The article, based on the results of research of is RAS and VTSIOM, shows the evolution of ideological and political preferences of Russians over the past quarter century. The transition from the Soviet type of mass consciousness to the Western one to the moderate-state one to the "zero" is traced. The author reveals the prospects of further dynamics on the basis of the vector of mass public demand.

The article is devoted to the past, present day and future of the Northern Sea Route development and its role in the Arctic policy of Russia. The author discovers the most significant landmarks in the exploration of this maritime artery, analyses the dynamics of its development in Post-Soviet period and, in particular, international shipping and transit via the Northern Sea Route, characterizes the contemporary situation, processes, problems, challenges and risks. The paper evaluates the perspectives of the Northern Sea Route development, its significance for the further exploration of the Russian Arctic, national and international shipping, its place in the Arctic policy of Russia.

In article the critical analysis of a historiography of relationship of the power and the Cossacks during an era of “Great reforms” of Alexander II (the 1860–1870th) is continued. The research covers works of the Soviet historians, historians emigrants and also representatives of a modern Russian and foreign historiography. Actions of the central power for development and advance of a government policy which evolves from introduction of bases of “civic consciousness” on the Cossack lands in the 1860th, before return to domination of the militaristic principles in way of the Cossack life in the 1870th years understand the considered works. In article possible new perspective subjects in studying of the Cossack history not only an era of “Great reforms”, but also all the II half of the 19th century are specified.

The author examines the basic premise of the modernism’s religious and philosophical conception. This conception was formed as the personalistic ideology that maintained personal rights in the metaphysical sense. Good and evil are not alienated from a person; they are derived from a person that looks for his/her place in theomachy. Modernists considered the absolute freedom as the highest, supreme manifestation of a new religion. However, this absolute freedom of a person inevitably brought about dualism which created the situation of a permanent choice between two celestial images, the good and the evil, because the “midst” was considered to be the genuine evil; the “midst” did not represented or manifested the pure quality neither of the good nor the evil. The evil rests in the collective principle, in the mob, and it is precisely the principle that oppresses a human creature and makes him/her restricted and not free. The “new religion” dramatic effect consisted in the fact that while modernists sought for the One Whole, for the God they put the absolute freedom of a person above all else. But this freedom did not allow substantiating the religious monism.

On the basis of the analysis of private and journalistic written sources of character, an attempt is made to trace the transformation of the image of Russia in the national-patriotic discourse of Germany during the anti-Napoleonic wars, based on the changes in the attitude to the Russian empire among the most prominent representatives of Prussia’s military, political and intellectual elite who had a great influence on formation of public opinion in the German lands.

This work deals with contemporary historiographic rethinking (both in Russia and abroad) of the cultural context of war-revolutionary crises in Russia, 1917–1922. This problematic field helps to shape the answer to the main question of the topic: why did the “red project” turned out to be more successful, than the “white” one, and what was the role of cultural factors, demands and collisions in this process. The crush of traditional values system; formation of Bolshevik’s new sacrality; reality and utopia of democratic alternative in Russian revolution; the causes of weakness of the liberal politics; conspirology and mythology of Bolshevik’s upheaval; the discussion on the cultural essence of Bolshevism; mutual responsibility of society towards culture and culture towards society in the turning moment of Russian history – these are the main topics of the world’s historical science of this problematic sphere.

This article is devoted to the first contacts between the representatives of the Soviet Russia and the Irish Republic. As a result of these contacts there were two loans, which were given to the Soviet representatives in New York in 1920. The so-called “Russian Crown Jewels” secured one of the loans. The jewels were stored secretly in Ireland for about 30 years and even had been involved in some events of the Irish politics. In the author’s opinion, the events connected with the receipt, transportation, storage and return of those items to the USSR illustrate changes in the Irish-Soviet diplomatic relations. The author mentioned such political figures as Harry Boland, Eamon de Valera, Patrick McCartan, Michael Collins, Ludwig Martens, Santeri Nuorteva, Georgi Zaroubin.

