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The Soviet Union decided the best way to show up the West was to build the biggest version of any given object. The following are just seven of the largest examples.
1. A Palace for the People
In 1931, Joseph Stalin ordered that the largest Orthodox Christian cathedral in the world— 335 feet high, the product of 44 years of back-breaking labor by Russian peasants—be dynamited so he could build an enormous “Palace of the People,” to celebrate the Communist Party. Stalin wished to replace the church with a new structure taller than the Empire State Building, and capped with a gilded statue of Lenin taller than the Statue of Liberty. But the “Man of Steel’s” mad scheme never came to fruition. Although the first phase was completed (the dynamiting was the easy bit), the construction never took place as necessary resources were diverted to fighting World War II. After Stalin died, his successor—Nikita Khrushchev—ordered a large swimming pool built where the cathedral had stood. Old women who remembered the original cathedral could be seen standing at the edge of the swimming pool, praying to forgotten icons. Recently Yury Luzhkov, Moscow’s autocratic mayor, tried to make up for Stalin’s mess by ordering the construction of a tacky reproduction of the original cathedral using precast concrete. [Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.]
2. Avant-garde Design for a Funkier Parliament
Designed by Vladimir Tatlin (1885–1953) in 1920, the Monument to the Third International was a gigantic spiraling iron structure intended to house the new Soviet government. Taller than the Eiffel Tower (and the yet-to-be constructed Empire State Building) at more than 1,300 feet, this curving, funnel-shaped structure was meant to encase three successively smaller assembly areas rotating on industrial bearings at different speeds, faster or slower according to their importance. Rotating once a year in the lowest level was a giant cube for delegates attending the Communist International from all over the world. A smaller pyramid, rotating once a month above it, would house the Communist Party’s executives. The third level—a sphere rotating once daily—would house communications technology to spread propaganda, including a telegraph office, radio station, and movie screen. Unfortunately the giant structure would have required more iron than the entire Soviet Union produced in a year, and was never built. [Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.]
3. Magnitogorsk
Whether it was for guns, tanks, ships, railroads, or bridges, Stalin, whose name means “Man of Steel,” knew he needed one thing above all else for his 1920s Soviet Union: steel. He also knew that to the east, in the southern Ural Mountains, there was a unique geologic oddity named Magnitka—an entire mountain of pure iron ore, the key ingredient for steel. In 1929, Stalin decreed that a city, “Magnitogorsk” (see what he did there?), be built from scratch around said mountain to mine the ore and turn it into steel. So began one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken. With expertise provided by Communist sympathizers from the West, a ready-made city for 450,000 inhabitants was constructed in about five years. Of course, Stalin saved on labor costs by having the heavy lifting done by political prisoners. In fact, 30,000 people died in the effort. Steel production began in 1934, but shortly after World War II the city’s economy collapsed. [Photo courtesy of Katardat.org.]
4. The Baltic–White Sea Canal
Ever the optimist, this time Stalin wanted to connect the Baltic Sea, with its key port of Leningrad, to the White Sea’s port of Archangelsk. The idea was that he could move the Soviet navy fleets back and forth. So Stalin had more political prisoners sent to work on the canal—there was a seemingly endless supply from the gulags—and after a few brutal years it was completed in 1933. Disease, poor nutrition, and brutal conditions took a huge toll, though, with as many as 250,000 of the slave laborers dead by the end of it. The icing on the cake? The canal was completely useless when finished. For most of its length it was too shallow to admit anything larger than a small barge. Later a book of propaganda detailing the biographies of “heroic” workers and engineers, intended for distribution in capitalist countries, had to be recalled because in the downtime Stalin had ordered all the main characters shot. [Photo courtesy of Open Society Archives.]
5. The World’s Largest Hydrofoil
The world’s largest hydrofoil wasn’t really a hydrofoil at all. In fact, it was one of a series of unique machines called “ground effect” vehicles built by the Soviet Union beginning in the 1960s. The Soviets had a monopoly on this fascinating technology, relying on a little-known principle of physics—the “ground effect”—in which a dense cushion of air hugging the ground can provide more lift to a vehicle than air at higher altitudes. Hovering about 3–12 feet above the ground, these vehicles resemble Luke Skywalker’s levitating craft from Star Wars, and are far more fuel-efficient than airplanes, helicopters, hydrofoils, or cars. And at 58 feet, the largest of these, the “Caspian Sea Monster” was given its distinctive name after CIA analysts saw it at the Caspian port of Baku in photos taken by spy satellites. The craft traveled at speeds of up to 240 mph, had a swiveling nose cone for cargo loading, and could carry up to as many as 150 passengers. [Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.]
