Abstract: The subject of this research is the information potential of the source complex of archival documents dedicated to the history of Sevastopol Central Research Institute “Compass” in the Central State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation of St. Petersburg. Since Sevastopol was not only an industrial, but also a scientific and technological center, the engineering departments lead unique developments, which were later implemented in various sectors nationwide. Both, enterprises and engineering departments were integrated into a unified all-Union system, which justifies using not only the city archive, but also central archives to find sources on the history of industrial development of Sevastopol during the Soviet period. This article is dedicated to determination and detailed analysis of the documents related to the history of Sevastopol Central Research Institute “Compass”. The authors dwell on the types of the preserved departmental documents, provide explicit examples, and analyze the peculiarities of documentation. The work is based on the range previously unpublished archival documents. The conclusion is made that materials from the fund of the Central Research Institute “Compass” of the Central State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation of St. Petersburg demonstrates the place and role of Sevastopol branch within the system of this organization, unlike the local documents stored the city archive of Sevastopol, which are focused on the local tasks and problems, and do not fully reflect the structural issues of the entire Scientific Production Association. Analyzing the extracted archival information on the Scientific Production Association “Compass”, the authors conclude that both the association itself and the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry of the Soviet Union were focused on strengthening integration and interrelation of enterprises both within the Central Research Institute “Compass “ and industry as a whole, which manifested in establishment of the Council of the Scientific Production Association “Compass”; its documents are also stored in the fund.

Keywords: history of industrial enterprises, instrumentation, business history, source research, design department, industry, Sevastopol, History, archival science, socio-economic history

Abstract: This article is dedicated to portrait images in Western European porcelain of the XVIII century. Research is conducted on the works created in various European countries, such as Germany (Meissen), France (Sevres), Austria (Vienna), and England (Wedgwood Pottery Manufactory). Prominent masters of porcelain –Kendler, Boizot, Grassi – are the authors of the portraits. Sculptural portrait images of August III – painter of the court of the French Queen Marie Antoinette and the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II are notable for exquisite artistic merit. The article reviews porcelain sculpture, as well as oil painted portraits. Interpretation of the images manifests the features of three styles characteristic to art of the XVIII century: Baroque, Rococo and Classicism. Portrait images reflect the themes typical to the Age of Enlightenment. The article describes the peculiarities of the creations of artists who worked in various European porcelain manufactories. Research methodology is based on the detailed stylistic analysis of the works of Baroque, Rococo and Classicism; fundamental examination of the works in historical sequence for determining the evolutionary changes; comparative analysis for revealing national and authorial specificities. The novelty is defined by the fact that this article is first to comprehensively analyze the portrait images in porcelain of such countries as Germany, France, and Austria of the XVIII century, as well as in identification of the features characteristic to different artists.

Keywords: Grassi, Boizot, Kändler, Vienna, Sèvres, Meissen, porcelain, Baroque, Rococo, Classicism

Abstract: The subject of this research is the political relations that developed between the Czech national politicians of Bohemia and the French diplomatic mission in Austria-Hungary in the early 1870s. Analysis is conducted on the initial stage of Czech political Francophilism. The article employs the historical-genetic method that allows tracing the establishment and development of the indicated ties. Comparative-historical method is used for describing the specificity and important aspects of the Czech-French contacts of the early 1870s in relation to 1860s, as well as on the background of parallel Czech-Russian relations. The novelty is defined by the fact that this topic, namely the Czech political Francophilism, has not been previously covered within the Russian historiography. The main conclusion lies in the thesis that in the early 1870s Czech politicians and French diplomats manifested equal and mutual interest for the first time. Both parties pursued to exert pressure on Vienna: the French – to entice over the Third Republic in the conflict with Prussia, and the Czechs – to force change the status of the Czech lands in the monarchy. The analysis demonstrates that the Czech politicians were exceedingly pragmatic: if in the end of 1870 they openly supported France, then in the beginning of 1871 they have ignored the initiatives of French diplomats. This is substantiated by the potentially successful negotiations with the imperial center. Moreover, the political Francophilism suggested the desire of the Czechs to show the strategic (economic, political, and cultural) significance of the lands of the Czech Crown not only in Austria-Hungary, but also in the European space.