The article, based on the results of research of is RAS and VTSIOM, shows the evolution of ideological and political preferences of Russians over the past quarter century. The transition from the Soviet type of mass consciousness to the Western one to the moderate-state one to the "zero" is traced. The author reveals the prospects of further dynamics on the basis of the vector of mass public demand. This section of the article deals with the events and processes that developed from the beginning of the "zero" years, to the beginning of the "tenth", to the "third term" of V.Putin and the conflict with Ukraine.

The author argues that authorities couldn’t rely on social forces, so strong statist tendencies continued in post-reform Russia and bureaucracy remained the engine of the reform process. There were many lawyers among statesman in the higher levels of administration, and this contributed to manifestation of legal consciousness in the legislative sphere, increased attention to issues of law and order. Sometimes this happened at the expense of narrowing of other functions of the state. In particular, social security issues were often neglected when they contravened the principle of legality. The return of attention to them by the bureaucracy occurs only under the threat of social upheaval.

The article covers the issues of the initial stage of the formation of the Russian-Ukrainian border in the 1917–1919s. It is based on the study of the archive documents, contemporary publications of leading experts. The prevailing in the border areas with mixed population structure complicated the borders along ethnic lines. The territorial dispute was suspended in 1919 with Ukraine signing the Treaty on Borders with the Russian Socialist Soviet Republic, where the parties confirmed the expediency of the pre-revolutionary provincial administrative-territorial differentiation.

This article analyzes theoretical and methodological approaches of the Commissions on the History of Professional Movement in Russia (Istprofs) which functioned within the structure of the Soviet trade unions in the 1920s. The guiding idea of Istprofs’ work was radical inductivism, i.e. the notion that research process must be strictly divided into two stages: 1) accumulation of factual material and 2) analysis of that material and finding of the patterns of historical development. Even though they never openly challenged Party, Istprofs’ research project was an alternative to the Bolsheviks’ dogmatic reading of the Marxist epistemology.

The article attempts to briefly characterize and objectively assess the role of the prominent figure in the international revolutionary movement, H.G.Rakovsky, in the development of social processes in Ukraine during the Civil War and the time of the head of the Soviet government of the republic on the basis of an analysis of historical facts and documents. In the last decades, this page of his life receives controversial lighting.

The author considers one of differences between “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign” and the Kievan annalistic story; “the Lay” presents Khan Konchak as Igor’s main opponent while the Chronicle presents Khan Gzak in the same role (and obviously in reality it was Khan Gzak) was Igor’s opponent and this fact is recorded in the Chronicle). The author demonstrates that the substitution is connected with the “Lay”s author strove to transform Igor’s failure into symbolic victory. If in the part of “The Lay”that is devoted to events preceeding Igor’s defeat and captivity the code of the herois code is used, then in the subsequent part that relates event upon that the code of fairy tale is used, as if Igor was killed in the battle and if he resurrected from the deads’ domain thus putting Konchack who captured Igor to shame while Vladimir, son to Igor, walks Konchack’ daughter from her father. In contrast to the annalistic story that recorded historical facts “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign” redefines the facts pursuant to principles of mythopoetics. Irrespective of the fact whether “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign” originally was a monument of oral literature or it was created in the written form, it is the author’s text, and the author has given the new meaning to the folklore traditions.

The article is devoted to the reasons for the fall of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which existed in 1918–1920, to the analysis of the goals of its leaders, to the relations between Baku and Moscow, and to diplomatic contacts. Special attention is paid to the informal contacts of one of the leaders of this parliamentary republic, M.-E.Rasulzade, a socialist, theorist and leader of the ruling party “Musavat” (“Equality”) in this republic, with the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b).

In 1831, the first cholera epidemic broke out in St. Petersburg, which was remembered by Cholera rebellion on Sennaya Square from June 22–23. The closest to the townspeople at this time were doctors, who acted as representatives of the authorities. After the townspeople staged a hunt for doctors accused of killing patients, measures were taken to form a positive image of a doctor. To overcome the negative image was used a wide range of measures: from publications in newspapers to sermons in churches. This was an important step at this stage in the formation of the Russian medical corporation.

