Editing Murmansk (section)

==History==
[[File:Панорама центральной части г. Мурманска (съемка с самолета), 1936 г.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of Murmansk, 1936]]
[[File:Разрушенный Мурманск 1942 год.JPG|thumb|War destruction in Murmansk (1942)]]
[[File:MurmanskProspektLenin.jpg|thumb|Central part of Murmansk]]

Murmansk was the last city founded in the [[Russian Empire]].<ref>''[[The Moscow Times]]''. [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/beyond_moscow/murmansk.html It's Always Colder in Murmansk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910121807/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/beyond_moscow/murmansk.html |date=September 10, 2015 }}, May 20, 2012</ref> In 1915, [[World War I]] needs led to the construction of the railroad from [[Petrozavodsk]] to an ice-free location on the [[Murman Coast]] in the [[Extreme North (Russia)|Russian Arctic]], to which Russia's [[Allies of World War I | allies]] shipped military supplies.<ref name="ATSBook24">''Administrative-Territorial Division of Murmansk Oblast'', p.&nbsp;24</ref> The terminus became known as the Murman station and soon boasted a port, a naval base, and an adjacent settlement with a population that quickly grew in size and soon surpassed the nearby towns of [[Polyarny, Murmansk Oblast|Alexandrovsk]] and [[Kola (town)|Kola]].<ref name="ATSBook24" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hill |first=Alexander |year=2007 |title=Russian and Soviet Naval Power and the Arctic from the XVI Century to the Beginning of the Great Patriotic War |journal=The Journal of Slavic Military Studies |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=359–392 |doi=10.1080/13518040701532958 |s2cid=145005700}}</ref>

On {{OldStyleDateNY|June&nbsp;29|July&nbsp;12}}, 1916, Russian [[Transport Minister (Russia)|Transport Minister]] [[Alexander Trepov]] petitioned to grant urban status to the railway settlement.<ref name="ATSBook24" /> On {{OldStyleDateNY|July&nbsp;6|July&nbsp;19}}, 1916, the petition was approved and the town was named '''Romanov-on-Murman''' ({{lang|ru|Рома́нов-на-Му́рмане}}, ''Romanov-na-Murmane''), after the Imperial Russian dynasty, the [[House of Romanov|Romanov]]s.<ref name="ATSBook24" /> On {{OldStyleDateNY|September&nbsp;21|October&nbsp;4}}, 1916, the official ceremony was performed,<ref name="ATSBook24" /> and the date is now considered the official date of the city's foundation. After the [[February Revolution]] of March 1917, on {{OldStyleDateNY|April&nbsp;3|April&nbsp;16}}, 1917, the town was given its present name.<ref name="ATSBook60">''Administrative-Territorial Division of Murmansk Oblast'', pp.&nbsp;60–63</ref>
[[File:Английский крейсер Глори на Мурманском рейде.JPG|thumb|right|[[HMS Glory (1899)|HMS ''Glory'']], flagship of the [[British North Russia Squadron]] in Murmansk in the [[First World War]]]]

In the winter of 1917 the [[British North Russia Squadron]] under [[Rear Admiral]] [[Thomas Webster Kemp|Thomas Kemp]] was based at Murmansk.<ref name="Kinvig">{{Citation |last=Clifford Kinvig |title=Churchill's Crusade |date=November 23, 2007 |publisher=Hambledon & London |isbn=9781847250216 |oclc=747256147 |ol=9819337M |id=1847250211}}</ref>

From 1918 to 1920, during the [[Russian Civil War]], the town was [[North Russia intervention|occupied by the Western powers]], who had been [[Allies of World War I|allied]] in [[World War I]], and was also controlled by [[White movement|White Army]] forces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bolshevik, North Russian, Royal Navy, Expeditionary Force, Archangel, Dvina River |url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1z05NorthRussia.htm |access-date=2010-12-08 |publisher=Naval-history.net}}</ref>

On February&nbsp;13, 1926, local self-government was organized in Murmansk for the first time, during a [[plenary session]] of the Murmansk City [[Soviet (council)|Soviet]], which elected a Presidium.<ref name="ATSBook60" /> Before this, the city was governed by the authorities of [[Alexandrovsky Uyezd, Arkhangelsk Governorate|Alexandrovsky Uyezd]] and later of [[Murmansk Governorate]].<ref name="ATSBook60" /> On August&nbsp;1, 1927, the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] (VTsIK) issued two resolutions: "On the Establishment of Leningrad Oblast" and "On the Borders and Composition of the Okrugs of Leningrad Oblast", which transformed Murmansk Governorate into [[Murmansk Okrug]] within [[Leningrad Oblast]] and made Murmansk the administrative center of Murmansk Okrug.<ref name="ATSBook60" />

