'Maritime Gateways to the World': Nationalism and the Politics of Northern Ports in Late Imperial Russia

• In Event: Gates for Freedom, Bastions for Geopolitics: Port Cities of Russia’s Empire

Abstract

From the second half of the nineteenth through early twentieth centuries, the northern coasts and seas of European Russia became the subject of special attention for educated society and the government. The "revival" of Arkhangelsk, "Russia's oldest port," and the creation of new northern seaports were key elements of this northward turn. To develop northern sea communications and a regional port system, some promoters mobilized nationalistic sentiments, instrumentalized useful interpretations of the past, and placed the maritime North at the center of Russian identity. The paper will analyze this promotional discourse while also paying attention to the competition between various port projects and debates over the orientation of Russia's foreign maritime trade and naval development to the north.

Author

• Elena I Campbell, U of Washington