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The Plough that Broke the Steppes - Agriculture and Environment on Russia's Grasslands, 1700-1914 (Hardcover)
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The Plough that Broke the Steppes - Agriculture and Environment on Russia's Grasslands, 1700-1914 (Hardcover)
Series: Oxford Studies in Modern European History
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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This is the first environmental history of Russia's steppes. From
the early-eighteenth century, settlers moved to the semi-arid but
fertile grasslands from wetter, forested regions in central and
northern Russia and Ukraine, and from central Europe. By the
late-nineteenth century, they had turned the steppes into the bread
basket of the Russian Empire and parts of Europe. But there was
another side to this story. The steppe region was hit by recurring
droughts, winds from the east whipped up dust storms, the fertile
black earth suffered severe erosion, crops failed, and in the worst
years there was famine. David Moon analyses how naturalists and
scientists came to understand the steppe environment, including the
origins of the fertile black earth. He also analyses how scientists
tried to understand environmental change, including climate change.
Farmers, and the scientists who advised them, tried different ways
to deal with the recurring droughts: planting trees, irrigation,
and cultivating the soil in ways that helped retain scarce
moisture. More sustainable, however, were techniques of cultivation
to retain scarce moisture in the soil. Among the pioneers were
Mennonite settlers. Such approaches aimed to work with the
environment, rather than trying to change it by planting trees or
supplying more water artificially. The story is similar to the Dust
Bowl on the Great Plains of the USA, which share a similar
environment and environmental history. David Moon places the
environmental story of the steppes in the wider context of the
environmental history of European colonialism around the globe.
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