The article highlights the process of the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic formation, the key role in which was played by the People's Commissar for National Affairs of the RSFSR Government I.V.Stalin. The ten months search for optimal model of the national and state status of the Crimea in 1921 resulted in the choice of a variant that can be defined as territorial autonomy taking into account the historical tradition with elements of national coloring.

The article considers political moods in Russian society in the early twentieth century based on the study of letters to famous priest Ioann of Kronstadt (Ioann Kronstadtskii; 1829–1908), stored in the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg. Since the authors of the letters belonged to various estates and political camps, the letters reflect a wide spectrum of social views. The Ioann's confrontation with Lev Tolstoi was also the subject of significant correspondence, anti-Tolstoi sentiment of the letters authors is actually indicate the concern about the overall social situation in Russia. The article concludes that the documents give a most clear idea of the sentiments of the conservative part of Russian society whose representatives believed it was important to follow the traditions and to preserve the Orthodox Church's role in society.

The article analyzed the main problems of formation and functioning of the Society of old Bolsheviks. This organization united almost the entire political elite of post-revolutionary Soviet Russia. The article reveals the reasons for the establishment of the corporation in 1922, analyze its structure, social composition, as well as key activities (cultural, educational, publishing and social). The publication makes special emphasis on the role of the organization and its members in the political processes of the 1920s – the first half of the 1930-ies, a hypothesis was propos about the causes of the Society's abolition in 1935.

This article discusses some of the charges against the main persons involved in the so-called “Leningrad affair” – one of the most important political affairs of the "late Stalin period". These “Leningraders” were planning to establish a leading party organ for the RSFSR. Regardless of whether the “Leningraders” were aware of this or not, this would entail significant shifts in the supreme leadership of the USSR, the redistribution of powers in the highest organs of power, and the appearance there of one of the most influential figures. At the Leningrad Party Conference in 1948, the results of the secret ballot were falsified. This was not only a consequence of the propensity to violate the rule of law and the self-aggrandizement of the Leningrad bosses, but also a threat to the Stalinist system of power. It consisted in the fact that the “Leningraders” demonstrated the way to nullify the secret ballot in the party organizations, which was introduced by Stalin in 1937 as one of the main elements of “inner-party democracy”.

This article examines the famous annalistic legend of calling of the Varangian princes. The author challenges the conclusion of some researchers that Chronicles the tale is based on a legal act (treaty). Arguments are given in favor of the provision on the exclusively folklore origin of the legend.

The author considers various interpretations of the Chronicle’s legend of calling of the Varangians, in particular, the concept suggested by E.A.Mel’nikova and V.Ya.Petrukhin who argue the legend retained information on a treaty Rurik concluded with peoples who summoned him. The author also analyzes critics of the “contractual” hypothesis by various researchers. It is demonstrated that this hypothesis relies on a number of cogent arguments but has some vulnerabilities. Due to the lack of necessary evidence it is difficult either to recognize the treaty indisputable or reject the very existence of the treaty.

There were many people who had no time to determine their side (because the process of division had just begun) in the first professional organization of journalists that was created in 1918 immediately upon the revolution. The organization was the Noah’s ark of the Soviet culture. The author considers the disputes that began among various representatives of the Soviet culture and revealed impossibility of their unity and solidarity. The Soviet journalists’ Union was doomed because the society in its post-revolutionary condition turned out to be absolutely fragmented. The Noah’s ark of the Soviet culture in the ocean of revolution found “the land” where it was decided to stop, to step out and gain the expanse under feet: for proletarian writers and journalists the expanse became the proletarian domain, for S.Yesenin and his comrades it turned out to be the imagistic land, for representatives of the Left front it became the Left front domain and for those who thought the culture as separated from the proletarian dictatorship still considered the culture as the modernist culture. So conditions for the harshest competition of new culture’s directions fighting with each other were gradually created. Each of these directions held to become the principal, mainstream and the only direction in culture and society.

The main problems of the renewal of the railway communication between Armenia and Turkey are considered. The role of Russia as the initiator of the renewal of communication between the countries in 2008-2009 was revealed. In this regard, the peculiarities of the development of the project of the creation of the international transportation and logistics center (ILC) "Akhuryan" on the Armenian-Turkish border are analyzed. Based on the study of archival materials, the historical prerequisites of the project are revealed. Particular attention is paid to the problems of the functioning of the Russian railways in Armenia due to the limited integration opportunities. The main technical, economic and geopolitical problems of the ILC project are identified.

