Original subtitles

[narrator] A site in Azerbaijan

shattered by rivalry

A whole city is forced to leave their homes.

[narrator] A once Socialist site founded by the ultimate capitalist.

He was known as Europe's Rockefeller.

[narrator] And Gothic horror in the mid-west.

[Onyeka] This seemingly Old World European castle

became the very seed

and cesspool of deviants.

and cesspool of deviants.

[narrator] Decaying relics,

ruins of lost worlds,

sites haunted by the past,

their secrets waiting to be revealed.

[narrator] In the shadow of the Caucasus mountains in Azerbaijan,

[narrator] In the shadow of the Caucasus mountains in Azerbaijan,

is a ghost town with a desolate past.

[Dominic] Nestling among green trees are hundreds of buildings,

but they've been annihilated

with only their shells remaining.

[Wise] It's an eerie sight.

It looks like something out of a disaster movie.

The roads and streets are deserted.

There's no one to be seen anywhere.

But there's this one building that survived.

But there's this one building that survived.

The mosque gives a clue to the heritage of this place.

[narrator] As does another unexpected find.

[Jim] In the middle of all this rubble

is a beautiful painted mural.

Maybe it foreshadows some kind of revival

of this shattered city.

[narrator] What disaster struck this once-bustling city

[narrator] What disaster struck this once-bustling city

and displaced over half a million civilians from this remote region?

[narrator] The disputed territory of Karabakh is difficult to access.

Here, war correspondent Emin Ibrahimov

knows only too well the dangers that come with his job.

In October 2020 I was covering the Karabakh war

between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Fortunately I had a dashcam that was able to capture everything.

One day I got a chance to go to a village

that was just recently liberated.

And it was going to be an exclusive,

I was supposed to be the first, uh,

the first journalist to go there.

So I took my car and on the way,

I saw a rocket just in front of me,

[bleep]

Passed just above the car,

and I felt an impact,

and I felt an impact,

a shockwave from the impact just behind me.

[narrator] Emin was caught up in a war

that has plagued this part of the world for decades.

[Ibrahimov] So I really stepped on it, trying to go

as fast as can without losing

control of the car.

I found some cover, got out of the car,

and, uh, it's probably only then that I realized that I just

barely escaped, uh, death.

[Dominic] The border region of Karabakh

has been the center of a dispute

in a tug of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

[narrator] In the last three decades alone,

the conflict has taken tens of thousands of human lives.

Yet, it's relatively unknown.

[Jim] People didn't hear much about this conflict

[Jim] People didn't hear much about this conflict

the way they do about conflicts

in other regions. It happened

in an area that most Westerners don't know much about.

And between two groups of people who are often

overlooked by history.

[narrator] Whole cities were annihilated

in two bloody wars in the early 1990s

and 2020.

And it has left a deadly legacy.

[Ibrahimov] Today, you can only travel

on the main roads because of the danger of the mines.

on the main roads because of the danger of the mines.

If you wanna step off the main road, you actually

have to have a team of deminers

check the area before you do.

[narrator] This region was once riddled with nearly 100,000 mines.

[Ibrahimov] We're on the central square of the most popular place

among city residents.

Um, behind me used to be

uh, City Hall and this building,

or what is left of it, used to be a drama theater,

uh, which was built in the '50s.

uh, which was built in the '50s.

It was the cultural center of the region.

[Dominic] You wouldn't believe that this was once a thriving, bustling city

with people living normal lives here.

[narrator] Amid the rubble, is a stark reminder

of those who lived here.

[Ibrahimov] The beautiful mural depicts three attributes

of Azerbaijani culture.

The woman is holding a tray with the symbols of Novruz holiday.

The singer is holding a saz,

The singer is holding a saz,

an Azeri instrument.

And, uh, a woman with a child is wearing a shawl

called Kelaghayi.

All three are protected by UNESCO

and are parts of the intangible heritage of the humanity.

[narrator] This is the Azerbaijani city of Agdam,

once, the cultural hub of the region.

Agdam was a very modern, progressive city for this area.

Agdam was a very modern, progressive city for this area.

