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The article deals with one of the ideologically most significant Old-Believers’ texts - Epistle of Dean Fyodor to the Archpriest Avvakum’s son Ioann (John) about the priests who had accepted the reforms of Patriarch Nikon. This work was written by the Dean Fyodor in the summer of 1669 on behalf of all Pustozersk prisoners in response to Ioann’s question about the newly ordained priests. For the whole Old-Believers’ world this writing served as a guide to action explaining how to behave toward the priests installed by Patriarch Nikon after he was removed from a position of Patriarch. Along with the answers given by the Pustozersk prisoners to the questions about priests it also includes Fyodor’s interpretation of the 13 Chapter of Apocalypse focused on his reflections on “the horns of Antichrist” who will cause Russia’s last “renunciation of faith”: “And from that time on it will be more bitter owing to the ungodly tsars: they are horns of Antichrist… The Divine saw two horns coming up out of the earth: one of them already exists; after it there will be another one, accomplice of the evil”. By the “horn that already exists” the Dean Fyodor meant the Tsar Aleksey; Fyodor repeatedly called him “an evil horn” and “Antichrist”. In Fyodor’s letter there is no personification of the “second horn”, however the text is clearly stating that it will also be a Tsar, “accomplice of the evil”, who will come after Aleksey Mikhailovich. Avvakum’s interpretation of the same chapter of Apocalypse is quite different from that proposed by Fyodor: “The beast has two horns - it marks two powers: one is a winner, another is an accomplice”. Aleksey is assigned the role of only an “accomplice”, while in Fyodor’s interpretation he was presented as the main bearer of evil. Avvakum’s interpretation of Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Aleksey as two horns of Antichrist was accepted by some of the Old-Believers. This has been witnessed by creation of a new version of “The Epistle Addressed to a Certain Ioann”, compilatory in nature. Its textual analysis showed that it contains only abstracts from the Dean Fyodor’s “Epistle” with a milder variant of Avvakum’s interpretation of the 13th chapter of Apocalypse. The article proves that “The Epistle Addressed to a Certain Ioann” attributed to Avvakum was compilatory in nature. The author characterizes both texts and determines the textual evolution of this Old-Believers’ ideologically significant document.

The paper discusses a range of disputable issues concerning the terminology of the Cyrillic acts from the Queen Bona Sforza’s Metrica which is the basis of the archives at the chancery of Polish Queen and Lithuanian Grand Duchess Bona Sforza. These acts are related to the social institute of clerical investiture. The purpose of this article is to elaborate a definition of the notion “stavlenniy list” using the key classificatory category of source studies - “kind of historical sources”. The author considers the history of the use of such terms as “priviley”, “list”, and “gramota” in historiography and sources of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Russian diplomatics term “stavlennaya gramota”is deemed the most appropriate for designating the Lithuanian Metrica’s acts approving the rights to hierarchy. In the diplomatics of the Lithuanian state there should be distinguished 1) bishop’s stavlenniy lists issued by the church authorities in accordance with the canon law and 2) secular stavlenniy lists which obtained a wide circulation owning to the application of the right of church patronage. A secular stavlenniy list is a document by which the representatives of secular authority conferred the right of one-man management upon any churchman with respect to a certain church, monastery or bishop’s throne and also transferred him the rights to real estate. In Queen Bona’s Metrica this sort of acts of a contractual and legislative nature is represented by four subsorts of lists: 1) for the office of priest; 2) for the office of hegumen; 3) for the office of bishop; and 4) confirmatory.