6. The World’s Largest Hydrogen Bomb
Truth is always stranger than fiction, so it’s no wonder that Stanley Kubrick’s absurd comedy Dr. Strangelove is actually premised on fact. The strange truth here was that Nikita Khrushchev and company had actually been plotting to build a “doomsday” device. The plan called for a large cargo ship anchored off the Soviet Union’s east coast to be loaded with hundreds of hydrogen bombs. If at any point the radiation detectors aboard the ship measured a certain amount of atmospheric radiation, indicating that the Soviet Union had been attacked, the bombs would detonate. Soviet scientists persuaded Khrushchev to drop this mad scheme. He did, however, order the construction of the world’s largest nuclear bomb in 1961, the so-called “Czar Bomba” (“King of Bombs”), which weighed in at about 100 megatons—equivalent to 100 million tons of TNT. The largest nuclear test involved a smaller version of “Czar Bomba” that measured somewhere between 50 and 57 megatons—the Soviets weren’t sure themselves.
7. World’s Largest Icebreaker, the Yamal
Confronted with the world’s largest piece of ice—the Arctic Ocean—the Soviets had no intention of letting nature stand in their way. So, they came up with a simple solution: the world’s largest icebreakers. The first included the Lenin and Arktika class of nuclear-powered icebreakers, introduced in 1959 and 1975, respectively. The Arktika ice-breakers had not one but two nuclear reactors, powering 75,000-horsepower engines. None compare with the newest vessel, however—the Yamal—launched in 1993. Also powered by two nuclear reactors, it measures in at 490 feet long, displacing 23,000 tons of water, with a crew of 150 and an armored steel hull 4.8 centimeters thick. Recently reoutfitted for tourist operations, it has 50 luxury cabins, a library, lounge, theater, bar, volleyball court, gymnasium, heated indoor swimming pool, and saunas. A helicopter is stationed on the ship to conduct reconnaissance of ice formations. [Photo courtesy of ikzm-d.de.]
This list was taken from Forbidden Knowledge (If you’d like to “Discover just how sinfully delicious learning can be,” you can order yourself a copy from our store.)
Comments (32)
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Speaking of Super-sized Russian projects. Have you heard about Moscow’s latest? It’s called “Crystal Island” and if built, it will quite literally be the world’s largest building. This thing is unbelievable! Just Google for “crystal island” and check it out. I’m still trying to get my brain around the idea of a single building that big!
posted by Fletch on 1-21-2008 at 12:44 pm
That ground effect thing is really awesome.
Everything else? Kinda kooky.
posted by Andie on 1-21-2008 at 1:50 pm
It’s disappointing that work never continued on ground effect vehicles – I can’t help but think they still might have a part to play in the future of transportation…
posted by Ashe on 1-21-2008 at 6:27 pm
Yep, ground effect vehicles. Purely undriven by greed, sound engineering at its best. The craks in our foundation have only begun to show…
posted by Zardoz on 1-21-2008 at 10:05 pm
I know of a world leader who wrecked an entire country and tried to rebuild it.
posted by grytpype on 1-21-2008 at 10:23 pm
The ground effect vehicles were never economically effective because they were only effective in smooth water. given the speed they go and the nearness of the water I certainly wouldn’t use them for anything out in the ocean. A 3 – 12 ft wave is nothing, imagine at 240 mph it hits an unusually large wave, boom your dead.
posted by Adam on 1-21-2008 at 10:26 pm
it’s a pity work never continued on cathedral and church destruction. That could have been stalin’s greatest legacy.
posted by stalin on 1-21-2008 at 10:35 pm
They are really HUGE.
posted by Rassendyl on 1-21-2008 at 10:52 pm
I know of a poster to this website who has no idea what a wrecked country looks like and cannot see that the country cited still enjoys the highest standard of living for the greatest number of people in the world.
posted by Leroy on 1-21-2008 at 10:57 pm
Oh – I think said poster means IRAQ, not USA. IRAQ most certainly does not enjoy the ‘highest standard of living’.
posted by Glenn on 1-22-2008 at 12:02 am
@Leroy.
I’m relatively sure that gryptype was referring to Iraq.
Nonetheless, just to clarify, George W. Bush is easily the worst president….ever.
posted by Damien on 1-22-2008 at 12:14 am
In Soviet Russia combo super sizes you!
posted by overtoke on 1-22-2008 at 12:26 am
Iraq has the highest standard of living in the world?
I know you people don’t like to talk about Bush and Iraq, I sure don’t blame you for trying to change the subject all the time.
posted by grytpype on 1-22-2008 at 12:42 am
I only wish they had built the 100 mega ton bombs in series. Imagine a stock pile of those puppies. Only one of them is enough to ruin your day.