Any Westerner could have strolled through the streets and visited

the cafes and felt right at home.

And yet, all of that was swept away

in a relatively short period of time.

[narrator] Until 1991,

Agdam and the region known then as Nagorno-Karabakh

had been under Soviet control for over 70 years.

[Dominic] During the Soviet era,

Nagorno-Karabakh was part of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.

Nagorno-Karabakh was part of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.

But 77 percent of the area's population were Armenians.

And they, naturally, wanted the area to come under the control

of the Soviet Republic of Armenia.

[Jim] As it did in other republics that it controlled,

the U.S.S.R.

was able to enforce

a kind of peace in this sometimes fractious region.

[narrator] But as the collapse of the Soviet Union looked imminent,

tensions began to rise.

tensions began to rise.

[Jim] This is a common thing we see when

a superpower controlling

regional nationalistic ethnic groups

in some kind of harmony, when that superpower recedes,

all those tensions and conflicts and divisions

can flare up again.

[narrator] With guns at the ready,

Agdam was at the flashpoint between Armenia

and Azerbaijan.

In 1993, Armenia was convinced

In 1993, Armenia was convinced

that Azerbaijan was about to launch an offensive

and they quickly reacted.

[Dominic] Thousands of Armenian troops

tore through Agdam and shelled the city to smithereens.

The skeleton Azerbaijani army had no chance against a force this big.

It was an incredibly bloody and a heart-breaking affair for the residents.

Forty thousand of the city's population

and half a million Azerbaijanis in the region

and half a million Azerbaijanis in the region

were forced to leave their homes.

[narrator] And it wasn't just the fighting taking civilian lives.

[Jim] Not everyone got out safely.

Some residents fled to nearby forests

and in the harsh winter quite a few froze to death.

[Jaega] By 1994, Armenia had captured the region

including the city of Agdam.

[narrator] But amid the rubble of the annihilated city,

there was one small glimmer of hope.

[narrator] In the Caucasus, the inaccessible ghost town of Agdam

has been pummeled by centuries of bitter dispute.

Yet one building has survived the obliteration.

The only building that was still standing

was an old mosque built in the 1870s.

Armenians actually used it as an observation tower,

Armenians actually used it as an observation tower,

a barn and to correct the artillery fire.

[narrator] The Armenians had controlled Agdam since 1993.

Although the city sat deserted for more than 25 years,

neighboring Azerbaijanis kept it in their sights.

The Azerbaijan army

wanted to retake terrain

that had been lost in the 1990s' conflict.

that had been lost in the 1990s' conflict.

And then in 2020,

the conflict ignited again.

While the rest of the world was dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic,

Nagornoh-Karabakh

was dealing with another battle.

A war that raged in the region for 44 days.

[narrator] This time, the Azerbaijanis were armed with a new military device.

This is thought of as the first war in history

This is thought of as the first war in history

in which drones played a critical role

in its outcome.

This drone-led assault helped the Azerbaijanis

score a decisive victory.

And by November 2020,

Agdam was back in their hands.

But for the city's residents, the struggle is not over.

[Dominic] The guns may have fallen silent,

but it's still a traumatic time for civilians on both sides.

but it's still a traumatic time for civilians on both sides.

For the Azerbaijanis who can't return to their homes,

and for the Armenians, who've once again, had to be uprooted.

[narrator] Agdam remains derelict.

But something surprising has survived the carnage

giving hope for its future.

There's hardly anything left of Agdam.

But one thing, incredibly, is still alive.

But one thing, incredibly, is still alive.

The city's football team.

They play in the Azerbaijan football leagues,

but now based, of course, in the nation's capital, Baku.

The fact that they're still existing as a team associated with the city

shows you that there's a hope,

that this city will come back to life.

[narrator] There's a chance they'll be able to play in Agdam again,

as the government announced plans to turn the ghost town

into a super modern metropolis.

The master plan of a new Agdam has been approved in May, 2021

The master plan of a new Agdam has been approved in May, 2021

and the renewed city will have a population of 100,000 people.