This article considers the problem of historical biography, its specifics as a genre and a research field; reveals the role of a biographer and his/her life experience in biographical writing. The article is focused on the biography of Alexander Pushkin (“Zhizn’ Pushkina”) written by Ariadna Tyrkova-Willams, her reasons to write Pushkin’s biography in 1920-1930s. The article shows how the historical events in revolutionary Russia and personal experience of Ariadna Tyrkova influenced her picture of Pushkin’s life. The aim of this article is to reveal the interconnection between the biographical text and autobiographical narrative, based on the analysis of “Zhizn’ Pushkina”, memoirs and correspondence of Ariadna Tyrkova. She wrote Pushkin’s biography in England, after her emigration from the Soviet Russia, contributing to the formation of “Pushkin’s myth” and part of the struggle for Pushkin between the Soviet scholars and Russian emigres. Writing a biography (along with writing memoirs) is one of the means of identification and self-identification. The author argues that, first, the generational identity was prominent for Tyrkova and this kind of identity was reflected in the biography of Pushkin, creating links between the generation of Tyrkova and Pushkin. While portraying the circle of young friends of Pushkin, Tyrkova kept in mind her brother’s friends. Second, the description of the Russian nobility reflects the significance attached to the social identity by Tyrkova, while Mikhailovskoe reminded Tyrkova of her estate located not so far from the Pushkin’s place. “Zhizn’ Pushkina” reveals much about Tyrkova’s political views because she pointed out that Pushkin was closer to the “liberal conservatism” than “revolutionary liberalism”. There are several female portraits in this biography revealing Tyrkova’s feminist views and ideas about the role of women in society. Thus, we can learn much about Tyrkova’s values, political and religious constellations, her doubts and beliefs from her work about Pushkin. The lives of Tyrkova and Pushkin are brought together in the biographical context, connecting different times and spaces.

The article aims at understanding the changes associated with modernization of the Russian book industry that not only transformed the institutions, their structure and competitiveness, but also led to the emergence of a new virtual book communication environment. The author applied the formal-logical and comparative-historical research methods which allowed the identification of causal chains in studying the evolution of electronic resources of the book industry in relation to logic and specificity of publishing business’ modernization in Russia at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. Transformation of data-communication networks contributed to the development of the Russian book industry’s digital communication segment. The emergence and spread of digital media has formed a special communication environment while creating the new forms of social communication: electronic publication - e-book, e-content, social media promoting books etc. Nowadays digitization and convergence of information processes determine the direction and nature of book communication. In the virtual space book communication has been developed due to the expansion of the Internet audience and emergence of the online sales offices created both by the subjects of book business (publishers, booksellers) and by the online media (non-book) organizations. Modernization of book industry along with the growing number of Internet users, development of online commerce, decline in book production and traditional book distribution business contribute to the stable growth and development of e-book market in Russia. Publishing houses find new ways of delivering digital content to end users through various sales channels - from their own web-sites, specialized online stores, aggregators of electronic resources to book-related social media and special applications for mobile devices. Following the global digital content market the domestic e-book market also shows steady growth dynamics. Numerous literature portals, forums, websites and blogs being the new phenomena of the modern book culture and elements of the virtual space allow developing dialogic, interactive, individual and personal relationship with readers, users, and buyers. Existing book-related social networks provide their users with a full range of options: compiling lists of books they have read; writing reviews; receiving notifications of the new reviews in the editions being monitored; information about new products, advertising, promotion of reading, and more. All of these books online platforms serve as a specific communication medium for the actors in the book market. Despite the fact that the domestic digital book market is only emerging, electronic publishing and distribution are a promising direction, significantly transforming the modern book industry. A wide range of opportunities for the use of various virtual resources of the book market becomes a real factor of the book industry’s integration in the global virtual communication space. In general, electronic communications of the domestic book industry have become an integral part of the ongoing process of modernization of Russian book industry.

In 1998 the Siberian Publishing and Book-Selling Enterprise «Nauka» of RAS Academic Publishing Centre (APC) «Nauka» was reorganized in three divisions: Siberian Publishing Company (SPC) «Nauka», Siberian Polygraphic Enterprise (SPE) «Nauka» (printing office № 4), and Siberian wholesale-retail office of the commercial firm «Akademkniga» with five bookshops. This separation led to significant changes in the activities of SPC «Nauka». Although not a legal successor, nevertheless it has been created on the basis of the former Publishing House «Nauka». Neither at the moment of SPC creation, nor later owned it any property. Its material-technical basis was formed by the fixed assets that had been leased out by the Publishing House «Nauka» acting out as an asset holder. Therefore the most actual problems faced by the SPC «Nauka» were modernization of the available equipment, its technical retrofitting, as well as rental of premises. At the moment of creation of the SPC «Nauka» its publishing portfolio was generally formed with works that were left unfinished by the Publishing House «Nauka» although it had signed contracts for their publication with the institutes of the Siberian Branch of RAS and other customers at different times. Later it was replenished with works prepared to publication under the contracts signed by the SPC «Nauka». Its work has been and remains focused on publishing the scientific editions in cooperation with academic institutions and other organizations of SB RAS. One of the areas covered by the SPC “Nauka” focuses on enhancing every kind of contacts, first of all, with academic structures of SB RAS in the field of academic publishing across all regions of Siberia.