Keywords: the Czech issue, Czech-French relations, František Palacký, František Ladislav Rieger, francophilism, France, Bohemia, Czech lands, Austria-Hungary, Albert Lefaivre

Abstract: Reindeer herding is inextricably associated with the economic practice of Sami people. The subject of this research is the reindeer herding among Sami population of Kolsky Uyezd in the late XVIII century. The object of this research is the statistical reports of 1764, 1784, and 1785. The statistical sources of various periods are introduced into the scientific discourse, which allows analyzing such topics as demography, physical-geographical peculiarities of the territory, economic activity, and everyday life of the population, as well as reconstructing the state of reindeer herding among Sami people of Kolsky Uyezd during the period under study, and comparing the acquired results with the data for the XIX century. The sources also provide information on reindeer herding among Russian population; therefore, the article aims to determine the importance of this economic sector outside the Sami society. The scientific novelty is defined by the absence of works dedicated to reindeer herding among Sami people of Kolsky Uyezd for the period under review. The main conclusions are as follows: Sami population of Kolsky Uyezd of the late XVII century cannot be considered as traditional reindeer herders, as it was rather a small-scale cattle farm, fulfilling mostly food and transportation functions; the number of reindeer in the Sami pogosts was uneven; increase in the number of reindeer was noticed in the second half of the XVIII century, which testifies to the growing role of this economic sector (however, in the eastern part of the Kola Peninsula alone); in the economy of the Russian population, reindeer herding performed a support function.

Keywords: statistical statements, reindeer, vezha, pogost, Sami, reindeer husbandry, Kola uyezd, Arkhangelsk province, indigenous peoples, traditional branches of the economy

Abstract: In light of the aspect that social development is a combination of stable and innovative phenomena, the emergence and implementation of which depends on the limited range of factors, it should not theoretically appear as a problem for the scholars to forecast the vectors of social development. In other words, if society depends on the trajectory of its previous development and are rare instances of the individuals going beyond the traditional institutional blockages of innovative progress, the historical science should provide ample opportunities for forecasting the events, namely of economic nature. Therefore, a number of historians of the XX century advances a thesis on the need to apply mathematical tools to the analysis of human behavior in the historical context. The trend for using mathematical tools in human resource management and humanities research has recently gained relevance. For a long time, this methodology was considered equally suitable for describing events of the past and predicting future events. The experience of using forecasting models and mechanisms created by historians is however quite contradictory. The scholars are not always able to predict the vector of social progress of degree of regression. This article aims to explain the reasons for this situation.

Keywords: information and analytical system, intelligence, CASCON, chaos theory, agency, cliometrics, cyclicality, game theory, innovations, expert judgment method

Abstract: The article is dedicated to the peculiarities of settlement structure in Toropetsky Uyezd of the XVI century. In the XIV – XV centuries Toropets land was the eastern outskirts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in 1503 joined the Moscow state. The cadastre of 1540 describes the structure of Toropetsky Uyezd as the clusters of settlements, characterized by commonness of names and detected both in state (58 clusters) and local (79 clusters) lands. They differ in size, i.e. the number of settlements and court indicators. Mapping of the clusters of settlements reveals their location in the territory of uyezd, land area, and population density. Geographical reconstruction is carried out via geoinformation technologies. It is demonstrated that most developed part of the uyezd is Toropets Volost and the adjacent territories, such as eastern districts of the uyezd in the basin of the Western Dvina River, developed in the pre-Mongol period, and the basin of tributaries of the Kunya River. The model of settlement structure in Toropetsky Uyezd most likely corresponds to the type of land relations inherent to Syabry community, in which peasants jointly owned land, agricultural and fishery areas. Such settlement structure retained due to the peripheral position of Toropets and its relative autonomy. Common names served as a means for identification of the object of taxation. This settlement model gradually diminishes after Toropets has joined the Moscow State, first and foremost it pertains to the local lands. Common names are preserved as the geographical landmarks; while the individual names are widely used within such clusters, as the court indicators increase.

