Abstract: The subject of this research is the examination of socioeconomic development of post-revolutionary Kabardino-Balkaria. The experience of engaging women in public space and industrial manufacturing draws particular interest. In the conditions of transition towards large-scale enterprise, women turns into an active participant of public life and social structure. Highlanders were engaged to industries that did not require high skills. Professional activity was accompanied by educational work, as well as organization of meetings and conferences. The article explores archival documents that are newly introduced into the scientific discourse, which reflect the transitional stage of inclusion of women in the Soviet sociopolitical space. The scientific novelty lies in the study of the participation of women of Kabardino-Balkaria in the industrial manufacturing over the period from 1920s to 1930s, ethnic peculiarities of overcoming the difficulties related to industrialization, and creation of conditions for its liberation. It is demonstrated that in the conditions of personnel shortage, the participation of female highlanders in the industrial manufacturing was not only of ideological and political importance, but also contributed to the formation of a new social and cultural infrastructure. The emergence of labor force, growth of urban population and engagement of women in manufacturing had progressive meaning and significantly changed the people’s mentality. Women became a full member of society, their rights were codified by law, and the plan for gender equality outlined by the Soviet state was on the path to implementation.

Keywords: women's labor, gender policy, industrialization, Soviet power, industrial production, gender equality, emancipation, woman, women's status, propaganda

Abstract: The question of the evolution of industrial motivation is a relatively new area of modern research in economic history. Active research on this topic in Russia began in the 1990s, relying mostly on the sources that characterize social aspects of industrial development of the Russian Empire and Soviet Russia of the 1920s – 1930s. The evolution of industrial motivation at the Soviet enterprises did not receive due attention. This article examines one of the key factors of industrial motivation –differentiation of wages based on the archival and published materials of the large oil and gas company “Tatneft”. The subject of this research is the dynamics of wages among various categories of Tatneft employees over the period from 1950s to 1980s. Research methodology leans on the principles of systematicity and historicism, as well as historical-comparative method and statistical analysis. The novelty lies acquisition of new knowledge on one of the crucial factors of incentivization and motivation of employees, as well as in introduction of new archival sources into the scientific discourse. The author concludes on the tendency towards equalize "net" salaries of different categories of employees of the company; however, the analysis of the dynamics of total wages of Tatneft employees taking into account bonuses, indicates a noticeable discrepancy.

Keywords: soviet industry, USSR, labor incentives, wages, economic history, oil industry, labor motivation, Tatneft, statistical sources, social history

Abstract: The article is devoted to the identification of the content of the representation of the personality of the Moscow tsar Ivan IV in the concept of "sociological history" by V.O. Klyuchevsky. The object of the work is the historiographical discourse of the personality of Ivan the Terrible in the works of professional historians of the nineteenth century. The subject of the study is the representation of the personality of the Moscow autocrat in the historical concept of V.O. Klyuchevsky. The purpose of the work is to reveal the content of V.O. Klyuchevsky's historical ideas about the personality of Ivan the Terrible in the context of the concept of tsarist power in the Moscow centralized state of the XVI century. The methodological basis of the article is the approaches of the new cultural and intellectual history as the history of ideas functioning in a certain socio-cultural context, covering discursive practices and historiographical creativity. The socio-cultural approach allows us to objectively reflect on the historical circumstances that influenced the formation of views and evaluative judgments of the researcher. The author's conclusions are based on the analysis of a fragment of a lecture course devoted to the characteristics of the personality of Ivan the Terrible, positioned as a historiographical source – the work of a historian who implements the function of presenting historical knowledge as scientific and socially oriented. The article concludes that the autocratic model of the state structure of the Moscow centralized state, in many respects, became a product of the patrimonial system that developed in the era preceding the reign of Ivan the Terrible and, from the point of view of V.O. Klyuchevsky, contained a distinct tendency of the predominance of the state over society. Ivan IV, in the concept of V.O. Klyuchevsky, acted as a kind of hostage of a situation when systemic problems were combined with the peculiarities of his upbringing and attitude to the future sovereign during his childhood.

