River Fleet: The History of the River Fleet of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union

Everyone loves the navy. But Russia is a river power, and the true fleet of Russia, one of the greatest in the world, is the river fleet. However, society hardly notices it. That is, it does not notice the country in which it lives.
Rus turned into Russia, spreading along the rivers. Pioneers traveled on strugs and boats, flat-bottomed vessels and barges. Peter I transformed his state into an empire and built the first canals for the capital, while Catherine II, continuing Peter’s work, established shipping rules on them. Later, these rules were extended to all the rivers of the Motherland. Thus, from a motley mass of river vessels, a "regular" fleet was formed. The river fleet.
The first Russian steamboat was a river vessel, and the first motor ship was also. There were always not enough roads in the country, and progress made its way to Russia through the rivers. It was carried by river vessels. Advanced technologies, industrial, economic, and social, first appeared in the river fleet. The river fleet participated in all the affairs of the homeland. Peasants freed from serfdom went to work on steamships, and the first companies were steamship companies. The flourishing of capitalism is river trusts and syndicates. The Civil War consisted of battles of river armored fleets. Its own vessels were present at the exuberant Stakhanov movement, the grand construction projects of industrialization, and the harsh GULAG. During the Great Patriotic War, river vessels evacuated thousands of factories and millions of people, river ships fought the enemy on the front lines. The post-war flourishing of the USSR was the flourishing of the river fleet when gigantic bulk carriers moved along the rivers, passenger liners sailed proudly, and vessels on hydrofoils flew swiftly.
This book tells not only about the development of the river fleet but also about the people who created the river history of Russia. About the internal structure of river life. About its interconnections with politics and culture. About the disasters that shook the country and the river fleet. About amazing projects and fantastic dreams. About the inseparable kinship of the simple person and the river steamboat. After all, this book is about the fate and soul of the nation, because a ship is always both fate and soul.