Abstract: The author analyses the repressive mechanisms of the period, disclosed on the basis of a study of archival material. The first part of the article consists of a brief historiographical overview of the studies on this subject. The dominant opinion in scientific literature is that regional officials, usually following central instructions, fabricated investigational materials on the principles convenient for their regional authorities. The second part is dedicated to the examination of the repression dynamics on the main social groups: agriculturalists, industrial workers and officials. The dynamics’ data is divided by years and the author attempts to thus distinguish small repression campaigns of regional scale. The author comes to the conclusion that in most cases the repressions were conducted within one social group, with investigation files containing examples of interceding lines of repression of various social groups; however, the existing data is not enough to expose definite tendencies. Agricultural workers and administrators suffered most from the repressions. On the basis of archival investigation files, in conjunction with the deductive and inductive methods, the author distinguishes three repression mechanisms: “bottom-up”, “top-down”, and their synthesis – “mixed” type. In the given timeframe, the “mixed” type was the most common: it was characteristic for group investigations, falsified in a significant number of cases.

Keywords: repressions, regions, Altay, “memorial book”, database, investigation files, social groups, dynamics, campaigns, mechanism of repression.

Abstract: The article presents an overview of the transformations in the language and mythological notions of the Papuans on the Maclay shore after the departure of the scientist. A short description of the region’s ethnic composition permits to take a different look at the cultural processes happening there from the 1890s to the 2010s. The authors cite several legends connected with the appearance of the Russian scientist in the Astrolabe bay, and also of the soviet expeditions “in the footsteps of N. N. Miklouho-Maclay” of 1971 and 1977. They analyse as well the Russian-language adoptions in the Maclay shore languages, while eliminating existing false assumptions of borrowing. The figure of the scientist in mythological folktales significantly altered during the course of the 20th century: in the 1900–1930s he appeared as a cultural hero, in the 1940–1970s – as the transmitter of cargo-treasures, in the 1980–2010s he attains the characteristics of a real person, cooperating with the Bongu Papuans. The article compares the figure of N. N. Miklouho- Maclay with that of Augustus Hanke, who had lived in Bongu for 30 years. The authors come to the conclusion that all of the pertinent legendary tales contain little historical facts and are subjected to the general evolutionary laws of mythological texts. It is therefore necessary to continue the study of the heritage of the Russian scientist in the Papuan culture of the Maclay shore.

Keywords: Austronesians, acculturation, Maclay shore, geographical legends, cargo cults, N. N. Miklouho-Maclay, mythology, Madang, Papua – New Guinea, Augustus Hanke.

Abstract: The article examines the history of the Young German movement in Poland during the 1920–1930s. Its focal topics are the reasons and the historical conditions in which the National-socialist Young German party developed, led by Rudolf Wiesner. The article describes the political program of the movement, its relations with other German political forces in Poland, including the role of the Young Germans in the debate between “the elders” and “the young” in 1933–1939. It also defines the relations between the Young German party and the rehabilitation regime of the Second republic. The author gives light to the reasons of the party’s loyalty to the Polish government. Separate attention is dedicated to the influence of Nazi Germany on the political life of the Germans in Poland. The foreign policy structures of Nazi Germany led a similar line of policy towards other Volksdeutsche in the countries of Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe. The policy’s main goal was to establish control over the local ethnic German groups in these countries, in the first place – over their political organizations. This was while Berlin officially sought to avoid conflicts with the authorities of countries, where citizens of German nationality resided and who were seen as potential allies. Thus the absence of a due support by the radical National-socialists groups in Poland is explained.

Keywords: Germans in Poland, Young German party in Poland, National-socialism, Polish history, Second Polish Republic, German history, Volksdeutsche, Rudolf Wiesner, Cieszyn Silesia, “fifth column”.

