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).