Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2015 number

The Russian Medieval publicists raised the issue of oral Christian legends’ significance due to the church rituals controversy. Based on the analysis of works by Joseph Volotsky, metropolitan Daniel and Maximus the Greek, the article shows how thse famous scribes brought this problem up to date in their works; describes the ways of its presentation and functioning in the authors’ texts. Joseph Volotsky in his social essays was generally guided by the Holy Writ and written epistles of the Church teachers. He adhered to the pattern of the genetic relations between the Canonical epistles and the Church Fathers’ words and did not mark out “nepisanye predaniya” (oral Christian legends). Maximus the Greek did not take up the issue of the legends credibility. In his polemical treatises he freely used the subjects of oral sources as precedent texts. The role of sacred legends in the scholarly monk’s works was determined by the referential truth they contained. Adherence to the unwritten legends along with the written tradition of the Church is the narrative subject in the Word 3 of Daniel’s “Sobornik”. The Metropolitan’s work contains a section on Church history which specificity resides in the fact that its two main themes (praise of feats of the Apostles and the Church Fathers and refutation of sinners) are not proportional to each other. The theme of the Apostles Acts is set out by Daniel in two rhetorical periods presented in an epic and panegyric vein. Accusations of a Christian, who does not follow the church regulations, are made in a satirical style being the author’s original text. Among “evidences” there is a group of extractions regarding the subject of “nepisanye predaniya” that performed a text forming function of the Word 3. In a brief “Nakazanie” section of the Word 3 the formula of adherence to “predaniya” became conventionalized. Reliance on “predaniya” was necessary for Daniel to prove his right to expose human vices. Such justification is the main function of “predaniya” in the works by Metropolitan.

Collected preparatory works of the “Deacon’s Answers” make it possible to characterize the process of collective work of several generations of Old Believers who gathered testimony in favor of their advocated point of view with regard to the novelties introduced to the Ritus and liturgical practices during the Patriarch Nikon’s Church reform. The article shows how the collectors used the works written by the monks of Solovetsky Monastery and sel ected citations from the Holy Script in order to prove the illegitimacy of all these novelties. This work was started by Timofey Lysenin who managed not only to collect and systematize all fragments from the authoritative books (that had by then been selected by the defenders of Old Belief) but also referred to the original texts for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of reproduction of the text and describing a manuscript or a printed edition. His book was taken by the compilers as a basis for the collections of preparatory works. The article draws attention to the fact that compilers of the collections regarded the texts of their predecessors as a material that could be used for stating their own opinion. Being respectful of the text they used, reproducing the fragments practically verbatim, they considered it possible to change the logic of argumentation, supplementing it with new citations and comments. It is concluded that each collection resulted fr om a collective work of several generations of defenders of Old Belief. The collective character of their work was due to the fact that even in the Modern Age the Old Believers retained a traditional attitude towards citations and creating their own manuscripts that was typical of the Old Russian scribes.

The article examines a number of polemical writings by Evfimiy, the Chudov Monastery monk, one of the brightest representatives of the Russian literature culture of the second half of the XVII century. His works devoted to the Orthodox doctrine’s protection were used as a material for research. Protection of the Orthodoxy and Orthodox traditions of Russian culture was the main theme of Evfimii Chudovsky’s book activities notable for the variety of directions and forms. The article analyzes the writer’s works created in the course of a well-known dispute about the moment of the Holy Gifts transubstantiation during the liturgy (80s-90s of the XVII century); polemical texts associated with the names of Petr Artemyev and Grigory Skibinsky who studied in Europe and experienced the influence of Catholicism, and Evfimiy’s other works aimed at asserting the Orthodoxy and against the influence of Western religions. The article reveals a range of themes related to the disputable issues of interdenominational relations of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, which attracted the writer’s interest and were reflected in his polemical writings: the issue of the moment of the Holy Gifts change at liturgy differently interpreted by “Graecophiles” and “Latinophiles”, to which the writer devoted several of his works; the Catholic doctrine of the Holy Spirit procession, which was also the subject of his criticism. Analyzing the involved works, the article considers some peculiarities of Evfimiy Chudovsky’s creative laboratory, techniques and principles of writing the text based, as a rule, on a vast array of authoritative sources. Connection of his works with Christian ancient texts is established (Evfimiy demonstrates deep knowledge of the patristic and church-canonical literature). The author made observations concerning Evfimii Chudovsky’s notes and comments in the margins of manuscripts, which also characterize the specificity of the writer’s work with the text.