[narrator] In the state of Missouri,

on the outskirts of Downtown Kansas City,

is a curious structure that looks like it doesn't belong.

[slow instrumental music playing]

[Katherine] This is a modern metropolis,

[Katherine] This is a modern metropolis,

lots of people,

great jazz, even better barbeque

and yet, on the edge of this very modern mid-western city,

is this castle that looks like it's been plucked out of the 1600s.

[Onyeka] It seems completely out of place.

It seems to not only be in the wrong time period,

but to be in the wrong continent.

This Rouen castle isn't out in the moors of Scotland somewhere,

This Rouen castle isn't out in the moors of Scotland somewhere,

it's in Kansas City, Missouri.

[narrator] Inside, modern features hint at the stone fortress' true age.

[Jim] It looks like it could be hundreds of years old,

then you notice the steel beams holding parts of it up.

So, clearly it's somewhat more recent than

the castles of Scotland.

[narrator] Yet, the neglected remains yield little indication

of the building's original purpose.

of the building's original purpose.

The windows are boarded up, there's graffiti on the walls.

[Jim] There's trees growing out of the ruins,

the roof is missing.

Clearly, this building has been unoccupied for a very long time.

This is a place that is stripped bare of human habitation

and yet, the graffiti, the signs and symbols show

that at one time, people did live here.

that at one time, people did live here.

Who were they?

[narrator] In Kansas City, Missouri,

property developer, Vewiser Dixon, is breathing new life

into an other-worldly building.

[Vewiser] I remember as a child growing up here,

I was a little afraid of that building

because that was where they kept

some of the bad guys.

[narrator] Vewiser is the current owner of the castle-like structure.

When he was young, the building was already abandoned.

Well, I had friends that went over there, you know,

and they'd come back and tell cool stories.

Like, place was haunted, you know, uh...

Different things like that.

But I wouldn't go.

[narrator] The origins of the bizarre castle can be traced

to an era when alcohol was considered the scourge of America

and to a particular quirk of Kansas City's geography.

and to a particular quirk of Kansas City's geography.

When you go back to the late 1800s,

around 1881, you've got

two Kansas Cities and you still do to this day.

You've got Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas

and they're split by the Missouri River.

[Jim] Kansas outlawed alcohol in 1881,

almost 40 years before the federal law went into effect.

That made Kansas a dry state.

That made Kansas a dry state.

It also made Kansas City, which is right next door in Missouri

a very popular place

for all kinds of people who wanted to have a good time.

There were bars and brothels and entertainment joints

and people came from all over.

This is what eventually led to the demise of Kansas City's reputation.

[Katherine] With all these changes, it becomes a center for

crime, petty crime and vagrancies.

crime, petty crime and vagrancies.

And the authorities at the time just didn't have

the resources that they needed

to take care of the problems.

[narrator] As criminality soared,

the police had nowhere to house the drunks and drifters

now littering the city streets.

The solution was this.

The Kansas City Workhouse.

Its doors first opened in 1897.

This was the front entrance going into the administrative side

This was the front entrance going into the administrative side

to be admitted into the prison.

This whole area right here was basically where they kept

about 100 men.

All this area right here.

[Jim] Technically, this is not a prison, it's a workhouse.

And the concept of a workhouse goes back centuries.

The idea is that

The idea is that

someone who's a petty criminal or simply very poor

and homeless, could be sent to this place

where they work their way back to society.

They perform labor.

And in fact, the Kansas City Workhouse

worked inmates a lot.

[Onyeka] Sometimes, this work was functional and had an economic benefit

for the prison managers.

But sometimes, work would be manufactured,

But sometimes, work would be manufactured,

that had no purpose except to employ labor in.

[Vewiser] The prison itself was, uh, quarried by,

uh, prisoners themselves. They cut the rock.

I don't know if you've heard.

Working on the chain gang, where they quarried all the yellow limestone

that this particular building and other buildings around Kansas City

were built in.

So, they had hard labor.

[narrator] Yet, none of this explains

why a facility to house petty criminals

why a facility to house petty criminals

looked like a medieval castle.

When you think about it, the Kansas City Workhouse Castle

is kind of an oxymoron.