The purpose of this article is not only to describe the events associated with armed clashes between the Russian troops and the highlanders near the village of Endirey, but also to reveal the causes of this negative event in the history of Russian-Dagestan relations based on the available archival documents. In addition, attention is paid to the relationships of Russia with several Kumyk feudal rulers. In July 1722 the Emperor Peter the Great and his army entered the territory of Dagestan. However, the beginning of the company was not easy. The Russian army began to suffer losses long before the first clash with the enemy: 150 soldiers died from diseases in Astrakhan, while 40 soldiers escaped. The cavalry crossing the North Caucasian steppe was behind the original schedule. As envisioned by the tsar, the dragoons would arrive in the Agrakhan Gulf sooner than the infantry traveling by sea in order to ensure the landing operation with the construction of piers and to provide cover against possible enemy attacks. All such orders were given by Peter to Brigadier Andrey Veterani on July, 7. The cavalry, however, could not meet the deadline. G.S. Kropotov with his regiments made a forced crossing of the Volga river near the town of Selitrennoye only on July, 5 but in the next three weeks he still could not reach the Terek. On July, 30 he reported that he was encamped at “Kizlyar Lake” and could not move faster: “Dragoon horses are rather thin due to long marching across the great steppes, poor quality of forage and most of all due to heat and salt water”. The corps of Veterani moving from Tsaritsyn crossed the Terek on July, 16-17 and had to wait until gunpowder and lead were delivered from the Terskiy town. Thus, Veterani as a commander notified the tzar that he would be able to move on only in the night of July, 21. In the same report the Brigadier informed of other bad news: Ukrainian Cossack colonel Apostle while following after him found himself in the middle of the “burnt steppe”, facing the loss of horses and lack of forage. Veterani was to take Andreevskaya village (village of Endirey) and to ensure the landing operation in the Agrakhan Gulf. He was joined by the prince of Greater Kabarda Elmurza Cherkassky (the lieutenant in the Russian service, the younger brother of the deceased in Khiva A. Cherkassky) and the prince of Minor Kabarda Aslambek Kommetov. Endirey rulers Aydemir and Chopan-Shamhal tried to resist and attacked the regiments marching near the village. After a fierce battle on the 23th of July, the dragoons broke through to Endirey and destroyed it, having lost 89 people dead and 115 wounded. In conclusion the authors identify the causes that led to the battle between the Russian army and highlanders near the village Endirey.

The paper is aimed at describing the military service of Generals Skalon, father and son who served in Russia in 1735-1812. This subject has not been scrutinized by scholars. Analysis of the new archival sources and use of a historical-biographical research method allowed to deepen understanding of the military and administrative activities of the first generations of the Scalons in Russia; to show their participation in the military campaigns of the XVIII century, their service in the Siberian fortified lines, their fight against Napoleon’s invasion and other important events. A.A. Skalon was born in 1767 in the Biisk fortress into a family of the military, former French emigrants. In recognition of his father’s services at the age of eight he was enlisted as a private in a squadron of the Life-Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. Formation of personality and leadership potential of the future general was shaped by the faithful service of his close relatives, the tough conditions of the Siberian frontier as well as his study in the “model team” in St. Petersburg. As a chief of the Irkutsk Regiment A. Skalon proved himself a caring and demanding military leader while being different from other commanders in that he was unselfish and struggled against all sorts of abuses. The Siberian regiments were successfully relocated to the western borders of Russia owing to his authority and organizational abilities. The Dragoon Brigade under Skalon’s command opposed the Napoleon’s aggression from the first days of the war. While fulfilling an assigned task during the defense of Smolensk Skalon was fatally wounded and buried upon the order of Napoleon.