Keywords: GIS, landowning, community, settlement structure, rural settlement, Toropets, 16 century, historical geography, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Moscow state

Abstract: This article analyzes the data described in the most ancient Russian scribal book – Derevskaya Pyatina of Novgorod Land compiled in the early 1499 based on the land documentation of 1495/96 – 1496/97. The object of this research is the records on seigniorial revenue collected from two volosts – Mikhailovskaya Smerda and Berezayskaya Smerda. The choice of these volosts for analysis is explained by accurate dating in scribal books, as well as by the fact that the income of all villages in these two volosts was calculated by general norm. The subject of this research is the correspondence of the description of revenue by villages to the results calculated by the scriber, as well as correlation between the amount of payment collected from the village and the economic indicators of this village. The novelty of this work lies in the analysis of statistical data taking into account that the scribal book of the XV century contains the records of different times: the composition of households and impost of villages were recorded at the time of the scribal description, while the revenue was calculated a little bit later. This explains certain discrepancies between the payment rate applied to the village and its economic characteristics. Special attention is given to verification of statistical record of scribal book for errors, such as miscount. The author suggests that the criterion for defining the rate of return for the village was not an abstract value – taxation in “obzha”, but the number of households that could be easily determined without special competency of the observer. This hypothesis can be tested only in terms of using the proposed methodology for analyzing other lands according to the scribal books of the XV – XVI centuries.

Keywords: payment rate, multilayered historical source, accounting history, source studies of the manuscript, seignorial income, the economy of a medieval village, Novgorod cadaster books, abnormal payment size, account errors, peasant budget

Abstract: The subject of this research is the relationship between the government and society in Russian province of the early XX century in the course of creating institutions intended to solve the problems that arose during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The goal of this research is to examine the establishment of public institutions in Kaluga Province in 1904, which cooperated with the government in such spheres as aid to wounded and ill soldiers and sailors, navy, and mobilized military personnel. The article leans on the unpublished materials of the State Archive of the Kaluga Oblast, namely documents of the Governor's office, and other sources; employs narrative and comparative-historical methods. The conclusion is made that the leadership of the Russian Empire made attempt, at times untoward, to interact with society, which could have alleviated the effect of activity of the radical forces in the approaching revolution. The author describes how the provincial government, following the will of the central authorities, utilized the potential for interacting with society. An overview is given to the realities of emergence of the institutions for the help the cause of war, their structure, and specificity of response of the authorities to local initiatives. An important factor in failure to establish effective dialogue between the provincial government and society was the somewhat formal approach of the authorities towards inviting persons who have power in society to the institutions. The valuable experience in organizing public institutions in 1904 indicates the inclusion of persons relevant to management, with understanding the essence of problematic, representatives of business circles. The channels of relationship between the government and society should have been established not shortly before the revolution, but in a more stable period of 1890s. The conclusions reveal the prerequisites for the revolutionary disturbances of the XX century in Russia, and are relevant at the present.

