Hasil untuk "History of Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics"

Ivan P. Kamenetskii

In their study, the author examines the life and service activities of one of the most prominent Siberian atamans, former Don Cossack Dementy Zlobin. Based on the analysis of the documentary material, the author established Zlobin's origin, social and financial position, kinship, as well as his participation in the events of the Time of Troubles and service in Siberia. It is shown through an analysis of said material, that thanks to his military experience and leadership qualities acquired on the Don and in Central Russia during the Time of Troubles, D. Zlobin rose from an ordinary Cossack to an influential Siberian ataman. It is noted that D. Zlobin served in the difficult conditions of the South Siberia frontier, with under constant danger and threats from nomadic rulers, and other difficulties associated with the initial development of the southern part of the Yenisei region by the Russian Empire. During his service in the Krasnoyarsk prison, the ataman led many military campaigns against warlike nomads, actively defended the interests of the service class people before the military governors and central authorities and was engaged in economic activities. The author also considers the ataman’s family environment and the performance of official duties by his sons and grandsons. The author makes the conclusion about the typicality and significance of the figure of D. Zlobin and his descendants, who in many respects corresponded to the behavioral stereotypes of their social environment, a characteristic of the Russian oldtimer population of Siberia, and who have made significant contribution to its development.

Артем Юрьевич Перетятько

26 октября 2024 г. в Краснодаре состоялась XVIII международная научно-практическая конференция «Словакия, славяне и их соседи: история, международные отношения, культура», приуроченная к 80-летию Словацкого национального восстания. Текст поступил в редакцию 10.11.2024. Цитирование Перетятько А. Ю. XVIII международная научно-практическая конференция «Словакия, славяне и их соседи: история, международные отношения, культура» // Славянский альманах. 2025. No 1–2. С. 481–484. DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2025.1-2.25

Ayali Noya, Sason Anat, Schreiber Shaul et al.

Abstract Context Immigrants from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) are more prevalent in Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in Israel than their percentage in the general population. Aims To compare their characteristics and outcomes to those of Israeli-born and other immigrant patients. Methods Retention and survival since admission (June/1993–Dec/2022) until leaving treatment (for retention), or at the end of follow-up were analyzed. Vital data was taken from a national registry. Predictors were estimated using Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression models. Results The USSR patients (N = 262) compared with other immigrants (N = 132) and Israeli-born (N = 696) were more educated (≥ 12y) (p < 0.001), admitted to MMT at a younger age (p < 0.001), following a shorter duration of opioid usage (p < 0.001). More of them ever injected drugs (p < 0.001) and ever drank alcohol (p < 0.001). One-year retention was comparable (77.2% vs. 75.6% and 72%, p = 0.2) as did opioid discontinuation in those who stayed (p = 0.2). Former USSR patients had longer cumulative retention of their first admission (p = 0.05) with comparable overall retention since first admission, and survival, although the age of death was younger. Specific origin within the former USSR found immigrants from the Russian Federation with the best outcome, and those from Ukraine as having high HIV seropositive and shorter retention. Conclusions Despite several characteristics known to be associated with poor outcomes, former USSR immigrants showed better adherence to MMT, reflected by their longer cumulative retention in their first admission, lower rate of readmissions, and a comparable survival and overall retention in treatment. An in depth study is needed in order to understand why they decease at a younger age.

Yaroslav V. Vishnyakov

The author identifies the role of the economic factor as an integral part of the broad Russian-Austrian rivalry in the Balkans, as well as its role in the implementation of the global political strat-egy of St. Petersburg ruling circles. The source base is the materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire. The article analyzes the plans of the Russian Empire for economic penetration into the Serbian markets in the late XIX - early XX century, as part of the global political strategy of St. Petersburg ruling circles to strengthen their influence in the region. Particular attention is paid to the activities of the Russian Danube Shipping Company, since its development at the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century allowed the Russian Empire to gain a foothold in the oil markets not only of the Balkan countries, but also of Austria-Hungary and Germany. Its strategic role increased significantly after the coup of 1903, when big Russian capital began to penetrate into Serbia; it was connected with Belgrade’s interest in military supplies from the Russian Empire. The author comes to the conclusions that Russian diplomacy did not always correctly use its capabilities to strengthen its influence in the country. The Russian Empire products failed to gain absolute dominance on the Serbian market. However, obtaining a monopoly on the sale of kerosene in Serbia, despite the general unprofitability of the Russian Danube Shipping Company, provided St. Petersburg with important strategic presence in the Balkan region, being a serious argument in the political confrontation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was especially evident during the First World War.

