scholarly journals Concession Policy of the Soviet Union in Agriculture: A Review of the Recent Historiography

2021 ◽  
pp. 133-142
Author(s):  
Ol’ga Erokhina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Local Population ◽  
German Economy ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Government ◽  
Historical Comparative

Introduction. The article analyzes the issues of agricultural concession presented in the works of Russian researchers Maxim Matveyevich Zagorulko, Vladimir Viktorovich Bulatov and German historian Marina Schmider. Methods and materials. The monographs are significantly complemented by the already known works on concession policy and practice, as the authors introduce a significant number of new sources and statistics from German and Russian archives and libraries. To provide an objective analysis of the scientific works, the author uses the historical-system and historical-comparative methods. Analysis. The Russian researchers analyze the economic activities of four agricultural concessions: “Druzag”, “Manych”, “Druag”, “Prikumskoye Russo-American Partnership”. They identified factors that influenced the increase or decrease in profitability of the enterprises. M. Schmider focused her attention on changing the attitude of the government and business circles of Germany to the concession policy pursued in the USSR. In addition, it reveals the role of German agricultural concessions in the development of the German economy. The author identified mechanisms of influence on the Soviet leadership, which were used to facilitate the activities of two large agricultural concessions – Manych-Krupp and Druzag. It should be noted that the memoirs of German employees of agricultural concessions helped to recreate the life and activity of Soviet and German workers and employees, compare their working conditions, describe the relationship with the local population and government officials. Results. The authors conclude that the effective management methods and economic activities of these concessions contributed to increasing their competitiveness in comparison with similar Soviet enterprises. However, the activities of the concessions depended not only on the interest of the Soviet leadership in them, but also on the foreign policy relations of Germany and the Soviet state.

Paddling Upstream

2020 ◽  
pp. 163-187
Author(s):  
Alan D. Roe
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
National Park ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Industrial Growth ◽  
Volga River ◽  
Illegal Mining ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Government ◽  
First Time

The Samara Bend region on the Volga River experienced rapid industrial growth in the two decades after World War II. Uncertain about the future of the Zhiguli Zapovednik after the government had twice eliminated it (it was re-established after being eliminated the first time) and wanting to expand the area of Samara Bend under protection, some environmentally concerned citizens conceived a national park that they hoped would transform the regional economy. From its establishment in 1984, Samara Bend National Park was mired in conflicts with local populations whose uses of the land were made illegal and industries that had long operated in the park’s territory. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a young radical environmentalist named Sergei Fomichev staged a protest against continued illegal mining and gained the support of many of the park’s supporters who had become deeply frustrated about what they saw as the indifference of government officials to the park.

scholarly journals The “Emigration Commission”: The Chief Representative for the evacuation of the Polish and Jewish population from the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the evacuation apparatus: A description

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 69-110
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Hryciuk
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Jewish Population ◽  
Local Population ◽  
National Liberation ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
Soviet Socialist Republic ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War

The changes of political borders between Poland and the Soviet Union in 1944–1945 were accompanied by a relocation campaign lasting until autumn 1946 and affecting the Polish and Jewish populations of Eastern Galicia, Volhynia and Northern Bukovina. An agreement for mutual resettlement of Poles, Jews and Ukrainians, formally referred to as evacuation, was concluded on 9th September 1944 in Lublin between the Polish Committee of National Liberation and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The organisation of the relocation was entrusted to a special apparatus subordinated to evacuation representatives of both sides. The Chief Representative for the evacuation of the Polish and Jewish population from the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was based in Lutsk. Initially, he oversaw seventeen and then eighteen regional representatives in larger cities located in the so-called western oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR. Together with representatives of the Ukrainian side they were to carry out a registration campaign and organise transport for the relocated population and its possessions. The relocation apparatus began to be organised by a group of employees who arrived in Lutsk from Lublin in October 1944 with the first Representative, Stanisław Pizło. The process was viewed with distrust and hostility by the Poles, who were reluctant to leave their homeland. The several hundred staff of the resettlement apparatus struggled, similarly to the local population, with numerous problems relating to provisions and subsistence. The Soviet security services saw many officials working for the Representative as individuals hostile to the Soviet authorities. Consequently, Polish officials were quite often arrested, having been accused of collaborating with the Polish independence underground and of sabotaging the resettlement campaign. A lack of a sense of security led to a considerable staff turnover among the resettlement staff. As most of the people entitled to be evacuated from the various resettlement regions left, from the second half of 1945 the staff working for the evacuation apparatus were gradually dismissed. The transfer of population ended in November 1946 and the final protocol closing the post-war resettlements under the agreement of 9th September 1944 concluded between the Polish Committee of National Liberation and the government of the Ukrainian SSR was signed in May 1947.