The article examines Germany’s water policy in the Central Asian region. The reasons for Germany's special interest in this region are highlighted, as well as the peculiarities of the German approach to the problem of improving the efficiency of water resources management. Given the important geostrategic position of Central Asia modern Germany actively promoted the development and deepening of the «enhanced political dialogue» with the countries of the region, initiated the adoption of the Strategy for Central Asia for the period 2007–2013. Within the framework of that Strategy Germany launched Water Initiative for the region. The implementation of the Water Initiative demonstrates Germany’s serious long-term intentions in the Central Asian direction, specifically in the water sector, as well as Germany’s desire to make full use of the EU’s resources and «brand» in order to strengthen its own positions in the region.

The article analyzes the changes in the German "Eastern policy" that occurred between the two world wars. These changes are traced by the example of two occupation of the Crimean peninsula in 1918 and 1941–1944. Based on a wide range of sources and literature identified the aspects, the study of which contributes to the identification of the main trends in changes in the German "Eastern policy". The goals and tasks of the German military and political leadership regarding the Crimea during both occupation, the administrative forms of the management of the occupied territories, the attitude of the population to the occupiers and the occupiers to the population. On the example of such demonstrations of this attitude as collaborationism, Resistance Movement, terror, the national factor, the conclusion that the German "Eastern policy" remained practically unchanged throughout the first half of the XX century. However varied its methods, which was due to Nazi ideology, and also the fact that in contrast to 1918 and in 1941–1944 of the Crimean population represented a very different community – the Soviet people.

In an article in the previous issue of this journal, A.V.Sushkov observes that a full study of the causes of the "Leningrad Affair" does not exist. He focuses on two accusations that were leveled against the Leningrad leaders: their attempts to create a Russian communist party or a RSFSR bureau within the all-union party's Central Committee, and their falsification of the results of elections to the city and provincial committees in December 1948 at a conference of the Lenin-grad party organization. This article examines these little-studied aspects of the "Leningrad Affair" and demonstrates that they did not cause the removal of the Leningrad leaders so much as they provided a justification to do so.

As it might be judged by the title, the article deals with archaic and rather hazy subject, i.e. how the ancient Greek and Roman writers perceived barbarian world around them. But this is not the only thing the article is about. The author makes an attempt to find the roots of what might be named a paradox. The question is: why the people of the civilized Empires, with their highly arrogant and fastidious attitude towards the surrounding "savages", could not resist the temptation to deliriously imitate their ways and mores, turning this primitive stuff into a part of every-day life?

A historian-specialist in the Middle Ages addresses the 20th century subjects. Initially as a researcher of historiography, of the world that surrounded historians of the Stalin’s period, and later on as a researcher of culture, ideology, literary criticism, and artistic manifestoes. That is unusual path and this path characterizes scientific exploration search of A.L.Yurganov, expert in Russian Medieval culture and at the same time a researcher of culture, humdrum and everyday background of the past age. Now the author of the new book (collection of articles written in various years) is preoccupied with the general sense meaning of the intellectual history that, as a peculiar world, stems from the everyday life world. This world was common for people who occupied one side and for those who held totally opposite positions. The reviewers muse over the method employed by the historian in the new book and over the peculiar point of the 20th century cultural history.

With publication of Marx's manuscripts and excerpts including his extracts from numerous books on natural science and mathematics as a part of MEGA (Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe) a new stage begins in studies of Marx's philosophy, political economy and methodology. The sources of Marx's philosophical method can’t be focused on German classical philosophy only and his method of research can't be reduced to materialistic dialectics alone. Marx was in mainstream of scientific life of his epoch in whole. His research approach was influenced not only by philosophy, but also by methodology of classical political economy and natural science as well. Admitting the theorization methods of the XIX century science Marx reasoned consonant with the naturalists of that era. That fact predetermined the destiny of alienation concept in the Capital, which became irrelevant as key element of Capital’s structure.

The article presents a "portrait against the background of epoch": the profile of V.D.Kuz'min-Karavaev (1859–1927), military justice officer, the active participant of the Zemstvo movement, member of the 1st and the 2nd State Duma, participant of events that took place in 1917, and the active personality of the Russian émigré community abroad. By his political opinions he be-longed to the centrist current of the Russian liberalism (conditionally speaking, he occupied position between the Constitutional-Democrats and the Octyabrists and a peculiar position in the Russian multiparty system of the early 20th century. In 1906–1907 Kuz'min-Karavaev was one of the Democratic Reforms party, a member of the Progressive Party Central Committee in 1912. Kuz'min-Karavaev's position on the most important issues of the Russian life and perception of his ideas by coevals are reconstructed and characterized on the basis of various sources.