A. Jürgenson

There have been many wars in the Caucasus in recent history, but Estonia and Estonians have had little contact with them. About 170 people were evacuated to Estonia from Abkhazia at the beginning of the Georgian-Abkhazian war (1992–93) – Abkhazian Estonians and their family members. Several hundred Estonians left during and after the war – some came to Estonia, some went to Russia, while others went to Georgia. A dozen Abkhazian Estonians fought in the war on the Abkhazian side. On the Abkhaz side, at least two people from Estonia also took part in the war, one of whom was not Estonian. However, rumours circulate in Abkhazia that female snipers from Estonia and other Baltic states took part in the war on the Georgian side. They are talked about, but they are also written about in historical literature and the press, but always very concisely because there is no concrete evidence. Rumours of Baltic women fighting for Georgia and against Abkhazia (so-called white tights) cause discomfort for Estonians living in Abkhazia. This article examines the occurrence and reflections of the legend of Baltic women snipers in various wars that have taken place in the outskirts of the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. Russian military folklore tells that female snipers from the Baltics have taken part in the wars in Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan. Later reports also speak of them in connection with the Russian-Ukrainian war. The legend of Baltic women snipers has been discussed by several folklorists, but they are primarily interested in the functions of the legend. Authors such as Raven Healing, Amandine Regamey, and Mari Ristolainen write that the purpose of these tales is to justify the sadistic, often sexual, violence of Russian soldiers against women bearing weapons who have encroached on men’s territory. V. G. Julie Rajan also emphasises the sexualisation of the issue of white tights in the Russian media, drawing parallels from other parts of the world. By focusing on the functions of the legend, most of these authors are less interested in its origin and trajectories. The article seeks to answer the question of how and where this legend may have formed, why the snipers had to be from the Baltics, and whether the Baltics have a symbolic or real connection to this legend. It turns out that the legend first appeared in the Baltics, then spread to Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh, then to Abkhazia, and flourished in the first Chechen war. In addition to the imagological significance of the Baltic states in the Russian consciousness (German allies in World War II, the so-called Western image among Soviet republics in the Soviet years, the avant-garde of the independence movement of the Baltic states with Georgia in the days of the breakup of the Soviet Union), there were also specific historical reasons (the previous military service of the Chechen President Dudayev in the Estonian city of Tartu, the training base for Soviet biathlonists in the Estonian city of Otepää). Armed attacks on the people by the Soviet Union’s internal forces took place in Riga and Vilnius. This is where the first reports of Baltic snipers fighting against the Soviet armed forces come from. The same Soviet units moved on to Transnistria and from there to Abkhazia, taking with them the legend of the Baltic women snipers. However, some of the units located in the Baltics already went directly from the Baltics to Abkhazia in 1991, where they later met with colleagues who had been fighting in Transnistria in the meantime. The same units later arrived in Chechnya from Abkhazia. When a special regiment was formed there, it was based on the 218th Special Forces Battalion, which had previously been in war zones in Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, and Abkhazia. However, the regiment also joined the 901st Airborne Assault Battalion, which was based in Abkhazia during the Georgian-Abkhazian war and reached Abkhazia from Latvia. The legend of the Baltic women snipers, which was probably born in the Baltics, constantly moved with the Russian soldiers, acquiring new motifs, details, and storylines in various places. The legend also maintained great illogicalities as it moved, such as the claim that during the Georgian-Abkhazian war, alleged Baltic female snipers fought against Chechens, and shortly thereafter on the Chechen side in the first Chechen war. However, the legend preserved its main element – the precise and tough blond female sniper, who cold-bloodedly kills young Russian soldiers. In the legend’s broad variety of motifs, one regularity is always maintained – the Baltic female snipers always fight against the Russians, regardless of who the enemies of the Russians are.