The objective of the paper is to present the research techniques and to summarize the key findings of the study of the traditional demographic calendar that existed in Belarus during the late imperial period. The author considers demographic calendar as a stereotypic way of arranging demographic behavior of various human communities on a chronological basis within a calendar year. Relying upon the official Russian imperial statistics the author has calculated the annual nuptiality, fertility and mortality cycles in the daily life of the people in several Belarusian provinces - Grodno, Minsk and Mogilyov. The material is represented both in tabular and graphic forms. The author compares urban and rural variants, as well as matrimonial aspects of the Orthodox Christian, Catholic and Judaic calendars. Calendar parameters are explained taking into account the complex influence of many climatic, social, economic and cultural factors. It has been discovered, that at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries monthly and seasonal cycles of demographic events in Belarus followed certain established patterns. Rural and urban calendars were very similar especially when the universal natural (climatic and biological) factors prevailed. Such similarity was also due to the cultural continuity and integration processes. In the time of early urbanization and massive migrations urban culture basically had many typological characteristics of rural culture and vice versa. The urban demographic calendar with its more even monthly distribution of all demographic events contrasted vividly with the rural calendar. Such difference was due to the fact that natural and agrarian economic cycles less affected the life of urban dwellers while the religious traditions were also weaker among urban population. In general, ethnic and religious variants of regional demographic calendars that had both clear similarities and differences deserve further investigation.

In the article the object of research is the history of creation and activities of the Tomsk “Society for Assistance to Gold Mine Workers and Employees”. This society played an important role in social support for the population in the mining regions of Western Siberia. It was the first such organization not only in the gold mining sector, but also in other industries of Siberia. The materials of Society (first of all, the official annual reports) allow to investigate the social-economic status of workers and employees of the Siberian gold mining (social origin, marital status, financial status, etc.), and that is one of the reasons to comprehensively study it and to explain why it has not been subject of the Russian historians’ scrutiny. Based on the analysis of the materials related to the society’s activities the author concluded that peasants and citizens prevailed among the workers of gold mining enterprises in Siberia at the turn of XIX-XX centuries. That was characteristic of the early period of gold mining development in Siberia. The author also comes to conclusion about professionalization of the main categories of gold mine workers in Western Siberia as many of them had a long record of service in gold production. This fact was also indicative of creation of a pool of competent local expertise with many decades of work experience in gold industry. The other conclusion is that the financial status of gold mine workers and employees in Siberia was very low, as was the level of their social welfare. Therefore many of them applied to the Society for personal pensions or for sickness, invalidity or survivors benefits. Due to the limited funds of the Society and a large amount of people wishing to become its pensioners the board granted small pensions (3-5 rubles per month) that could not fully supply the needs of the pensioners.

The article analyzes the problem of rotation of senior officers in the Russian army during World War I. The object of research are military leaders appointed to the command positions of the Commander-in-Chief, Chief of Staff of the General Headquarters, commanders of the fronts and the commanders of armies during the World War I - 80 people in total. Based on the pace and criteria of the senior officers’ rotation the author defines two periods. The first period is conventionally designated as “imperial” (August, 1914 - March, 1917), the second period is called “revolutionary” (April - October, 1917). Comparison of rotations during these periods lasting for 2,5 years and 6 months respectively shows that after the February revolution of 1917 there was almost a five times increase in the rate of vertical mobility of general officers. During the “imperial” period rotation occurred mostly due to military expediency, i.e. the objective necessity to promote to higher positions the most talented military leaders with good reputation gained on the battlefield. Essentially, by the start of 1917 the Russian army had the best generalship for the entire period of World War I. The “revolutionary” period was marked by a political practicability, when military leaders were required to demonstrate not only their professionalism, but also an ability to adapt to complex revolutionary reality. As a result, some senior positions were held by those generals who, unlike previously, had not been in the service long enough or lacked the relevant experience. However, due to their personal qualities and their ability to find common language with the country’s new political leaders and with the soldiery they were promoted to higher positions.