The article, based on the results of research of is RAS and VTSIOM, shows the evolution of ideological and political preferences of Russians over the past quarter century. The transition from the Soviet type of mass consciousness to the Western one to the moderate-state one to the "zero" is traced. The author reveals the prospects of further dynamics on the basis of the vector of mass public demand.

The article analyzes the projects of power suppression of the revolutionary movement in Russia, elaborated by representatives of the top bureaucracy in 1905. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of the attitude of officials to repression as a means of overcoming the revolutionary crisis, as well as the main factors of this transformation. On the grounds of the research, it was concluded that the use of force to combat the revolution became the main instrument of authority only in November 1905, while previously the repressive policy was predominantly declarative.

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.

Proposed publication covers activities of the Soviet Ukraine Government Chairman H.G.Rakovsky at final stage of Civil War and in the first two and a half years of peaceful socialist construction, assesses his position and role in the unification movement for USSR creation.

The article deals with the history of origin and attempts to implement the idea of A.A.Bogdanov about the Proletarian University as one of the means of mastering the proletarian culture by working class. The task of Proletarian University is not to provide students with fragments of knowledge, but to give them a general idea about the system of modern scientific knowledge, to show the interrelation of different branches of science, to teach basic methods of cognition. The idea of the Proletarian University was first formulated by A.A.Bogdanov in 1911, and the first attempt to implement it and at the same time its first prototype was the party schools for workers in Capri and Bologna.

This article is the release of Vernadsky’s speech on the radio at the USA in 1946. The main purpose of this speech is to dispel the myth about the aggressive intentions of the USSR to establish the Communist regime around the world by enslaving Western Europe democracy. There already was strong ideological battle at the beginning of the Cold War period. All of the USSR actions were under the close eye of the American mass media, and were commonly followed by negative reports. G.V.Vernadsky thoroughly analyses and exposes many cases of so well known now ‘fake news’. He also discusses the problem of the implementation of the double standards policy by comparing different points of view on important issues of the USSR, the USA and the Great Britain.

The brief essay is about Russia’s opportunities for development in modern world and about some results of post-Soviet state-building in Russia. According to author, Russia managed to avoid negative consequences of the USSR collapse: it preserved the unity, strengthened its position on international scene, and maintained its defense capability. The publicist draws attention to the economic policy of the Russian Federation and to its development prospects in this field in the foreseeable future. In the essay, the external and internal components of Russian politics are investigated from the point of view of interaction and counteraction of different forces and groups within the country.

The article is devoted to the political and legal thought of Russian émigré in 1920–1930. In the focus of the article there are the concepts of state, democracy, empire that were reflected by the followers of the different political ideologies. They interpreted the experience of Russian empire, Russian revolution trying to predict the future of political systems in Europe. It helped them to make radical conclusions that were too far from the former intellectual tradition.

The article is devoted to the political projects of Russian émigré in 1920–1930. Its representatives tried to analyze their experience in Russia. Either they did their best to offer their vision of the future of Russia and Europe. Their way of thinking was non-standard and quite wide that helped them to define the challenges of the times and show the tendency of law and state evolution.

Sundials are the most ancient scientific instruments, but their earliest examples made in Russia and stored at museums are the ones made in the 18th century. The article is devoted to the sundials presented at the exposition “The first astronomic observatory of Academy of science” at МАЕ RAS (Kunstkamera). In the introductory part of the article the author tells how and why sundials became an important object by the beginning of the 18th century and why portable varieties gained popularity. Further the history of their usage and improvement is under consideration, as well as inviting foreign masters and appearance of Russian ones. Special attention is paid to each of the exhibits of Kunstkamera as a unique object, giving us a chance to study the history of science and technique.