Seth Offenbach

much to expect even the most diligent researcher to master the various languages and expertise involved if this were not the case. Early on, the author limns one of the chief ironies of this era, if not this millennium: the rise of China. As a labor historian and as a student of global affairs, it would have benefited this reader if the author had turned his vast knowledge of both of his specialties on this topic, for it is evident that a true turning point in world history occurred in 1972, with the Washington entente with Beijing on an anti-Soviet basis. China proceeded to wage war on its erstwhile Communist partner in Vietnam; aided the anti-Moscow campaign in Afghanistan in the 1980s; and generally completed the encirclement of the Soviet Union, contributing mightily to its collapse in 1991. In return, China received massive and direct foreign investment from the United States and its allies, which created a juggernaut— now, ironically, yoked to the successor state of the Soviet Union in Moscow. Washington will be wrestling with this chain of events for decades to come, and it would have been useful if Fink’s vast knowledge had addressed the same. In outlining developments in Bonn during this period, Fink justifiably underscores the “anticommunist vigilance on the part of ... American[s],” notably, labor operatives such as Irving Brown and Jay Lovestone, both with questionable connections to US intelligence agencies (69). Again, it would have been beneficial to the reader if the author had spent more time discussing the other German state, the now-defunct German Democratic Republic, which would have illuminated his final chapter on apartheid, because this state was one of the closest allies of the now-ruling African National Congress and South African Communist Party. A central aspect of the post-1945 planet is that anti-apartheid South Africans, Palestinians, Cubans, and others were heavily dependent on the Soviet Union and its allies. When the Soviet Union collapsed, it empowered factions such as the right-wing in Israel, which was bent on thwarting the two-state solution—a simple fact that eludes the analysis in these pages. This brings us to the final chapter on South Africa, which, unlike previous pages, relies substantively on interviews. This leads to discernible errors, such as referring to the now late but influential Washington journalist, Askia Muhammad, as a “former Nation of Islam journalist” (201). Actually, Muhammad, whom I knew—he interviewed me countless times—remained in the ranks until his recent death and was eulogized in the pages of this religious group’s journal. Similarly, Fink cites approvingly the former US anti-apartheid leader Randall Robinson, who disputes the notion that Nelson Mandela was a “Communist” (208). Actually, many of the post-1994 leaders in South Africa—including Mandela’s successors, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma— were at one time enrolled in the ranks of the South African Communist Party. This is a point documented by a number of scholars, including myself, but—again—for whatever reason, this chapter relies more on interviews than the other case studies. The case of South Africa is illustrative because it represents an international issue that galvanized millions of US nationals in unions, universities, religious bodies, Hollywood, and the music business. However, there was always an unsteady trans-Atlantic marriage because, as noted, the South African forces were not as antiCommunist as their US counterparts. Thus, a precondition to the easing of Jim Crow restrictions in this nation was the sidelining of NAACP founder and patriarch W. E. B. Du Bois and those like him (e.g. Paul Robeson) on primitive anti-Communist grounds, whereas Mandela and his comrades did not and could not accept such a bargain. Nonetheless, the author is typically insightful and correct to emphasize the clear importance of the passage of the “Comprehensive AntiApartheid Act” in Washington, “sustaining the final version ... over a presidential veto by a 78–21 vote in October 1986” (216). Remarkably, this placed Washington, often to the right of its allies, in a contrasting position, where it was actually in the progressive vanguard. However, the author scorns the post-1994 regime in Pretoria “that focused in classic neoliberal fashion on privatization of state-owned properties and the removal of exchange controls” (222). Yet the left-wing reader in Johannesburg might well suggest that the collapse of the socialist camp in Eastern Europe, which the author previously salutes, made it difficult to pursue the kind of radical redistributionist policies that South Africa— and, indeed, the entire subregion— needed so desperately. This collapse, as noted, empowered the United States and its allies, the victors at the socalled end of history, who were unwilling to countenance any deviation from the Washington consensus of—precisely—neoliberalism and privatization. Nevertheless, any reservations about Fink’s analysis cannot detract from the wider point: the author is not only the premier labor historian of his generation, but, with this outstanding volume, now also emerges as one of our most perceptive analysts of global trends.

