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Lenin Volga–Don Shipping Canal ((ロシア語:Волго–Донской судоходный канал имени В. И. Ленина, Volga-Donskoy soudokhodniy kanal imeni V. I. Lenina), abbreviated ВДСК, ''VDSK'') is a canal which connects the Volga River and the Don River at their closest points. Opened in 1952, the length of the waterway is ( through rivers and reservoirs). The canal forms a part of the Unified Deep Water System of European Russia. Together with the lower Volga and the lower Don, the Volga–Don Canal provides the most direct navigable connection between the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov, and thus the world's oceans. ==History== As the lower course of the Don approaches the lower course of the Volga near today's Volgograd, the idea of connecting the two rivers by an artificial waterway has a long history. The first recorded canal work was done by the Ottoman Turks in 1569. After capturing Azov in 1696, Peter the Great decided to build the canal, but, because of a lack of resources and other problems, this attempt was abandoned in 1701 without success. In 1701, he initiated a second attempt (the so-called Ivanovsky Canal at Yepifan) under the administration of Knyaz Matvey Gagarin. Instead of connecting the lower course of the Don with the lower course of the Volga near the present canal, the Ivanovsky Canal connected the upper course of the Don in what is now Tula Oblast. Between 1702 and 1707, twenty-four locks were constructed, and, in 1707, about 300 ships passed the canal under remarkably difficult navigation conditions. In 1709 due to financial difficulties caused by the Great Northern War, the project was halted. In 1711, under terms of the Treaty of the Pruth, Russia left Azov and Peter the Great lost all interest in the canal, which was abandoned and fell into ruin.〔(Plechko L.A. Old water routes ), Moscow, 1985. 〕〔(Ivanovsky Canal ) 〕 Over time, other projects for connecting the two rivers were proposed, but none was attempted. The actual construction of today's Volga–Don Canal, designed by Sergey Zhuk's Hydroproject Institute, began prior to the Eastern Front campaign of 1941–1945, which would interrupt the process. From 1938 to 1952, construction was completed; navigation was opened 1 June 1952. The canal and its facilities were mostly built by gulag prisoners. In 1952 the number of convicts employed in construction topped 100,000. A day spent at the construction yard was counted as three days in prison, which spurred prisoners to work. Several convicts were even awarded with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour upon their release. Upon completion, the Volga–Don Canal became an important link of the Unified Deep Water Transportation System of the European part of the USSR. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Volga–Don Canal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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