The article deals with the history of origin and attempts to implement the idea of A.A.Bogdanov about the Proletarian University as one of the means of mastering the proletarian culture by working class. After the revolution of 1917 proletarian universities were organized not only in Moscow and Petrograd, but also in many provincial towns. However, they were quickly closed down. Party and state leaders felt that the declared intention of the organizers of the Proletarian University to bring up a new man and train new leaders from the proletariat itself means, in fact, in the near future, that they will be replaced by a new generation of leaders – independent ones who are able to think and analyze and not only repeat slogans.

The study is based on comparative analysis of the programmatic work of the German physicist Georg Friedrich Parrot “A Look at the Present and the Near Future”, as a conservative manifesto that marked the beginning of the formation of the new Russian messianism doctrine and the first attempts to broadcast it to the peoples of Europe on the eve of the foreign campaign of the Russian army 1813–1814.

In conditions of the modern information wars the patterns of origin and functioning of various images and symbols are of great interest for the researches. The article deals with the Soviet caricatures devoted to subjects of the foreign policy of late 1940s – early 1960s, which were inspired by common citizens of the USSR. Their content is disclosed in the context of general trends of development of imagery and symbolism of the visual satire of the Cold war times. The paper elicits the specific of perception of international agenda depicted by amateur satirists and evaluates their contribution to the creation of enemy image.

In the case of Anatoly Sharansky, as in a drop of water, the final stage of the history of the Soviet Union was reflected. When in the 1970s this activist of the Jewish movement challenged the communist empire, it was still strong enough to withstand all threats, including internal one. But by that time, it had largely lost its former repressive potential and could no longer punish opponents of the regime so mercilessly as it had been under Stalin. Only thanks to the softening of the Soviet system after the death of the dictator, Sharansky managed to survive, although, of course, this would never have happened had he not had the courage and inner psychological strength necessary to survive in the harsh conditions of camps and prisons. The decisive moment was that in the future this liberalization intensified more and more, ending with perestroika. And if this development turned out to be fatal for the Soviet system, then for Sharansky, on the contrary, it was salutary, allowing him to gain the upper hand in the confrontation with it.

The publication analyzes the documents of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b), reflecting the reaction of workers to the increase in ration prices in September 1946 and the mechanisms of public opinion management used by the Soviet government.

This story opens a series of articles devoted to the prehistory of the Great Northern War seen through separate contexts of diplomatic relationships between Russia, on the one hand, and each member of anti-Swedish coalition, on the other. The author starts with a detailed analysis of the intense activity of two consecutive Danish missions in Moscow – one led by Gildebrand von Horn, another by Paul Heins. They did their utmost to seduce tsar Peter by fabulous prospects promised by the future allied victory over the Swedes. He, however, was guided by his own thoughts as to the circumstances that would justify the risk of war against most powerful state in Northern Europe.

The article is devoted to the state and society of the 1860s understanding of the fiftieth anniversaries of the Patriotic War of 1812, the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the centenary of the birth of Napoleon I. The first (twenty five year) anniversary of 1812 was very solemnly celebrated by order of Nicholas I on the day of the victory over Napoleon at the end of August 1839. In 1862–1864, a celebration of the half-century anniversary was about to come and, it would seem, it should also be just as wide. However, in 1862 no official celebrations were held. Unlike the official state engaged in the celebration of another anniversary – the millennium of Russia, public thought didn’t forget the anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812 and was trying to comprehend the events of recent past in its own way. In 1864, against the backdrop of the changed foreign policy situation, the anniversary of the entry of Russian troops into Paris was celebrated solemnly by a parade on Palace Square and lunch in the Winter Palace. At the same time the official press reflected in details news about the celebration of the centenary of Napoleon I in 1869 in France. This article examines in details the publications of official newspapers, literary magazines and the epistolary and memoirs of the contemporaries of the 1860s, which somehow reflected the anniversary dates.

