The article is devoted to the analysis of conspiratorial activity of the Decembrist M.P.Bestuzhev-Rjumin. The author describes the moment when the Decembrist joined the conspiracy, his relations with the main members of the Southern Society. In the opinion of A.H.Benckendorff, an investigator in the Decembrists' case, the young revolutionary was “the demon of propaganda”. The author believes that this characterization is correct. The article refers to the negotiations of Bestuzhev-Rumin with the Polish Patriotic Society and the Society of United Slavs.

This article is about the relations of the Decembrists Matvei and Sergei Murav’ev-Apostols with his sisters: Yelizaveta, Yelena, Ekaterina and Anna, as well as with the sisters' families. The special subject of the article is the early stage of Hippolyte Murav’ev-Apostol's biography, it covers his childhood years, period of growing up, his attitude to his elder brothers and father. The article analyzes the correspondence of Matvei, Serguei and Hippolyte Muravyov-Apostolovs, both published and preserved in the archives. The article makes it possible to clarify the biographical, «family» context of the lives, military service and revolutionary activities of the famous Decembrists.

With Decemberist Peter Pestel action analysis the author brings attention to the situation in the Southern Society. Peter Pestel had both serious opponents with whom he could not agree and loyal friends. Head of the Kamensk council of the Southern Society Vasily Davydov was one of the closest to Pestel among the conspirators. However, despite his loyalty to Pestel personally and devotion to the ideas of the Decembrists, Davydov was not ready for revolutionary actions. His activities were limited to talking about the need for political reforms in Russia only.

This article is the second part of the research into the fates of Mathew and Sergey Murav’ev-Apostols, the Decembrists (See the part I: [25]). The scholar analyzes the reasons due to which they started their active participation in the secret societies, their role in the plot and their view on the possibility of a military revolution being carried out in Russia as well as on the post-revolutionary form of the government. This work also deals with the formation of Sergey Murav’ev-Apostol’s religious views. It is demonstrated that the latter corresponded with the mystic search of the 1820s era. Particular attention is given to the description of Mathew Murav’ev-Apostol’s ideological crisis of 1824. It is concluded that the conspiracy activity of both the brothers was based on the aspiration for social realization, unachievable under the Russian absolute monarchy.

This article is about literary communities and groups of the late XIX – early XX centuries. The authors analyze the conditions of their existence in pre-revolutionary Russia and the USSR, relations with the authorities, peculiarities of the organization of Soviet literary life. It is concluded that the literary struggle of the 1920s – early 1930s was due to the desire of writers to find and offer their own "Unique Trade Offer", to achieve hegemony in literature, to get the right to decide how to express the Bolshevik’s ideology.

The article deals with the letter written to I.V.Stalin by A.N.Garry, the journalist who in 1938 was sentenced to 8 years of hard labor camp imprisonment. A.N.Garry described reasons of the sentence he had got, his own merits before the USSR and entreated Stalin to give him a chance to return to the literary activities. In autobiography attached to the letter A.Garry described the main events of his life.

The article is devoted to description of the public sentiments in 1937, in the time of “Great Terror” in the USSR. Testimonies given by A. N. Garry, journalist from the “Izvestia” newspaper, in the course of investigation carried out in 1937 are published, commented and analyzed. Biography of Garry, his contacts and causes due to which he went up for three times are described.

The authors describe the popular feelings of the 1930s in connection with the history of «Krokodil» magazine reformation. The criminal case filed against three Soviet satirists (N.R.Erdman, V.Z.Mass and Emil Krotki who were accused of writing and disseminating «anti-Soviet» fables and subsequently sentenced) is analyzed. The authors also examine criminal cases brought against M.D.Volpin, M.A.Gloushkov, A.S.Bukhov and Ya.M.Bel'ski.

The author considers the Soviet satirical press of the 1930s on the example of «The Crocodile» magazine. The historical and political context of the magazine’s existence is discussed in connection with tasks that were set for the Soviet satire of that period. The author analyzes «The Crocodile» editorial board’s policy, the circle of the magazine’s writers, main themes of publications. A particular attention is paid to the issue of denunciations on the magazine’s staff members made to the State Political Directorate. Reasons of «The Crocodile» reform of 1934 are considered in detail. The article is predominantly based on archive materials including documents from the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Central Archive.

