Anti-communist public activity in Hungary, fueled by the Jewish problem and escalated in the fall of 1956 into a massive uprising marked by bloody events, not only extremely aggravated the situation in this country, but also posed a serious threat to global geopolitical stability. However, this catastrophic and fraught with a global nuclear cataclysm scenario, fortunately, was not realized, and thanks to both the decisive measures taken by the leadership of the USSR and the proactive actions of individual responsible persons, including the Soviet ambassador in Budapest Yuri Andropov.

The article is devoted to the socio-political activities of Ilya Moiseevich Geitsman (1879–1938), a revolutionary, leader of the anarchist movement in Russia, and a soviet diplomat. Geitsman was one of the organizers of the anarcho-communist movement “khlebovoltsev” on the territory of Belarus and Lithuania in 1905–1907. In 1914–1918, he became the leader of the anarchist movement in Siberia. At the same time, he becomes one of the influential figures of the Centrоsibir’, had an impact on the formation of its political course. In 1921–1923, he became one of the ideologists of the “anarcho-Bolsheviks”, pursued a course for the integration of the anarchist movements of Russia and Europe into the orbit of the influence of the RCP(b).

The article opens a series of historical and biographical publications dedicated to the agrarian innovators of Russia in the 19th – early 20th centuries. The article comprehensively analyzes the economic views and long-term economic and educational activities of the outstanding landowner-innovator of pre-reform Russia, E.S.Karnovic.

The role of the Warsaw Governor-General G.A.Scalon in the development of government policy in the Kingdom of Poland in 1905–1914 is considered. Skalon's projects and proposals on changing the status of the Polish language in teaching, city self-government, the introduction of zemstvo self-government and the creation of the Kholm province are analyzed. Conclusions are drawn about the declining role of the Governor-General's power in making decisions on the administration of the Kingdom of Poland in the early twentieth century and the growing influence of the Council of Ministers and Ministries.

The article examines the formation of the departments of national history at Moscow and St. Petersburg Universities. Two factors influenced this process: the internal development of the history of Russia as a scientific discipline and the triad “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, nationality” proposed by the Minister of Public Education S. S. Uvarov. The initial stage of the formation of the national history departments was closely connected with the views and activities of two the most famous historians of this era – M. P. Pogodin and N. G. Ustryalov. Important results of their scientific and pedagogical work were the introduction of a large number of sources into science, the identification of significant problems of Russian history and its features, as well as the desire to teach students independent scientific research.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the current historiographical situation in the context of studying the state food policy of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century. The main directions of studying the problem of food security, hunger, as well as the participation of state authorities and local self-government in the implementation of measures to prevent a food crisis in the Russian post-reform village, which have become widespread in the national historiographic tradition, are investigated. The conclusion is made about the fragmentary nature of the study of the designated problem and the absence of special scientific research devoted to the subject under study.

The article is devoted to the study of the participation of a career diplomat, an employee of the central office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, Nikolai Valeryevich Charykov, in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. Based on the archival materials of the RGIA, RGVIA, RGADA and TsGASO, as well as a set of memoirs by N.V.Charykov, the elements of his worldview, the motives for participation in the war, the events and results of the war in the representation and interpretation of N.V.Charykov, the system of interaction between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Military Ministry.