A Sacred Space Is Never Empty

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Smolkin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Russian Revolution ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
Sacred Spaces ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Ideology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Soviet Experiment

When the Bolsheviks set out to build a new world in the wake of the Russian Revolution, they expected religion to die off. Soviet power used a variety of tools—from education to propaganda to terror—to turn its vision of a Communist world without religion into reality. Yet even with its monopoly on ideology and power, the Soviet Communist Party never succeeded in overcoming religion and creating an atheist society. This book presents the first history of Soviet atheism from the 1917 revolution to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The book argues that to understand the Soviet experiment, we must make sense of Soviet atheism. It shows how atheism was reimagined as an alternative cosmology with its own set of positive beliefs, practices, and spiritual commitments. Through its engagements with religion, the Soviet leadership realized that removing religion from the “sacred spaces” of Soviet life was not enough. Then, in the final years of the Soviet experiment, Mikhail Gorbachev—in a stunning and unexpected reversal—abandoned atheism and reintroduced religion into Soviet public life. The book explores the meaning of atheism for religious life, for Communist ideology, and for Soviet politics.

RESTORATION OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF YALTA IN 1944

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (72) (4) ◽  
pp. 24-36
Author(s):  
N. D. Borshchik
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Southern Coast ◽  
Recreational Facilities ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Resorts ◽  
Post War ◽  
Short Time

The article considers little-studied stories in Russian historiography about the post-war state of Yalta — one of the most famous health resorts of the Soviet Union, the «pearl» of the southern coast of Crimea. Based on the analysis of mainly archival sources, the most important measures of the party and Soviet leadership bodies, the heads of garrisons immediately after the withdrawal of the fascist occupation regime were analyzed. It was established that the authorities paid priority attention not only to the destroyed economy and infrastructure, but also to the speedy introduction of all-Union and departmental sanatoriums and recreation houses, other recreational facilities. As a result of their coordinated actions in the region, food industry enterprises, collective farms and cooperative artels, objects of cultural heritage and the social and everyday sphere were put into operation in a short time.

The Challenges to Social Control in Brezhnev’s Soviet Union, 1964-1982

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-173
Author(s):  
Fedor L. Sinitsyn
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Soviet System ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Central State ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian State ◽  
The Government ◽  
General Secretary

This article examines the development of social control in the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev, who was General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1964 to 1982. Historians have largely neglected this question, especially with regard to its evolution and efficiency. Research is based on sources in the Russian State Archive of Modern History (RGANI), the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) and the Moscow Central State Archive (TSGAM). During Brezhnevs rule, Soviet propaganda reached the peak of its development. However, despite the fact that authorities tried to improve it, the system was ritualistic, unconvincing, unwieldy, and favored quantity over quality. The same was true for political education, which did little more than inspire sullen passivity in its students. Although officials recognized these failings, their response was ineffective, and over time Soviet propaganda increasingly lost its potency. At the same time, there were new trends in the system of social control. Authorities tried to have a foot in both camps - to strengthen censorship, and at the same time to get feedback from the public. However, many were afraid to express any criticism openly. In turn, the government used data on peoples sentiments only to try to control their thoughts. As a result, it did not respond to matters that concerned the public. These problems only increased during the era of stagnation and contributed to the decline and subsequent collapse of the Soviet system.

scholarly journals Partnerstwo dla Modernizacji w stosunkach niemiecko-rosyjskich

2018 ◽  
pp. 93-107
Author(s):  
Bogdan Koszel
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Angela Merkel ◽  
The Government ◽  
European Partner

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia has become Germany’s main Central European partner. The economic interests and hopes of gigantic contracts to modernize the Russian economy have played a colossal role in German policy. The Government of Chancellor Angela Merkel aspired to shape the Eastern policy of the European Union, and it was highly favorable towards the strategy of Russian modernization to be implemented with the participation of Western partners, as proposed by President Medvedev in 2009. However, this project never went beyond the stage of preliminary agreements, and both sides are increasingly disappointed with its progress. Germany continues to aspire to play the role of the leading EU member state involved in the transformation process in Russia, yet this is no longer treated in terms of the ‘Russia first’ attitude without any reservations. Germans are becoming increasingly aware that their efforts are doomed to fail without true Russian efforts aimed at the democratization of both their public life and economic structures.

