Abstract: The periodization of political repression in the USSR was and remains an urgent issue in the study of the GULAG. According to A.V. Bakunin, when determining the main stages of political repression in the USSR, it is necessary to proceed from the periodization of Soviet totalitarianism, which includes three main stages: the formation (genesis) of totalitarianism (1917–1929), the domination (apogee) of totalitarianism (1929–1953), stagnation and collapse of totalitarianism (1953–1991). After 1991, the mass publication of memoirs of former prisoners of Soviet camps has begun, and it is the memories that are the main source for our research. As part of the current work, we hypothesize that the perception and transmission of memories of the camps may be influenced by the period or stage of repression in which the prisoners served time. The conducted content analysis of memoirs of former GULAG prisoners in subgroups by gender and stage of political repression allows us to conclude that in all subgroups of documents the categories of "Power", "Life" and "Work" dominate, regardless of the stage of political repression and the gender of the authors of the memoirs. This confirms the thesis that in the memory of former prisoners, first of all, memories associated with daily survival in the camp and overcoming inhuman living and working conditions leave an imprint. At the same time, it can be noted that in the subgroups with a small number of incoming documents and marked elements, for example, in the subgroup "women, dates of arrest from 1918 to 1922", significant deviations in the frequency of occurrence are observed – bright connections of atypical categories are revealed. Conversely, the more texts and the larger the studied subgroup, the more common features of the perception of camp life appear. This confirms the hypothesis about the massive nature of large arrays of thematically similar texts.

Keywords: GULAG, gender, repression, gender studies, content analysis, sources of personal origin, mass sources, GULAG periodization, memoirs, prisoners

Abstract: The historical analysis of the research carried out during 1928-1934 within the framework of the Kola peninsula expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences is presented. The initial boundary is due to the creation of the expedition, the final one is due to its reformatting into a stationary structure – the Kola base of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The sources for the preparation of the article are archival materials identified by the authors from the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences, published expedition reports, as well as scientific literature prepared based on the results of the research under consideration. It is noted that the drivers of the Kola complex expedition were both purely cognitive interest and the needs of industrial development of high latitudes. The work carried out made it possible to show significant activity of researchers in studying the natural resources of the Kola Peninsula, identifying promising mineral deposits, determining various patterns of their distribution and searching for the optimal development methodology. Along with this, a certain place in the work of the expedition was given to other areas of research, both related to ensuring the possibility of developing the extractive industry (geocryological, partly ecological and biological), and having an indirect connection with this problem. In this regard, the importance of conducting research within the expedition aimed, among other things, at studying the traditional culture of the aboriginal ethnic groups of the Kola Peninsula is noted.

Keywords: traditional culture, indigenous peoples, minerals, scientific research, natural resources, expeditions, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Kola Peninsula, Arctic, folklore

Abstract: This article deals with the problem of accumulation and systematization of information in studies devoted to 3D reconstructions of objects of historical and cultural heritage. In the presence of a large number of heterogeneous sources, the researcher may get confused in the accumulated data, which significantly complicates his work. Since in research, the results of which are virtual reconstructions, text sources are used together with graphic, scientific and technical documentation, as well as physical objects undergoing preliminary digitization, the accounting and cataloging of sources cannot be neglected. The solution to this problem allows the most complete and efficient use of all the materials available in the study, which ultimately affects the quality of the reconstruction result obtained. In this article, using the example of a project for the reconstruction of estate complexes in the Moscow region, the author demonstrates the developed system of accumulation and enrichment of source information using modern database management systems and software tools for working with data. The information aggregated and described in the MySQL database is supplemented with information from open sources using web scraping technology in the Python programming language, acquires end-to-end identification and acquires usability in various studies. Standardized information allows you to quickly find the right source from the very top level, and its enrichment provides additional opportunities for analysis and synthesis of all aggregated material.

Keywords: Web-scraping, MySQL, Python, Estates of Moscow region, Databases, 3D-reconstructions, Source studies, Historical Information science, Data enrichment, Cultural heritage

Abstract: The object of the study is early Christian apologetics as a socio-cultural phenomenon. In modern science, the issue related to the audience of early Christian apologies is actively discussed. A number of apologies of the second century, as is known, are addressed directly to the rulers of the Roman Empire themselves. But is such an addressee genuine? Or is there a masterfully executed literary stylization in front of us? The subject of our research is the apology of Aristide. Aristide, according to ancient church historians, was the first apologist of Christianity who submitted his work to the Emperor Hadrian. However, the Syriac translation of the apology indicates the Emperor Antoninus Pius as the addressee. Thus, we are faced with two questions: 1) which of the two emperors was the addressee in the original apology; 2) is the imperial addressee real or is he a literary fiction?   In the course of the study, the author came to the following conclusions. Firstly, we have no reason to prefer the Syriac version of the apology to all the data of the church-historical tradition. This data is confirmed by the Armenian translation of the apology. It should also be pointed out that the Syrian addressee contains a number of errors and resembles, rather, a later interpolation. Secondly, the content of the apology convinces that it is designed for an educated pagan, and not for a Christian. And there is every reason to believe that the Emperor Hadrian really acted as such an addressee. At the same time, it should be noted that the apology does not represent an official petition addressed to the emperor, we have before us a literary work written in the protreptic genre.

