The Imperiia Project: a spatial history of the Russian EmpireMain MenuProjectsDashboardsData CatalogMapStoriesGalleriesGamesWho said history was boring?Teach Our ContentCiting the ProjectKelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f5The Imperiia Project // Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
Goat Fodder
12018-09-25T02:09:42-04:00Kelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f591plain2018-09-25T10:47:15-04:00Kelly O'Neilldc20b45f1d74122ba0d654d19961d826c5a557f5In August 1838, Prince Mikhail Vorontsov, one of the most powerful men in the Russian Empire, composed an impassioned letter to the Minister of State Domains. “I assure you,” wrote Vorontsov, that the precious oak groves near Sevastopol faced “complete annihilation in the very near future” due to the presence of an unexpected enemy: 14,000 gluttonous goats grazed in the naval forests, destroying young trees.
The government had two choices: set a perimeter of armed guards and deport the goats, or resign itself to the ignominious demise of the Black Sea Fleet.