Мариэтта Тиграновна Степанянц

The Russian Oriental studies are rich and diverse in their disciplines. The focus of research activities conducted mainly at the university centres of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, and during Soviet times in the capitals of some republics (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.), was largely determined by the domestic political and geopolitical interests of the Russian Empire. Thus, a philosophical aspect in oriental studies, as well as university philosophical education practical^ did not exist. The changes brought by the revolution of 1917 have greatly affected all fields of social life, including the academic milieu. The article examines a complex and contradictory path of development of the national philosophy, on the example of the Institute founded in 1921 by Gustav Gustavovich Speth (1879-1937), nowadays the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The latter has become the main focal point of the philosophical research activities in the former Soviet Union. Particular attention is paid to the liberation from the Eurocentrism inherited from imperial times concerning the spiritual heritage of the peoples of the East as a whole, and in philosophy in particular. The pivotal points of its activity became “History of Philosophy” in 3 Volumes (19411943) and “History of Philosophy” in 6 Volumes (1957-1966). The real breakthrough was the encyclopedias, such as: “The New Philosophical Encyclopedia” in 4 volumes (2001); “Indian philosophy. Encyclopedia” (2009); “The Philosophy of Buddhism: Encyclopedia” (2011). The Orientalist aspect in higher philosophical education nowadays becomes more visible. The recent international recognition of the achievements of the Russian Orientalist philosophical studies regardless of a relatively small number of specialists is largely due to their collective efforts and close cooperation.

Aleksandr M. Dronov

The annual conference Slavic World: Community and Diversity is a good platform for young researchers from different universities and research centers, both domestic and foreign, where they can share their scholarly achievements with colleagues and talk about their own vision of a particular problem related to the study of the diversity of the Slavic world. This year was no exception, and the historical section of the conference was held on 25–26 May in a mixed format: full-time participation and on the ZOOM platform owing to coronavirus restrictions. The speakers at the conference dedicated to the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture again discussed a wide range of issues related to the history of the Slavic peoples from the Middle Ages to the present day in national, regional, and international contexts. Following the conference, a collection of abstracts will be published. Researchers not only showed the results of their research, but also enriched themselves with new knowledge, were given a platform to express their opinions and discuss them with colleagues, and shared their experience. Many speeches aroused lively interest, and sometimes a heated discussion, which indicates the relevance of the topics addressed at the event. Annual participation in the conference contributes to the strengthening of further cooperation between scholars.

O. G. Orlova, V. L. Karakchieva

All communicative situations of using language for scientific purposes form a scientific discourse. The scientific discourse genre is built on the basis of the oral or written text form: scientific written texts form the corpus of scientific written discourse, while audiovisual texts form the corpus of audiovisual scientific discourse. Smaller forms can be part of a larger text, or mega-genre. Oral mega-genres are: conference, forum, and congress, which can be subdivided into various smaller forms. The written scientific discourse has a distributed chronotope, whereas the oral one is tied to a specific time and place. Online forms are characterized by a distributed topos and a specific time. Communicators perform certain discursive roles: undergraduate – consultant; graduate student – reviewer; the author of the article – editorial board, readers. A scientist is a nuclear participant of scientific discourse. The key discourse-forming features of scientific discourse are: regulation, consistency, and structuredness; objectivity, accuracy, and abstractness; polemic; theatricality; intertextuality. The language of scientific discourse is impersonal, with multiple passive constructions. The functioning of scientific discourse is determinedby external social factors, general patterns of communication, internal trends, and developmental contradictions. Each text is polyphonic because it is the result of the interaction of many discursive paradigms that can be systematized in two directions: "vertical" and "horizontal" (from core to the periphery). Three tendencies dominate in the development of scientific discourse: the growth of phatic; displacement of communication activity to the periphery; authorization  of scientific discourse.

