One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly. The telegraph spread very quickly and a network of wires stretched around the world.
In 1837, the American painter and physicist Samuel Morse invented the first electromagnetic device for telegraphy, patented in 1840. To send messages by wire, Morse developed in 1838 a simple code of dots and dashes, which represented the letters of the alphabet, known as "Morse code ".
Both Morse code and the telegraph machine were improved over time, with the telegraph becoming the most widespread system of communication and information transmission for more than a century, until the advent of the Internet. The telegraph system consisted of a series of stations repeaters along the transmission line route. Each station had an operator who received and transmitted messages by telegraph. The Morse machine transmitted about 25 words per minute, which were recorded in code on a paper tape. The operator in charge of transmitting the message would decode it and write it on paper using a special typewriter.
In Bessarabia, the telegraph entered in 1860: on April 8, the Bender telegraph station began its activity, and on April 24, the one in Chisinau, following the construction of the first Odesa-Chisinau-Leova telegraph line. Currently, telegraph services have been discontinued. The only ones who still use coded communication are radio amateurs.
The Morse telegraph machine shown comes from the Osinoostrovsky electrotechnical plant, Soviet Union, and dates back to 1934. The exhibit was restored by Mihail Culașco.
The Medal “For Works on Excellent Performance of General Mobilization in 1914” from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Abstract
In the collections of NMHM there are a military award, which has a particular symbolic value in view of the centenary of the First World War, which was celebrated in 2014 the medal "For Works on Excellent Performance of General Mobilization in 1914".
The medal was established by the decree of 12 February 1915 and was awarded to persons who had participated actively in the work associated with drawing up plans for mobilization, recruitment in military service, the supply of troops in dressings, providing military vehicles, as well as the transport of troops and military cargo. In addition, it was awarded to persons directly involved in the execution of works during the mobilization of 1914. Later the provisions were completed, so that the medal could be awarded to persons responsible for pre-military training of young people. The main issue (50000 copies) was made at the Petrograd Mint, and 800 medals were sent to Bessarabia, according to the request of its governor M.E. Gilhen.
Regarding the piece that is kept at NMHM, we shall mention that it entered the museum's collections from the disbanded Museum of Military Glory. It was donated to this museum in 1977 by a resident of Chișinău Vladimir Șirevschi. The donation included, in addition to this, other four military medals of the time and a photo of their former owner Onufrie Filipovici Shirevsky, the donor's father, who fought on the battlefields of the First World War.
The close analysis of the medal suggests that it was not made at the Petrograd Mint; most likely it was minted in a private workshop, located either at Kerki, the town in Turkestan, where the regiment of O.F. Shirevsky was stationed at the beginning of the First World War, or in Tashkent, the administrative center of Turkestan Region. It is known that, due to the large number of requests and the exhaustion of the original stock, private workshops in some gubernias, with the permission of the authorities, produced replicas of this medal. These replicas were awarded to those who, in local authorities' opinion, was worthy of this medal. In the archive file on awarding the medal "For Works on Excellent Performance of General Mobilization in 1914" in Bessarabia there is no mention of such initiatives of the local governor. This fact strengthens our assumptions, although in the questionnaire of O.F. Shirevsky, filled on March 18, 1916, there is no mention about the awarding this medal.
List of illustrations: Fig. 1. Shirevsky Onufrie Filipovici. On his chest one can see three crosses of the Order of St. George of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes, the 4th class St. George Medal, and the medal "In Memory of the 300th Anniversary of Romanov Dynasty". On the left pocket flap there is a badge of the 11th Rifle Regiment of Turkestan. Fig. 2. The medal "For Works on Excellent Performance of General Mobilization in 1914" from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova. Fig. 3. The medal "For Works on Excellent Performance of General Mobilization in 1914" made at the Petrograd Mint.
Andrei Emilciuc
Establishment and functioning of the public granaries in Bessarabia (1834-1856)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIII [XXVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
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Commercial navigation on the Dniester River (1812-1853)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Andrei Emilciuc
Western European dictionaries and encyclopedias from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Andrei Emilciuc
The legal framework of the circulation of Western European books in the Russian Empire (1721-1917)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Andrei Emilciuc
The role of land transport in Bessarabian commerce (1812-1853)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2007
One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