This introduction and document publication reveals an unknown episode in the biography of D.B.Riazanov after his arrest in February 1931—his letters to the journal "Bolshevik" and the Central Committee Politburo regarding the publication of a letter of Marx to his daughter in 1881. The publication of Riazanov's two letters from 11 and 12 April 1931 and E.L.Gurevich's letter shed light on the history of the formation of the archival collections of the Marx Engels Institute, and in particular the history of the text of Marx's letter. The letters of V.V.Adoratskii published here from 29 March and 2 June 1931 uncover the political meaning of the Marx letters that Riazanov had "hidden", as well as the motives behind the removal of Riazanov from the post of Marx Engels Institute rector.

The article deals with the presidential elections held in March 2018 through the prism of the main value divisions of the society, which were actively manifested in the period 2012–18.based on the monitoring data of the Institute of sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and VTSIOM research, a scale of conservatism-liberalism is built, several groups are distinguished. The author shows greater stability (inertia) of the main ideological and value indicators over the past 20 years, and concludes that the formation of the current semi-mobilization political regime with a conservative value system is based not so much on fundamental changes in the value system, but on the prevailing political situation. This regime has already been and will continue to be subjected to political erosion, making room for the emergence of new political and social actors in the country.

The article devotes to the questions of formation of the Caucasian statehood during the Russian revolution and Civil war of 1917–1921. Desintegration of the Russian Empire has led to aggravation of a political and social and economic situation in the North Caucasus, at the same time, the various political forces moved forward the projects of association of all people of the Caucasus and creation of uniform state education. The author analyzes various models of statehood which tried to introduce both local, and all-Russian political forces in the North Caucasus and the reasons of a failure of similar attempts; explores the place and a role of national movements of the people of the Caucasus in the context of the national and state construction in post-revolutionary Russia.

The spring of 1918 in the Soviet Russia saw a universal military preparation of citizens, one of the main aims of which was the organization of physical education of workers and peasants. In order to achieve this aim, the theory of the Soviet system of physical education was elaborated and new administrative and controlling bodies were established to control the development of physical education and sport in the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Comprehension of the tipping point in history of Russia and the world which the contemporaries of events began with the WWI and had its peculiarity. Identification of this peculiarity in the light of discussions held nowadays allows appraising conclusions that were made by contemporaries of events and formed the basic ground of subsequent studies. Premonitions of the creative intelligentsia representatives are included in the range. The issues that originally were raised by the contemporaries but remain to be actual for the science include the issue of the level of Russia’ modernization, the issue of the place and significance of eschatology in the prewar and war years spiritual mood, the issue of the revolution and world war correlation and the issue of Bolshevism phenomenon in its relation to the war and some other questions.

The article continues the tradition of studying political control, technology and mechanisms of power, administrative methods and strategies used by the Stalinist regime in the 1920s – 1940s. The author focused on a certain aspect – "right opportunism", which is regarded as a state-political crime and a universal ideology that allowed to carry out information-cognitive "diversion", segregation of the society into "one's own" and "others". The genesis, the essence of this phenomenon in political discourse and historiography, as well as the activity of specialized structures to combat one of the manifestations of "right opportunism" – "wrecking" on the objects of the military industry. According to the results of the research, it is concluded that the "anti-damaging" campaign and the control-repressive measures applied in its methods can be viewed as a political-technological, operational and ideological-methodological foundation of the Stalinist dictatorship and the system of governance of the Soviet state.

The article deals with N.S.Leskov’s "The left-hander" short story. It is demonstrated that the Leskov’ story has in many respects the ambivalent semantics and that the author’s appraisal of the protagonist and Russia can be recognized neither as unconditionally positive nor as absolutely negative one. Peculiarity of Leskov’s perception of the Russians and the British adversarial relationship motive and Russia-England opposition is explained by Leskov’s polemics with the Russian national mythology. It is argued that the official theory of national character and Slavophilism served as ideological underlying messages and Leskov’s attitude to these messages were colored with irony. "The left-hander" was written as a warning against national complacency and arrogance that may find fertile soil in such ideological constructions.