The article is devoted to the institutional control of the local government, which was improved in the XIX century. The analysis of revision procedures in four ministries (of inner affairs, state property, finance and justice) allowed to highlight common features and characteristics of the revision practices under Nicholas I. Ministry revisions were one of the form of extraordinary control, but they, instead of senatorial revisions, were used not only when central government in the capital received information about disorders in a work of local institutions, but also in order to collect reliable data on state of subordinate institutions. Such measures allowed to swiftly react on malfunctions in a work of local government and take measures “for possible improvements”, which was manifested not only in strengthening reporting practices and prosecutions, but also in adjustments of reforms and reorganization of institution work.

The article is devoted to the political parties in Russia in the beginning of the XXth century: its origins, structure, programs, tactics. The author bound the Russian multy-party system with the society conditions, its stratification, the specific of the intellectual processes in the country. Тhe definition of the parties was formulated. It can be used in regard to the reality of the beginning of XXth century. Finally, the authors targeted the research perspectives of the parties in the Russian empire.

The article describes the events that are not well studied in historiography. It is focused on the celebration of the October Revolution anniversary in the war time Moscow (November 6–7, 1943). It represents the reaction of the Western allies to the speech of Joseph Stalin, made at the reception in the Kremlin on November 6. It also shows a representational meeting at the Reception House of the Narkomat for Foreign Relations (NKID) on November 7 with participation of the Soviet political and military elite, writers, artists, as well as foreign diplomats. Among the sources used are archival materials, diplomatic documents, memoirs and diaries of the contemporaries and participants Alexander Vert, Harrison Evans Salisbury, Ivan Maisky and Ilya Ehrenburg.

This article analyzes some aspects of the cultural policy of the USSR in the second half of the 1940’s – early 1950’s. One of the leading ideological campaigns is being investigated – against «formalism» in Soviet music, which is seen as a representative illustration of the enhanced use of control-repressive and administrative-regulatory technologies of «late Stalinism». The course of the campaign is traced based on the reproduction of information-political, hardware training, internal periodization and correlation with other similar actions of that time are carried out. The instrumentally localized character of the campaign, organized to achieve an instant disciplinary and intimidating traumatic effect, directed against the musical intelligentsia and its creative freedom, is shown. The author comes to the conclusion that there is a need for a delicate and balanced assessment of the «case of music-formalists». This is due to the ambivalence of this historical situation – a combination of ideological addiction and the presence of elements of objective criticism of the limits of musical and aesthetic experimentation.

The article considers direct experience as a fact of self-consciousness of the ancient Russian masters of the word. In addition to authoritative sample texts, ancient and medieval Russia was able to appreciate personal evidence, links to the author’s acquaintance with the subject of the image. Travelers, rhetoricians and preachers used direct experience as an important suggestive setting, which allowed to give the work credibility. This technique was used in different genres in order to engage the reader in the proposed circumstances. The reception function is considered on the example of the works of hegumen Daniel (XII century), monk Thomas (XV century), protopope Avvakum (XVII century).

The article covers the complex transformation issues of the Russian-Ukrainian border in 1920. It is based on the study of the archive documents, critical analysis of publications of leading historians. The author marks, that economic factor determine the creation of the Donetsk province and the transfer to it the some Russian ethnic territories, that caused intense disputes about the contours of the Russian-Ukrainian border. The administrative-territorial dispute was settled by the orders of the Center, but the decision did not satisfy the parties.

The article of Miza Isaevna Boreva (1902–1969), a revolutionary and party leader from the 1930s through the 1940s. She was born in Odessa in a poor Jewish family, at the age of 15, Miza Boreva became a participant in the revolutionary events and joined the Bolshevik Party. She was involved in the Civil War in Ukraine and in the Crimea and the Caucasus. During the 1920s and early 1930s, after receiving a good education for the time, she had a most successful career in the CPSU(b), working at various party positions in Vladivostok, Moscow, Ivanovo and Semipalatinsk. In December 1934, at the invitation of a longtime acquaintance, A.Y.Stolyar, she left for work in the Kirov region, where she was arrested in April 1938. Freed in late 1939, in 1940 she was reinstated in the party and continued her career. In 1943, she was again expelled from the CPSU(b) and put on trial but was acquitted and reinstated once again. From 1944 to 1948, she served as secretary of the municipal party committee in Simferopol. She was removed because of an anti-Semitic campaign in the USSR. The life of M.I.Boreva is a prime example of how an historical era affects the fate of.