Keywords: public schools, oprichnina, patrimonial system, historiographical discourse, historiographical source, The chosen Rada, historical concept, Moscow Centralized State, autocracy, the personality of Ivan the Terrible

Abstract: The subject of the study is the process of development of environmental protection activities of post-Soviet Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, as well as Iran in the Caspian Sea. The study used such methods of historical research as retrospective analysis, comparative analysis, document analysis, periodization method, systematic approach. The author considers such aspects of the topic as the problem of periodization of complex social processes, the actual periodization of the development of joint environmental activities of the Caspian states, the main characteristics of the stages of development of international relations in the field of environmental activities in the Caspian Sea. The author pays special attention to the problem of awareness by the "Caspian five" of the ecological integrity of the Caspian Sea and the need to develop collective solutions to environmental problems and the protection of the natural diversity of the sea. В  As a result of the analysis, the author's periodization of the development of environmental activities in the Caspian Sea in the post-Soviet period of the history of the region and the characteristics of the selected stages are proposed, which is the novelty of the study and the author's special contribution to the study of the topic. In total, the author identifies three stages that differ qualitatively from each other (the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s). The periodization is based on a qualitative assessment of the development of relations between the national states of the Caspian region within the framework of the regional subsystem of international relations, characterized as the "Caspian node", which distinguishes it from other well-known approaches to periodization and characterizes as promising.

Keywords: Tehran Convention, international agreements, interests, development, Caspian countries, stages, periodization, environmental protection activities, Caspian Sea, The Caspian Constitution

Abstract: One of the famous women of ancient history – Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great – is represented in the sources as a cruel, vindictive and domineering woman. Traditionally, it is believed that the formation of such an image was influenced by the peculiarities of the sources: the non-Greek origin of the authors, the writing of works in later times, misunderstanding of Macedonian customs and mores. The purpose of this work is to consider some well-known facts from the life of the Olympiad in a mythological context. Highlighting the characteristic features that influenced the image of this famous queen that has developed in historiography will allow us to change modern ideas about her. The study used traditional methods and approaches for ancient history. The principle of historicism is necessary for understanding cause-and-effect relationships, the principle of consistency is important for systematization of preserved data about this queen. The general philosophical methods of analysis and synthesis are supplemented by special ones: comparative historical, the method of retrospection. The novelty of this research lies in the author's attempt to show the influence of mythological images and symbols on Hellenistic historiography and highlight the rationalistic constructions of ancient authors. As a result of the research, the author concludes that the image of the Olympiad, which has become entrenched in historiography, was influenced not only by the negative attitude of ancient historians towards it, but also by their attempts to rationally explain events based on knowledge of the consequences. However, the mythological consciousness also left its mark on their work. The life of Alexander the Great was overgrown with myths, and all the people close to him also fell into the sphere of mythological representations. Therefore, in the sources, the image of the queen is not just greatly distorted, but is endowed with symbolic characteristics characteristic of myths.

Keywords: queen of Macedonia, rationalization of the image, mythological tradition, historiography, ancient Macedonia, Philip II of Macedon, Alexander the Great, Olympiad, mythology, symbol

Abstract: The subject of this article is the life of criminal criminals in the Sakhalin penal servitude and their view of the island's penitentiary system. This issue is very important, as it will allow us to take a fresh look at the dispute about the expediency of developing Sakhalin by exiled convicts. Special attention will be paid to the desire of criminal criminals to change their lives by means of labor in a new place, which is what government officials expected from them when planning the Sakhalin colonization project. As a source base, we will use a variety of interviews with prisoners, as well as the memories of the recidivist criminal Fyodor Shirokolobov, who tells, among other things, about his life on the island. In the historiography devoted to the Sakhalin penal servitude, works considering the views of a particular social group on the local penitentiary system are increasingly published. Writers, travelers, officials and even political criminals have already become the subject of various articles and monographs, which cannot be said about criminals. The novelty of our work will consist precisely in showing the attitude of the prisoners to the Sakhalin penal servitude. In the course of the study, we will come to the conclusion that in many respects it was formed under the influence of "Ivanov" - local authorities who were alien to physical work and honest work. This, in turn, became one of the reasons for the failure of the colonization of the island, since without the interest of the bulk of the population in the results of their work, there was nothing to dream of turning the "cursed island" into the "pearl of the Far East".

Keywords: the history of mentality, regional studies, oral history, colonization, criminal offenders, hard labor, link, penitentiary system, Sakhalin, source studies

Abstract: Based on the revealed declassified documents, the paper examines previously unknown sources about the attempts of the American government to support various programs of dissent, freedom of speech and mass media in the USSR and countries where the pro-Soviet regime was supported. The subject of the study is the content of foreign intelligence published and declassified documents describing specific US measures to implement covert actions in Afghanistan in order to counteract the influence and strengthen the position of the USSR, as well as support centrifugal trends in the Soviet Union through the organization and financing of programs to support dissent, the development of radio broadcasting, increasing radio coverage areas, assistance in the publication of Samizdat literature, etc. The object of the work is the documentary correspondence of the US President and key figures of the American establishment on the use of resources for the implementation and promotion of anti-Soviet activities. The article reveals previously unknown details of the preparation of options and the implementation of approved programs of covert actions to discredit the Soviet regime as part of the military campaign in Afghanistan, as well as inside the USSR. The sources allow us to highlight the activities of the US Special Coordinating Committee for the preparation of this strategy. The authors draw attention to the complexity of solving financial issues in the American administration, as well as the size of US financial injections to support destructive forces in the Soviet Union. Such evidence from very authoritative sources significantly expands the source base in the scientific coverage of the facts of the implementation of subversive activities of the United States against the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s.