The publication presents new documentary evidence from the papers of the Council on Foreign Relations and Allen Dulles’s personal papers at Princeton University which pictures Dulles in 1944–1946 as a sober and pragmatic foreign policy expert quite different from the popular image of a rabid Cold Warrior bent on destruction of the Soviet Union from the end of World War II onwards. In fact Allen Dulles of that time was still in favor of finding some modus vivendi with the USSR based on mutual recognition of spheres of influence. He distanced himself from the Cold War hawks and proposed some practical ways of post-war settlement. These documents demonstrate that Dulles’s views had undergone some evolution before he became one of the main organizers of covert war against the Soviet Union as a Director of Central Intelligence Agency in 1950-s.

The main direction of the economic programme for the next six years is the economic and techological breakthrough with simultaneous increase in the wellbeing of the population, increase in the birth rate and life expectancy, development of medical care, education and science and accelerated growth in the production and export sectors of the economy. However, the financial part of this programme will require the increase of taxes, rising the pension age, reduction of military spending, reduction of subsidies, import substitution. Implementation of the "Putin's Programme" needs careful and detail planning in order to remove its contradictions.

The article is devoted to Sh.I.Shagiakhmetov, one of the first Social Democrats in the Russian Empire, representative of the Tatar nobility, Muslim intelligentsia. The attempt was made to analyze his biography and socio-political activity before 1917 and in the conditions of the Great Russian Revolution of 1917. Particular attention is paid to his political journalism, his contribution to the Muslim movement, his role in the formation of the self-determination of the Turkestan population.

In the USSR there were precise official ideological attitudes to the implementation of physical recovery of the people in to the Soviet everyday life. However, dissemination of the physical education was not at the best level. Despite the activity of VSFK, Glavpolitprosvet, Proletkult, proletphyskults, trade unions, Komsomol and other organizations, the spreading of PE in the USSR in 1920-s did not happen efficiently.

The abridged version of a chapter taken from recollection of Natalia Menchinskaya, an architect and a writer relates peculiarities of atmosphere and creative life in a major architecture and designing institution, “Giprovouz” where the author worked for 30 years. Like major part of similar institutions, “Giprovouz” ceased to exist upon the perestroika.

Very short leadership of the General Secretary of the CPSU Konstantin Chernenko, which continued a little more than a year and crowned the stagnant-gerontocratic period of the USSR, was filled with historical symbolism. Leadership of Chernenko was indicated a very clear message: the Soviet socio-political system built by Stalin for a strong authoritarian leader, is not able to function normally and it begins to degrade with the weakening of the Supreme power in the country. Unfortunately, the ruling elite was unable to adequately respond to this and other challenges, it failed to implement the correct reform of the state and establish a constructive dialogue with society. This fatal failure was most clearly manifested in the years of Gorbachev's perestroika, which caused predetermined catastrophic finale of the USSR.

The article deals with the old Russian literary culture taken as the aggregate of techniques and speech-and-behavioral tactics that had been developed in the early days of the East Slavic art of writing. The 17th century as transitory period in the Russian culture history was distinguished with the unprecedented innovativeness. The South Slavic influence was replaced with the West Slavic influence and a stream of new translations including translations of secular fictional texts gushed in the Russian literature. Conventional symbolic and pragmatic ways of the reality cognition was replaced with scholastic rationalism. Yet traditions remained to be respected and significant. The long-established archaic still asserted itself. The connection with conservative literary custom was wide-spread and universal. This thesis is proved by examples of three famous monuments of the transitory period literature: “The Life of Yulianina Lazarevskaya”, “The Latukhinskaya genealogic book” by Tikhon Makar’evski and the epistolary heritage of Patriarch Nikon.

The article is devoted to the formation of the social movement in Russia, its modes and practices. In the article the social movement was defined firstly in the historiography. The authors distinguished the phases of the social movement and characterized them. They paid attention to the contemporary historiography situation and projected the perspectives of the further researches.

Love novels by Mark Krinitski (1874–1952), a bright representative of the Russian Modernism, in the Soviet times were designated as dime fiction that were deprived of any sense but entertainment. The post-Soviet literary historians inherited such characterizations uncritically. Meanwhile these books had no trashy content from the start. For Krinitski narrated not only about love, not about conjugal fidelity or infidelity, not about preservation of family and household pillars but about lack of individual freedom in man-female relationships, about love in which the patrimonial elements that stifle the love. These novels put philosophical issues of the ultimate freedom and therefore all love stories in one or another way relate not only the high feelings but the violence over these feelings. The strong man cult was a peculiar Modernist cult. However, this speculative cult was just a project of the family and society transformation and their conversion to new societal grounds. The strong man cult made a call for the man who had become the initiator of love liberation from the oppression of custom and patrimonial mode of life.

