scholarly journals Archival Documents from the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History as a Source for Studying Economic Crime in the Days of the Great Patriotic War

2021 ◽  
pp. 1064-1075
Author(s):  
Andrey A. Pass ◽  
◽  
Marina N. Potemkina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political History ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Economic Crime ◽  
Source Analysis ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Economic Crimes

The article determines the value and prospects of using historical sources stored in the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI) for disclosing problems of economic crime in 1941–45. Understanding modern dangers of corruption, illegal enrichment, and malfeasance requires studying the historical experience of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45. It was a time to confront not only a strong external enemy, but also internal challenges, including, in particular, activation of criminal elements in the economic sphere. Despite an abundance of legal and historical publications devoted to economic crime and combating it, a whole layer of archival documents remains outside the field of research. The study has been carried out on the basis of institutional methodological approach using source heuristics, source analysis, historical-comparative method. The documents revealed in the RGASPI consist of previously unpublished materials of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Party Control Commission under the Central Committee of the CPSU, regional and city party committees (obkoms and gorkoms), and political departments of various agencies, through which transportation and distribution of food and industrial goods was conducted, as well as fragments of national leaders’ personal funds. The analyzed documents reflect criminal acts characteristic of the war period: speculation, embezzlement, bribery, malfeasance of high-ranking officials. The aforementioned delicts are reflected in the minutes of meetings, reports, certificates, and directives describing in detail the most common types of economic crime and measures taken by the authorities to curb it. The study concludes that the identified documents possess a high degree of objectivity and confirm the thesis of numerical growth and expansion in range of economic crimes in the context of a social wartime crisis. As main strategy for combating the growth of economic crimes throughout the war, the national leadership used a tough punitive policy, but these measures did not give tangible results. The effectiveness of domestic policy measures aimed at ensuring protection of state and personal property of citizens decreased due to deterioration in the quantitative and qualitative composition of the judiciary and political pressure from the party leadership, as well as selective nature of Soviet justice and use of unnecessarily harsh punishments, while deviance resulted from need and hunger.

scholarly journals Problems of Soviet Democracy Development in the Activities of the CC CPSU Working Group on Drafting New Constitution of the USSR in January – April 1962

2021 ◽  
pp. 181-192
Author(s):  
I. N. Strekalov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Source Analysis ◽  
Contemporary History ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
The Masses

The article analyses the introduction of practices of interaction between the authorities and the society in the USSR during the Khrushchev Thaw; it was connected with drafting of new Constitution of the USSR. The article reviews the period from creation of the CC CPSU working group to public creation of the Constitutional Commission under the USSR Supreme Soviet (January – April 1962). It attempts to identify archival documents related to the activities of the working group under the Central Committee of the Communist Party that demonstrate the attitude of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party N. S. Khrushchev to its proposals and to conduct their comparative analysis. Along with traditional methods of historicism, analysis, synthesis, the comparative method of source analysis has been used when studying documents on elaboration of the Constitution of the USSR in the personal provenance fond of L. F. Ilichev (fond 97) from the Russian State Archive of the Contemporary History (RGANI). The author establishes what issues, ideas, and notions were considered by participants of the constitutional project and addresses N. S. Khrushchev’s reaction to their proposals. The study provides an opportunity to fill the gap in the scholarship on the initial stage of the Soviet Constitution drafting. The issue is quite significant due to the need to review the history of attempts to build up the interactions between the power and the masses and to take this study up to the present. The article adds to existing notions on the nature of the political regime of the USSR in the period from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s. The paper contributes to the study of the period and of the issue, it reconsiders the established views on Soviet social and political system as a structure of either purely totalitarian nature or, on the contrary, of democratic nature, and it helps to understand the complexity of its internal social and political mechanisms.

scholarly journals Ilyushin Il-2 in Archival and Architectural Manifestation of Historical Memory of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45

2021 ◽  
pp. 1245-1256
Author(s):  
Anna V. Andreeva ◽  
◽  
Ludmila M. Artamonova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
History Of ◽  
On Line ◽  
Cultural Code ◽  
A Site

The article examines and compares archival documents from the Russian State Archive in Samara (RGA v g. Samara) and Monument to the Ilyushin Il-2 as components of the “site of commemoration,” which has become a part of historical and cultural code of the city. The example of perception of this national and local symbol of the war reveals features of and prospects for constructing historical memory; detailed written evidences, vivid visual images, large-scale architectural and urban planning solutions are used. The theoretical basis for the research is Maurice Halbwachs’ concept of “historical memory” and Pierre Nora’s “lieux de m?moire.” Russian and foreign scientists are developing these concepts within the frameworks of interdisciplinary “memory studies.” The important role in these studies belongs to historians. Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45 became a backbone idea for our country. It gives meaning to the historical process in the 20th century, manifesting in numerous and various empirical data, events, and artifacts. The Ilyushin Il-2 became a significant “site of memory” in Samara for two reasons. Firstly, many documents on its creation are stored in the Russian State Archive in Samara and are available to researchers and constantly exhibited (on-line as well as real). Secondly, the Ilyushin Il-2 visually symbolizes Samara’s contribution to the Great Victory, as the aircraft, manufactured and restored here, became a center of the composition of the monument to military and labour glory of the citizens in the days of the Great Patriotic War. This monument was opened in 1973. Its last reconstruction was carried out in 2015–17 in order to preserve this unique historical relic. The aircraft-monument and written evidence on the history of its creation, destinies of inventors, production organizers, engineers, workers are situated not far from one other. The Constructor Ilyushin Square and the Memory Square, where the monument and the archive building stand, are connected by Moscow Avenue. It is not just a transport artery, but a pivot of historical memory uniting its documentary, material, and artistic incarnations into general cultural space, in which the Il-2 plays its important role as a "site of memory."