The manuscript collection compiled by V.I. Makarov, a leader of Tyumen community of Philipovtsy Old-Believers in the late XIX - early XX centuries, is kept in the fonds of the Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It includes a wide range of writings in the form of dialogues between a “nastavnik” (church leader, preceptor) with opponents representing the official church or other denominations. These “dialogue” writings were based on the disputes that had really taken place. Analysis of Makarov’s guidelines helped to clarify his views on how the disputes should be arranged. The author determined the speakers’ position during the discussion, the speaking order, established rules for the spectators’ behaviour. Descriptions of some specific «conversations» included into collections by Makarov show that participants in fact did not always follow the proposed rules. An attempt of the leader of Tymen Philippovtsy to regulate and control an unpredictable emotional process of disputes is a valuable evidence of the community’s intensive inner life. Texts describing the most interest disputes were copied and distributed among Old-Believers as well as sent to other regions. On the basis of an analysis of the texts of certain “dialogues” a conclusion was made that although these texts contained many quotes and references to appropriate book chapters, they were written in the language of “colloquial speech” and meant for reading aloud. Lots of moral adages about a true Christian’s mortal life and destination show that the author addressed not the opponents but mostly the Old-Believers of his own community. The “dialogues” were a convenient excuse for preaching aimed a t establishing his coreligionists in their faith.

The article introduces for scientific use one of the copies of a polemic writing by a Siberian peasant writer Grigoriy Arefyevich Strakhov from the collection of the Institute of History, SB RAS. The copy has been acquired in one of the Old Believers’ settlements as a result of archaographical fieldwork. Using G.A.Strakhov’s writing as an example the author considers eschatological issues that remained invariably topical in the Old-Believer literature and perfectly characterized specifics of historiosophy and ideology of the people at the grassroots level of Belokrinitsky Agreement - one of the last Old Believer agreements. Moreover, addressing the range of eschatological problems (which is a separate research problem) allows to deepen our understanding of both Old-Believers’ internal and interfaith polemics, as well as the late Old Believers’ political essays written in the latter half of the XIX century. In the article the author used traditional (general and specific) methods of historical research as the most appropriate for studying the narrative sources: analysis and synthesis, typologization and classification; causal analysis. In this particular case it is of utmost importance to study the historical context and circumstances in which the source was created. Like any other writer G.Strakhov had, perforce, to take into consideration the situation that had developed in the Belokrinitsky agreement by the time of creation of his work. On the one hand, by the late XIX century the Austrians had increased their influence in the Old Believers’ world, while a stand-off between the leaders of other agreements had also taken a serious turn, involantarily stimulating the literary activities and cultural exchange. On the other hand, civil and ecclesiastical authorities increased their pressure on the Belokrinitsky Old-Believers sharpening their long-standing oppositional sentiments. This was indirectly confirmed by the very fact of addressing the issue of end times.