With reference to considerations on peculiarities of contemporaries interpretation of the Russian history tipping point connected with the World War I the author draws the attention to perception of patriotism problem prior to 1917 and afterwards, to various interpretations of Bolshevism as a political phenomenon. Characterization of schism deepening among the culture celebrities includes analysis of A.Blok and other so called “intellectuals-turncoats” social and political positions. The author puts the question whether it is possible to understand “acceptance” of October as the complete approval of Bolshevist ideology. Furthermore, the author substantiates the conclusion that the power of observation and insight of writers immersed in the life of new Russia allowed them in some instances to define the vector of the Soviet state and society development with a greater accuracy than that was done by ?migr?-changers of landmarks and Eurasians.

The desintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 demonstrated the instability of an ideological state system. Globalization of economic development outsourced some western industries to China, India and other countries with cheap labor. The transformation of Russian economy from socialist to capitalist system by "shock therapy" resulted in sharp decline of living standards. In 1998 Eugeny Primakov did return Russian policy to patriotic values. The sharp rise of oil and gas prices since 2001 did help to restore the growth of Russian economy. The attempt of Ukraine to join EU and to restrict the use of Russian language failed and resulted in loss of Crimea and Donbass. Belarus and Kazakhstan integrated their economies with Russia by creating the Eurasian Economic Union.

The last four years very different shocks fall on the integrated part of Europe persistently. Accidents in Europe’s relations with the USA have been added to these troubles recently. Combination of Brexit, migrant invasion, change of style America demonstrates in its communication with its allies as well as the prospects of the Ukrainian statehood implosion increasingly disturb the EU stability. Bewilderment of framework of a part of European countries’ overstressed association presents an unpredictable menace to security of the whole continent. The hollowing-out of relations and ties with Russia undertaken by the EU under joint American–German pressure enhances the progressing general crisis of the EU. Possibility to ensure a positive outcome of the present crises series in Europe depends on how soon the European politics will realize the vital necessity to restore reasonable basics of Europe-Russia interrelationship.

The article traces the views and positions of two figures of Russian social democracy G.V.Plekhanov and G.L.Pyatakov, who proved to be close enough in two very important situations – in 1912, when the crisis in the proletarian party reached its utmost importance and at the time of the choice of the strategy of the revolutionary movement in the spring of 1917. The reconstructed episodes show the complexity of social processes, the ambiguous choice of vectors for historical progress.

Many people still believe that the history as the science has begun to change accents in its approach to analysis of the past exclusively due to heroic, self-sacrifice conduct of the Annals school representatives of the French historiography or due to efforts of only foreign historians and has started to become, in the first place, a sphere of human beings study and only later the study of society. Meanwhile the process of the history animation included efforts of many generations of foreign and Russian historians, philosophers and representatives of many other branches of social sciences. However, the paradox is that until recently we have known about foreign scientists more than about our countrymen. Today, with good reasons we may maintain that the picture of the Russian science achievements in respect of anthropological, social psychological approach to analysis of the historical past is dramatic and impressive. The task of this article is to disclose some important aspects of this historiographic process.

Based on analysis of German conservative literature about Russia, as part of the political discussions in Germany in the second quarter of the 19th century, the paper discusses these polemic works as an example of a conservative "thinking style" that shaped the worldview of its bearers and attitudes towards Russia.

It is easy to understand why historians got used to put Peter the Great`s visit to England in 1698 into a wider context of the topic «Russia and Europe». Following in their steps the author of the article adds some subtler details to the discourse. The point is that for all Peter`s affection for Holland it was England that he singled out among other Western countries. The tsar was far from indiscriminate perception of local ways and mores but he found there a lot of things extremely useful for his motherland. As to the English political elite of the time, it looked at him with a mixture of arrogance, curiosity, and admiration. Some of the country`s higher officials did not hesitate to predict that their «strange guest» would leave an incredible trace in world history.

