Abstract: This article is dedicated to the peculiarities of the use of archival documents in studying the history of Soviet industrial enterprises based on the large, city-planning enterprise of the local traditional industry – Sevastopol plant of shipboard lighting engineering “Mayak”. The authors meticulously examine different types of archival documents and their informational potential for studying operation of the enterprise. The focus of attention is the acts of acceptance and transfer report, annual reports on the workforce, salaries and regulation, as well as the materials of the trade union, and other documents. The article is based on previously unpublished archival documents on the history of Sevastopol industry that have not been previously introduced into the scientific discourse. The author explore separate episodes of the history of the plant, its establishment, evolution, and key results. The main conclusions lies in determination of the types of archival documents, which were most informative in studying the history of the enterprise. The authors indicate that archival funds, and annual reports in particular, are well preserved and contribute to examination of operation of the enterprise. It is underlined that Sevastopol plant of shipboard lighting engineering “Mayak”, which virtually ceased to operate after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, was one of the most significant and dynamically developing industrial enterprises of the city in the 1960s – 1970s. It is worth noting that currently there are projects aimed at the revival of industrial potential of Sevastopol, one of which is the technology part on the territory of the former plant “Mayak”.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36156

Abstract: The topic of decision-making in the sphere of foreign policy propaganda and counter-propaganda in the USSR of the mid XX century is poorly studied within the Russian historiography. The object of this research is the administrative decision-making process by political and administrative authorities in the context of reversal of directions and development of the new techniques in the Soviet foreign policy. The subject of this research is the organization of work on counter-propaganda in the process of preparing and hosting the American Exhibition in Moscow in 1959. The goal consists in determination of specificity of administrative activity in the sphere of propaganda and counter-propaganda. The author set the following tasks: identification of the organizational-administrative forms of ideological activity on the organization of exhibition; determination of the algorithm for making administrative decisions in this sphere; description of the tasks solved by the administrative authorities at different stages of this process depending on the implemented techniques. Research methodology is based on the documentary analysis (informative and textological) using the materials from the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History. The main conclusion lies in revealing the specificity of decision-making at different stages conducting such activity. The first stage is the analysis of actions of the American side and the forecast of possible response of the Soviet citizens to the information acquired during exhibition. This resulted in the development of preliminary proposals on adopting the measures to reduce the propaganda effect of the exhibition. The second stage is the political decision-making on holding the counter-propaganda events, development and approval of the particular action plan at the session of the Municipal Committee of CPSU. This stages mars the establishment of the two blocks of measures were formed: distraction of the Soviet citizens from exhibition, and measures on reduction of the propaganda effect (counter-propaganda). The third stage indicates positive perception of the exhibition by the Soviet citizens, which did not fully resolved the set tasks, and thus, required additional measures that would give the appearance of the critical attitude of Soviet people towards the exhibition.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36045

Abstract: The subject of this research is the historical conditions for the creation of Visegrád Group – subregional organization of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. The collapse of the system of pro-communist regimes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe allowed the local dissident circles to create the “ideological” framework for subregional organization, which is based on the idea of the Central European identity. In the late 1980s, the idea of subregional cooperation in the socialist camp won support of a number of Western European countries. However, the initiative on the development regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe was taken over by the United States. The United States prompted the decision of the G7 member-states on the transfer of the European Commission a coordinating role in assisting Poland and Hungary as the flagships for conducting political and economic liberalization in Central and Eastern Europe. The novelty of this research consists in the analysis of attempts of subregional cooperation outside the framework of the European Economic Community in the late 1980s. Attention is also given to the previously unstudied criticism of the process of accession of the countries of Visegrád Group to the European Economic Community. Critical assessments substantiated by ineffectiveness of the programs of assisting the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as by posing threats to the stability of the European Economic Community member-states due to inclusion of the former socialist countries into the united Europe. The main conclusion lies in the statement that the collapse of the socialist camp at the turn of the 1980s – 1990s actualized the pursuit of identity in the new world by the Central and Eastern European countries. The oath of European integration was selected as a universal method for solution of this problem. However, regional cooperation remained a relevant question, since rapprochement with the Western Europe alone could not eliminate all the contradictions between the countries. The cooperation between Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia became the most successful example of such cooperation and served as the prototype for creation of other subregional structures.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36230