Abstract: The article examines the ideological basis of the Private committee’s activity – the circle of “young friends” of Alexander I that developed the main internal political changes at the beginning of the 19th century. The concepts of law, legality and constitution stated in the article’s title were fundamental notions in the discussion and elaboration of a series of reforms. The principal aim of this article is to elucidate the understanding of these concepts by committee members and the emperor at the beginning of his reign. The main source for this study is the material from the archive of P. A. Stroganov, the so-called protocols of the Private committee. At the beginning of his reign, Alexander I and his entourage aimed to establish a constitution as the final outcome of their work – an unchangeable law (or codex of laws), which would allow to systematise and define the administrative system, to validate and strengthen the emperor’s authority, to finalise the process of the classes’ rights legalisation. However, apart from asserting the emperor’s authority, there existed the idea of the power of law, which would restrain despotism and abuse of the monarch, should it become necessary.

Keywords: government constitutionalism, reforms, class policy, constitution, legality, law, social contract, Alexander I, Private committee, F.-C. Laharpe.

Abstract: The article presents a complex analysis of the anti-alcohol policy in the Russian state during the years of World War I. The author gives a general outline of the measures taken to combat alcoholism, analyses the goals of the anti-alcohol campaign and describes the reasons for its inefficiency and the consequences it had on the country. As well, the article states the justifications for the suspension of alcohol trade upon the entrance of the Russian empire into the war. Special attention is given to the social and economic consequences of so à radical move under the conditions of the prolonged and unprecedented in financial costs world war. The author comes to the conclusion that the anti-alcohol campaign could have given positive results only had the war ended quickly and favourably, which was the wager of the government and of the autonomous government bodies. During its first month the campaign played the role of a mobilising factor, however the extension of the war, complicated by the external political and economic situation, and the degradation of the country’s well-being undid the initial positive results. The consequences from the campaign in a most serious manner affected the economic, as well as the political position of the empire and in many ways defined the future revolutionary processes.

Keywords: anti-alcohol policy, World War I, “alcohol prohibition”, fiscal policy, capital cities, daily life, state wine monopoly, shadow economy, home front, socio-economic crisis.

Abstract: The class of honorary citizens in the Russian empire did not appear by chance: the formation of the class of eminent (and later – honorary), citizens at the end of the 17th century allowed the Russian sovereign to solve several governmental problems through it. Some of the main problems included the appeasement of social tensions, the difficulty of integrating new subjects of various confessions and ethnic groups into the state structure, the distinction of certain citizens and the conferment of privileges on them (for the purpose of encouraging their benefit to the state), and other questions. The privileges of the honorary citizens established by Catherine II in the Charter to cities, consisted of: exemption from corporeal punishment and conscription, possession of suburban yards and gardens (except for populated estates), and travel within city limits with a two- or four-horse carriage. The titles of eminent citizen were made hereditary, which thus formed them into a distinct social class. The grandchildren of the eminent citizens, whose fathers and grandfathers bore this citizenship title faultlessly, at the age of 30 were allowed to request the conferring of nobility. In 1832 emperor Nicholas I formally established through a manifest the formation of a separate class of eminent citizens. These citizens were divided into singular and hereditary groups. Famous representatives of the given class were the Morozovs, the Riabouchinskys, the Guchkovs. The title of honorary citizens was abrogated by the decree of the All-Russian central executive committee and the Council of people’s commissars on 11 (24) November 1917 regarding the abolition of classes and civil titles. The creation of the new class had originally not only helped to solve problems of stately magnitude, but also encouraged the expansion of patronage, the system of government administration locally, and the whole Russian economy.

Keywords: honorary citizenship, class, nobility, merchant class, guilds, privileges, request, charter, manifest, Russian emperor.