The principle goal of the article is to introduce for scientific use and to analyze the information potential of memoirs of A.P. Kazin who was an officer of the Siberian Cossack Army. In the first of his essays A.P.Kazin tells about an armed clash between the Siberian Cossacks and a squadron of Sultan Sadyk Kenisarin near the Lake Sari-Kul in 1866, as well as characterizes the military actions of the Russian troops in the well-known battle of Irdzhar. The second essay is devoted to participation of the author, his friends and acquaintances in the Kokand Campaign of 1873-1875. It conveys ordinary Cossacks’ evaluations of the contemporary military leaders and statesmen such as D.I. Romanovskiy, K.P. von Kaufman, M.D. Skobelev; describes the military life and the course of military operations including the battle near Telyau; attempts at debunking of a renowned hero of this battle - S.A. Yelgashtin. The article demonstrates the role of these sources in studying the relationships between various groups of Cossacks, their mentality, attitudes towards the authorities and adversaries. The author of the paper highlights fragments of the memoirs containing pragmatic ideas and hopes typical of the Cossacks - regarding awards, higher wages and plentiful spoils of war. Special attention is paid to the memoirist’s personality. His negative evaluation of the Cossacks’ weapons and military equipage as well as his keen sense of the decline of the Siberian Cossack Army’s prestige are shown. That is the very reason (along with personal enmity) for Kazin’s hard-hitting and even sarcastic evaluation of S.A.Yelgashtin’s personality, due to Kazin’s perception of Yelgashtin as embodiment of all vices typical of many Cossack officers who were undereducated, ill-mannered and unable to carry themselves in a proper way. M.D.Skobelev was admired by the memoirist first of all for his respect for Siberian Cossacks. It is empathized that the memoirist praised the merits and courage of such adversaries as Sultan Sadyk Kenisarin and even the head of Kokand rebels, the cruel Pulat-Khan. Kazin’s memoirs containing numerous details allow us to feel the “real historical atmosphere”. His descriptions of everyday life and customs, evaluations of the military officials and troop officers, account of certain historical episodes are of special interest.

The article is devoted to the history of creation and functioning of the library at the Troitskosavsk-Kyakhta Subdivision of the Priamurye Branch of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (TKS PB IRGS) during the pre-revolutionary period. It considers establishment and development of the library’s activities with reference to archival and clerical materials, taking into account the data from the scholarly works reflecting the scientific views of the past. Bibliological sources - printing production of the TKS PB IRGS - are analyzed. The fundamental principles of historicism and scientific reliability, logical and statistical methods allowed reconstructing an overall picture of activities carried out by the library of TKS PB IRGS. The library was formed owing to the donations from different institutions, scientific organizations and individuals. Stocking of the library funds was mainly based on the book-exchange and donations, and to a lesser extent - on purchase of editions. Duplicate copies served as a basis for the book exchange which provided the library collection’s growth despite the lack of funding. The library of the TKS PB IRGS appeared to be the storage for publications of research into local lore, its holdings were substantially replenished with local periodicals presenting various information about the local history, which was eagerly sought by the staff of TKS PB IRGS for carrying out various research in the region. The author stresses the role played by the library of TKS PB IRGS in formation of the regional scientific and cultural potential and its contribution to the development of national book culture.

The article deals with the biography of Vasily Mikhailovich Muraviev, a young associate of N.N. Muraviev-Amursky, the governor-general of Eastern Siberia. Vasily Mikhailovich Muraviev (1824-1849) was related by family ties to the Decembrists. He was the third son of Count M.N. Muraviev-Vilensky and belonged to the most progressive minded young men of his time in terms of his moral qualities, education, career and political views. The article introduces for scientific use V.M. Muraviev’s letters written in Siberia in 1848, which are an important source on the history of Siberian administration and the Decembrists. In particular, these letters contain biographical material about I.D. Yakushkin. The author reveals main traits of the collective portrait of youth from the era of Nicholas I as exemplified by Vasily Muraviev. The author focuses on moral and ideological relations between the younger generation and their fathers- fathers-Decembrists raising the question of ideological continuity. This approach is relevant from a perspective of historical concepts dealing with «lesser characters». Vasily Muraviev was no different from the young Decembrists except for the two basic things: he didn’t have a conspiratorial mind while being a man of strong Christian beliefs. In his social environment he found conditions for implementation of his social, corporate and civil-political ideas. The author highlights some aspects of his upbringing by the family clan of Muravievs-Yakushkins-Sheremetevs, who highly respected and even worshiped their family’s Decembrist past. Grandmother N.N. Sheremeteva, one of the outstanding women of her time, had great moral authority and directed up-bringing of her grandchildren, and this gives a direct link to women’s history. It is concluded that glorification of the Decembrist factor was a serious component of V.M. Muraviev’s worldview and noble corporate consciousness typical of other young members of his kinship circle.

