THE ISSUE OF PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF THE DOCUMENTS ON THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR 1941–1945. THE ARCHIVE OF I. S. STRELBITSKY

The author of this article, historian-archivist, archival scientist and archaeographer Sergey Vasilievich Chirkov (1947–2020) passed away shortly before the scientific conference “Archives and War; Memory of the Past, and Historical and Documentary Heritage”. It was organized by the Department of History and Organization of Archives Administration of the Russian State University for the Humanities where he worked as an assistant professor for many years. Sergey Vasilievich was planning to participate in the conference with his report about the Great Patriotic War materials based on the private collections and funds of the Central State Archives of the Moscow region (CSAMR). Elena Alekseevna Chirkova, his widow, reworked his paper into a scientific article, which is presented in this journal. The article is devoted to the analysis of the documents from the personal fund of Lieutenant-General of Artillery Ivan Semenovich Strelbitsky. The fund contains unique historical sources which were presented to the Central State Archives of the Moscow region by M.M. Strelbitskaya, the widow of the General. The unique resources incorporate biographical materials, award documents for orders and certificates for medals received during the war, memoires, epistolary heritage. There is also a great number of photographs in the fund: mainly group photographs of soldiers and commanders of the units and subunits that General Strelbitsky served with.

ORGANIZATION AND CONDUCT OF FOREIGN TOURS OF THE MOSCOW STATE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA HEADED BY V. B. DUDAROVA IN THE 1970S

The article considers the reasons for foreign tours of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra’s headed by V.B. Dudarova in the 1970s, the specifics of those tours, as well as their results both from the point of view of popularizing symphonic music and from the point of view of popularizing Soviet ideology abroad. Among the most important reasons for the organization of the first foreign tours by the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra of V.B. Dudarova in the 1970s, one can mention the active participation of the orchestra in numerous Soviet festivals, competitions for young performers, the preparation and performance of new works by Soviet composers, the expansion of the repertoire of performed musical works, the work with foreign conductors, Also the participation of V.B. Dudarova as a guest conductor in foreign tours with other orchestras, the musical community positive reviews and reports on the work of the orchestra as well as increasing the status and prestige of the orchestra in the general range of symphony orchestras of the USSR. The organization and conduct of foreign tours in the Polish People’s Republic and the GDR included the briefing, the development of a concert program, which provided for concerts in several major cities with a developed musical culture, as well as in the capitals of the countries selected for the foreign tour. In addition to the concerts themselves, the organization of the tour included a meeting of the Orchestra’s direction with the cultural intelligentsia of the People’s Republic of Poland and the GDR after each of the concerts, advertising concerts and the orchestra’s work in the media of the People’s Republic of Poland and the GDR, selling souvenirs and recordings of the orchestra. Thus, the concerts of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra conducted by V.B. Dudarova were only a part, or rather one of the instruments, of the national program of Soviet propaganda and the maintenance of a favorable image of the USSR abroad.

LEISURE CULTURE OF EMPLOYEES OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SARATOV IN THE 1920S

The article is analyzing the organization of the off-hours time for employees in higher education institutions of Saratov in the 1920s. Based on original sources, the author reveals the main types of leisure of the teaching staff. In the period under review, a lot of the old, traditional still existed in the nonprofessional activities of lecturers, which, due to objective reasons of that time, underwent some changes. Since leisure remained an integral part of private life, it was impossible to completely abandon it, although in comparison with the pre-revolutionary period there was less and less space for it. The issues of the spiritual world, views on the surrounding reality, reflections on the life path of life and credo – all that faded into the background, the lecturers had to solve the acute issues of a half-starved existence, and sometimes to wage an actual struggle for survival. When comparing the leisure of scientists and the working class people, there is a difference in their quality content and in specific types of pastime. The main attention is focused on considering the factors that influenced changes in the forms of spending free time by scientists during the 1920s.

HISTORIOSOPHICAL PREREQUISITES FOR THE FORMATION OF THE CULT OF PERSONALITY IN THE BIOGRAPHIES OF V.I. LENIN 1924–1956

The authors make an attempt to analyse on the basis of Hayden White’s theory of historical narrative historiosophical prerequisites for the formation of the cult of personality in the soviet biographies of V.I. Lenin published in 1924–1956. The basis of texts is a plot structure, implying, on the one hand, the existence of immutable laws of historical development, which humanity is forced to obey, and, on the other, a person who is able to learn them through the bitterness of defeats and put them at his service. The explanation of the facts of the historical narrative takes place by using two types of formal argument: Mechanism, which emphasizes the laws of historical development and the role of the masses in the historical process, and organicism, which gives high priority to V.I. Lenin himself and the party he created. The authors conclude that the articulation of the plot structure and types of formal argument embodied in the biographies becomes a prerequisite for the formation of the cult of personality. The latter implies the construction of an image of a person capable of transforming the reality, according to the concept of historical development that dominates in the party political historiography

“...LOCOMOTIVES WILL FREEZE, FAMINE IS COMING, AND THERE ARE CASES OF TYPHUS...”. RAILWAYS OF THE GREAT SIBERIAN CAMPAIGN 1919–1920

The publication of documentary materials reflects the history of the organization and conducting of the retreat of the units of Admiral A.V. Kolchak’s Eastern Front and the evacuation of civilian refugees from Omsk and other cities in Siberia in November 1919 – January 1920. The article considers the issues of the technical condition and operation of the TRANSSiberian railway and, in particular, the functioning of the rolling stock. Those aspects for the history of the Civil War in the East of Russia to this day remain poorly studied. Evidence is provided on the state of the military, refugee and civil trains, and about the situation of passengers. Consistently and with the involvement of documentary material, the stages of the preparation and implementation of evacuation measures are described, and the reasons for the failure of planned decisions are analyzed. The article presents evidence on the consequences of full-scale disaster with the railway accident that became part of the Civil War history in Siberia. The materials from the State Archives of the Russian Federation that have not been widely used in scientific research and have not been published yet, as well as some previously published documentary evidence, were used. The study of that aspect of the Civil War history in Siberia allows to get an idea of not only the military, but also of the political importance that the TRANS-Siberian railway played in the absence of developed transport communications in the East of Russia.

