DOI: 10.25136/2409-868X.2022.12.39249

Abstract: The paper discusses popular science and fiction (primarily science fiction) works of N.N. Shpanov, the Soviet writer and pilot, one of the founders of military fiction genre in Soviet literature. In his works a certain mood in society, its aspirations and expectations, supported by the country’s political leaders, are mirrored. The article analyzes as well N.N. Shpanov’s activity in the field of promotion of knowledge about aviation, writer's prediction on the course of the upcoming clash with a powerful western power (Germany), made by him on the eve of the Great Patriotic War, and the role of military aviation in this confrontation. The main conclusion of the study is that in the 1920-1930s N.N. Shpanov, having gained technical knowledge and broad experience in the period of his studying at the Polytechnic University, then at aeronautical courses and later on while serving in aviation, in his literary work popularizes new ideas coherent with geographical research, science, and technology, especially aviation. Since the late 1930s in writings of N.N. Shpanov the disposition towards spreading the ideas and policies of the Stalin period’s Soviet propaganda showed itself. The imprint of large-scale historical events, military, and technical concepts reflected in books of N.N. Shpanov makes the analysis of his works substantial as it is firmly bound with the history of science, aviation, and social consciousness in the USSR.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-868X.2021.10.36673

Abstract: This article examines the competition for the Arctic territories between the polar regions that unfolded in the 1920s, which required active development of these lands involving airplanes and airships. At that point, of primary import was the layout of trans-Arctic airways and deployment of flight support facilities in the Arctic territories, with the accompanying use of aviation for ice reconnaissance and rescue expeditions. Special attention is given to the study of the Soviet and international experience in elaboration and implementation of programs on the military and economic development of northern territories. The topic of consistent development of the Arctic involving aviation and aerostatics is reflected not only in scientific and economic programs, but also in state propaganda, publicistic writing and literary works. The novelty of this research consists in the comprehensive approach towards the problems of involving aviation in the Soviet Union during the 1920s for the development of the Arctic, and simultaneously, building the military capacity of the state, and collective perception of the ideas of the development of Arctic territories and aviation. The conclusion is made that the processes of development of polar aviation and division of Arctic territories were the so-called catalyst for each other, which by the early 1930s allowed the Soviet Union to consolidate its position of in the Arctic. The authors’ special contribution lies in examination of various genres of the press as a particular group of sources that had an ideological influence upon public consciousness.