine, like all other republics of the union, gained independence. In Kharkov, for the first time in the history of the city in peacetime, over 16 years of independence, the population declined by almost 170 thousand people. So, at the beginning of 1992, 1.621 million people lived in the city, and at the end of 2008, up to 1.453 million. Together with the collapse of the Soviet Union, dozens of industrial enterprises, as well as universities, ceased to exist in Kharkov. So, for example, the glorious history of the Kharkov steam train depot, which began in 1869, today cannot tell about the achievements that were during the USSR. It is in a deplorable state due to the reduction of railway communication with Russia and the general situation in Ukraine.
In 1995, the third metro line was launched, but it must be said that this was not a new Ukrainian project, but the completion of what was done under the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, to date, not a single significant production has been opened that could be compared in scale with those that were created in Soviet Kharkov.
In 2013, Kharkov was awarded the title of the city of military and military glory. In the same period, it was recognized along with Kiev as the best city in terms of quality and standard of living.
Sarzhin Yar in Kharkov: history (with photo)
It is a beam with gentle slopes, which has a length of more than 12 km. Sargin Yar is a natural monument of local importance. He got his name thanks to the river of the same name, which flows nearby.
It is known that this territory was inhabited long before the foundation of the city. Archaeological surveys conducted here in the Soviet era showed that Scythian settlements were located in these places.
Sargin Yar is a wonderful natural monument, the landscapes of which are striking in their beauty and harmony. In addition, there are several more attractions on its territory. In 1971, the cable car was opened here, which has transport and entertainment significance. Here is a mineral spring and Sarzhinskaya bath. Nearby is a church in the name of the icon of Our Lady of Consolation. During Orthodox holidays, you can meet a large number of believers.
The Botanical Garden, located in Sarzhyn Yar, has an area of 70 hectares. It contains more than 1,200 species of shrubs and trees that represent the flora of the whole world. Here are areas with medicinal and ornamental plants. This is one of the favorite vacation spots among locals, so at the weekend you can meet a large number of people.
The beautiful city of Kharkov has such a rich and amazing history.