The famous Soviet Far Eastern writer Vsevolod Nikanorovich Ivanov (1888-1971) began his literary career in 1918-1922 as the White Guard journalist and employee of the Russian Society of Typographic Arts in Omsk (1919), the author of journalistic and literary works published in emigrant press of China of the 1920s. There already exists a vast literature on his life and career. However, in particular, his activity in May 1921 - October 1922 in Primorye, which was then under the White Guard government control, is little known to the researchers studying the history of periodical press and literature. The article is intended to fill this information gap. Vs. N. Ivanov was an active participant of revolution on May 26, 1921, which brought Primorye under the «national and democratic» government headed by brothers S.D. and N.D. Merkulov. On the day of revolt Merkulovs appointed him as Commissioner for Information in the new government. Since that time the daily «Evening Newspaper» had been published as the government’s informal loud-hailer under Vs. Ivanov’s edition. In short time Vs. Ivanov created the Government Press Office, arranged a regular release and distribution of anti-Bolshevist literature. He also selected managerial personnel for anti-Communist propaganda (G.G. Nedler, Ya.L. Beloblotsky, P.P. Vasilyev, et al.). In November, 1921 Vs. Ivanov and his assistants undertook reorganization of propaganda department by analogy with the reform carried out in the «white» Omsk in May 1919, when the governmental Press-Bureau was replaced by a joint-stock enterprise of the Russian Society of Typographic Arts. In Vladivostok the Press-Bureau was also closed, and the Far Eastern Union of Russian Journalists was created. It had a large publishing department and was formally independent (but secretly financed by the Government). The publishing house started a large-scale activity, publishing two specialized editions for peasants and having at its disposal the newspapers “Slovo” and “Russky kray” in Vladivostok. The capture of Vladivostok by the National-Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic and «red» guerrillas put an end to this printed propaganda machine. Vs. I. Ivanov left the city on October 22, 1922, three days before the collapse of the «white» government.

The purpose of the work is to reconstruct the origins of scientific periodicals of the Siberian Branches of the Academy of Sciences. The chronological outline of the process of organization and development of the Siberian Branches of Academy is necessary for the purpose identified. A variety of sources helped to compile a list of periodicals, issued by organizations of the Branches in 1946-1950s; to study them «de visu» and to describe their specific features. The available archival documents, for the first time introduced into scientific use, and academic periodicals were helpful in understanding the role of Academy of Sciences in the development of publishing activities of Siberian Institutes. Analysis of the data obtained has shown, that publishing of scholarly periodicals by the academic teams at the moment of setting up the Siberian Branches of Academy of Sciences was an important preparatory stage in the development of the system of SB RAS scholarly periodicals. The initiative and active support of the USSR Academy of Sciences helped to join efforts of Academic Branches for establishment of their first regional journal - «Izvestiya Vostochnykh filialov AN SSSR» but in many ways contributed to further development of their publishing activities. Difficulties encountered in publication of scientific literature in the cities of Siberia confirmed the necessity of creating their own print production, training their own personnel and improving the publishing culture.

