“Without the Volga there would be no Russia.” These were the words with which a Russian TV commentator concluded a report in 2019 concerning water levels on the river. The Volga is the subject of Janet Hartley’s talk, and she will explain why she decided to write a history of the river, how this study contributes to our understanding of Russian history, and why the river matters so much.

Janet Hartley will highlight four main themes to demonstrate the importance of the river in Russian history. First, she will look at the significance of the river for trade and commerce. Second, she will discuss the importance of asserting state authority over the river for the expansion—and then the consolidation—of the Russian Empire, by the conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan in the reign of Ivan IV, and then by the establishment of Imperial military, bureaucratic, and cultural control. The decisive battle of Stalingrad showed the enduring significance of the river for the security of the country.

Third, she will illustrate the character of the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional Empire (and the Soviet Union) by describing the ways in which ethnic Russians interacted with non-Russians and non-Christians in the middle and lower Volga regions. Finally, she will explain why the Volga became so important culturally and spiritually and became quintessentially “the Russian” river.