Abstract: Typical variety of modernization in modern historical paradigm
Based on analysis of the existing points of view, this article substantiates the possibility of application of modernization theory to the historical research for various countries, including the period of Imperial Russia. The author underlines that it is necessary to consider the peculiarities of modernization processes in the history of different states, as well as determines that the relevance of modernization discourse suggest the necessary examination of its diverse aspects. In particular, an important problem lies in highlighting and characterizing the types of modernization for revelation of its specificity in various countries. The methodology of this work is based on the classical interpretation of modernization (transition from the traditional society to modern) as the most applicable to historical research. The conclusion is made that most acceptable is the classification of the types of modernization based on the complex approach, which suggests the study of modernization manifestations in multiple spheres of social life. The author’s characteristic is provided of the specificities and processes that take place within the framework of economic, social, demographic, political, and spiritual modernization.

Abstract: The object of this research is the concept “traditional society” as an element of modernization theory. The subject area is justified by the difference in interpretations of the aforementioned concept, primarily, depending on the period of establishment of the modernization paradigm. The relevance of this research is defined by ambiguity of the notion of “modernization”, which complicates the definitions of the main terms of modernization discourse. The author analyzes and compares the theoretical constructs of the Western and Russian scholars regarding the stated concept at different stages of development of the modernization theory. Attention is turned to the interconditionality of interpretations of the traditional society in Western and Russian humanitarian sciences. In methodological aspect, the author identifies modernization in classical variant – as the transition from traditional society to modern, from agrarian to industrial. The conclusion is made about the socioeconomic determinism of outlooks of the first developers of modernization paradigm. In examination of the views of the Western and Russian researchers, the author highlights that the most productive in reference to the definition of “traditional society” consists in a comprehensive approach, which suggests its characteristics in all spheres of live of the society. The author also proposes the original vision of the concept of “traditional society”, as well as its main peculiarities.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of the military factor as a mechanism of Russian modernisation in 1914-1940. The author's main goal is to conduct an analysis of the impact of the First World War on the transition of the Russian state from the agrarian society to the industrial one in terms of spirituality. The article defines the major mental attitudes of Russian peasantry, such as paternalism, piety, monarchism, social collectivism, equalitarian land utilisation, and their transformations in the course of the Russian modernisation during the First World War and interbellum period. The article put special emphasis on the need for organic modernisation processes in Russia as a prerequisite for their successful implementation, because the transition of the Russian Empire from agrarian to industrial society was not of organic nature, which was expressed in asynchronous of economic, political, social and spiritual transformations. The academic novelty of the paper is the interpretation of war as a kind of a "challenge" for the Russian (Slavic) civilisation, and the "response" was the modernisation of Russia in that time. The main conclusion is the assumption that the Great war (1914-1918) was the strongest "accelerator" for the Russian modernisation processes, compared to previous military conflicts involving the Russian Empire. This justified the formation of the deviant model of Russian modernisation, which was expressed in the Soviet variant of the Russian society in terms of spirituality.