The paper attempts at reviewing and evaluating main trends in Siberian studies in Germany during the XX - early XXI centuries. The author reveals major research centers dealing with the Russian and Siberian history (Workshop on Eastern European History at the Frederick William University in Berlin; the German Society for East European Studies; Institutes of Eastern Europe at West Berlin Free University and in Munich; University of Cologne, Institute of Social Anthropology in Halle etc.); analyzes a range of problems addressed by researchers of the early period of Siberian history. It is noted that German scholars focused on the problems of socioeconomic development of Siberia (C. von Zepelin, G. Krahmer, K. Wiedenfeld, Jos. Klein, W. Klumberg, H.-J. Seraphim); Russian territorial expansion in Northern Asia (O. Hőtzsch); history of academic expeditions (E. Winter, G. Műhlpfordt, P. Hoffmann, E. Donnert, U. Grabosch); instruments of extending and preserving Russia’s influence, and in general - problem of Siberia’s integration into the Russian Empire (D. Dahlmann, C. Witzenrath, C. Weiss, S. Frank, E.-M. Stolberg). During the period of confrontation between the USSR and «capitalist world» the West German historians were in fact isolated from their Soviet counterparts. «Cold War» rhetoric influenced the Siberian studies. Many authors in West Germany wrote about the aggressive and military character of colonization of Siberia and the Far East being one of the aspects of Russian expansionist policy. Despite the declining interest in Russia among Western scholars typical for the post-Soviet decades new research directions of Siberian studies in Germany are developed. The ongoing scientific cooperation between the Russian and German scholars within the framework of international research projects provide further acquisition of new historical materials along with methodological and theoretical development of Siberian historiography.

The article aims to define methods and objectives of the fieldwork carried out among the Siberian Old Believers by Academician of RAS N.N. Pokrovsky - an outstanding Russian historian, expert in source studies and archaeography. For this purpose the author has studied the field journal written in 1967 mostly by the students who had completed their first year at the Division of History of the Departments of Humanities of the Novosibirsk State University. They were members of the Tuvinian Group of the Archaeographic Task Force of the Siberian Branch, USSR Academy of Sciences. Scope of research included the structure of “questionnaire” whose elements were repeated practically in each interview; an attempt was made to determine the impact of methods of related human sciences. Characteristic features of the field work carried out by the research group and its leader are considered through the example of description of symbolic figures of Old Belief. These included Father Palladius, hegumen of all Tuvinian sketes (small monasteries), and I.F. Rukavitsyn who had left Old Believers for the Bolsheviks during the Civil War in Tuva but retained ties with his previous environment. Aims and methods of N.N.Pokrovky’s work have been compared with these of A.F. Emelyanov - a writer who had had anti-religious talks with Tuvinian Old Believers having access to the classified materials from investigative cases of the 1920s-1930s, including cases of self-destruction. Comparison has also been made within the system “ours”- “alien”. The article presents both general scientific methods and those that are appropriate for the historical anthropology. The research findings include establishing the fact that N.N.Pokrovsky used in his fieldwork practices of classical ethnography and intuitively applied methods that were later described in sociology textbooks published in Russia. The author ascertains that there was a strict division between “ours” and “alien” peculiar to the anti-religious literature while the contacts between Old Believers and archaeographers changed the content of these concepts.

The article’s objective is to determine the status of social security for workers in Western Siberia in the late XIX - early XX centuries; to characterize measures taken by the government for improvement of situation and to assess their efficiency. Since the late XIX century the new stage of modernization had begun in Siberia, characterized by the beginning of industrialization and industrial revolution in all sectors of economy. The working class emerged, and one of the pressing issues it faced was inadequate social security for those workers who became disabled through occupational injuries or because of old age. Failure to comply with safety regulations, exploitation of workers in sweatshops, as well as workers’ ignorance led to a significant increase in occupational accidents and diseases. The majority of disabled workers were left to their fate and if they had no relatives able to take care of them, they were simply doomed to death, poverty or crime. However, the government took legislative measures to improve situation in welfare. According to the new laws in the case of occupational injury or death the workers or family members could receive monetary compensations. However, all these measures only partially addressed the problem, so the general situation remained unchanged. The author notes that remnants of estate system affected the State’s attitude towards social security for workers. The government provided compensation for state workers, with no regard for workers in private sector. The research is based on methodological framework of modernization theory. Underlying the study are the principles of historicism, determinism and consistency. Correlation between legislation and the state of affairs in the sphere of social security for workers are investigated based on a historical-systematic method, while the diachronic method is applied to study how this process developed over time.