Abstract: The subject of this research is the formation of the higher command personnel of the foreign order regiments in 1654. The article examines the details of the biographies of 37 commanders of the foreign order regiments that existed by the beginning of the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, namely their origin in Russia, foreign service experience, production in the ranks, ethnic composition, attitude towards Orthodoxy, army allocation in the campaign of 1654, and share of troops they led in the chief armies. The work is based on the wide array of documentary materials of IInozemsky Prikaz (Office for the Affairs of the Foreigners) and Posolsky Prikaz (Ambassadorial Office); some of the materials are newly introduced to the scientific discourse. This article is first to explore the biographies of majority of commanders of foreign order regiments in 1654. Analysis is conducted on their origin, production in the Russian prior to the Russo-Polish War, participation in the campaign of 1654, ethnic composition, confession; classification is offered based on the service experience in Western European countries. The analysis of officer “services” acknowledges that the foreign order regiments in the chief armies were led by the most competent newcomer foreigners with the Western European military experience. The young Russian officers service led by the experienced foreigners became a pivotal stage in the formation of the national officer corps.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36531

Abstract: Throughout the XX century, the demographic policy of the Soviet State was aimed mostly at working-age population or labor resources, taking into account regional and territorial aspects. Demographic change of the early XXI century was the result of political events of the 1990s, when the concept of population policy was under the radar of the government. The socioeconomic cataclysms destabilized the employment structure of population, caused deterioration of living standards, which affected the demographic characteristics of the XXI century. The demographic policy crisis of the late XX century generated one of the crucial organizational issues faced by the northern regions. This article is dedicated to the main demographic trends in the northern regions of Buryatia, which were affected by the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, since completion of the construction project until stabilization of socioeconomic situation in the country by the early 2010s. In the course of construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, Buryatia took the lead in terms of birth rate, and ranked last in mortality index per thousand people. This testified to relative density of young poplar and children in the age structure, as well as stable population reproduction with insignificant demographic fluctuations.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36489

Abstract: The object of this research is the postcolonial theory, while the subject is its impact upon the historical, and namely, historical-anthropological research of Latin America. The author examines such peculiarities of post-colonialism as the problem of identification, the “oppressed”, the importance of linguistic component of scientific description, as well as the political bias of this direction. Attention is turned to the process of adaptation of postcolonial theory to Latin American scientific foundation; emphasis is placed on the fact that the region has its own tradition of interpretation of the colonial past that results in occurrence of the so-called phenomenon of decolonial turn within the Latin American humanities. Based on the comparative method and qualitative content analysis of the works dedicated to postcolonial theory, the author demonstrates the presence of a wide range of opinions of Latin American researchers on such concepts as “colonialism: and “Latin Americanism”. The conclusion is made that the intense discussion on the theoretical aspects of colonial and decolonial theory may underlie the new vector in the historical studies of Latin America. At the same time, decolonial turn alongside postcolonial theory, raise a number of questions, the solution of which is vital for the development of accurate methodology for further scientific research. For the Russian Latin American scholars, the new trends turn into a special challenge that should be considered in carrying out historical and anthropological research.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36458

Abstract: The goal of this article is to examine the images of the Sakhalin penal servitude captured in the works of foreigners who visited the island in the late XIX – early XX centuries. The perception of foreigners draw interests due to the fact that not only the Sakhalin penal servitude, but the island itself were the embodiment of the image of “Other”, which found reflection in the narrative sources left by foreign travelers and scholars. The comparative analysis indicates that foreigners had two polar opinions about the Sakhalin penitentiary facilities, a well as the future of the island: optimistic and pessimistic. In many aspects, they neither contradicted nor complemented each other; the polemic that unfolded around the development of Sakhalin Island of that time divided the Russian society into two opposing sides. Some, relying to the positive forecasts of geologists and agronomists, as well as military necessity, offered bright prospects of the Island. Others pointed at mismatch of the official data and the reality, and doubted the positive outcome. The question of detaining criminals on Sakhalin, including state prisoners, aggravated the situation and intensified disputes. The article aims to explain the reason why one or another foreign author took the side of the “optimists” or “pessimists” in the polemics.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36056