The author proceeds from the fact that from the first days of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the Woodrow Wilson administration, in various ways, under the guise of ostentatious goodwill, sought to take a leading role among those who offered Russia “help and assistance”. The US diplomatic services launched intensive reconnaissance and sabotage operations, spreading their influence and agents in the hottest spots of the country. These actions were combined with US armed intervention in Soviet Russia, were supported by local counterrevolution, and developed taking into account the presence of the Japanese military contingent in Siberia and the Far East, as well as Czechoslovak units from among former prisoners of war. As a result, by 1919 the United States was close to establishing something similar to the occupation regime in a number of places free of the “Reds” and their supporters.

In 2018, the art community noted several memorable dates: the 280th anniversary of the Russian ballet school, the 200th anniversary of M.I.Petipa and the 140th anniversary of the end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–78. The article will focus on three French choreographers: J.Land, S.Didlo and M.Petipa, who created the basis for the flourishing of Russian ballet. In addition, special attention will be paid to Petipa’s contribution to the formation of the Russian aristocracy’s sense of ownership in the events in the Balkans in search of national (Slavic) identity.

Petersburg Kunstkamera was a leading research and educational center of Russia in the 18th century. In particular, the exact time service worked here. The equipment included a rich collection of sundials by both foreign and domestic masters. In No. 4 of the magazine “Russia XXI” for 2019, it was told about the sundials made in Russia that are now stored in the museum. An article on sundials manufactured in Europe is offered to the attention of readers in continuation of the research.

The article deals with the jubilee article by St.Krivtsov, published in the journal "Under the banner of Marxism" and dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Stalin (1929). It reveals the complicity of the jubilee writer himself in the arrangement of accents in his own biography of the party leader and the head of state, which makes the article by Krivtsov at the same time and a hidden autobiography. Stalin keeps silent about the painful facts of his political failures and looks ahead to the future, in which he sees himself as the main theorist of the country, although in the journal "Under the banner of Marxism" no one writes about him so yet. Stalin's main argument is the turn to the construction of socialism in one single country and the need to assess the "practice" of new construction higher than dogmatic Marxism. It is not theory that determines the future, but the "practice" of socialism that is the criterion for the theoretical front in the USSR.

The article is devoted to the cultural-historical types of pre-Petrine Russia. The author considers them as an example of three confessions, reflected in ancient Russian literature. Prince Igor, the hero of the annalistic tales and “The Tale of Igor's Campaign”, repents as a representative of the entire princely family. Ivan the Terrible – as a sovereign, the head of the house and family. Protopop Avvakum – as a sovereign person in his direct approach to God, now speaking for himself personally, recognizing his individual responsibility. Thus, we are studying three different cultures, three meanings and life-worlds, which replaced each other in Russian history: 1) Ancient Russia; 2) Medieval Russia; 3) Russia of early Modern age. The article reinterprets the theory of cultural-historical types of N.Danilevsky. According to the author, the culturalhistorical types serve not only to distinguish between civilizations and the peoples that are in their orbit, but also to define the internal periodization of each specific culture. Inside each culture its own cultural-historical types may reveal, and even different cultures.

The article traces the origins of the centrist trend in Russian liberalism in the early 20th century. The author analyzes the views and activities of some leaders of this trend throughout the years 1860–1905. The conclusion is substantiated that the process of formation of the liberal center has accelerated since the end of the 19th century.

Based on a wide range of archival documents, the biographies of Siberian “fiery revolutionaries” – Alexander Vasilievich Tsytovich (1873–1942) and his wife – Anna Pavlovna, nee Tarelkina (1879 – after 1957), active participants in the Irkutsk Social Democratic underground of 1904–1912, then – of political emigrants. Information is presented on the activities of A.V.Tsytovich after returning to Soviet Russia in 1919, on his work as director of the Library of the State Historical Museum (1929–1933).