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:
“Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation, because as a result of what happened in this week, the world is bigger, infinitely.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)
“There is nothing truer than myth: history, in its attempt to “realize” myth, distorts it, stops halfway; when history claims to have “succeeded” this is nothing but humbug and mystification. Everything we dream is “realizable.” Reality does not have to be: it is simply what it is.”
—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)