Abstract: The article illustrates the key milestones in the professional biography of the Grand duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (1856–1915), presented in the context of the socio-political events during the reigns of the last three emperors. The aim of the study is to analyse, on the example of Konstantin Romanov’s biography, the career development particularities of the Romanov dynasty members, to reveal the objective and subjective factors that influenced their sociopolitical activity, and to show how the significance of the dynasty’s members in the state life of the Russian empire changed in the course of the late-imperial period. The author comes to the conclusion that the career advancement of the Grand duke Konstantin Konstantinovich depended on the monarchs’ individual perceptions of the role of dynasty members in the socio-political life of the state. At the same time, professional appointments could be made on high officials’ initiatives, which were eager to reach their ambitions through this. The opposition against Alexander III had a decisive influence on the careers of the Grand dukes of his time, as the emperor did not deem necessary to engage his relatives in state affairs. This, in consequence, under Nicholas II led to Konstantin Konstantinovich having the possibility to influence state life, but not to fulfil his initiatives. The absence of experience gave the Grand duke a sense of incertitude in his abilities as a statesman and made his private life more appealing than the life of a public figure. Thus, on the example of the professional biography of the Grand duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, one can see how the dynasty’s members lost their fundamental roles in the life of the state, which ultimately led to the crisis of the dynasty as a political institute of authority.

Keywords: Grand duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, Grand duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, Romanov dynasty, Alexander I, Alexander II, Alexander III, Nicholas II, literacy committees, Imperial academy of sciences, military schools, first Russian revolution.

Abstract: The article examines the questions concerning the religious rupture in Germany and its influence on the formation of the German national idea in the period of the Thirty years\’ war (1618–1648). The intellectual life of the Holy Roman empire of the German nation from the second decade of the 17th century was significantly determined by the Thirty years\’ war. The German intellectuals, mostly authors and publicists, were the first to raise through their works the subject of the necessity for German unity and love for one\’s homeland, without the traditional division into Catholics and Protestants developed from the 16th century. For the German duchies, divided by confessional allegiances, this became a novel challenge. The article is based on a wide range of sources, mainly from the publicist and literary genres from the middle and second half of the 17th century. The originality of this research is in its analysis of the genesis of the German national idea through the prism of the confessional uniqueness of the German territorial duchies. The sources used by the author, in the first place publicist material and literature, in itself also presents the originality of this research. Despite the fact that among the intellectual elite there were representatives of different religious views, it was the authors and publicist who presented a unique example of confessional tolerance. This narrow stratum of German society became the messenger of mental changes and the announcer of transition from confessional doctrines to the new notions of “state interests”, weaved with the formation of the early Modern national conceptions.

Keywords: nationalism, confessionalisation, nation, M. Opitz, G. Ph. Harsdörffer, H. J. Ch. Grimmelshausen, intellectual elite, German literature, Germany.

Abstract: The Russian society focused a lot of its attention on the Balkan wars of 1912–1913, and on Bulgaria in particular. Correspondents of periodicals went to the peninsula. Many of them had never been to the Balkans and did not know the character of the population living there, thereby were free from the clichés concerning them and could evaluate the Bulgarian mores without bias. These correspondents described the Bulgarian character as peace-loving, hard-working and household-oriented, which was also noted by those visiting the country earlier. But in wartime this household-orientation sometimes took up rather unsympathetic forms. Along with this, witnesses saw a manifestation of bellicosity, the wish to fight their adversaries at all costs, and cruelty towards the enemy. Analysing these facts, reporters defined two sources for them. The first – to revenge the Turks for their century-old subjugation and oppression. The second – to attain the national ideal, the San Stefano Bulgaria. At the same time, it is impossible to affirm that these sentiments were not intensified by the government. The success of the official propaganda of historic myths confirms that in the minds of the Bulgarians the image of a San Stefano Bulgaria and Macedonia was deeply rooted. These were the symbols capable of exposing the Bulgarian society to changes and to dislodge it fr om its peaceful routine.

Keywords: attitude towards the enemy, imagology, Bulgaria, Balkan wars, Russian correspondents, mores, San Stefano Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bulgarians, people at war.

