Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Lenin was 100...And Other Secrets of the Forest...

An intriguing story has come my way, concerning a visual relic of the Soviet era which can be seen by all now in 2008 courtesy of google earth.
Thirty eight years ago, in 1970 there was the hundreth anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks and the founder of the USSR after the revolution in 1917. In Siberia foresters decided to celebrate this anniversary by cutting all the trees on a plain leaving only those that would form a really huge message “Lenin is 100 ”. This was before the era of Google Earth, and there were certainly no satellite photos in the media.
So what inspired this bizarre tribute to the memory of Lenin? The real reasons are no doubt lost in the smoky haze of some long forgotten Communist Party committee meeting in the region at the time, when people were devising ways to commemorate the anniversary,.
Some have speculated that it may have been a defiant two fingers to any passing American spy satellites, or perhaps it was an act of personal whimsy by a collective of bored managers and workers.
I wonder, whether, given the amount of trees involved that there were good deal of trees not cut, presumably an act approved for the purposes of this stunt, could this in itself have provided a conveniently grey accounting area in terms of other amounts of lumber that were not cut and may, instead of participating in this unique arborial tribute to Lenin, have ended up being sold for private gain on the black market?
I know that this is purely speculative on my part, but it does seem rather an elaborate wheeze for something that very few could possibly have ever seen. If this was true, could it be the real irony of this discovery 38 years later ? That it was in fact all part of an elaborate black market lumber scam?
On the other hand the lads might just have thought it would be a good way of not having to cut down those trees. Whatever way one looks at it, if it was the idea of some keen young Party apparatchik eager to make an impression, one can only guess what the workers who had to cut around the elaborate template required to make it visible from the lower stratosphere would have thought of their management, and possibly the whole Soviet leadership. You can examine the evidence of this piece of super topiary by following this link,

11 comments:

Vicky said...

That's really interesting! Great photo

Anonymous said...

Do we know whether this was carried out by "the workers", "the lads", or by slave labourers from one of the local Gulags?

Anonymous said...

F off you pommy ex-Brit army idiot.

Anonymous said...

Pommy I am, idiot I may be, but where did you get ex-Brit army from?

Anonymous said...

conservationist assembly reduced
[url=http://vimeo.com/user4498961]hotel price
[/url]?toiles
ginger pension booking
rating airlines
[url=http://www.earthday.org/users/48490]cheap hotels lake district
[/url]conservation plane
guest-house scruple systems
two-bit hotel finder
[url=http://www.fairview.org/cty/members/klemot/default.aspx]hotel book
[/url]frugality classification hotels
trip advisor deals
tinpot lodging packages
[url=http://www.youthcabinet.org/profile/Josh]aqui es hotel
[/url]b & b booking spot
accommodation inn
tourist house booking canada
[url=http://www.beautyresearch.com/blogs/alexa/archive/2010/08/15/hotels-and-accomodations.aspx]b&b hotel
[/url]group hotel booking
bed prices in jamaica
create a booking
[url=http://www.mazdacommunity.com/profiles/blogs/special-hotel-offers-or]cheap hotels ca
[/url]late motor hotel deals
guest-house deals nz
construct a line pro for peanuts

Anonymous said...

james bed
[url=http://vimeo.com/user4498961]cheap hotel finder
[/url]booking tickets
poor seattle hotels
cheap vegas inn
[url=http://www.earthday.org/users/48490]casino hotel prices
[/url]hotels reservations
ware house deals
chock-a-block diet concision division
[url=http://www.fairview.org/cty/members/klemot/default.aspx]mattle hotel
[/url]first world motel booking
cheap extended forestay hotels
forebears holidays
[url=http://www.youthcabinet.org/profile/Josh]great hotel prices
[/url]business kind puff pilgrimages
hut accommodation
prices championing b & b
[url=http://www.beautyresearch.com/blogs/alexa/archive/2010/08/15/hotels-and-accomodations.aspx]albergo hotel
[/url]airlines
hotel louvre
france tourist house
[url=http://www.mazdacommunity.com/profiles/blogs/special-hotel-offers-or]cheap hotels motels
[/url]pension las vegas deals
reasonably houses america
reasonable accommodations

Unknown said...

My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Hotel booking in Trichy

Anonymous said...

how stop gambling
state legality online gambling
borgata hotel casino atlantic city
on line casinos having compoints
free play online casino bonus slots
mod no entrust casinos
what line nba gambling means
prediction gambling
bliss beach nightspot casino puerto plata
slots bingo gambling poker
secure gambling
sc lottery power ball
online casino games no download
gambling bonuse
winners sunset drawing
casino gambling bet
debit card sterling online casinos
picking endearing lotto numbers
casino online real gambling
gambling poker poker slot machines
stratosphere hotel casino las vegas
best online casino no deposit
Lucky Emperor online casino no deposit bonus
lotto south results
bills gambling hall las vegas
boston hotels online casino
poker en ligne d'examen
cash casino online promotion
how stop gambling
elementary blackjack game
midway slots online casino
gaming gambling slots forum
online casino player com

Anonymous said...

ugg ndexxsnq ugg baratas ypdxgkhi botas ugg cvqfyroq ugg australia bxpuvgxd ugg espa?a alizkeop

Anonymous said...

nike outlet enkypofb cheap nike shoes igsjqhma cheap nike sdvyaazm nike shoes

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the diverse tips discussed on this website. I have realized that many insurance firms offer consumers generous special discounts if they prefer to insure multiple cars with them. A significant quantity of households have got several autos these days, specially those with more mature teenage kids still residing at home, as well as the savings upon policies can easily soon begin. So it pays off to look for a good deal.