Marian Wójtowicz

The article contains an analysis of Christian names selected from the oldest synodicon written in the Lisitsky monastery near Veliky Novgorod. The analysis comprises 3190 names of lay people, amongst which are 208 male names and 58 female names. The author discusses the group of given names (basic forms, their phonetic, morphological variants and frequency, as well as rarely used names that occurred in the synodicon).

K. RUSHID A., B. ASIA M.

The article analyzes the legal basis for cooperation of the states of the Caspian region - Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran. With the signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea in 2018, the relations between five countries have reached a qualitatively new level. While with the collapse of the Soviet Union centrifugal trends dominated cooperation, especially after the former Soviet republics gained independence, recent years have been characterized by centripetal tendencies, and the COVID-19 crisis has clearly demonstrated that only by joint efforts the countries can confront today's challenges and threats. An important aspect of cooperation among the Caspian littoral states is their membership in various integration groupings, which imposes certain obligations on these states, undoubtedly affecting their interaction in the Caspian region.

R. Petruneva, L. F. Belyakova, T. L. Sidorova

The article examines the processes of internationalization, provides information on the number of foreign students in various countries and in Russia, discusses the arguments for choosing the country for study by international students, including socio-cultural and linguistic preferences. The authors address the issues relating to the status of the Russian language in countries of the Central Asia region – the former republics of the Soviet Union. The article provides an information on the expansion of Western and Eastern countries into the educational system of these countries. The conclusion is made about the need for Russian universities to more actively enter the international market of educational services, especially in those areas where the Russian Federation has undeniable achievements (natural science fields of training, etc.).

Kevin T. Sharp

Gender relations in post-Soviet Russia and other former Soviet Republics have undergone a marked shift since the early 20th century. Both democratization and neoliberal market reform since the collapse of the USSR have entailed a pronounced social and political reconfiguration concerning gender equality, largely guided by a Western capitalistic market logic. Indeed, the transition from Socialist legality to Capitalist legality has fundamentally altered the sociopolitical and sociocultural fabric of post-Soviet nation states. Contemporary feminist engagements with such new forms of governance and culture in the post-Soviet framework have had various implications for the current state of gender equality, in both regressive and progressive terms. Evolving from a socialist gender parity model originally cultivated by the Bolshevik Party in the early 20th century to a neoliberal, individualistic feminist model today, gender equality in post-Soviet Russia as well as the former Soviet Union (FSU) has undergone deep social, political, and economic transformations. Specifically, there has been a noticeable shift from “state feminism” to “market feminism,” resulting in the normalization of market privilege and the subordinate status of feminist agendas. But it has also resulted in, as Kantola and Squires note, the “emergence of new, flexible institutions pursuing gender equality” and a heightened feminist influence in the labor market (2012). While this “state” to “market” shift in feminist agendas has been a prevalent trend in most Western democracies paralleled by the rise of neoliberalism, in post-Soviet Russia and the FSU it has been particularly revealing of the socially regressive aspects of neoliberal market reform. In contrast to the optimistic theories regarding the fall of communism in the late 20th Century (Modernization Theory, Fukuyama’s “End of History” Thesis, etc.), it seems that the neoliberal, democratic restructuring of Russia and the Eastern Bloc Socialism and Democracy, 2021 Vol. 35, Nos. 2–3, 149–166, https://doi.org/10.1080/08854300.2021.2103905