The article analyzes some peculiarities of refugees’ reception, accommodation and provision of the necessary facilities for the refugees in Siberia and Far East from autumn, 1915 until spring, 1916. The author turned his attention to the details of work of local authorities, municipal and public organizations connected with arrangement of residence places, supplying civilians arriving from near-front zone with clothes, food and employment. The study is based on the two sociological traditions, connected with researching social mobility and marginality. It uses archival documents and materials of periodical press. As factual evidences show, relief measures separated refugees from the receiving communities to a great extent and preserved their marginal status. Activities of state authorities and public organizations aimed at providing relief for refugees were ill-coordinated, inadequately funded and in fact they only isolated refugees from the receiving society. Siberians also did not show any disposition to support exiles, preferring to keep them in isolation. Only the following year some of the refugees managed to occupy the lowest social position working as farm laborers and low-payed workers. Refugees’ life regulations initiated by the local authorities usually made social adaptation and integration more difficult.

The article analyzes correlation between the main types of social mobility of the Siberian peasantry in the 1920s. The article’s problem field deals with determining basic trends and results of social changes the country underwent under NEP conditions. This issue caused much controversy amongst the Russian and foreign researchers of the Soviet history. In the course of the research the author applied comparative-historical and statistical methods. The analysis is based on the theoretical and methodological framework of contemporary peasant studies. Identification of stages in dynamics of vertical and horizontal social mobility of Siberian peasantry along with description of their specifics during the given period have become the major outcomes of the research. The early 1920s were marked by the ascending trend of the Siberian peasantry’s vertical mobility owing to other groups of rural population and returning migrants from the urban settlements. In mid 1920s the peasant migration into towns (including the push-pull migration) resumed and increased. The share of other strata of rural community (handicraftsmen, public servants, intellectuals, workers) also increased owing to the influx of peasants. At the end of the decade rural-urban migrations increased sharply. The number of collective and state farmers, other workers of state enterprises rose sharply. At the same time increment of persons employed in handicraft industry slowed down. In 1920-1922 the main trend in peasantry horizontal mobility was transition to the less wealthy groups (“obednyachivanie”). In 1923-1927 social mobility again demonstrated an upward trend when the share of the middle class rose significantly at the expense of the poor. A comparison of the Siberian peasantry’s social structure in 1920 and 1927 shows that the NEP village of the mid-1920s was characterized not by the growing numbers of “middle” peasants (serednyaks), but by the “leveling” of peasants on the lower social layer. At the end of the decade the vector of social dynamics changed again. The share of the mid-sized farms grew while that of the wealthy ones fell.

The article considers the historical experience of transportation consumer cooperatives established on the Siberian railways. During the pre-revolutionary period there were both independent railway co-operative societies and those that were dependent on the State. During the period of «military communism» when market relations were restricted the consumer societies shifted from trade to distribution. Shares, dividends, voluntary membership reappeared in the co-operative practice only under the New Economic Policy (NEP). NEP’s positive momentum resulted in the increased business activity indicators of transportation consumer societies. Industrialization and collectivization in the 1920s-1930s led to sharp deterioration of the conditions of trade. The growth of turnover and profits slowed down, efficiency and quality of service decreased. The crisis was exacerbated by the declining state funding and goods flow after a number of reorganizations. In 1931 transportation cooperation turned into a network of «closed distributors» with rationing for its employees. In 1933 its functions and property were transferred to «departments of workers supply» at enterprises. Centralized distribution of funds, rigorous State and party control and financial dependence deprived the co-operation of independent status and determined its organizational absorption by the state trade. Theoretical ideas about inferiority of co-operative form of ownership as opposed to the state-public socialist property, as well as objective difficulties associated with far-flung network of sales outlets, some of which were loss-making, also played a significant role.

