History
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Smolensk was one of the most important economic and military centers of the Grand Princedom of Moscow. It was also a major commercial center, and home industry production reached high levels. Construction of the Smolensk fortress wall was an important event in the history of Russia. Smolensk Oblast was formed in September 1937 from the central and western districts of Western Oblast as the result of a reorganization of the latter oblast. The new oblast exceeded present-day Smolensk Oblast in both population and area.
Read more about this topic: Smolensk Oblast
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“You treat world history as a mathematician does mathematics, in which nothing but laws and formulas exist, no reality, no good and evil, no time, no yesterday, no tomorrow, nothing but an eternal, shallow, mathematical present.”
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)
“Social history might be defined negatively as the history of a people with the politics left out.”
—G.M. (George Macaulay)
“Well, for us, in history where goodness is a rare pearl, he who was good almost takes precedence over he who was great.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)