In 1934, the Murmansk Okrug Executive Committee developed a redistricting proposal, which included a plan to enlarge the city by merging the surrounding territories in the north, south, and west into Murmansk.<ref name="ATSBook60" /> While this plan was not confirmed by the Leningrad Oblast Executive Committee, in 1935–1937 several rural localities of [[Kolsky District|Kolsky]] and [[Polyarny District]]s were merged into Murmansk anyway.<ref name="ATSBook60" />

According to the Presidium of the Leningrad Oblast Executive Committee resolution of February&nbsp;26, 1935, the administrative center of Polyarny District was moved from [[Polyarny, Murmansk Oblast|Polyarnoye]] to [[Sayda-Guba]].<ref name="ATSBook48">''Administrative-Territorial Division of Murmansk Oblast'', p.&nbsp;48</ref> However, the provisions of the resolution were not fully implemented, and due to military construction in Polyarnoye, the administrative center was instead moved to Murmansk in the beginning of 1935.<ref name="ATSBook48" /> In addition to being the administrative center of Murmansk Okrug, Murmansk continued to serve as the administrative center of Polyarny District until September&nbsp;11, 1938.<ref name="ATSBook60" /> On February&nbsp;10, 1938, when the VTsIK adopted a Resolution changing the administrative-territorial structure of Murmansk Okrug, the city of Murmansk became a separate administrative division of the okrug, equal in status to that of the districts.<ref name="ATSBook60" /> This status was retained when Murmansk Okrug was transformed into Murmansk Oblast on May&nbsp;28, 1938.<ref name="ATSBook60" /> The Germans were promised the use of the port they called {{lang | de | Norwegenhafen}} for transportation of goods and raw materials from 1922 to 1941.

During [[World War II]], Murmansk was a link to the Western world for the [[Soviet Union]], with large quantities of goods important to the respective military efforts traded with the USSR's [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]: primarily military equipment, manufactured goods and raw materials brought into the Soviet Union. The supplies were brought to the city in the [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Arctic convoys]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hill |first=Alexander |year=2007 |title=British Lend Lease Aid and the Soviet War Effort, June 1941 – June 1942 |journal=The Journal of Military History |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=773–808 |doi=10.1353/jmh.2007.0206 |jstor=30052890 |s2cid=159715267}}</ref>

German forces in Finnish territory launched an offensive against Murmansk in 1941 as part of [[Operation Silver Fox]]. Fierce Soviet resistance and harsh local weather, with the bad terrain, prevented the Germans from capturing it. The ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' bombed the city 792 times during World War II.<ref>Hansen, Trond. 25 June 2021. "[https://www.sva.no/2021/magasin/dagen-for-mot-og-utholdenhet/ Dagen for mot og utholdenhet]{{Dead link|date=November 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}" [day of courage and endurance]. [[Sør-Varanger Avis]]. P.10</ref> Murmansk suffered extensive destruction, the magnitude of which was rivaled only by the destruction in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] and [[Volgograd|Stalingrad]].<ref>[http://www.rian.ru/society/20061004/54494341.html Мурманску исполняется 90 лет]{{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.b-port.com/info/smi/vm/?issue=538&article=10256|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620125619/http://www.b-port.com/info/smi/vm/?issue=538&article=10256|url-status=dead|title=Газета «Вечерний Мурманск» Выпуск № 93 от 28 мая 2005|archive-date=June 20, 2016}}</ref>

For the rest of the war, Murmansk served as a transit point for weapons and other supplies entering the Soviet Union from other Allied nations. The city's resistance was commemorated at the 40th anniversary of the victory over the Germans in the formal designation of Murmansk as a [[Hero City (Soviet Union)|Hero City]] on May&nbsp;6, 1985.<ref>{{cite web |date=1916-10-04 |title=Nature Administrative-territorial system |url=http://2004.murman.ru/nature/adm_delenie/murmansk/index-eng.shtml |access-date=2009-05-05 |publisher=2004.murman.ru}}</ref> During the [[Cold War]] Murmansk was a center of Soviet [[submarine]] and icebreaker activity. After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], the nearby city and naval base of [[Severomorsk]] remains the headquarters of the Russian [[Northern Fleet]].

In 1974, a massive {{convert|35.5|m|sp=us|adj=on}} tall statue ''[[Alyosha Monument, Murmansk|Alyosha]]'', depicting a Soviet World War II soldier, was installed on a {{convert|7|m|sp=us|adj=on}} high foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.intltravelnews.com/2012/04/alyosha-granite-monument-russias-litsa-riv|title=Alyosha, granite monument on Russia's Litsa River}}</ref> The [[Azimut Hotel Murmansk|Hotel Arctic]] opened in 1984, becoming the tallest building above the Arctic Circle.

On January&nbsp;1, 2015, the territory of Murmansk was expanded when the [[urban-type settlement]] of [[Roslyakovo, Murmansk Oblast|Roslyakovo]], previously under the jurisdiction of the [[closed city|closed administrative-territorial formation]] of Severomorsk, was abolished and its territory merged into Murmansk.<ref name="Roslyakovo">Law #1812-01-ZMO</ref>