The epoch of revolution and civil war in Russia in 1917-1922 attracted to the political life huge numbers of people whose cultural background in its essential part was shaped by religious forms; the “sacralization of politics” took place. No wonder that in studying the political realia of revolution and civil war, researchers often use theological concepts. One of them is a concept of “political hagiography” that involves the life stories of “great men” - objects of certain “political cults”. These life stories performed functions of indoctrination and promoted this cult within and beyond the “political community” using the specific set of symbols. Hagiography is generally a genre that exhibits stability in the canon. The characteristic feature of hagiographic canon is the stable inner structure of a text. Manifestations of hagiographic canon can provide unique data about a “political ideal” communicated to the “political fold”, and about ideological structure of a given “political cult”. To prove this hypothesis the author used the published materials - brochures and leaflets with biographies of A.V. Kolchak, the leader of the Anti-Bolshevik movement in Eastern Russia. The study revealed considerable similarities between these biographies and the lives of saints in terms of their inner structure. Text structure followed hagiographic canon and had relevant functions. Previously, these effects were registered only in the materials of communist propaganda literature and practice. The political history of Russia of both revolutionary and post-revolutionary periods cannot be understood without the reconstruction of complicated and multidirectional interactions between the elite and mass perceptions, interrelationship between the “secular” and “sacred” meanings, the religious and political cultures of the Russian society. Histories of “political cults” in Russia are yet to be written.

Based on the archival and published sources, the article considers issues of social mobility of rural entrepreneurs in Western Siberia during the period of revolution and Civil War (1917-1920). The study is carried out within the methodological framework of social mobility theory of P.A.Sorokin who introduced basic categories and concepts that enable researchers to study this phenomenon. In the wake of the revolutionary events of 1917 and “construction of a new society”, rural entrepreneurs as representatives of the “wealthy and privileged” social classes and groups of the prerevolutionary Russian society hoppered out to be thrown out of their usual socio-cultural and professional environment. They lost not only their material wealth and property but also their previous social status and position under new conditions. These “shatters of the accursed past” turned out to be artificially merged by the authorities into the categories with such symbolic names as “hostile classes”, “formers”, “exploiters”, “socially alien and dangerous elements”. The policy towards the “former ruling classes” was of a clear discriminatory character. Under the guise of “class justice” and tasks of “class struggle” the local authorities confiscated for “the benefit of revolution” not only the lands of rural entrepreneurs but also their personal property such as clothes, furniture, dishware, luxury articles etc. The former owners and their families were evicted from their estates and actually left destitute. Besides, the period under study was marked by a considerable decline in social status of the former owners of entrepreneurial households and their close relatives. As a result, rural entrepreneurs were left outside the socio-cultural norms and traditions artificially formed by the political authorities. They were not only restricted to their social positions but also could not realize their economic potential.

Attempting to obtain foreign currency to pay for numerous purchases of the industrial equipment, representatives of the Soviet regime sold out tsars’ jewels via their trade agents abroad. One of them was the son of an American communist A. Hammer, who arranged large-scale sales in Berlin, Vienna, London and New York. A legitimate ground for sale was the decree on nationalization of the Romanovs’ property, issued three days before the death of the last Tsar and his family, as well as a special decree of the Council for Labor and Defense “On the use of values for the trade turnover”, issued in October 1919, and a number of specific decisions adopted in the 1930s. The author concludes that the proceeds of the sale of tsars’ jewels could not provide the ever-growing demand of industrialization for gold and currency resources. Each major enterprise required not less than a ton of gold for its construction, while large plants needed tens of tons to pay for their projects and imported equipment. According to official estimates during the first five years plan almost 5 billion dollars were spent for this purpose. It was covered mainly by a sharp increase in gold production in the USSR. Nevertheless, huge gold and foreign exchange resources that were required for the so called Stalin’s modernization were obtained to a certain extent due to the export of the tsars’ jewels. Thus, the Romanovs made a posthumous “contribution” to the formation of a new Russian identity. This contributed to the advancement of Russia at the level of world industrial civilization, while it also led to a loss of its considerable historical and cultural heritage of the three centuries of the Romanov dynasty’s rule. It also resulted in deaths and sufferings of many people. The mysterious and tragic fate of the tsar’s treasures left a lot of mysteries that disappeared forever with the participants of these events of the bygone days. It is important, yet difficult to implement the task of finding and identifying pieces of jewelry that previously belonged to the Romanov dynasty and currently are scattered in private collections of the Western world.

