Lesson plan
Algemba
Algemba was a railway and oil pipeline project inaugurated by the Bolsheviks in 1919. It was reviewed in 1921. The name was created from Al(exandrov) G(ay), a village in the largely rural Novouzensky Uyezd (now in Alexandrovo-Gaysky District) and Emba, a river in Kazakhstan. Following the capture of the Emba oil fields by Mikhail Frunze in December 1919, the Red Army had seized a significant amount of oil, but lacked any means to transport it to the centre of Russia. Thus on 24 December it was decided to extend the railway line which went as far as Alexandrov Gay a further 500 miles to reach the Emba river. The task was not easy as it involved traversing empty saline steppe which did not have any habitation or even drinking water for the workforce. Despite his protests, this task was assigned to Frunze. He conscripted about 45,000 local people in Saratov and Samara, who were engaged in constructing a raised bank along which the railway was proposed to run. Despite problems with an outbreak of typhus amongst the workforce, it was decided in March 1920 to construct a pipeline alongside the railway. However as they had no suitable pipe material to construct the pipeline, little progress was made.…
Article summary
Algemba was a railway and oil pipeline project inaugurated by the Bolsheviks in 1919. It was reviewed in 1921. The name was created from Al(exandrov) G(ay), a village in the largely rural Novouzensky Uyezd (now in Alexandrovo-Gaysky District) and Emba, a river in Kazakhstan. Following the capture of the Emba oil fields by Mikhail Frunze in December 1919, the Red Army had seized a significant amount of oil, but lacked any means to transport it to the centre of Russia. Thus on 24 December it was decided to extend the railway line which went as far as Alexandrov Gay a further 500 miles to reach the Emba river. The task was not easy as it involved traversing empty saline steppe which did not have any habitation or even drinking water for the workforce. Despite his protests, this task was assigned to Frunze. He conscripted about 45,000 local people in Saratov and Samara, who were engaged in constructing a raised bank along which the railway was proposed to run. Despite problems with an outbreak of typhus amongst the workforce, it was decided in March 1920 to construct a pipeline alongside the railway. However as they had no suitable pipe material to construct the pipeline, little progress was made.…
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
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