WESTERN EUROPEAN AND BYZANTINE SOURCES OF THE MIDDLE AGES ABOUT THE RELATIONS BETWEEN WESTERN AND EASTERN CHRISTIANS AND THE CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE BY THE CRUSADERS IN 1204

Historical sources and evidence of the eyewitnesses of the 4th crusade in many respects reflect the complexity and sharpness of the contradictions between the Western and Eastern Christendom at the turn of the 12th – 13th centuries. The evidence and narrations proceed from the most direct participants in the military events, broke out on the shore of the Bosporus in 1203–1204. The authors of those materials belonged to the two opposing camps, and therefore the analysis of those sources represents a sufficiently complete and detailed picture of the occurred tragedy. A thorough analysis of the sources makes it possible to at least partially see and comprehend the causes of the military confrontation between the Western and Eastern Christians, who represented – just a while ago, in the first half of the 11th century – the united Ecumenical Church. The sources vividly reflect the mood that prevailed in the crusaders’ encampment in April, 1204, hesitation and doubt of the bulk of the Cross Warriors who were not sure of the rightness of their actions in the preparation for the assault of Constantinople. Many of them understood that they would have to raise the sword against their fellow believers – the Christians of the East. But the most tragic outcome of the 1202–1204 Crusade was the crushing defeat of Constantinople by the Cross Warriors. For the Romans (Byzantines) that became the reason for the disintegration of the Roman Empire. For all Eastern Christians it indicated the demise of the capital of the Orthodox Christendom.

AGRARIAN EDUCATION IN THE LOWER VOLGA REGION. ISSUES, ACHIEVEMENTS (THE 1920S)

Issues in the sphere of education are the pressing ones not only today. For historical reasons, any social upheaval in the country has an impact on the public education. The century-old events are not an exception. The system of agrarian education in Soviet Russia encountered great difficulties at the time of the dismantlement of NEP and during the village modernization. In connection with the new tasks facing agriculture, the small network of educational establishments, their disparity, low student take-in capacity, poor financial position and low professional level of graduates could not meet the needs of the People’s Commissariat of Agriculture. Absence of necessary assistance and control from the superior authorities over many educational establishments, particularly over many mid-ranking and low-ranking institutions, adversely affected their activity. The State paid special attention to young peasants and tried to increase the proportion of that social group among the applicants. But the peasants’ financial hardship, shortage of time for studies, weak education proficiency, lack of the scholarship allowances and of accommodation in many educational institutions hampered the implementation of the task. To overcome the situation, it was required to restructure – in cooperation with all those involved – the existing system of agrarian staff training.

THE MAIN PROBLEMS OF COLLECTING THE DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE AND CREATING THE STATE ARCHIVAL FUND OF THE USSR IN 1917–1930S

The article examines the history of collecting documentary and cultural heritage since 1917 and the participation of archives, museums and libraries in the creation of the Archival Fund of the country. In the 1920s and 1930s, archival institutions were established through the efforts of outstanding representatives of Russian culture. At the same period, the structure and activities of the museums created earlier in the Russian state in the 18th – 19th centuries were improved. The new museums that had been opened in various regions of Russia received rescued archival funds, collections and occasional papers. It is shown that during this period there was a discussion about the differentiation of the concepts of an “archive”, “library” and a “museum”. The present work reveals the difficulties in the interaction between museums, libraries and archives in the process of saving the cultural heritage of the state and arranging archival documents; the article also discusses the problems and complications in the formation of the State Archival Fund of the USSR. During this period, the development of normative and methodological documents regulating the main areas of work on the description and registration of records received by state repositories contributed to a more efficient use and publication of the documents stored in the state archives. It is noted that museums and libraries had problems connected with the description of the archival documents accepted for storage, with record keeping and the creation of the finding aids for them, as well as with the possibilities of effective use of the papers. The documents of the manuscript departments of museums and libraries have become part of the unified archival heritage of Russia and, together with the state archives, they now provide information resources for conducting various kinds of historical research.

HISTORY AND OPERATION OF THE DOCUMENTALISTICS COMMISSION

The article deals with the history of the creation and activity of the Documentalistics Commission which functioned between the 1960s and 1980s under the Scientific Council on the Complex Problem of Cybernetics. The Commission’s activities are related to the formation of documentalistics as an independent scientific discipline, its object is presented by large documentary systems, the use of new technologies in the processes of collecting, processing, searching, storing and using information. The author focuses on the transformation of the Commission’s research directions throughout the entire period of its existence. In the first years of the Commission’s work, the issues of the information classification and the use of new technological solutions in working with documents (punch cards and microphotoreproduction) were prevalent. The heyday of the Commission’s activities is associated with the work on the creation of the unified documentation systems and all-Union classifiers of information for the automated control systems. The interdisciplinary nature of the Commission’s activities influenced the subject of documentalistics and the organizational form of its existence. Despite the fact that by the end of the 1980s the Documentalistics Commission had virtually ceased to exist, documentalistics as a scientific direction had a huge impact on the development of records management and archival studies in Russia.