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Tsaritsyn

Although the city may have originated in 1555, documented evidence of Tsaritsyn at the confluence of the and Volga rivers dates from 1589.[1] Grigori Zasekin established the fortress Sary Su (the local Tatar-language name means "yellow water" or "yellow river") as part of the defenses of the unstable southern border of the Tsardom of Russia. The structure stood slightly above the mouth of the Tsaritsa River on the right bank. It soon became the nucleus of a trading settlement.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the garrison consisted of 350 to 400 people. In 1607 the fortress garrison rebelled for six months against the troops of Tsar Vasili Shuisky. In 1608 the first stone church was built in the city and was dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

In 1670 troops of Stepan Razin captured the fortress; they left after a month. In 1708 the insurgent Cossack Kondraty Bulavin (died July 1708) held the fortress. In 1717 in the , raiders from the Kuban under the command of the Crimean Tatar blockaded the town and enslaved thousands in the area. In August 1774 Yemelyan Pugachev unsuccessfully attempted to storm the city.

In 1691 Moscow established a customs-post at Tsaritsyn. In 1708 Tsaritsyn was assigned to the Kazan Governorate; in 1719 to the Astrakhan Governorate. According to the census in 1720, the city had a population of 408 people. In 1773 the settlement was designated as a provincial and district town. From 1779 it belonged to the Saratov Viceroyalty. In 1780 the city came under the newly established Saratov Governorate.

In the nineteenth century, Tsaritsyn became an important river-port and commercial center. As a result, it also became a hub for migrant workers; in 1895 alone, over 50,000 peasant migrants came to Tsaritsyn in search of work.[2] The population expanded rapidly, increasing from fewer than 3,000 people in 1807 to about 84,000 in 1900. By 1914, the population had again jumped and was estimated at 130,000. Sources show 893 Jews registered as living there in 1897, with the number exceeding 2,000 by the middle of the 1920s. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Tsaritsyn was essentially a frontier town; almost all of the structures were wooden, with neither paved roads nor electricity.[3] The first railway reached the town in 1862. The first theatre opened in 1872, the first cinema in 1907. In 1913 Tsaritsyn got its first tram-line, and the city's first electric lights were installed in the city center.

Between 1903 and 1907, the area was one of the least healthy in Europe, with a mortality rate of 33.6 for every 1000 persons. Untreated sewage spilled into the river, causing several cholera epidemics between 1907 and 1910.[3] Although the region had an active Sanitary Executive Commission that sent out instructions on the best ways to prevent outbreaks and dispatched a delegate from the Anti-Plague Commission to Tsaritsyn in 1907, local municipal officials did not put any precautions into place, citing economic considerations. The city's drinking water came directly from the river, the intake pipe dangerously close to both the port and the sewage drain. There were neither funds nor political will to close the port (the main hub of economic activity) or move the intake pipes. As a result, in the three years spanning 1908 to 1910, Tsaritsyn lost 1,045 people to cholera. With a population of only 102,452 at the time, that amounts to a staggering 1.01% loss of the population.[2]

Between 1908 and 1911, Tsaritsyn was home to Sergei Trufanov, also known as the 'mad monk' Iliodor. He spent most of his time causing infighting and power struggles within the Russian Orthodox Church, fomenting anti-semitic zeal and violence in local populations, attacking the press, denouncing local municipal officials and generally causing unrest wherever he went. The most permanent mark he left on the city was the Holy Spirit Monastery, built in 1909, parts of which still stand.[3]

In light of the explosive population growth, the lack of political action on sanitation and housing, the multiple epidemics and the presence of volatile personalities, it is no surprise that the lower Volga region was a hotbed of revolutionary activity and civil unrest. The inability of the Tsarist government to provide basic protections from cholera on the one hand and subjecting the populace to strict but ineffective health measures on the other, caused multiple riots in 1829, in the 1890's and throughout the first decade of the 1900s, setting the stage for multiple Russian revolutions and adding fuel to the political fire.[2] During the Russian Civil War of 1917–1923, Tsaritsyn came under Soviet control from November 1917. In 1918 White Movement troops under Pyotr Krasnov, the Ataman of the Don Cossack Host, besieged Tsaritsyn. The Reds repulsed three assaults by the Whites. However, in June 1919 the White Armed Forces of South Russia, under the command of General Denikin, captured Tsaritsyn, and held it until January 1920. The fighting from July 1918 to January 1920 became known as the Battle for Tsaritsyn.