The authors relate details of so called Dymovka affair, a large-scale press campaign connected with slaughter of G.I.Malinovsky, the agrarian correspondent of the «Red Nikolaev» newspaper. The authors analyze press materials, art works and archive materials pertaining to the event as well as to the trial of «murders of the agrarian correspondents». The authors come to the conclusion that the real reason of the press campaign was the struggle for power between I.V.Stalin who was supported by F.E.Dzierzynsky and L.D.Trotsky. The article demonstrates how sinuosity of this struggle was reflected in press publications, first of all, in the «Red Nikolaev» newspaper.

The article deals with history of military education in the early 19th century Russia and, in the first place, with the history of the First cadet corps. The author focuses her attention on the period when K.Th.Ryleev, famous Russian poet attended the corps. The system of military and other disciplines learning that was introduced in the corps and morals that prevailed in the corps are studied. The mentioned features emerged, in many respects, due to personal traits of tutors who undoubtedly had an influence on their students. Besides that, the author investigates the corps' department for minors where Ryleev also spent several years and attempts to define the circle of cadet friends of the future revolutionary and analyze his first verses written in the cadet corps.

The authors deal with the situation in the Russian army after the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of 1813 and 1814. Relations in mass of army officers are examined on the example of K. Th. Ryleev, the poet and conspirator, service activities. The authors reconstruct the circle of the army officers' interests and their attitude to the military service and come to the conclusion that the post-war officers' service could not meet aspirations of young gentlemen to the full in the later years of Alexander I reign.

The article deals with official performance of Prince Trubetskoy, a prominent figure in the secret societies of the 1820s. Analyzed is his trip to England in 1819, his service as aid-de-camp in the General Staff of the Russian army, as well as execution of military-police duties in his capacity of on-duty staff officer of the 4th Infantry Corps quartered in Kiev (1825). The conclusion is reached that his official activities were often associated with performance of special missions for the government. The experience gained in the service, Trubetskoy used to organize an anti-government plot, as well as to neutralize the enemies of this conspiracy.

The article deals with the family history of K.F.Ryleev, famous poet-Decembrist. The authors examine people who surrounded K.F.Ryleev in his childhood and adolescence, characterize the ambience within which he was born and emerged as a personality and within which his adult life ran to some extent. Connection of Ryleev’s history with his collection of letters, his creative, financial and journalistic activities is analyzed.

This paper is a publication of documents on peasants' riots in Ukrainian village Germanovka in the mid-1820s. The documents reveal that in summer pf 1825 peasants were pacified by a troop team of the Chernigovski infantry regiment which a few months later took part in the Decembrist revolt. The publication is prefaced with the article analyzing Decembrists' attitude to the people at large and to the public disturbances in particular.

The article is devoted to one of the most acute in the current research of Decembrist movement issues, the issue of the Decembrists' ‘plan of actions' on the even of the rebellion of December 14, 1825. The authors pay the particular attention to the Northern society’s leaders, to S.P. Trubetskoi, the rebellion ‘dictator'. It is demonstrated that at the basis of S. P. Trubetskoi’s intentions lied the idea of joint action of the Northern and the Southern societies. His activities aimed at implementation of this intent are analyzed. The authors also analyze the reasons due to which this ‘plan of action' was left unrealized.

The following article is dedicated to revision of the main aspects of Decembrist’s secret societies history. Its author argues that usual to many scholars as well as readers ideas about secret societies are based on the conception created by the Southern society leader Pavel Pestel during interrogation. It had little resemblance to reality. This conception presented Decembrist movement as an endless ideological debate, complicated by bloody regicide projects. Pestel’s conception suited him well to hide the real preparations to the seizure of power, leaded by him. It also suited well the new emperor, permitting him to hide from Europe the army’s corruption and to justify hard sentences to the accused. The article points out, that the classical Decembrist studies had reached a deadlock, and needs complete rethinking.