The article addresses the practice of providing accommodation for migrant agricultural workers in the second half of the 1940s-1980s. The research of this aspect touches upon a broader problem of adaptation of migrants arriving in the course of planned migration, which is both scientifically and practically relevant. The significant role in this process belonged to the state initiatives, called “measures of migration incentives” or “benefits” having the dual functional significance. On the one hand, they increased migration flows in accordance with the required vector; on the other hand, they ensured the new settlers’ survival. It is evident that the key measure was provision of accommodation for the newly arrived families. This paper identifies the state’s role in financing the construction of resettlement houses. The terms and conditions of such budgeting depended on the territorial belonging of those households that accepted the new comers. The author applied a problem-chronological method which allowed tracing the evolution of government policy in this area during a period of more than 40 years. On the basis of a wide range of sources the author determines the volume of housing construction and, equally important, its correlation with the number of accepted families. It is established that plans of resettlement construction adopted by the authorities were carried out in two ways - using its own resources (which implied creation of teams at the expense of internal resources of farms and contractors) and by a contractor which was characterized by involvement of specialized construction (building) companies. According to archival records, the first way was less costly and, therefore, more widespread. In conclusion the author highlights the importance of the state funding of the resettlement construction and the key role played by the relevant governmental agencies.

On the materials of Western Siberia the article analyzes the causes, course and results of agricultural crisis of the early 1980s as well as the state bodies’ efforts to overcome its consequences. The economic slowdown in the second half of the 1970s and the crisis in the agricultural sector in the early 1980s were due to the out-of date agrarian policy of the Soviet state. Its implementation led to the economic imbalance and strengthened administrative methods of economic management. The actual bankruptcy of the majority of regional state and collective farms, growing price disparity between agricultural and industrial products, controversial procurement policy of state agencies were complemented by the growing alienation of agricultural workers from the results of their labour. The severe drought in the south of Western Siberia served as a catalyst for the agrarian crisis. The decline in food production led to the aggravation of the food situation in the country and in the region. Food Program adopted at the May Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Union in 1982 was aimed at solving the aggravated food problem. It provided implementation of complex measures to promote the farmers’ well-being, housing construction and social services development, to improve health and domestic services in rural areas. The government restructured the agricultural enterprises’ debt as well as raised purchasing prices for agricultural products. After the start of the measures implementation provided by the Food Programme, the situation in the agricultural sector stabilized. In Western Siberia the second half of the 11 ^th Five-year plan was marked by dynamic agricultural development.

The main purpose of the article is to analyze how the transport provision of the remote areas of the Far East was reformed during the period of social and economic transformations. For the most part communication lines were built in such areas due to the creation of geographically isolated extraction facilities and very often they were dead ends. Development and improvement of some related elements of life support were given a minor role. Analysis of events and qualitative changes, most closely related to the present time, requires a broader methodological framework in addition to the classical principles of historicism and dialectic cognition. Key provisions of the transitional society theory constituted the conceptual basis for the conducted research. The break- up of the Soviet Union, the following social and economic stagnation and search for the new tools of regional policy adapted to the market requirements in the Russian Far East at the beginning of the XXI century are viewed as processes of escalating uncertainty, recurrent risks amidst the total crisis and intensive social transformations. In order to realize the stated objective the author applied descriptive, comparative-historical, historical-genetic, and retrospective scientific methods. Research findings clearly demonstrate that the period under study was marked by persistence of considerable contradictions that led to substantial disproportions in communications deployment, inconsistent and excessively rapid changes in provision of the remote regions, absence of clear strategy for their development and support. The author reveals consequences of transformations in the sphere of legal regulation and material resources of regional transportation which allows expanding the range of root causes of deficiencies in the current transportation system and taking them into account in the modern innovative development programs proposed for the Russian Far East.

In contemporary historical science there is a visible trend to interdisciplinary cooperation and use of new modern approaches and directions. One of these approaches envisages the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in historical research. GIS are used in studies where spatial reference can be defined. This, in turn, determines the choice of main areas of application of these technologies for the study of geographic characteristics of objects in space. One such area is socio-demographic. Analysis of socio-demographic aspects of historical development is always a matter of topical interest, as it allows to reflect the current status and future population trends that form the territory image. Migration studies became one of the most popular lines of research in foreign and domestic historiography of GIS. Migrations are affected by various factors associated with social, economic, political, and professional interests. All these topics are reflected in the GIS-related research projects. GIS can be also used as an analytical instrument that reflects the space-time interdependence, correlation of factors affecting the natural changes of population and migration. The use of GIS technologies stimulates adoption of new sources. Mass sources with identical structure just perfectly fit into GIS format. For the most part such sources contain information about socio-demographic characteristics. In addition to concrete historical projects that focus on demographic aspects in a spatial context, GIS-related projects are implemented in the field of professional interests and professional reorientation of the population. Analysis of professional activities of population along with processes, influencing the change of professional statuses and structure of employment is closely connected with the study of migration flows. It is exemplified by the works written by S.Gruber who studied the professional migrations in Albania at the beginning of the XX century. The spatial analysis establishes geographical patterns of population change, relationships between the level of literacy, housing, and professional migrations.