M. Zignol, W. van Gemert, D. Falzon et al.

OBJECTIVE To present a global update of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) and explore trends in 1994-2010. METHODS Data on drug resistance among new and previously treated TB patients, as reported by countries to the World Health Organization, were analysed. Such data are collected through surveys of a representative sample of TB patients or surveillance systems based on routine drug susceptibility testing. Associations between multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and sex were explored through logistic regression. FINDINGS In 2007-2010, 80 countries and 8 territories reported surveillance data. MDR-TB among new and previously treated cases was highest in the Russian Federation (Murmansk oblast, 28.9%) and the Republic of Moldova (65.1%), respectively. In three former Soviet Union countries and South Africa, more than 10% of the cases of MDR-TB were extensively drug-resistant. Globally, in 1994 to 2010 multidrug resistance was observed in 3.4% (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.9-5.0) of all new TB cases and in 19.8% (95% CI: 14.4-25.1) of previously treated TB cases. No overall associations between MDR-TB and HIV infection (odds ratio, OR: 1.4; 95% CI: 0.7-3.0) or sex (OR: 1.1; 95% CI: 0.8-1.4) were found. Between 1994 and 2010, MDR-TB rates in the general population increased in Botswana, Peru, the Republic of Korea and declined in Estonia, Latvia and the United States of America. CONCLUSION The highest global rates of MDR-TB ever reported were documented in 2009 and 2010. Trends in MDR-TB are still unclear in most settings. Better surveillance or survey data are required, especially from Africa and India.

Ивана Перушко

В данной статье Октябрьская революция рассматривается как основополагающий мифоконструкт советской (тоталитарной) мифологии, который — по словам Е. Мелетинского — должен был совершить символическую космизацию дореволюционного Хаоса. Ведущую роль в этом процессе сыграла послеоктябрьская Москва. Теоретическую основу статьи составили труды Е. Мелетинского, Ж. Дерриды и М. Рыклина, посвященные советской Москве. М. Рыклин в книге «Коммунизм как религия. Интеллектуалы и Октябрьская революция» (2009) утверждает, что для многих европейских левых интеллектуалов послеоктябрьская Москва стала «новым Иерусалимом». Москву как новую Мекку воспринимали не только европейские левые интеллектуалы, но и большая часть русской интеллигенции, которая либо восторженно приветствовала советскую власть, либо решила с ней смириться и сотрудничать. По возвращении из Москвы выдающийся югославский хорватский писатель и уверенный ленинист Мирослав Крлежа опубликовал «Поездку в Россию» (1926) — одно из глубочайших «возвращений из СССР», которое было запрещено в советской России. После того, как не успел эмигрировать, т. е. покинуть Владикавказ и уехать за границу, Михаил Булгаков переехал в Москву, на которую возлагал большие надежды и от которой много ждал в 1920-е гг. В это время Москва была для Булгакова неистощимым источником вдохновения, о чем свидетельствуют его фельетоны двадцатых годов («Столица в блокноте» (1922); «Сорок сороков» (1923); «Золотистый город» (1923)). Несмотря на совершенно противоположные политические взгляды Булгакова и Крлежи, у них обнаруживается поразительно много общего в плане тонких наблюдений за повседневной нэповской Москвой и в плане борьбы с советской цензурой. Данная статья является первой попыткой сопоставительного исследования московских впечатлений двух выдающихся славянских писателей ХХ в. Цитирование Перушко И. От Ленина до нэпмана, от голода до яств: нэповская Москва глазами Булгакова и Крлежи // Славянский альманах. 2020. Вып. 3–4. С. 314–337. DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2020.3-4.4.02