Abstract: This article raises the virtually unstudied in Russian historiography topic on the development of resorts of the south coast of Crimea during 1914–1919, the World War I, and revolutionary events of 1917. The situation in the Russian tourism sector in the years of World War I is consonant with the current situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Russian people, who prefer vacationing abroad, descended on the Russian resorts, which were not ready for such turn of events. This caused a public discussion on the topic of improving the Russian health treatment facilities, the materials on which are barely introduced into the historical discourse. The theme of economic and sociocultural development of the south coast of Crimea in the early XX century, which until recently was farmed out to historians and art historians, remains relevant. In the course of working on this article in the libraries and archives, the author reveals and introduces into the scientific discourse various types of sources that can shed light on the transformation of the south coast of Crimea after the beginning of the World War I. The three most promising vectors for further development of the topic are outlined: work with verbatim reports of the Congress on the improvement of health treatment facilities (1915), advertising materials and documentation of the newly established resort towns Laspi and Foros, as well as the sources of historical memory (memoirs, correspondence, diaries), which reflect the everyday life in the resorts of the south coast of Crimea during the wartime and revolutionary period.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36282

Abstract: The subject of this research is the concept of nobleness “l’honnêteté” as the category of ethical and spiritual life in the French society of the XVII century. The ideas of “l’honnêteta” promted the formation of the new cultural and intellectual elite, anew ethos that was relatively supranational and standing above classes, adapted to court and secular life. The focus of the discussion that unfolded in the early XVII century is the question of whether it is possible to become a noble person by cultivating certain personality traits close to the ideal, or nobleness is an inherent quality and determined by social position in the existing hierarchy. The answer to this crucial question of the era had to destroy the stereotypes of medieval mentality. The philosophy of “l’honnêtetit” legitimized the infiltration of the third estate into the ruling class – nobles of the robe and petty nobility. The discussion around nobleness and the new ideal of a noble person performed the function of adaptation of the elites to the changing social conditions – the strengthening absolutism. The debate on the definition of a noble person continued unabated throughout the XVII century. However, by the second half of the XVII century, it was no longer relevant and completely replaced by the gallant ideal. The Russian historical literature did not give due attention to studying the “theory of nobleness”, which defines the relevance of this research. The focus of attentions shifts onto the new ideal that determines behavioral and communication pattern, system of education, and generated French society in the early XVII century; the ideals, which along with the French language and gallant culture, spreads across Europe and comes to Russia.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36138

Abstract: This article examines the norms of canon law, which regulated the actions of the Catholic missionaries in Crimea since the emergence of first missions in the XIII century until the creation of eparchies in the early XIV century. Comprehension of the legal framework of Catholic missions is necessary for further research of social history of the region. The bulls Cum hora undecimal alongside Vos igitur and Gratias agimus, establish preferential legal regime on private matters that differs from the Western European canon law. Each question raised in the pontifical document is compared with the canonical norms of Western Europe and isolated cases on the territory of Crimea. Although papal bulls have always been used by the researchers of medieval Crimea, the legal content of these documents was usually outside the focus of attention. The author analyzes the content of the papal bulls through the prism of canon law of the Catholic Church, theological and legal discussions of the XIII – XIV centuries. Legal regime in the missionary territory was established in form of privileges and right to dispensation. The papal bull Cum hora undecima of 1245, repeatedly has been reissued repeatedly without significant amendments, is of particular importance for the researchers . In the questions of dispensation, consecration of churches and sacred objects, and granting of indulgences, the missionaries received the authority equal to the bishops and legates of the apostolic see. The converted to Catholicism local residents assumed a derogation in terms of closely related marriages, while clerics of the Eastern churches retained their rank and the right to stay married.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36186