A workhouse is a place for criminals or the destitute

and a castle is a place for the aristocracy.

But here in Kansas City, they put 'em together.

[Katherine] When you hit the late 1800s in Kansas City, you have this tendency to

kind of romanticize the idea of architecture

kind of romanticize the idea of architecture

and wanna go back to

old European-style architecture.

So that when they're sitting down to design this prison,

the idea is, "Well, what's more European than a castle?"

[narrator] The Workhouse,

originally built on the ideals of reform and rehabilitation,

offered inmates a route back to society.

Any misbehavior was dealt with severely.

[Vewiser] If you acted up

in the program, some kind of way

in the program, some kind of way

they would put you in solitary confinement.

If you come here, you'll see actual prison bars they're still standing today.

So, I'm thinking that could have been where you had to stay

if you got really bad.

[narrator] But before long,

the supposed reformatory was embroiled in controversy.

The workhouses are being created to prevent deviants,

but they became the very seed and cesspool of deviants.

but they became the very seed and cesspool of deviants.

[narrator] In Kansas City, Missouri,

is the ruin of a workhouse,

constructed as a last-chance saloon for drunks and petty criminals.

Under the stewardship of those trusted to help vulnerable prisoners,

it quickly transformed into a den of inequity.

The superintendent of the Workhouse

The superintendent of the Workhouse

was a man by the name of Patrick O'Hearn.

He was particularly corrupt

and so, didn't run a very tight ship.

[Vewiser] From what I hear,

a lot of illicit activities going here.

If you were a prisoner and if you was a big gangster

or if you was somebody, you could get

all the, kind of drug paraphernalia.

Maybe a woman or two.

[Jim] This was not a great environment to rehabilitate

these petty criminals, or alcoholics, or homeless people.

It was dirty, the food was bad.

It was dirty, the food was bad.

It was easy to get your hands on drugs or alcohol.

So, as a social experiment in rehabilitation,

you can't say it was a success.

[Katherine] Things got so bad that

the Mayor of Kansas City opened up an investigation

in 1909.

And after that investigation,

they very quickly fired the superintendent.

[narrator] Two years later,

the male inmates were moved to a newly-built workhouse farm,

the male inmates were moved to a newly-built workhouse farm,

less than ten miles away.

The female prisoners remained,

but the castle's days as a reformatory

were coming to an end.

[Katherine] Despite he changes that were put into place after 1909,

things just weren't going well.

And so, by 1924,

they completely shut down the castle

and the inmates were sent to other places.

[Jim] As often happens with old prisons,

or other abandoned public buildings,

or other abandoned public buildings,

they found a few uses for it over the years.

They used it for storage for a while,

it was used as a Marines training facility for a while,

but it was finally, completely abandoned in the 1970s.

[Katherine] For decades, the castle stood empty, uh, filled with graffiti

and broken windows and all sorts of trouble.

and broken windows and all sorts of trouble.

Uh, just a horrible space.

[narrator] That is, until Vewiser Dixon

stepped in with some big plans to transform the castle

and build new homes on the land

to create fresh opportunity for his local community.

[Vewiser] This particular building, we wanna make it

into a museum boutique hotel,

where you can come here and have a different

kind of a wild experience.

kind of a wild experience.

I'm the steward of the land. The Promised Land, is what we call it.

A place where we can live, work and play for entrepreneurs.

[narrator] In Sicily's, Belice Valley

are the remains of a bold architectural statement.

It looks like the whole town was just dropped

It looks like the whole town was just dropped

onto the landscape, completed one day.

The angles are brutal. It feels strikingly modernist.

It isn't completely empty, but it's very close to it.

[narrator] On the hillside, just a few miles north,

lies another sprawling ruin.

[Dominic] Narrow, winding streets, a crumbling church.

This is or at least it was

a traditional Sicilian town.

It's as if a bomb went off. Bang!

[narrator] It's completely devoid of life,

except for the occasional stray dog hunting around the streets.

These strikingly different towns share the same name.

It must be connected, but it's hard to see how.

