Abstract: The subject of this study is the examination of the position of the Turkish press at the very beginning of the Second World War. As the research object of this article, the author put together a set of the leading Turkish newspapers of the time: "Tasvir-i Efkâr (Depiction of Ideas)", "Cumhuriyet (Republic)", "Ulus (People)", "Tan (Dawn)", "Son Posta (Last Post)" , "Akşam (Evening)", "İkdam (Advancement)" and "Vakit (Time)". The author considers various press publications and analyzes the social and political transformations of the Turkish Republic. He also describes the image of the USSR in the periodic press of Turkey in the early days of the Second World War. The methodological basis of this research is constructed on the basic principles of modern historical science: historicism and scientific objectivity, as well as the general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis. The scientific novelty of the presented study lies in the very formulation of the named topic: on the basis of an analysis of the Turkish press, the author seeks to reveal the image of the Soviet Union in the Turkish Republic in the early days of the Second World War. The article's main conclusion is that during the initial period of the Second World War, the Turkish press, on the whole, contained varying opinions on the major international issues of the time, without becoming uniquely on the side of Germany.

Keywords: Image of USSR, Turkish Press, Neutrality of Turkey, World War II, International Relations, Foreign Policy of Turkey, History of Turkey, Mass Media, Newspaper, USSR

Abstract: The aim of this study is to reconstruct the relative chronology of the little-studied period in the history of two city-states in Northern Syria. This is the period between the conquest of Babylon and Aleppo by the Hittite king Mursili I (an event that marks the transition from the Old Babylonian to the Middle Babylonian period and from the Middle Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age) and the time of the military campaigns of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I in Syria (which is well-documented in written sources). The history of Aleppo and Alalakh is examined in the larger context of the military and political history of Western Asia during the named period. The research is based on a sequential comparison of the information from written sources (first of all, the historical preamble to the vassal agreement between the Hittite king Muwatalli II and the king of Aleppo Talmi-Sharru (CTH 75) and the inscription on the statue of the king Idri-mi of Alalakh) and archaeological sources (data resulting from the archaeological studies of Alalakh – Tell Atchana on the territory of modern Turkey). The article includes the historiography of the topic and its critical assessment, providing a new translation and interpretation of certain fragments of the written sources under discussion. The author makes conclusions about the general tendencies in the history of Aleppo and Alalakh and strategies of the great powers of the period (Mitanni and Hatti) towards their new vassals.

Keywords: Alalakh, Northern Syria, Halap, Hittite kingdom, Mitanni, written sources, archaeological sources, vassal treaties, relative chronology, Late Bronze Age

Abstract: The article is a study of the 1930s’ integration process into the Soviet system of the Schutzbund – combatants of the militarized Austrian Socio-Democratic organization, who in February 1934 rebelled against the “Austrofascist” regime of E. Dollfuss. On the basis of archive sources introduced for scientific use for the first time (Politburo guidelines, Communist International documents, investigation files of the victims of the “Great Terror”), the author demonstrates the efforts undertaken by various authorities in the USSR to use the Schutzbund manpower potential, which entered the country through mass immigration, for the benefit of propaganda and industry. Originally placed in a “golden birdcage”, they were deprived of seeing the realities of Soviet life. The subsequent integration process produced positive examples of Austrian workers becoming loyal Soviet citizens, but also instances of growing rejection by a significant number of Schutzbund of the rules of conduct and ideological stereotypes of the Stalin period. The article uses the method of comparative historic analysis, and also the methodology of everyday life history, which lays the foundation for the depiction of the collective portrait of a unique socio-national community within the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s. The Schutzbund joined the political pantheon of the 1930s’Soviet propaganda alongside record-setting aviators and polar explorers who wintered on ice. Before their arrival in the Soviet Union, the only European collective heroes were the communists, although it was no longer a secret that they were not up to the role of leading social progress. The “soldiers of the Vienna barricades” brought a new meaning to the thesis of the contemporary intensification of the class struggle, inserting in it the anti-Fascist component.

Keywords: Schutzbund, February Uprising, USSR foreign workers, Communist International, anti-Fascist struggle, Stalin regime, social integration of foreigners, Austro-Soviet relations, Popular Front, labour conflicts.

Abstract: the article discusses how the “News of the Central Military-Industrial Committee” newspaper issued by the Central Military- Industrial Committee covered the problem of the industrial mobilization, which was brought up by the leaders united behind the militaryindustrial committees. The newspaper positioned itself as the “All-Russian authority of the mobilized industry” and claimed to reflect upon the full complex of issues and attitudes of the participants of that movement. The detailed analysis of the materials of the newspaper showed that it informed readers on the topics of the military-industrial organizations in sufficient details, gave the idea of the positions of the most politically active part of the bourgeoisie and showed the differences and confrontations between groups in its environment.

Keywords: history, Firs World War of 1914–1918, military-industrial committees, “News of the Central Military-Industrial Committee”, mobilization of industry, economical crisis, government regulation of the economy, labor market regulation, demobilization of industry, oppositional feelings.

Abstract: the article tells about the history of Russian-Byzantine relations in the IX-XI centuries. The author tries to show how the Byzantines perceived Russ, what in Russ evoke real and imaginary fears in Romans. The fears were connected with the expectations of the Last Day, the signs of the onset of which the Romans saw in the appearance of mysterious Russ people. It is concluded that at different times in different groups of Byzantine people the attitude the Russ was ambiguous. Although in the IX century, when intensive contacts of Romans with the Russ only started, one name of the northern neighbors of the Empire sowed panic among the general population of the Byzantine, but in X century with the beginning of intense commercial and military cooperation the Russ did not cause the mystical horror among ordinary Romans. The same commonsensical attitude to reality shared the political elite of Byzantium. And only in the writings of Byzantine intellectuals the Russ caused fear until the christianization of Russia.

Keywords: history, the prophecy of Ezekiel, Rus, Romans, Byzantium, Constantinople, Leo the Deacon, Photius, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Olga.

Abstract: the article deals with the prevailing views in the historiography of the ineffectiveness of the organization of the central government in Muscovy in XVI-XVII centuries. Based on the archival materials author analyzes the degree of responsiveness of the central and provincial administration orders, as well as the level of professionalism in dealing with administrative matters. The observations made allows to suggest that the common views of a slow and confused mandative management system does not correspond to the actual state of affairs in Moscow’s orders.

Keywords: history, orders, administration, management, deacons, scribes, bureaucrats, petitions, paper work, corruption.

Abstract: the article discloses the subject of organization of cargo transportation in the basin of the Oka River in the XVIII – late XIX centuries.: the characteristics and design features of the river boats used on the Oka River and its tributaries are given, the basic centers of formation of traffic and the construction of river vessels are viewed.

Keywords: history, geography, ships, ship, cargo, shipping, shipyards, river navigation, the self-floating.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the relation of the Vietnamese state of the Nguy n dinusty with the two neigbrouring mountain jarai kingdoms (of Water and of Fire). Based of the analysis of the primary sources, the author shows that from the Vietnamese side the attitude was sovereignty-protective and from the proto-states of Water and Fire it was vassal-tributary and on their part it was complemented by magic, with which they tried to protect themselves from their mighty neigbours.

Keywords: history, East, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Nguy n, Jarai, diplomacy, practices, beliefs, rituals