Keywords: revolution, provinces, society, public institutions, Kaluga province, Russian history, authorities, Russian empire, Russian-Japanese War, government

Abstract: This research is dedicated to the analysis of the role of the Soviet Union in the United nations on settling the Greek conflict (late 1947 – 1951), which drew the attention of international community. The article covers the process of curtailing the UN programs due to deterioration of relations between the USSR and the United States in the conditions of active bipolar confrontation, which involved Greece. The goal lies in examination of the approaches, tactics, and nature of the Soviet delegation in the United Nations on resolution of the international and regional crises. Based on the documentary materials of the Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations, assessment is given to the results of the efforts undertaken by the Soviet government on settling the Greek conflict. The scientific novelty consists in comprehensive examination of the positions of the USSR in UN on settling the Greek conflicts using the relatively unknown documentary materials of the United Nations. In the scientific literature, this topic has not previously become the subject of special research. The author reveals the method of settlement of the Greek conflict. Having compared the positions of the parties to the conflict, the author describes the course of political struggle around making final decisions on resolution of the complicated and controversial Greek conflict. The conclusion is made the achieved results were not satisfactory for all parties, since their interests differed. Overall, the UN played a positive role as an international arbiter, since the critical war stage of the Greek conflict has been ceased, and the conflict has been localized with the active participation of the United Nations.

Keywords: cold war, greek conflict, Special Committee, UN Security Council, UN General Assembly, UN, USA, Greece, USSR, soviet diplomacy

Abstract: Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin remains one of the most talked about political figures of the XX century. There is yet no consensus on the state level about his activity: the elite tries to avoid the assessment of controversial and ambiguous periods of national history. Modern political parties develop the image of Stalin within the framework of development of their historical policy. The article analyzes the attitude of the parties towards the Soviet leader, determines the key peculiarities of constructing the image, and ways of using references to the “Stalinist time” in the political struggle of modern Russia. Research methodology employs the legal documents of the most popular parties, speeches and publications of their leaders. The author concludes on the absence of unified approach of modern parties towards the figure of J. V. Stalin. Among large political parties, the “United Russia” has no unequivocal opinion on Stalin, while the rest attribute themselves to apologists and critics. The first group (the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, All-Russian Political Party “Rodina”, “Communists of Russia”) is characterized with high mythologization of the image of the “leader of peoples”, creating the image of the ideal leader, statesman and defender of interest of the country, omitting or justifying all negative actions. The critics of J. V. Stalin differ in their approaches: such parties as LDPR, “Just Russia”, and partially “United Russia”) believe that the crimes of that time are sufficiently studied; while “PARNA” and “Yabloko” insist on large-scale de-Stalinization and decommunization, referring to the practices of Eastern European countries.

Keywords: Spravedlivaia Rossiia, Yabloko, Edinaia Rossiia, historical memory, historical policy, Stalin, KPRF, LDPR, PARNAS, Rodina

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the works of the Russian artist Nikolay Koshelev of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries in the genres of religious and church painting. The introduction of the principles of historicism and realism into the Russian culture of the XIX century discovered a new perspective on religion themed easel paintings, church art and iconography, as well as created opportunities for the new content and formal means for depicting the subjects of painting. The article leans on the monumental cycle “The Passion Journey of Christ” by Nikolai Koshelev for the Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Jerusalem. The article traces the complex intertwinement with of the features of church painting with the features of academic easel religious painting in the context of artistic culture of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries. The detailed analysis of the monumental cycle of “The Passion Journey of Christ” at the Alexander Metochion in Jerusalem (created between 1890 and 1900)  reveals certain peculiarities of the artistic form of Nikolay Koshelev's works in the context of Russian church and religious painting of the XIX - early XX centuries. This topic should be viewed in relation to the general problems of modernization of public consciousness and cultural life in Russia of that time.