Abstract: The surveillance of foreigners in the Russian empire is a little-researched historiographical subject, with, among professional groups, only control over foreign teachers and tutors being studied. The aim of the article is to examine the formation history of the regulatory-legal base for foreign doctors’ sojourn in Russia in the first half of the 19th century, and to cite concrete examples of surveillance implementation over these professionals on the basis of documents from the Third section of His imperial majesty’s Own chancellery (State archive of the Russian Federation), the Smolensk governorate office, the chancellery of the Smolensk civil governor and the governorate medical board (State archive of the Smolensk oblast). The author draws particular attention to the fact that the main requirement for receiving medical practice permission in Russia was the validation of a doctor’s qualifications through the passage of exams in Russian specialised facilities. Because of the Russian authorities’ interest in attracting foreign specialists, these specialists were encouraged to learn Russian language and to receive Russian citizenship. To justify the logic of the authorities’ actions towards doctor-foreigners, the author describes the Russian government’s decisions taken during the 1850s. State surveillance was directed at ensuring the health of the Russian citizens and administering them with qualified medical aid from foreign specialists.

Keywords: surveillance, control, doctors, medics, foreigners, foreign doctors, prisoners of war, legislation, Russian empire, first half of the 19th century.

Abstract: The review introduces the new comparative study of A. Stanziani, a renowned French historian, to the Russian specialists, discussing the author’s general approach, thesis and arguments. The book considers the dominant concepts of West European and American historiography on the specifics of Russian variant of the transformations of the Early Modern era. Using the wide range of modern historiography, A. Stanziani reveals that the conventional perceptions of the major problems of Russian history of that period strongly affect the general schemes of historical development, which often contradicts the current level of knowledge attained by specialists. The reviewer suggests that the work of A. Stanziani, with its balanced and broad vision, is an important step to overcoming the alienation between the studies of Russian history in Russia and abroad, and is of great importance for both Russian and Western specialists.

Keywords: Alessandro Stanziani, “Oriental Despotism”, History of Russia, Early Modern period, social and economic history, economic backwardness, “military revolution”, serfdom, kholopy, territorial expansion.

Abstract: Contemporary Russian and foreign historiography is actively discussing the concept of the Middle ages. Some of the key problems concerning this notion include its chronological frame, its watershed temporal marks, its applicability to regions other than Western Europe and the Mediterranean, and its socio-cultural content. Opponents of this term have put forward claims that this concept lacks an objective basis and that from its appearance during the Renaissance, it has been no more than a projection of the ideas of scholars from different schools and epochs about the past and their own times. In this line of reasoning we are advised not to study the Middle ages as such (with the exception of particular periods and phenomena), but rather to assess this notion at different stages of historiography and decide what particular perception is necessary for our own contemporary society and, consequently, conduct our research accordingly. In writing this article the author made use of the general scientific methods, i.e. the historical and logical methods, as well as the systematic and linguistic methods. The author demonstrates that the critics of the notion of Middle ages have failed to prove its ontological emptiness, just as they have failed to prove this for the concept of Feudalism, which as they claim has been discarded by modern historiography as useless for the understanding of the medieval world. The author comes to the conclusion that the idea of the ontological emptiness of the discussed notion should be considered in the context of the more general historiographical debates about historicism, the pertinence of contemporary scientific concepts for the study of history, and the very subject of historical research, including the expediency of posing “global questions” in history. The article shows that the refutation of the notion of Middle ages is connected with the refusal of studying the system of social relations that enables us to apprehend the medieval world in its wholeness. The author also considers the place of Medieval European civilization from the point of view of its cultural achievements and its unique capability of evolution without causing major social catastrophes. A hypothesis is advanced that this capability is in itself a most important characteristic of the Medieval epoch.

Keywords: Middle ages, Modern History, European Civilisation, medieval studies, medievalism, history of notions, property relations, Feudalism, fiefs and vassalage, seigneurie.