A problem of changing quantitative indices of infant mortality aroused interest among the officials of the People’s Commissariat of Health right after World War II. Several reports were devoted to this issue at the medical-sanitary conference in 1946. Its participants represented not only the central health-care agencies but also the regional bodies. In the course of the discussions they noted the effectiveness of health measures undertaken during the war. In response to such optimistic reports of his colleagues N. A. Semashko urged to pay attention to active migrations that took place within the region during the war. Modern views on this issue remain heterogeneous, there does not exist any one single concept. The author studies various approaches to interpreting changes of quantitative indices of infant mortality in wartime and reveals dominant viewpoints in research literature at different stages of formation of demographical knowledge about the Great Patriotic War. The paper shows factors that influenced decrease in infant mortality during the war based on a complex of statistical and narrative sources. The author studied indicators of monthly dynamics of postnatal mortality in 1941-19454; investigated causations of infant mortality for males and females in the age groups 0-4, 5-9, and 10-14 years; investigated specifics of interaction between the local health authorities and regional statistical agency concerning the problem of infant mortality and children’s health protection. The article reflects a peculiar attitude of the People’s Commissariat of Health towards a problem of rapid increase in infant mortality. The author substantiates an assumption that the reduction of infant mortality influenced the birth rate in the region.

The article presents data on 1,114 fighter pilots of the Soviet Air Forces compiled and systematized in the reference book «Aces of the Great Patriotic War» by M.Yu. Bykov. The paper «The Most Successful Ace Pilots in 1941-1945» (2007) analyzes the elite group of ace pilots in terms of their age, military ranks, time of their participation in combat operations, a number of downed Nazi aircrafts, government awards. The author defines types of Soviet fighters as well as aircrafts supplied under Lend-Lease by the allies on the anti-Hitler coalition. All ace pilots mentioned in the reference book were born in the early XX century and during the war were younger than 40 years old. Their contribution to the air space conquest was 23,974 (individually) and 3,315 (collectively) shot down enemy planes, in total 27,289 combat vehicles (24.5 by each ace pilot), or 48% of the hostile aircrafts downed at the Soviet-German front. 579 of 1,114 aces were honored with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, while 58 of them (every tenth) were awarded posthumously. Irretrievable losses in the group under study totaled 243 men (29 %) or about one third. At the beginning of the war the Soviet pilots flew I-15bis, I-16, I-153, MiG-3, LaGG-3 fighters. Since the summer of 1942 they had been replaced by Yak (Yak-1, -7, -9, -3) and La-5, 7 modifications. Domestic production provided the material basis for conquering air superiority by the Soviet Air Force. Only a small part (2 %) of fighters used by Soviet aces in the aircraft fleet was supplied under Lend-Lease.

The purpose of this article is to identify main factors that influenced the development and implementation of the idea of Siberian rear during the Cold War. The research is focused on the events of 1945-1946, when the Siberian region having undergone conversion took the path of industrial development and formation of new branches of industry including establishment of defense enterprises. During this period the idea of the Siberian rear in the state policy was connected with the necessity to create a strong economic potential of the USSR in the regions rich in natural resources and located in the central part of the country. In this regard, the level of industrial development achieved at the earlier stage of development was considered as a prerequisite for creating new industries of the USSR military-industrial complex including strategic nuclear arms. In the article’s problem field the Siberian rear during the Cold War is analyzed as an objective reality, which existed in the context of global geopolitical development and changing perception of wars as a means of resolving international conflicts and establishing a world order. The role of Siberian rear in providing the national sovereignty and state security after the World War II not only remained undiminished but even increased under conditions of permanent confrontation with the USA and West European states. During the Cold War both enterprises of the USSR military-industrial complex and large-scale scientific and industrial centers, greatly contributing to the country defense potential, were created in Siberia. The author comes to conclusions that Soviet experience of the Siberian region’s industrial modernization contributed significantly to civilizational development of the Russian state and retaining its sovereignty in the XX century.