Alexander Beihammer

Boer republics, as a self-governing and white-minority-ruled dominion within the British Empire. The author then looks at the 1912 formation of the Union Defence Force (UDF), the first South African state military, which attempted to combine British and Boer military culture, though it favored the former, and in which armed service was restricted to the white community. As Van Der Waag explores in detail, South Africa’s participation on the side of Britain in the two world wars was problematic, given both the UDF’s lack of preparation and Boer/Afrikaner sympathy for Germany and desires to remain neutral. Some of the strongest and most original chapters in the book, supported by rich archival investigation, cover the institutional development of the UDF during the interwar period (1919–39) and in the immediate post–Second World War era of the late 1940s and 1950s, when the new apartheid government, in the context of politicizing and Afrikanerizing the military, changed its name to the South African Defence Force (SADF). The last part of the book looks at the Cold War–era SADF military campaigns in South West Africa (now Namibia), where it embarked on counterinsurgency, and in southern Angola, where it fought conventional battles against a Soviet-backed Angolan state and its Cuban allies during the late 1970s and 1980s. The concluding chapter discusses the transition to democracy in the 1990s and the formation of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), comprising elements of the old SADF, the armies of South Africa’s self-governing black homelands such as Transkei and Venda, and the armed wings of the anti-apartheid movements. Van Der Waag ends with an important warning that the current SANDF, now commanded largely by former liberation fighters associated with the governing African National Congress (ANC), is in danger of being politicized in the same way as the apartheid-era SADF. Although this is a very thorough and skillfully written history of South Africa’s state military, that emphasis creates an imbalance. The author’s goal of attempting to bridge the gap between the military history of the primarily white UDF/SADF and the liberation history of the mostly black anti-apartheid organizations (4) remains unfulfilled. Focusing heavily on the military of the white-minority state, the book provides meticulously researched and extensive information on topics such as the family background and education of white generals, the changing threat perception of white military planners, South African military budgets, and South African participation in a series of imperial defense conferences held in the 1920s and 1930s. By comparison, the military history of black South Africans receives limited attention. The 1906 Bambatha Rebellion is seen as informing the defense policy of the emerging white government, but the military aims, decisions, and methods of the Zulu rebels are apparently irrelevant. The disputed and dubious claim that Albert Nzula, the first black secretary general of the Communist Party of South Africa, was murdered by Stalin’s secret police in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s is repeated as fact and, seemingly, as an example of the pathetic nature of African resistance (Jonathan Derrick, Africa’s ‘Agitators:’ Militant Anti-Colonialism in Africa and the West, 1918–1939, Columbia University Press 2008, 294–95). Much more could said about the evolution of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK, Spear of the Nation), the armed wing of the ANC during the antiapartheid struggle; its leaders are either ignored (like Chris Hani) or do not receive the same in-depth treatment as their UDF/SADF counterparts. Indeed, the military activities and cultures of other liberation movements, such as the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA), the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), are entirely overlooked. Surely, this topic is pertinent, given the fact that former APLA members became generals in the post-apartheid SANDF (see table on p. 303). Last, it is odd that this book fails to acknowledge the existence of several previous military histories of South Africa (e.g., Annette Seegers, The Military in the Making of Modern South Africa, I.B. Tauris 1996, and Timothy Stapleton, A Military History of South Africa: From the Dutch-Khoi Wars to the End of Apartheid, Praeger Security International 2010).

Yevgeni Kilimnik

Цель исследования – культурно-исторический анализ существующего многообразия архитектурных форм памятников культурного наследия средневековых районов Калининградской обл. России в контексте деятельности и истории Тевтонского ордена в Восточной Пруссии. Рассмотрение функций феодального замка продиктовано его особой ролью в европейском обществе. Создание архитектурно-исторической типологии замковых форм, возникших в этом средневековом регионе Европы, происходило на основе общего, привнесенного в этот социокультурный локус традициями западноевропейской рыцарской культуры, и особенного – культурно-строительных обычаев местного населения, что ярко проявилось в создании исторических центров поселений, позже трансформированных в ходе устроительной деятельности рыцарей-монахов ордена Девы Марии, или Тевтонского. Автором поставлена задача по обобщению исторического многообразия существующих в Калининградской обл. архитектурно-художественных форм средневековых замков как культурного наследия Тевтонского ордена. Установлено, что орденский замок представлял собой социокультурное пространство, синтезированное в природной среде, социальном укладе, ментальных ценностях рыцарей-монахов Тевтонского ордена. Это средневековое произведение европейской культуры нашло свое прямое отражение в историческом процессе формообразования орденских замков XIII–XV вв. с учетом общеевропейских и локальных историко-архитектурных фортификационных особенностей и региональных культурных отличий, на которые наложили непосредственный отпечаток полумонашеский образ жизни и социокультурные ценности братьев-рыцарей, создавших в этом регионе западноевропейский кастельный тип замка и его разновидность – конвент, в основу которого была включена средневековая структура цистерианского монастыря в Сито. Проведенное исследование культурного наследия Калининградской обл. вносит существенный вклад в историю искусства европейского Средневековья, актуализирует сохранение и умножение самобытного культурного наследия Российской Федерации в контексте европейской культуры. Разработано новое научное направление – история и типология замкового зодчества Восточной Пруссии.