We need to go back to the megalomanic era. Bush is a good start. Nothing spells hubris as much as starting a war that is ruining your nation. But it needs to be done with style. He should have had big statues of himself erected in the land scape. Something to be remembered by.
posted by Dave on 1-22-2008 at 12:44 am
I think he meant Iceland? Has the highest human development index.
posted by Voice of Reason on 1-22-2008 at 1:08 am
You know, I think the soviets ruined a bigger country than even GW Bush there. And they didn’t even try to rebuild it.
posted by ohnoes on 1-22-2008 at 1:31 am
You know, I think the Soviets ruined a bigger country than GW Bush did, and they didn’t even try to repair it.
posted by ohnoes on 1-22-2008 at 1:32 am
The Caspian seas monster was more than 58 feet long dude. Google.
Oh yeah and the Czar Bomba didn’t weight 100 megatons. Its explosive power was equivalent to 100 megatons of TNT.
posted by AlanR on 1-22-2008 at 3:05 am
7 Super-Sized (And Somewhat Insane) Soviet Projects | Deliggit.com
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The Soviet Union decided the best way to show up the West was to build the bigges
posted by Deliggit.com | The social sites' most interesting urls on 1-22-2008 at 4:47 am
Looks like a bunch of stupid projects to me.
posted by Scion on 1-22-2008 at 8:15 am
Destruction of our Economy thats a huge monument to stupidity. “We don’t need a statue to see that” So, the question is, Whats the nuclear half life of the damage GWB did to this country?
posted by I wanna Know. on 1-22-2008 at 9:57 am
Bush ought to be waterboarded. Cheney too, ought to be waterboarded. Aside from those two, I’m against torture.
posted by WaterboardBush on 1-22-2008 at 10:07 am
I think the crazyest one was the 100 megaton bomb. During the time it was built, surely there wasn’t even a plane that could carry it.
posted by Dave Nofmeister on 1-22-2008 at 10:20 am
It probably does not need to be said, but maybe many Soviet leaders have small penises. Or they think ours are bigger in the West. What are they over-compensating for? Its gotta be something. [I know why Ahhrnold drives a Hummer -- (see above)] — Surely these building projects are great fodder for psychologists everywhere.
posted by WizardBoy on 1-22-2008 at 1:02 pm
This month’s issue of the art magazine Cabinet did an article about these. Very interesting.
posted by Leggy on 1-22-2008 at 4:35 pm
I lived in Moscow and visited the cathedral replica. It’s pretty ugly, but it shows good spirit. People are STILL indignant over Lenin knocking down the original. Can you imagine what kind of slap in the face that would have been?
posted by Andrea on 1-22-2008 at 4:42 pm
This is a new SuperSized Project in Russia … not the USSR, but a project perhaps worthy of your notice:
Foster + Partners have just been granted preliminary permission to start construction on this volcano-shaped superstructure in Moscow, which will be dubbed “Crystal Island”. In terms of efficiency monolithic buildings like this seem unnecessary, but the proposed dimensions are amazing: it will be 1,500 foot tall with 26,909,776 foot squared of floor space, that’s enough room to house 30,000 people.
posted by Justin on 1-22-2008 at 5:34 pm
Don’t miss the propaganda film of the New Moscow from 1938! People’s Palace included.
Linked in my sig.
posted by jab on 1-22-2008 at 8:36 pm
The Russian expression was – ” They pretend to pay us , we pretend to work”
It is amazing what the country Russia ( former U.S.S.R.) accomplished – especially after all the destruction following the 30’s and then the great patriotic war. Yet in the end everyone had a job in the U.S.S.R. but very few could eat.
posted by A Faithful Employee on 1-22-2008 at 10:21 pm
I can’t believe how many thousands of people worked (and died) on these projects, and how few of them ever came to anything or remain.
And, I have a hunch that if the People’s Palace had ever been built, that the people wouldn’t have been allowed access to it. I’m just guessing.
posted by kitsana_d on 1-24-2008 at 3:04 pm
I actually had to read about some of these project for a class. The major reason why that Baltic-White Sea Canal failed was because Stalin read a book about communist political prisoners sabotaging major projects and refused to trust them. Imprisoned engineers wanted to build a longer route that was deeper but the Soviets told them they had to build the canal in 20 months with only the resources found along the route.
After reading “The Ghost of the Executed Engineer,” you wonder why there weren’t more failures of Soviet infrastructure.
posted by Elizabeth on 9-4-2009 at 11:09 am
re failures of Soviet infrastructure –^ They’re everywhere you look over here… still… only now, you have Soviet educated road builders (and etc) trying to maintain Soviet built (read cheaply and shoddily) infrastructure.
oh- comment relevant to the article? What about the ‘Stalin’s Birthday Cake’ structures that ‘grace’ many large cities that used to be controlled by the USSR? They’re hideous and impractical…
posted by ann on 11-10-2009 at 7:13 pm