Keywords: Protrepticus, Aristides, Aplogetics, Antoninus Pius, Hadrian, Roman Empire, Early Christianity, Church, Jenre, Audience

Abstract: The author examines the perception of the idea of German hegemony in Europe in German political thought from the end of the Cold War to the end of the European debt crisis of 2009-2013. During this period, there was a discussion in the German analytical community about the future role of Germany in the region. In the study are distinguished a number of stages in the perception of the idea of the hegemony of the FRG. As part of the first stage, after the end of the Cold War, the so-called "normalization debate" takes place, during which the issue of increasing the political weight of a united Germany was discussed. The next stages were marked by the understanding of German hegemony as a leader in the processes of European integration, the rehabilitation of the use of military force, a temporary period of renationalization, and then, during the leadership of A. Merkel as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, the adoption of the role of the financial leader of Europe. The conclusion is made about the legitimization of the idea of German regional hegemony in German political thought following the results of the European debt crisis.

Keywords: Angela Merkel, Hegemony stability theory, European debt crysis, European integration, Debate about normalization, German political thought, European Union, Hegemony, Germany, Gerhard Schroeder

Abstract: The subject of the study is the visual aspect in historical and anthropological study of the population and ethnic groups of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Social Republic, implemented in the course of field research by employees of the Research Institute of Language and Culture at the Council of People's Commissars of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Social Republic (1935) and the Yakut Museum of Local Lore by Em. Yaroslavsky name. In the 1930s-1940s through the joint efforts of the staff the Institute and the Museum, a new array of visual sources is being formed that characterizes the traditional everyday life of the population and ethnic groups living on the territory of the republic. The purpose and objectives of the article are determined by the need for a special review the corpus of visual sources, and in it a special analysis of the author's photographs collected as part of expeditions by employees of the first research institute and the local history museum of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic during the period under study. The methodology for studying visual heritage is based on an interdisciplinary approach to the study of traditional culture and its objective world, as well as expeditionary photo projects as phenomena the visual culture of their time.

Keywords: visual observation, scientific programs, oral tradition, national institute, Yakut intellectuals, Soviet ethnography, ethnic communities, expeditions, museum collecting, visual researches

Abstract: The article examines the fact of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War as the starting point of Japan's historical development in the XX century, which determined the vector of further changes in Japanese foreign policy and played a significant role in the fate of Asian nations. In modern Russia, the 1904-1905 war is often perceived as a problem exclusively of Russo-Japanese relations and a factor clouding the prospects of good neighborliness. The author of the article aimed to determine the historical significance of Japan's victory in this conflict as an important moral factor for Japanese society, which had a strong international influence in the future. For this purpose author studied materials about the Russo-Japanese War, events preceding the Russo-Japanese war, its prerequisites, directly on the Russo-Japanese War and its results. Based on the data obtained, the author suggests that the results of the Russo-Japanese War had a decisive influence on Japan's transforming into an imperialist state in the first half of the XX century, in what the main role belongs to the acquired from the war victory conviction about the right and ability of Asian nations to resist European colonialism. It is the point from where the further Japanese militaristic policy of the 1930s and 1940s proceeds, which was of great importance in the history of Asian nations, as well as Russia. The article is intended for a wide range of readers interested in Russian and world history, especially for those who want to learn more about the Russo-Japanese war and the non-obvious consequences of Russia's failure in the conflict with Japan.

Keywords: militarism, Liaodong Peninsula, Port Arthur, Asian history, imperialism, colonialism, Russia, Japan, Russo-Japanese War, the beginning of the XX century

Abstract: The article is devoted to the relations between the worshippers movement led by Bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church Nikolai Velimirovich and the nationalist organization "Zbor" of the Yugoslav politician Dimitri Letich. The central problem of the article is the influence of these organizations on each other based on differences and similarities in understanding the connection between Orthodoxy and Serbian nationalism. The article provides an analysis of the reasons for mutually beneficial cooperation between these social movements in the period of the 20 – 30s of the twentieth century. It is worth emphasizing that the consequence of the interaction between them was the deterioration of the situation of the Serbian Orthodox Church under the new communist government, which was expressed in increased repression and reputational damage inflicted on the clergy and religious organizations in general as a result of their participation in the events of World War II.