[Sascha] It began with an unavoidable tragedy,

but it ended with something much more insidious.

[narrator] Girolamo Cangelosi,

has lived the in Poggioreale since it was built.

He has been the town's mayor for four years.

[Girolamo speaking foreign language]

This square was designed by architect, Paolo Portoghesi.

Sometimes, it was used to put on productions

by local Sicilian theater companies.

So it played a role in supporting Sicilian culture.

So it played a role in supporting Sicilian culture.

So this place is intended to bring together

the community of Poggioreale.

[narrator] The unifying vision behind the central square,

was part of a bold plan for the entire town.

[Dominic] Instead of being densely packed,

and with narrow streets. It would have wide boulevards

and with narrow streets. It would have wide boulevards

and large open communal spaces.

[Amma] But circular streets were the nuclei of the town,

and each was supposed to have a significant building in the center.

Public services were going to be more easily accessible,

and more available to everyone who lived there.

[Sascha] All of these different design concepts and ideas

they hoped would come together to bring the residents into

the modern world.

the modern world.

[Amma] You might think that this is all a good idea,

but as you can see, it didn't work out so well.

[narrator] The story of how this once visionary settlement became a faded memory,

begins with the sprawling ruin two miles north.

This is the original town of Paggioreale.

Calogero Petralia was born here in the 1950s,

Calogero Petralia was born here in the 1950s,

and spent his childhood amongst its once busy streets.

[Calogero speaking foreign language]

That was the primary school and near the school's municipal theater,

we even celebrated the carnival there.

[narrator] But Calogero's peaceful life here would soon be shattered.

A series of disasters

would lead to not one but two ghost towns.

[Dominic] Death, destruction, organized crime and corruption.

[Dominic] Death, destruction, organized crime and corruption.

What these people went through is harrowing.

[narrator] In Sicily's Belice Valley,

lie the shattered remains of Poggioreale.

Calogero Petralia, lived here until he was 18 years old.

[speaking foreign language] We can't go any further because it's too dangerous.

[narrator] The heart of the town is strictly off limits to the public.

[narrator] The heart of the town is strictly off limits to the public.

[Amma] The walls look like they could come down at any moment.

The floors look like they could collapse at any moment.

To this day, it's a complete death trap.

[narrator] On January 14th, 1968,

the destruction began.

[Girolamo speaking foreign language]

It started at noon.

We were about to have lunch,

We were about to have lunch,

and the tables started trembling.

The glasses were shaking.

Then the old people shouted,

"This is an earthquake. It's an earthquake."

So, we rushed to leave town.

[narrator] Most of the residents managed to evacuate

before the worst of the destruction began.

But, that was just the start of the suffering.

The danger doesn't cease when the earthquake stops.

The danger doesn't cease when the earthquake stops.

The aftermath can be just as devastating.

[narrator] Overnight, the entire population of the town

became homeless.

The government relief effort was slow, disorganized,

and underfunded.

Eventually, temporary housing was set up for the residents.

But, it was only tents and prefabricated barracks.

[narrator] Finally, a plan was put in place to permanently rehouse the victims,

in a new city built just down the hill.

Well, you wouldn't believe just how long it would take.

[Dominic] Not a single house was built until 1976,

which is eight years after the earthquake.

[Sascha] And there's only one thing that can explain that:

corruption.

[Dominic] It's appeared that the money earmarked

for the reconstruction of the town had been siphoned off

into the pockets of politicians and the mafia.

into the pockets of politicians and the mafia.

[narrator] Residents moved into the new town in 1982,

fourteen years after the earthquake.

Girolamo Cangelosi,

was one of the first to arrive.

[Girolamo speaking foreign language]

For me, it was like a rebirth. We now have larger rooms.

Each of us had our own room, whereas in the barracks,

we had all been sleeping together,

we had all been sleeping together,

in one crowded room, the whole family.

[narrator] Beyond simply rehousing people,

the architects were pushing a social vision.

The futuristic design of the town was intended to

bring the inhabitants into the modern world.

[narrator] But the architect's dream

failed to become a reality.

That simply didn't line up with what the people of Poggioreale needed.

