Rasputitsa

The rasputitsa ( _ru. распу́тица) is the biannual season when roads become impassable in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The word may be translated as "quagmire season" because during this period the large flatlands become extremely muddy and marshy, and all non-paved roads are affected too. The term applies both to the season ("spring rasputitsa" and "autumn rasputitsa") and to the state of the roads.

The rasputitsa occurs most strongly in the spring due to the melting snow but it recurs in the fall due to the heavy rains.

Rasputitsa is well known as a great defensive advantage in wartime. Napoleon counted Russia's mud as a very important hindrance. [ [http://www.napoleon-series.org/faq/c_russia.html] FAQ regarding what made Napoleon fail in invading Russia] [ [http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/minard] "whilst it was almost impossible to drag the gun-carriages through the half-frozen mud"]

During the Second World War the month-long muddy period slowed down the German advance during the Battle of Moscow, and may have helped save the Soviet capital. [Overy (1997:113–14): "Both sides now struggled in the autumn mud. On October 6 [1941] the first snow had fallen, unusually early. It soon melted, turning the whole landscape into its habitual trackless state – the "rasputitsa", literally the ‘time without roads’. ... It is commonplace to attribute the German failure to take Moscow to the sudden change in the weather. While it is certainly true that German progress slowed, it had already been slowing because of the fanatical resistance of Soviet forces and the problem of moving supplies over the long distances through occupied territory. The mud slowed the Soviet build-up also, and hampered the rapid deployment of men and machines."]

The corresponding term in Finnish is "rospuutto", denoting "roadlessness". All non-paved roads become mud. In the old days, this would make them virtually unusable; modern unpaved roads remain usable but are dangerously slippery. In the Archipelago the period is known as "kelirikko" (literally "weather break"), implying the ice is too thin to bear people or vehicles, but too hard to be passed through by seagoing vessels not equipped with icebreaker bows. The only practicable vehicles during the "kelirikko" are hovercraft, hydrocopters or aircraft such as helicopters. Unlike in Russia, in Finland both "rospuutto" and "kelirikko" occur only in spring when the snow melts and the vernal rains turn from snow into water.

Notes

References

* Overy, Richard (1997). "Russia's War". London: Penguin. ISBN 1-57500-051-2.