Keywords: People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia, The Government of National Salvation of Milan Nedic, Serbian Volunteer Corps, Zbor organization, the worshippers movement, Dimitri Letich, Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, Serbian Orthodox Church, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Orthodox People's Christian Union

Abstract: The study of Soviet-American scientific relationships during the Cold War is an actual scientific task. In the article for the first time is published letters from the personal foundation of Professor Michael Sjuzjumov (Ural University, Sverdlovsk), which he received from Lois Hassler-Smith and Merlin Packard, librarians of the Center for Byzantine Studies at Harvard University in Dumbarton Oaks, 1960s and 1970s. In addition, the author of the article is considered the issue of official ways to exchange scientific literature with capitalist countries, which were regulated by special legislative acts. However, the contacts that scientists of the USSR and the United States independently established among themselves made it possible, avoiding unnecessary formalities, to quickly receive the latest scientific literature. The letters published in the article indicate that the correspondence of M.Ja. Sjuzjumov with the staff of the Dumbarton Oaks library lasted more than 10 years. The American side received scientific periodicals published in Sverdlovsk and teaching aids on special courses, and M.Ja. Sjuzjumov – novelties of American scientific literature and classical editions, which were previously available to him only in the capital’s libraries. The authors of the article also managed to identify an error made by the compilers of the Who Was Who at Dumbarton Oaks index, 1940–2015. This edition indicates that the library employed female employees Lois Smith and Lois Hassler. Meanwhile, the analysis of correspondence with M.Ja. Sjuzjumov and the data of the American periodical press prove presented one person – Lois Hassler-Smith.

Keywords: USSR, Sverdlovsk, Harvard University, Ural University, Dumbarton Oaks, Merlin Packard, Lois Hassler-Smith, source study, Sjuzjumov, historiography

Abstract: The object of the study is the personal correspondence of Siberians who participated in the Great Patriotic War. The purpose of the work is to characterize the regional archival and museum collections of epistolary ego documents of the war period and to assess their information potential. The need to consider the problem in all its diversity has led to the use of such general scientific research methods as analysis and synthesis, logical method, descriptive method, classification method. Special research methods were also used: source studies, textual, problem-chronological, content analysis. Frontline letters are classified as a historical source. By means of textual analysis of epistolary documents of 1941-1945, the informational component of the letters of the Siberian soldiers was revealed. The problem-chronological method made it possible to identify the specifics of letters depending on the time of their writing.   An array of epistolary sources of the period of the Great Patriotic War, not previously studied and not introduced into scientific circulation, consisting of 400 front-line letters of Siberian soldiers, is analyzed. As a result of the analysis of front-line correspondence, valuable information was revealed about various aspects of military everyday life: about living conditions in the rear, about front-line life, about the combat path of Siberian military units. The signs of the mental transformation of Siberian soldiers in military conditions are recorded and considered: a change in the perception of the enemy, a rethinking of the pre-war lifestyle, increased awareness of the value of the family, the formation of elements of religious consciousness. Conclusions are drawn about the significant informational value of the epistolary heritage for a comprehensive understanding of the events of the Great Patriotic Wars, about the need to intensify work on the introduction of ego documents into scientific circulation.

Keywords: military epistolaries, museum collections, wartime correspondence, the Great Patriotic War, archival funds, family correspondence, front-line letters, sources of personal origin, ego documents, epistolary complexes

Abstract: The sudden death on December 3, 1845 of the famous public figure, historian and writer Alexander Ivanovich Turgenev caused a lot of sympathetic responses. Many «mournful» letters were received by an old friend of the deceased, the poet V. A. Zhukovsky. This article attempts to prove for the first time that the author of one anonymous letter sent to Zhukovsky was Turgenev's close friend Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Sverbeeva. This assumption is justified by comparing «the letter of an unknown person about the death of A. I. Turgenev» with other letters of A. I. Turgenev's friends and acquaintances (both published and introduced into scientific circulation for the first time). The first part of the article describes the relationship of A. I. Turgenev with the Sverbeev family; the second part compares «the letter of an unknown person» with the letters of N. A. Melgunov to V. A. Zhukovsky; the third part compares «the letter of an unknown person» and one of the messages of E. A. Sverbeeva to A. N. Popov. As a result of the conducted research, it can be stated with full confidence that the author of «the letter of an unknown person» was E. A. Sverbeeva. Firstly, it is clear from the usage of words in the compared letters that the addressee was in close friendly relations with A. I. Turgenev (the case of E. A. Sverbeeva); secondly, «the letter of an unknown person», the letters of N. A. Melgunov and E. A. Sverbeeva have several similar plots and textual coincidences. The materials used in the article may be useful in the further development of the topic of A. I. Turgenev's relations with the Sverbeev family, as well as expand and detail the idea of the intellectual atmosphere in Moscow of the Nicholas time. The article also touches upon the general problems of the methodology of source studies: questions about possible ways to find the author of the document and the limits of using the comparative method in the analysis of epistolary sources.