That simply didn't line up with what the people of Poggioreale needed.

[Sascha] The people wanted investment and the economy, they wanted jobs,

rather than money being poured

into this new town, that was really

more of a work of art than anything else.

[narrator] The new town was completed by the1990s.

The Italian government spent several billion dollars

on reconstruction across the region.

They had the capacity to house 10,000 people,

They had the capacity to house 10,000 people,

but it never saw a fraction of that.

[Amma] Many of the residents never made it to the new town.

Just because they had to wait long periods of time

before being able to move back home,

and so they just decided to locate elsewhere.

And the town's fortunes haven't improved much since.

[Sascha] Today we see these homes selling for a pittance.

because, really, who wants to move into a town that's dying?

[narrator] Today, Girolamo hopes to reverse the fortunes of the new town.

[Girolamo speaking foreign language]

When I ran for mayor of Poggioreale,

I ran to be of service to my town.

and to provide services to our community.

[narrator] In the Baltic country of Estonia,

a red brick megastructure sits eerily out of place.

[Sascha] The complex is huge. You have buildings

spread across this island

and then spilling out onto the banks of the mainland.

Through these large windows, rays of sunlight pour in on a sunny day.

[Dominic] Huge empty rooms with rows upon rows of decaying pillars.

[Dominic] Huge empty rooms with rows upon rows of decaying pillars.

[narrator] But these now peaceful halls belie a troubled history.

The working and living conditions were brutal.

Corpses were being carried all over the streets.

[narrator] What went on here on the northern edge of Europe?

In these buildings that would be more at home in another land.

This enormous structure was once referred to as

a bit of England on Russian ground.

a bit of England on Russian ground.

But what's the connection here to England?

[narrator] The seeds of the world's biggest-ever revolution,

were sown right here.

[narrator] This site sits on the island of Kreenholm,

and sprawls across the border between two nations.

One part of the complex is in Estonia,

and the other part is in Russia.

and the other part is in Russia.

[narrator] Here, architectural restoration expert, Madis Tuuder,

studies the origins of these incongruous buildings.

[Madis speaking foreign language]

The architectural style of this place is very English.

You can really feel the English spirit.

[narrator] It was built in the 1850s.

The date hints at why this English style building ended up here.

The date hints at why this English style building ended up here.

Back then,

Northern Britain was covered in similar structures

built to house the cotton mills

that grew out of the Industrial Revolution.

Industrialization had not yet reached the Russian empire.

But that would soon change.

In 1856,

a wealthy German merchant named Baron Ludwig Knoop,

bought Kreenholm Island.

bought Kreenholm Island.

He was known as Europe's Rockefeller.

He founded 200 cotton mills in Russia, England, and the United States.

But Kreenholm was going to be his crowning glory.

[narrator] The Kreenholm factory complex was built with one purpose in mind:

to produce cotton.

Kreenholm was the most modern textile factory

in the Russian empire, and the largest in Europe.

in the Russian empire, and the largest in Europe.

[narrator] At its peak, the factory would house

nearly half a million spindles.

This accounted for ten percent

of all the cotton cloth production in the entire Russian empire.

[narrator] Knoop had lived and worked in Industrial Britain.

In keeping with what he'd seen there,

he stuffed his latest factory with state-of-the-art technology.

[Madis speaking foreign language]

[Madis speaking foreign language]

Most of the machinery was brought here from England and Germany.

So it was quite modern, quite innovative.

For the time, it was very progressive.

[narrator] This new technology wasn't limited to the cotton mills.

[Sascha] Premises were heated by hot water and steam,

and there was illumination through gaslight as well as a ventilation system.

and there was illumination through gaslight as well as a ventilation system.

By 1889, there even was a telephone system installed.

[narrator] The complex grew to accommodate the thousands who came to work here.

And Kreenholm became a town in its own right.

[Madis speaking foreign language]

It had its own schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and bakeries.

[Madis] And even its own currency.

[Madis] And even its own currency.

Kreenholm was more than just a factory.

It was so large, it operated more like a city-state.

[narrator] But life here was far from easy.

