A force of one thousand laborers and soldiers attack the ice with picks, axes, and shovels while packs of wolves watch from the woods around them. The wealthy and powerful passengers, among them royal messengers and government dignitaries, huddle for warmth as the power goes out and the temperature drops below zero. Russia deploys two ice-breaking ships, the Truvor and the Yermak, to liberate German shipping vessels in the Kiel Canal.Įlsewhere in Europe, the Orient Express, the first name in luxury rail travel, is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift seventy-five miles outside of Istanbul. In the Balkans, “wolves maddened by hunger” maraud the streets, while brave residents form “vigilance committees” to keep the predators at bay.ĭeclaring war on mother nature, French military engineers hurl dynamite at the Marne, and Yugoslav soldiers fire cannons at the Danube.
In Paris, the fuel feed pipe of the Arc de Triomphe freezes, causing the Eternal Flame of Remembrance to flicker and die out. Steamers filled with supplies become stranded in frozen rivers, depriving citizens of much-needed resources. Winter storms blast Europe in February of 1929, burying metropolises and rural towns alike under layers of snow. The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.
The information here is culled from newspapers, newsreels, periodicals, and other primary sources from the date of the text’s original publication. This blog series, Big Picture, Small Picture, provides a contextual collage for a chosen piece of literature.
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