Since the 1960s the process of urbanization in the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) has evolved from the extensive to the intensive phase. Distinctive features of the intensive phase included declining population growth rates, decreasing share of the urban population; lower scale of migrations from the rural settlements along with the increased inter-city migration. The number of administrative transformations reduced while urban population increased mainly in the largest cities. In this regard, it is relevant to study the intensive phase of demographic development of West Siberian cities within the framework of the urbanization transition theory. The objective of the paper is to reveal specific features of the demographic development of West Siberian population under conditions when social and political cataclysms were a thing of the past. In order to achieve this goal the following tasks are to be solved: to study West Siberian urban population dynamics; to analyze how migrations and natural increase affected its quantitative composition; to reveal the role of various settlements in formation of the urban settlements network. Materials of the All-Union Census and current population statistics were used as a source base. The study represents one of the first attempts to analyze West Siberian urban population dynamics in the context of Russian demographic processes applying historical-statistical and economical-geographical methods. As a result, it was concluded that in Western Siberia transition to the intensive phase of urbanization was characterized by the wave-like drop in urban population growth; considerable increase of population growth (in absolute indices) in large cities; the role of extensive factors remained significant due to the growing number and share mid-sized urban settlements.

It is impossible to study the history of Russian customs service in the XVII century without researching structure of customs administration. The low-level customs authorities rarely attract attention of historians. Most of them, cited in the article, discuss the issues related to the activity of ‘customs chambers’ (‘tamozhennye izby’). Therefore it seems interesting to highlight powers of commandants of the Selenginsky fort as low-level customs officials. Russian colonization of southern Buryatia immediately encountered serious difficulties. Russian people complained about poor conditions for agriculture. Arable lands were first plowed relatively late. Authorities tried to solve these problems by sending a variety of supplies to the fort. Warlike neighbors were another major problem that hampered the Russian colonization of Transbaikalia. The military tension affected administrative reforms, which resulted in creation of the independent Irkutsky “uyezd” including the Selenginsky fort. Despite their tense political relations since the 1670s the trade between Muscovy and China had experienced a surge, as satisfaction of some important Chinese needs brought tangible profits to the Russian merchants. The Fort on the Selenga River was founded on September 27, 1665. Commandants worked hard to strengthen the fort, so the town of. Selenginsk eventually became an important point of caravan trade with China. An official document confirming the existence of territorial authority of Russian customs service in Selenginsk Fort is ‘nakaznaya pamiat’ (Customs Charter) issued by the Irkutsk voivode I.A.Vlasov. It made a boyar’s son’ (officer, nobleman) Ivan Perfirev a newly appointed commandant of Selenginsky fort. In conclusion it is noted that 1) the fort Commandants could serve as the lower level customs officials; 2) it is established that Selenginsky Fort Commandant had had such powers since at least 1671; 3) the exact date of the first charter to the commandant of Selenginsky fort remains unidentified; 4) it is determined that the commandant of Selenginsky fort, perhaps in 1667-1681, served as a low level customs post of the Yeniseisk customs chamber; 5) in April 1681 he was brought under the responsibility of the newly appointed customs head in Irkutsk.

The article analyzes the Siberian merchants’ contribution into the establishment and development of archeology in Siberia; characterizes the state of archeological studies in the region during the given period. The presented data allow to confirm that the development of archeological research in the XIX - early XX centuries was mostly determined by the activities of individuals interested in the history of the region. Local studies were to some extent guided and coordinated by the activities of various scientific societies as well as by the regional museums established in the second half of the XIX century. However, the private initiative remained to be the most important factor in studying, popularization and preservation of the historical heritage of Siberia. The authors describe the merchants’ participation in formation of the unique archeological collections, many of which later were included to the fonds of both local and the largest and most famous museums in Moscow and St Petersburg. It is concluded that merchants played an outstanding role in the development of Siberian archeology. Thanks to the efforts of broad educated entrepreneurs many unique artifacts found on the territory of Siberia were preserved for science and included in the local and metropolitan museum collections. In the second half of the XIX century the Siberian archeology advanced to a qualitatively new level owing to the merchants who provided funding for the expeditions; due to publication of books of well known scientists and to the activities of regional museums and scientific societies. Special attention is paid to such bright representatives of Siberian merchantry who became known in the field of archeological investigations as Efim I. Malakhov, Mikhail G. Shevelev, Innokentiy P. Kuznetzov-Krasnoyarskiy, as well as to the descendants from this social group, who became professional scientists - Ivan T. Savenkov, Innokentiy A. Lopatin, Nikolaj M. Yadrintzev.