Keywords: secret actions, human rights, public opinion, CIA, dissent, Media, anti-Soviet campaign, USA, the USSR, international relations

Abstract: The paper considers the problem of the use of allusions to the text of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah by Moscow scribes of the time of Ivan III in the fight against heretics and apostates in the second half of the XV–early XVI century. The study was conducted using comparative and cultural-anthropological methods, which allows us to find out the spiritual state of Russian society during this period, as well as the attitude of the population to key historical processes. The article raised the question of the essence of the concepts of heresy and apostasy at the specified time. Special attention is paid to the political reasons for the actualization of these concepts and the development of the official ideology of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. First of all, it allowed us to draw a conclusion about the importance of the semantic aspect of punishment for religious crimes in the conditions of increasing expectations of the end of the world in 1492. The development of the idea of apostasy as a religious and political crime in the official Moscow ideology of that time was also shown. A special role in the development of this idea was played by the confrontation between Moscow and Novgorod in 1470-1471 . The possible influence of the Book of Isaiah on the semantics of the punishment of representatives of the heresy of "Jews" is noted not only as heretics, but also as apostates. The influence of the Book of Isaiah can be traced in the writings of Joseph Volotsky, one of the initiators of the brutal executions of heretics.

Keywords: the Jews, eschatology, Joseph Volotsky, Ivan III, Novgorod, apostates, heretics, symbolism of punishment, the prophecy, the book of Isaiah

Abstract: The subject of the presented work is the assessment of the US national intelligence regarding the events in the period after the August 1991 crisis in the USSR and the prospects for its development within the framework of the model of the new Union Treaty against the background of centrifugal trends. The key theses included in the approved version of the report of the US intelligence community are characterized as the object of the work. The main attention is paid to the issue of inter-republican relations inside and outside the USSR during the search for consensus when concluding a confederate treaty. The methodology of the work consists of the basic principles of scientific cognition (historicism and objectivity) and special historical research methods: descriptive, comparative, historical-systemic, statistical and problem-chronological. The novelty of the research is determined by the approach in which the causal links between the analytical efforts of the CIA and their true goals are searched, as well as historical sources, many of which are involved in scientific circulation for the first time. The article emphasizes that, according to the CIA's erroneous assessment, the scenario of "confederation" as a result of the collapse of the USSR was less likely due to the unwillingness of many ex-Soviet republics to cede part of their political sovereignty and power to the government of the confederation. It turns out that, according to American analysts, Ukraine was a key player in the domestic political arena outside the RSFSR, which had a huge nuclear potential on its territory. This, in turn, predetermined the fate of this country for decades to come and laid the foundation for the emergence of interstate contradictions with Russia. It is noted that the intelligence community of the United States proposed, in cooperation with other Western countries, to influence the development of events in the territory of the former USSR either according to the scenario of "confederation" or according to the scenario of "free association" with the transfer of issues on defense and arms control to the Russian government.

Keywords: international relations, Yeltsin, Perestroika, The collapse of the USSR, confederation, CIA, Ukraine, arms control, The August putsch, Gorbachev

Abstract: The object of the study is the personal composition of the Moscow Magistrate in 1722 and 1744, as well as various aspects of the formation and functioning of city magistrates in Russia of the XVIII century. The choice of the Moscow Posad, in addition to the importance of its place among the urban settlements of Russia, is due to the fact that both stages of the formation of the composition of magistrate officers in Moscow are provided with sources that fairly fully and in detail reflect the election procedure. In contrast to the available studies, the emphasis is not on the policy of the state authorities in relation to the village population, but on the motives and strategies of the village taxmen themselves, who elected magistrate ministers. An analysis of the composition of the Moscow Magistrate in the 1720s and 1740s demonstrates that the townspeople sought, formally following the letter of the law, with the help of elections to draw the attention of the central government to certain difficulties faced by the townspeople community. In addition to the general village interests, the interests of individual groups that clashed in the struggle were reflected in the election process and the composition of the electors. A comparative analysis of two episodes of the elections to the Moscow Magistrate reveals a complex combination of both conflict and consolidation within the posad at different stages of the formation and functioning of this important structure of city self-government.

Keywords: behavioral strategies, a new social history, posadskaya community, Moscow Magistrate, elections, Regulations of the Chief Magistrate, city self-government, city magistrates, urban reform, history of Russia