scholarly journals «ЧЕРКАСОВСКОЕ» ДВИЖЕНИЕ В ЯЛТЕ 1944 г.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 44-51
Author(s):  
N.D. Borshchik ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Health Resort ◽  
Crimean Peninsula ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Red Army ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Post War ◽  
The City

The article deals with the problems of post-war reconstruction of Yalta – one of the most popular resorts of the Soviet Union. During the great Patriotic war, this all-Union health resort was subjected to barbaric destruction and looting. The fascist occupation regime (1941-1944) caused enormous damage to the health resort Fund of Yalta, the city economy and the entire infrastructure of the southern coast of Crimea. The rapid return to the pre-war structure and the commissioning of social facilities has become a priority for the regional authorities and the population. In addition to traditional methods, the Patriotic «Сherkassov» movement, which began in the liberated Stalingrad in 1943 and spread throughout the country, was widely used. A solid Foundation was laid for the interaction of the city administration of Yalta and the local population with the commanders and soldiers of the red Army. Based on the analysis of archival documents of the State archive of the Republic of Crimea, it was possible to trace the course of restoration work in the fi rst months after the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula from fascism. It is established that for the rapid restoration and functioning of the Yalta resorts, public activists launched a socialist competition on «Сherkassov» methods

scholarly journals Activities of Non-Governmental Organisations Aimed at Conflict Settlement in Post-Soviet States

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Nikitin ◽  
Irina Bolgova ◽  
Yulia Nikitina
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
The State ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
International Environment ◽  
International Projects ◽  
The Government ◽  
Public Organisations ◽  
Set Up

This article analyses the peace-making activities of Soviet/Russian nongovernmental public organisations (NGOs) with reference to the Federation for Peace and Conciliation, the successor of the Soviet Peace Committee. NGOs were formed at the initiative of the state and party organs of the Soviet system but were transformed into independent NGOs after the collapse of the USSR with their own active strategy of assistance in conflict resolution. This study is based upon unique archive materials and the personal experience of one of the authors, who used to work for such organisations. The study focuses on the ethnopolitical conflicts which took place between the collapse of the USSR and the mid‑1990s. There is a widespread opinion in academic literature that so-called non-governmental organisations set up by the government do not have their own identity, especially during social crises, and passively follow the government’s political line. However, the study of their activities demonstrates that during the first years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, these organisations initiated a significant number of practical and political projects with the participation of high-ranked representatives of the governments, parliaments, and political parties of both post-Soviet and foreign states and international organisations, including the UN, OSCE, NATO, CIS, etc. This, in turn, played a role as a substantial supplement to classical interstate diplomacy and practically promoted the settlement of certain ethnopolitical conflicts. The archive materials analysed prove that in the early post-Soviet period, a certain inversion in the direction of political and ideological impulses took place, and a number of non-governmental organisations that used to transmit the interests of the Communist Party and state organs to the international environment were able to create new international projects and consultations in the form of “track one-and-a-half” diplomacy, i. e. the informal interaction of officials in the capacity of unofficial experts. And in such cases, it was NGOs which shaped the agenda and transmitted public interests to the state structures of Russia and the CIS states, mediating between fighting sides and amongst representatives of various states, practically assisting the settlement of ethnopolitical conflicts.

scholarly journals From DP Camps to the “Green Continent”

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Antoshin
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
New Information ◽  
National Archives ◽  
National University ◽  
National Archives Of Australia ◽  
The Government

This review focuses on a monograph written by Jayne Persian, lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland (Australia). The work is the first complex study devoted to the adaptation of former “displaced persons” (more particularly, émigrés from the Soviet Union) in Australia between the 1940s and 1960s. The work refers to an extensive complex of documents from the National Archives of Australia, the National Archives (United Kingdom), the Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University, and interviews with former “displaced persons” residing in Australia. The study is very important because it provides new information on the second wave of Soviet emigration, which is seldom examined by contemporary Russian scholars. Persian demonstrates that political factors played an important role in how the Australian government granted immigration permission. Quite frequently, Australia preferred people who shared anti-communist positions. Therefore, many former collaborators of the World War II era came to Australia; this hindered cooperation between the USSR and Australia. Persian shows that “new Australians” had difficulty integrating into society. The government tried to assimilate them, which pushed the immigrants to seek isolation in their communities. This book helps us understand the controversial character of the state policy of historical memory, a problem that is also very important for contemporary Russia.

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