In February 2018 Russia and Serbia celebrate 180th anniversary of establishment of official diplomatic relations. Glorious common past helps our countries to look with confidence into the future. The historical facts being separately mentioned in the current review are just symbolic examples of our tough friendship whose ground are not only common Slavic roots but a profound understanding of the interests. The publication of this work seems to be up to date in conditions of a new round of allegations against Moscow and the frequent criticism towards Belgrade.

On the basis of analysis of the Russian satirical journals complex of 1917–1918 the article deals with the research of the formation and change of the images of the Orient in Russian public opinion and press in the period of Great Revolution and the beginning of the Civil War. The author proves the ambivalent attitude of Russian satirical journalists to the image of Turkey (hatred/empathy) as a satirical object. The context of such an attitude is common military, political and geopolitical situation of the epoch – the crash of old imperial regimes as a result of the Great War and revolutions.

The article analyzes the views of senior management of the USSR about the role of the «human factor» in the context of Gorbachev's «perestroika» of 1985–1991. As the Soviet people perceived leaders of the country, as they represented his attitude to the reforms, the evolution of his consciousness and behavior – these issues raised in the article, has not yet received understanding in historical science. But without answers it is impossible to give an objective assessment of the policy of «perestroika». In the article, based on the analysis of primary sources based on the methodology of content analysis, the study of the repetition of speech practices revealed the importance of «human factor» in the implementation of the Soviet leadership policy of «perestroika». The study of the ideas of the Soviet leaders about the Soviet man allows deeper understanding of the role of the «human factor» in the Russian reforms as a whole.

In the first quarter of the 19th century for the first time for all history of interaction between Russia and Europe, Russia’s positive perception began to acquire a mass character in Germany regardless of political preferences of most of Germans. On the basis of the analysis of German artistic and philosophical writings on Russia, an attempt is made to trace how during a period of the sharpest political crisis the process of transformation of the image of Russia in German public opinion from the «Russian threat» complex to the «last hope of Europe» began, laying down trends that were still relevant in subsequent years.

The author of the article continues to investigate the reaction of English political celebrities and public to Peter the Great`s visit to their country. The numerous references to either well-known or little-known facts are accompanied by the implied idea that from a three-century distance these facts might be seen in a different light than that common for many contemporaries and historians. There is, however, a basis for compromise between struggling views of both admirers and detractors of Russian emperor. All of them agree that no matter how cruel or merciful Peter was he deservedly gained his place among the greatest heroes of the world history.

This article presents a factual analysis of Russian life abroad. It aids to investigate it as a form of a civil society – state with no borders.

This paper is devoted to considering the historiography of interaction between the government and the Cossack during the period of «The Great Reforms» (1860–1870) in the reign of Alexander II. The author chooses the point of view which makes it possible to scrutinize the actions of the central authority more closely during analyses of the research literature. However, the chosen approach doesn’t imply overemphasizing the government’s attitude and its influence on the Cossack policy. Despite the exposed restrictive framework, the essential reserve in a historiography reflecting various aspects of interaction of the power and the Cossacks in the 1860-1870th years was found. In article the content of the most important works on stories of the Cossacks of the pre-revolutionary period reveals.

The main objective of this article is to show the role of the communist youth league (Komsomol), and, primarily of his general secretary Alexander Kosarev, in the organizing and development of the Soviet sport system in the 1930s. Special emphasis will be put on the question of motives lying behind the activities of the Komsomol leadership in the spheres of physical culture and sports, on his conflicts with other organizations, involved in these affairs, and on the hopes, the Komsomol leaders associated with their engagement in it.

This article examines the attitude of Russian emigrant historians in the United States to the Second world war and the participation of the USSR in it. This war left no one indifferent neither in Europe nor on other continents. How did they react to her Russian caught in this time far beyond his country and long ago left her? Whether they tried to help the USSR, whether participated in any actions or rejoiced that there was an opportunity at last to overthrow Bolsheviks? The author tries to give answers to these questions in this article.

The article analyzes a new monograph of Professor Y.V.Aksyutin and associate Professor N.Ye.Gerdt, which is devoted to the attitude of intellectuals to the great Russian revolution. The study is based on sources of personal origin (letters, diaries, memoirs) and periodicals. Reviews of the events are arranged in chronological order, which allowed to show how the attitude of the intelligentsia to what is happening: the overthrow of the monarchy, the Provisional government, the situation on the front, the land question, the October revolution, etc. Described in Detail the daily life of the intelligentsia. The authors concluded that the intelligentsia was the first to resist the Bolsheviks.