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HISTORIC WATERWAYS - A ROUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (-CIVILIZATION AND THE GREAT HISTORICAL RIVERS-)

В.А. Широкова, Э.А. Лихачева

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the publication of L. Mechnikov's book ?Civilization and the Great Historic Rivers,? where the author outlined philosophical views on the geographical theory of progress and the influence of the environment on the formation of society. This book has not lost its scientific significance at the present time. The book is multifaceted and somewhat controversial but provides "food" for inquisitive minds. It is not in our competence to evaluate this work from the perspective of modern social geography. However, as physical geographers and geoecologists, we understand and are close to the position of L. Mechnikov that rivers play an important role in the formation of civilization, since "a river in any country is an expression of living synthesis, the totality of physical and geographical conditions: and climate , and soil, and terrain, and the geological structure of this area. " Rivers, seas and oceans, in his opinion, more than any other phenomena of the geographical environment, contribute to the emergence of civilization, explains its uneven distribution on Earth, as well as the very direction of social progress: ?Speaking generally, it should be understood that the historical significance of the outlines and the relief of the country - this is the main fact that you should pay attention to when studying history "and" the same river, which is a necessary obstacle for an uncultured people, becomes a means of communication, the people culturally go?. Thus, one of the aspects of the theory of L. Mechnikov is the dominant role of rivers in the formation of the social environment. The progress in the implementation of international relations has been (and remains) hydraulic structures - channels connecting the basins of different rivers and the peoples inhabiting these pools. The formation of the spatial structure of the Russian state has largely determined the waterways. The article focuses on the main navigable water systems connecting the northern regions of Russia with the southern ones, as well as western Europe with Russia. Typical examples of such routes are the Severo-Dvinsky, Mariinsky, Tikhvin and Vyshnevolotsky historical waterways - lake-river systems. The studies have scientific value as a methodological basis for the formation of a new historical and scientific direction. But no less important are its applied aspects. The data of the created geographic information system can be used for rational organization of the territory, assessment of its tourist and recreational potential.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2020/5.1/s20.053

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