[Madis speaking foreign language]

The workers were not happy with the conditions

and the low wages.

[Madis] And some of the managers treated them badly too.

They wanted better conditions and that's how the seeds of protests are sown.

They wanted better conditions and that's how the seeds of protests are sown.

[narrator] Kreenholm was now ripe for revolution.

[narrator] In the mid-19th century,

the working classes throughout the Russian empire

were treated like chattel.

And in Estonia, the large Kreenholm factory complex,

was no exception.

The Russian empire is one of the last places in Europe to industrialize.

They do it very quickly and they do it on a massive scale.

They do it very quickly and they do it on a massive scale.

So, small surprise,

their issues with work conditions, worker's health.

Kreenholm also used child labor

from an orphanage in St. Petersburg.

[narrator] In its's heyday, you would not have wanted to be one of the workers here.

It was absolutely brutal.

[Madis speaking foreign language] The majority of workers

came here from small Estonian villages.

The working conditions were really tough.

The temperature, vibration, noise, and the dust.

The temperature, vibration, noise, and the dust.

The dust was the worst, the most serious.

[narrator] Despite their horrifying treatment,

peasants of the feudal Russian empire

had not yet challenged the system.

But at the Kreenholm factory complex, that was about to change.

In 1872,

an outbreak of cholera fueled the growing unrest.

an outbreak of cholera fueled the growing unrest.

Many of Kreenholm's workers fell ill and died.

Corpses were being carried through Kreenholm in full view of the factory's population.

And it must have been grim,

wondering if you would be the epidemic's next victim.

In light of the cholera epidemic,

they wanted permission to return home to their villages.

But their pleas to temporarily leave, fell on deaf ears.

In August, 1872, they decide enough is enough, and they go on strike.

In August, 1872, they decide enough is enough, and they go on strike.

[narrator] And when the factory's internal police force got involved,

it turned into a riot.

It kick-started a violent confrontation

between the employers and the workers.

[Madis speaking foreign language]

The army was called in to calm things down.

Some people say that at that time,

it was the biggest protest, in Russia.

[Sascha] The epidemic triggered the most serious labor unrest

that Russia and Estonia had ever seen.

[narrator] In Kreenholm, they eventually managed to quell the unrest.

And the factory kept on rolling.

[Amma] At the turn of the 20th century,

an eight-hour working day was introduced,

and life for the workers became a little bit easier.

The factory thrived.

[narrator] Yet the touchpaper of descent had been lit in the Russian empire.

[narrator] Yet the touchpaper of descent had been lit in the Russian empire.

[Madis speaking foreign language]

The protest had influenced other industrial cities,

even St. Petersburg,

which is very close to here.

Workers became braver.

They started demanding things from the government

and from their bosses.

[narrator] Ultimately, riots around the empire, like here at Kreenholm,

led to the 1917 Russian Revolution,

that not only spelled the end of the empire, but also changed the world.

When Estonia broke away from Russia,

the island's cotton factories

carried on regardless.

[Sascha] By the First World War,

the factory was employing 10,000 people,

producing 17 and a half tons of yarn,

and almost 47,000 miles of fabric a year.

[narrator] In 1940, Estonia became part of the Russian empire once more.

[narrator] In 1940, Estonia became part of the Russian empire once more.

This time, under Soviet rule.

[Dominic] At its height in the 1970s,

the plant covered 32,000 acres and employed 12,000 people.

When Estonia regained it's independence,

Kreenholm was privatized,

but the company continued to lose money.

The number of its workers dwindled over the years,

until in 2010, it went bankrupt.

[Madis speaking foreign language]

This is the last of the machinery tools.

This is the last of the machinery tools.

The rest was sent to be scrapped

once the factory had shut down.

This is the only machine that was spared.

[narrator] The Kreenholm factory complex maintains its place

at the vanguard of revolution.

In retrospect, the speed and conditions of industrializations there,

In retrospect, the speed and conditions of industrializations there,

were creating a sort of perfect mix

for political radicalism to spread.

And you can see the origins of that,

or at least a foreshadowing of it,

in what happened to Kreenholm.