The article deals with the problem of alcoholism among the urban population of the Tambov province during the period of modernization in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries. The article reviews contemporary Russian scholarship on this problem. The author studies alcoholism of the urban society based on the statistical data, archival sources, and press materials. Drunkenness is considered as a form of deviation, interconnected with other manifestations of deviant behavior - suicide, bullying, murder. The article discusses the forms of control over drinking exercised by the state and church. During the period under study drunkenness being one of the most common social ills remained a big problem for the post-reform urban society and required serious attention from the government and public institutions. Drunkenness of urban residents hampered the normal development of urban environment and often served as a catalyst for more serious manifestations of deviant behavior and crime. In the cities of the Tambov province, much more affected by modernization as opposed to the villages, the problem of alcoholism was sharper than in the uyezds. As compared to other regions of Russia, the Tambov province suffered much from the problem of drunkenness among its urban residents. The scale of alcohol abuse in this case also correlated with the degree of penetration of the modernization of the urban life in society. The problem of drinking in the Tambov province was much more serious than in the neighboring cities of agrarian provinces, however the situation was even worse in the cities of central regions that were more affected by modernization. The growth of population’s alcoholization is inevitable during the periods of modernization. It was a price to pay for the increase in the urban population, the influx of workers to the cities. However, it did not relieve the State and the society of their responsibility to fight against this evil.

The author aims at revealing how the elements of rural environment and the rural way of life influenced the social sphere and lifestyle in the cities of Western Siberia in the 1930s. Within the stated period a number of industrial urban settlements in Western Siberia increased significantly. As conceived by the country’s leaders and theoreticians of urban development the formation and development of the new industrial cities was to be in accordance with a clear plan. While carrying out these projects the authorities faced a number of difficulties that prevented the full implementation of the projects. The difficulties lay in the lack of material resources for the projects, as well as in the fact that citizens were unprepared for such work. A significant percentage of the new city dwellers were born in the rural areas. Migrants from the rural areas that had settled in the West Siberian towns tried to adapt to the new living conditions and to the emerging urban environment while reproducing their usual behavior patterns. Moreover, the former peasants influenced the formation of the urban area and social relationships in the new cities. In their turn, the authorities both at the regional and national levels attempted to adapt the behavior patterns of the «new urban citizens» so as to solve the tasks of economical and social modernization according to the plans of industrial development. Upon that, the authorities not only stimulated modernization factors affecting population, but also strove to take control of the «chaotic» elements of the traditional style of life and to incorporate them into the space of the emerging industrial towns. As a result, urban space included elements of social environment, extraneous for the industrial cities. Some of these elements were the legacy of the rural way of life, others were the product of rapid urban growth.

During the civil war the state agricultural enterprises were subordinate to the independent provincial directorates of state farms. In 1920 these directorates were transferred to the jurisdiction of local agrarian authorities. During the NEP period large state farms were incorporated into the regional trusts. The transition to collectivization was marked by the intensive state-farm construction. Regional trusts were abolished. State farms were merged into specialized trusts. Management of trusts was transferred to the Narkomat of Agriculture of the Soviet Union established at the end of 1929. The system of state farm management was radically changed in late 1932. Trusts of state farms were transferred from Narkomat of Agriculture to the newly created Narkomat of State Farms. This was by no means the end of reforms. The country’s leadership referred to the poor performance of state farms and hoped to raise it trough optimization of management. The newly created administrative structures didn’t radically change the situation, therefore, the next reorganization followed. The end of 1935 was marked by abolition of the state-farm trusts that were considered as inefficient administrative structures. Each state farm was transferred directly to the Narkomat of State farms of the Soviet Union which also could not provide the day-to-day management of numerous state farms located across the vast territory. Therefore, in 1936 Narkomats of State Farms were established in each republic which was followed by re-establishment of the large specialized trusts.