Yulia Krivoshchapova

Статья посвящена реконструкции языкового образа реки Волги. Материалом для анализа послужили преимущественно диалектные данные русского языка. В центре внимания – деривационно-фразеологическое гнездо с вершинным словом Волга, то есть семантические и семантико-словообразовательные дериваты гидронима, фразеология и паремиология с его участием. В результате идеографического анализа материала были выделены предметно-тематические сферы, демонстрирующие присутствие дериватов гидронима Волга: «География», «Гидрологические параметры», «Социум» и «Материальная культура». Отмечается, что наполнение обозначенных денотативных зон неравномерно, и наиболее детализированной в лексико-семантическом плане сферой является «Социум»: образ Волги в народном сознании тесно связан с бурлачеством и отхожими промыслами. Лингвистические данные, по мнению автора, поддерживают существующий в фольклоре антропоморфный образ Волги. Река представляется в виде веселого, бойкого, умного человека (скорее молодой девушки). Помимо портрета Волги, предлагается ряд мотивационных решений для непрозрачных фразеологизмов с «волжским» компонентом.

Ekaterina N. Vasilyeva, Svetlana B. Kozhirova, Sergey A. Pankratov

The paper presents the analysis of the Russian and foreign academic events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the defeat of German fascist troops by the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad, in which lecturers, postgraduate and undergraduate students of the Volgograd State University (VolSU) took part. The focus of the paper is on the multilateral activities of the Center for Public Diplomacy, functioning on the basis of the VolSU, as well as of the Scientific and Educational Center “Modernization of the multidimensional social and political space of modern Russia” at the Department of International Relations, Political Science and Area Studies of VolSU on the presentation of Volgograd as a academic and methodological center for the formation of patriotism and civil identity in the Russian Federation. E.N. Vasilyeva presents an analytical review of the international scientific and practical conference “Stalingrad – a symbol of heroism, patriotism and cohesion of the peoples of Russia and the world”. S.B. Kozhirova characterizes the cooperation of foreign scholars with colleagues from the Volgograd State University on the formation of the historical memory of generations. S.A. Pankratov highlights the main activities of the Center for Public Diplomacy and the academic and educational center “Modernization of the multidimensional social and political space of modern Russia” in the context of the institutionalization of the practices of people’s diplomacy in the public policy of the hero city Volgograd-Stalingrad.

Igor A. Konovalov

On the basis of pre-revolutionary legislation, the article comprehensively considers features of general-governor’s power. The article also analyzes the system of Siberian administration in the first half of XIX century. The growing interest the local government demonstrates in the history of local government is connected not only with the aspiration of historians to look more deeply into the past but also with practical needs. While researching the forgotten traditions of public administration, one should take a greater account of historical experience that has been accumulated over the centuries. It is also necessary to take a look at familiar facts and events in the light of today's realities. This approach may overcome the old myths and misconceptions as well as prevent new ones. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research are such principles of historical knowledge as objectivity, historicism, determinism, alternativeness and social approach, which imply an unbiased approach to the analysis of the issues under analysis, as well as a critical attitude to historical sources. The author comes to the following conclusions. The characteristic differences between governance in Central Russia and in Siberia were independence of government machinery and huge significance of the personal factor in the past. The reorganization of the system of territorial and administrative management of the region, aimed, on the one hand, at strengthening the independence of local authorities in decision-making, and on the other, at strengthening governance and increasing control from the center, met certain difficulties. Often it turned out that all measures aimed at decentralization of the Siberian administration led to an increase in police arbitrariness and a decrease in the level of controllability of the region. Strengthening of the general-governor’s power went on increasing in the XIX century, during which the general-governors opposed themselves to the ministries in St. Petersburg and the activities of collegial bodies.