Keywords: Ekaterina Sverbeeva, Alexander Turgenev, Alexander Popov, Nikolay Melgunov, Vasily Zhukovsky, correspondence, comparative method, friendly letter, attribution of authorship, Nikolay Turgenev

Abstract: The authors investigate the reasons for the shortage and high cost of food in the Yakutsk region during the First World War, as well as the activities of the Regional Food Committee, authorized by the Special Meeting of the Governor R. E. Witte and the City Duma of Yakutsk to prevent a food crisis. The facts and events within the framework of the problem under study are systematized, the narrative is built on the basis of the problem-chronological method. The historical-systemic method made it possible to determine the factors that caused the rise in prices and the emergence of food shortages. The historical-genetic method made it possible to analyze the development of the situation in the food sector in dynamics, to trace its transformation into a crisis state. The authors concluded that the Yakutsk region, which was a special region within the Russian Empire (geographically remote, occupying a vast territory, with an undeveloped transport infrastructure, and at the same time of strategic importance), was dependent on food supplies for food. As a result of the First World War, the physical and economic availability of food and, above all, bread has declined sharply. Administrative regulatory measures of local authorities could not be effective in the context of general negative transformations in the economic sphere. The food crisis came in the third year of the war - in 1916-1917. Since that time, the inhabitants of the region could rely only on local agricultural production, which was extremely unstable.

Keywords: Yakutsk, bread, taxing prices, speculation, food crisis, First World War, high cost, deficit, Eastern Siberia, Yakutsk region

Abstract: This article highlights the analysis of the textbook of universal history for the 9th grade, printed in China in the 1950s. The paper examines the features of the descriptions of Russia in the textbook, as well as the relationship between textbooks and the policy pursued by China during this period. Text criticism, linguoculturological and imagological analysis are the main methods of our research. The results of the work indicate that the Chinese government in the historical period considered in the textbook sought to form a certain image of Russia among schoolchildren, which was associated with events in Russian-Chinese relations. The study of Chinese history textbooks made it possible to analyze the historical perspective and cultural dynamics between Russia and China during the Cold War. The importance of studying history textbooks and their influence on the worldview of students is emphasized in the conclusions of the article. In addition, it is necessary to analyze the political and ideological goals that can be embedded in history textbooks. So, this study allowed us to understand more deeply the historical perspective of Russian-Chinese relations during the Cold War and to realize the importance of studying history textbooks. The results of the study can be used in the education system, as well as in research in the field of history and international relations.

Keywords: international affairs, the education system, imagological analysis, cultural dynamics, linguocultural analysis, image of Russia, Russian-Chinese relations, Cold War, school textbooks, China

Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of the practical experience of the activities of the associations of inter-parliamentary cooperation of the regions of the Russian Federation in the 1990s and the implementation of strategies for using their integrative potential. The object of the study is inter–parliamentary associations, the subject is the strategies of integration cooperation formed by them. The purpose of the work is to analyze the use of the integration potential of the activities of the associations of interparliamentary cooperation of the regions of the Russian Federation in the 1990s. Attention is drawn to the fact that inter–parliamentary associations - associations and councils formed various integration strategies, which were formed depending on the goals and objectives of interaction declared by the associations. The organization of the activities of interparliamentary cooperation associations was aimed at developing joint solutions, the form and content of which depended on whether the issue belonged to the appropriate level of competence – the exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its regions, as well as the exclusive jurisdiction of the regions of the Federation. It is established that the implementation of the strategies of the associations was carried out by resolving common problems for the participants, such as: the development of model laws and legislative initiatives, generalization of law enforcement practice, as well as support for individual initiatives that are key for the regions of the Federation – a member of the association. The content of the cooperation of the councils was mainly related to the coordination by the subjects of the Federation of legislative support for the implementation of socio-economic development programs of the regions of the Federation. A feature of the activities of interparliamentary cooperation associations was the formation of a consolidated position on rule-making, which falls within the competence of the exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, as well as the development of unified positions on the socio-political events taking place in the country.

Keywords: interparliamentary council, integration strategy, legislature, regional processes, integration associations, parliamentary associations, regional integration, integration potential, interparliamentary cooperation, interparliamentary association