Stalingrad

On April 10, 1925, the city was renamed Stalingrad, in honor of Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party. This was officially to recognize the city and Stalin's role in its defense against the Whites between 1918 and 1920.

Once the Soviets established control, ethnic and religious minorities were targeted. The only Jewish school in the area was closed down in 1926.[4] In 1928, a campaign was launched by the Regional Executive Council to close down the synagogue in Stalingrad. Due to local pushback, they were not successful until 1929, when the council convened a Special Commission. The Commission convinced local municipal powers that the building was in need of major repairs, was unsafe and much too small for the over 800 worshippers who regularly showed up for high holidays.[4]

In 1931, the German settlement-colony Old Sarepta (founded in 1765) became a district of Stalingrad. Renamed Krasnoarmeysky Rayon (or "Red Army District"), it was the largest area of the city. The first higher education institute was opened in 1930. A year later, the Stalingrad Industrial Pedagogical Institute, now Volgograd State Pedagogical University, was opened. Under Stalin, the city became a center of heavy industry and transshipment by rail and river.

Battle of Stalingrad

During World War II, German and Axis forces attacked the city, and in 1942 it was the site of one of the pivotal battles of the war. The Battle of Stalingrad was the deadliest single battle in the history of warfare (casualties estimates vary between 1,250,000 and 1,798,619).

The battle began on August 23, 1942, and on the same day, the city suffered heavy aerial bombardment that reduced most of it to rubble. Martial law had already been declared in the city on July 14. By September, the fighting reached the city center. The fighting was of unprecedented intensity; the city's central railway station changed hands thirteen times, and the Mamayev Kurgan (one of the highest points of the city) was captured and recaptured eight times.

By early November, the German forces controlled 90 percent of the city and had cornered the Soviets in two narrow pockets, but they were unable to eliminate the last pockets of Soviet resistance before Soviet forces launched a huge counterattack on November 19. This resulted in the Soviet encirclement of the German Sixth Army and other Axis units. On January 31, 1943 the Sixth Army's commander, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, surrendered, and by February 2, with the elimination of straggling German troops, the Battle of Stalingrad was over.

In 1945 the Soviet Union awarded Stalingrad the title Hero City for its resistance. Great Britain's King George VI awarded the citizens of Stalingrad the jeweled "Sword of Stalingrad" in recognition of their bravery.

A number of cities around the world (especially those that had suffered similar wartime devastation) established sister, friendship, and twinning links (see list below) in the spirit of solidarity or reconciliation. One of the first "sister city" projects was that established during World War II between Stalingrad and Coventry in the United Kingdom; both had suffered extensive devastation from aerial bombardment. In March 2022 this twinning link was paused because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Volgograd

On 10 November 1961, Nikita Khrushchev's administration changed the name of the city to Volgograd ("Volga City") as part of his programme of de-Stalinization following Stalin's death. This action was and remains somewhat controversial, because Stalingrad has such importance as a symbol of resistance during World War II.

During Konstantin Chernenko's brief rule in 1984, proposals were floated to revive the city's historic name for that reason. There is a strong degree of local support for a reversion, but the Russian government has not accepted such proposals.

On May 21, 2007, Roman Grebennikov of Communist Party was elected as mayor with 32.47% of the vote, a plurality. Grebennikov became Russia's youngest mayor of a federal subject administrative center at the time.

In 2010, Russian monarchists and leaders of the Orthodox organizations demanded that the city should take back its original name of Tsaritsyn, but the authorities rejected their proposal.

On January 30, 2013, the Volgograd City Council passed a measure to use the title "Hero City Stalingrad" in city statements on nine specific dates annually. On the following dates, the title "Hero City Stalingrad" can officially be used in celebrations:

In addition, 50,000 people signed a petition to Vladimir Putin, asking that the city's name be permanently changed to Stalingrad.[6] President Putin has replied that such a move should be preceded by a local referendum and that the Russian authorities will look into how to bring about such a referendum.