Keywords: icon painting, monumental painting, church painting, religious painting, Russian artistic culture, realism, historicism, Nikolay Koshelev, Alexander Compound in Jerusalem, Russian art

Abstract: The object of this research is the processes that took place in the COMECON member-states due instability of the financial sector. The subject of this research is the impact of the economic factor upon the evolution of bipolar system of international relations and sociopolitical sustainability of the Soviet Union during the 1979 – 1983. The article provides a scientific assessment of extent of awareness of the US intelligence on the financial solvency of the COMECON member-states, their ability to meet repayment schedules for both interest and debts, and the consequences of possible default of any of the countries during the financial crisis. The authors set the task to analyze the target points of foreign analytics regarding the “dependency” of Western European enterprises on their Eastern business partners, as well as clarify the extent to which a significant decline in trade between the East and the West affected the Soviet and Western European economy. The use of unpublished foreign and domestic archival documents, as well as foreign periodicals define the novelty of this research. This article is first to disclose the information on how the United States turned the severe financial problems of Eastern European countries for the purpose of political pressure on such issues as Afghanistan, crisis in Poland, and construction of the Soviet gas pipeline. Leaning on the introduced into the scientific discourse CIA documents, assessment is given to the effectiveness of trade and economic policy of the United States and its Western European allies in relation to Eastern Europe. The article also analyses the support of centrifugal tendencies in the economy of the Eastern European countries of the Soviet bloc.

Keywords: lending policy, the Polish crisis, Comecon, detente, trade diplomacy, CIA, Cold War, USA, sanctions, containment policy

Abstract: This article analyzes the activity of the politician, former deputy of the First State Duma of the Russian Empire from the Cadet Party – M. M. Vinaver (1862 – 1926) during the period of emigration. Leaning on the materials from the personal archive of Maxim Vinaver stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, memoir of his contemporaries, as well as the achievements of modern historiography on the topic, the author explores the role of M. M. Vinaver in the work of such political anti-Bolshevist liberal organizations of the first-wave emigrants as the Crimean Regional Government, Russian Society of the League of Peoples, Russian Democratic Association, as well as private-held sessions of the former members of the Constituent Assembly. The scientific novelty of this research consists in gaining historical experience of the formation and evolution of anti-Bolshevist liberal political projects and acquiring historical knowledge on the emigrated political elite of the Russian Empire during the transition historical period. The research result lies in tracing the evolution of views of the politician on the methods, strategies and form of struggle against the Bolsheviks; as well as in the analysis of his projects on reconstruction of the Russian State based on the legal principles of civil society, as well as some of his psychological characteristics. The author indicates the active participation and crucial role of Maxim Vinaver in life of the white émigré overall and its political liberal organizations in particular.

Keywords: Crimean Regional Government, Russian Constituent Assembly, RDA, RSLN, cadets, Maxim Vinaver, russian diaspora, russian emigrants, russian revolution, russian liberalism

Abstract: The subject of this article is the tobacco cultivation in Tauride Province in the late XIX – early XX centuries. The author provides information on the amount of land allocated for tobacco cultivation, types of tobacco, tobacco plants and their owners, manufactured tobacco products, as well as retail of tobacco products. An overview is given to the factors that affected the demand for tobacco products in this historical period and uneven level of tobacco production. The article leans on the vast array of sources, including archival materials from the State Archive of the Republic of Crimea and the Russian State Historical Archive, statistical data, as well as reference material. The scientific novelty consists in the attempt to give a broader picture of tobacco production in the territory of Tauride Province, as this topic did not receive due attention within the Russian historiography. The conclusion is made that the second half of the XIX century marks a breakthrough in the development of tobacco cultivation in Tauride Province, associated with the legislative acts on taxation, as well as construction of new transport routes. This turned tobacco cultivation into one of the leading segments of agriculture in Yalta, Simferopol and Feodosia Uyezds, which have the most favorable natural and climatic conditions for the development of this industry. However, significant decline in the number of tobacco farmers was observed by the beginning of the XX century, as well as the acres of land allocated for tobacco cultivation. This was caused by unfavorable conditions for retail of tobacco products, decrease in yield capacity, quality of tobacco, as well as excess of supply over demand for tobacco products.

Keywords: Asia Minor tobacco, Mesaksudi tobacco factory, Stamboli tobacco factory, smokables, smoking tobacco, tobacco industry, tobacco cultivation, economy, Tauric province, American tobacco