Abstract: Russian history of the early XX century marks a landmark event – establishment of the State Duma, which was the “representation of people” in the government system of the Russian Empire and the emergence parliamentarism in Russia. The “memory studies” methodology elucidates the dramatic history of the State Duma by describing behavioral patterns of the deputies and motivation for their actions, as well as offers a new perspective on this institution of power as the image imprinted in memory of the deputies: diary notes during sessions of the Duma, and memoirs written abroad. The historians dealing with the “memory studies” genre bring the image of “era” to the forefront: historical events in the perception of their contemporaries, participants, witnesses, as well as individual experience, rational assessments, and emotional experiences captured in the diaries, correspondence, and memoirs, which are the sources for studying historical memory. These texts trace the dependence of life path of the deputies, representatives of the Russian political elite, and their personal stories on the fate of the Russian Empire. Such “dependence” is manifested in the chain “memory-identity-trauma”, which is the focus of attention in “memory studies”.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36455

Abstract: This article refers to the memoirs of Countess Praskovya Sergeevna Uvarova as the source that sheds light on the peasant reform of 1861 in the Uvarovs family estate, as well as allows assessing the degree of participation of the representatives of enlightened society in the Great Reforms of 1860s–1870s, determines the impact of these reforms upon the personal story of the author of memoirs. Understanding the events of everyday life alongside the scale of the figure of Countess P. S. Uvarova of the selected source are valuable for reconstructing the landmark events and processes in the country, one of which was the abolition of serfdom in 1861. The article employs biographical method to reconstruct the personal story of P. S. Uvarova and the historical events of that time through her emotional experiences. This opens a new perspective on the events of the past. Analysis of the source describes all the stages of the reform, from the announcement of the Manifesto of February 19, 1861 and response of the enlightened society, to the measures on land development is a single county through the prism of the direct participant of these events.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36124

Abstract: The object of this research is the declassified transcript of the US National Security Council Meeting of July 9, 1981, dedicated to introduction of the economic and political restrictions on building of the Soviet gas main pipeline. The subject of this research is the analysis information-bearing capabilities of the office documentation of the US National Security Council Meetings for conducting the scientific assessment of sanctions policy of the US government against the Soviet Union in the 1980s as part of directives on restricting the access of the Soviet Union to foreign markets. The article examines the published protocol the US National Security Council Meeting and related documents that contain information on creating the regime to impede the construction of the gas main pipeline to Europe. The novelty of lies in the fact that this article is first within the framework of historiographical analysis to study the plans of the US President R. Reagan on interruption of the active efforts of the Soviet Union to supply Western Europe with energy. Publication of the document clearly demonstrates that the ideas of restarting the trade-economic development of the Soviet Union were later implemented in other countries in the XXI century, when the Russian Nord Stream pipeline became one of the crucial vanguards within the system of control of the US national security interests in Europe. Based on the newly introduced documents from the foreign archives of the CIA, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, materials of the US periodical press, and memoirs, the author explores the options prepared by the US agencies aimed at complete shutdown, and restriction of access of the participants of the Soviet-German gas pipeline deal to foreign markets and resources, as well as the response of business community to trade embargo with the USSR.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36393

Abstract: This article examines the establishment of government structures responsible for conducting privatization, as well as the rapid evolution that they underwent overt the period from 1991 to 1993. The struggle of various political forces resulted in creation of the two departments responsible for conducting privatization – the State Property Committee and the Federal Agency for State Property Management. The author elucidates the factors of their creation, analyzes the aspects of the political struggle between various Russian elite groups that influenced the structure of privatization bodies. Analysis is also conducted on the practical activity of both “privatization” bodies and the State Property Committee and the Federal Agency for State Property Management during the 1991–1993. The following conclusions were made: 1. The bodies responsible for privatization were created for political reasons, and despite the outlined objectives, were not assigned the task of effectively selling state property. 2. The State Property Committee was formed as part of I. S. Silaev’s government for engaging enterprises from the union jurisdiction to the Russian jurisdiction. 3. The Federal Agency for State Property Management was established to obstruct the government of I. S. Silaev in managing privatization; however, due to imminent resignation of this government and formation of the new Yeltsin-Gaidar government with the dominant position held by another elite group – “young reformers” – it was no longer relevant all the way until 1993.