Documents from the State Archive of the Orel Region as a Source for Studying Peasant Legal Sense in Early 20th Century

2018 ◽  
pp. 98-108
Author(s):  
Vadim V. Kulachkov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
The State ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Agrarian Question ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Legal Sense

The article studies documents from the State Archive of the Orel Region (GAOO) as an important source for studying the sense of justice of the Oryol gubernia peasants in early 20th century. Introduction of new archival materials allows to flesh out our knowledge and to produce a true-to-life picture of the Oryol peasants’ way of life. The peasant origins of the majority of the population necessitate a comprehensive study of peasant legal consciousness. Historical legacy is pertinent to present day, and forgetting its lessons is fraught with consequences. Evolution of modern Russian statehood hedges on its historical and legal traditions. The article studies documents in the fonds of public authorities, police, gendarmerie, courts, and prosecution offices. Introduction of new materials of public authorities, police, gendarmerie, courts, and prosecution offices into the scholarship promotes the analysis of the evolution of peasant legal sense in early 20th century. The chronological framework of the article is limited to the period from 1900 to 1917, its territorial framework is limited to the Oryol gubernia in its pre-revolutionary borders. The article studies reports, dispatches, and circular letters using the comparative method. The intensification of peasant protest was incidental to the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907 – the peasants hoped to force the government to settle the agrarian question, wherein lay the crux of their interests. As peasants of the Oryol gubernia suffered from shortage of arable land, antimonarchical sentiments gained momentum and translated a growing number of trials for contempt of the Emperor. Illegal literature spreading among the peasants, further radicalized them, and the authorities grew more and more hesitant in their assessment of peasant loyalty, which is quite intelligible in the archival documents. Thus, the use of new archival documents in addition to published materials promotes the scholarship on the peasant legal sense.

The development of the movement for the communist labour at the Tyumen shipbuilding plant in days of the seven-year plan (1959-1965): the experience of microhistorical study

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-172
Author(s):  
Sergey S. Pashin ◽  
Natalia S. Vasikhovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Political History ◽  
The State ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Industrial Enterprise ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
History Of

The article is devoted to the study of the movement for communist labour at the Tyumen Shipbuilding Plant during the period of the seven-year plan (1959-1965). The authors seek to fill a historical narrative with the particular facts connected with the peculiarities and specifics of such phenomenon as the movement for communist labour. They consider it in the context of microhistory and as the most important element of production routine. The employees of the largest industrial enterprise of Soviet Tyumen — Shipbuilding Plant in concrete historical circumstances came under the spotlight of the authors. The submitted article is written with attraction of a wide range of archival documents, taken from the funds of the State Archive of the Tyumen Region and also funds of the State Archive of Socio-Political History of the Tyumen Region. Having studied the documents the authors come to conclusion that the movement for communist labour had little effect on the production progress of the plant employees.

THE PROJECT OF STAGING "KHOVANSHCHINA" BY M. P. MUSSORGSKY IN B.V. ASAFYEV’S ORCHESTRATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-102
Author(s):  
V. A. Aleksandrova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
National Museum ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Central State ◽  
Saint Petersburg ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
History Of ◽  
Orchestral Score ◽  
First Time

The article is devoted to the history of an unrealized performance of M. P. Mussorgsky’s opera "Khovanshchina" orchestrated by B. V. Asafyev. On the basis of archival documents, stored in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts, the Russian National Museum of Music, Central State Archive of Literature and Art of Saint Petersburg, the Bolshoi Theatre Museum, most of which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, studied the circumstances under which the opera was planned to be staged in the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (nowadays — the Mariinsky Theatre). Fragments from the reports of the Artistic Council of Opera at the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet meetings, the correspondence between B. V. Asafyev and P. A. Lamm, the manuscript "P. A. Lamm. A Biography" by O. P. Lamm and other unpublished archival documents are cited. The author comes to the conclusion that most attempts to perform "Khovanshchina" were hindered by the difficult socio-political circumstances of the 1930s, while the existing assumptions about the creative failure of the Asafyev’s orchestration don’t find clear affirmation, neither in historical documents, nor in the existing manuscript of the orchestral score.

scholarly journals ON THE SPECIFICS OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PLENIPOTENTIARIES OF THE STATE DEFENSIVE COMMITTEE DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR (ACCORDING TO DOCUMENTS OF FEDERAL AND REGIONAL ARCHIVES)

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-118
Author(s):  
D. V. Repnikov
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Federal State ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Central State ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
Soviet Socialist Republic ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
Udmurt Republic ◽  
History Of

The article is devoted to such an important aspect of the activities of the plenipotentiaries of the State Defensive Committee during the Great Patriotic War, as conflicts of authority. Contradictions between the plenipotentiaries of the State Defensive Committee and the leaders of party, state, economic bodies at various levels, as well as between the plenipotentiaries themselves, that were expressed in the emergence of various disputes and often resulted in conflicts of authority, became commonplace in the functioning of the state power system of the USSR in the war period. Based on documents from federal (State Archive of the Russian Federation, Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, Russian State Archive of Economics) and regional (Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic, Center for Documentation of the Recent History of the Udmurt Republic) archives, the author considers a conflict of authority situation that developed during the Great Patriotic War in the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which shows that historical reality is more complicated than the stereotypical manifestations of it.

scholarly journals The Rocky Road to the Formation of the Korean Department of the Eastern Section of the Communist International (1919 – first half of the 1920s)

2021 ◽  
pp. 803-815
Author(s):  
Tatiana A. Ornatskaya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Political History ◽  
Main Body ◽  
State Archive ◽  
National History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Far Eastern

The article highlights the process of formation of the Korean Department of the Eastern section of the ICCA under the conditions of existence of the buffer state — the Far Eastern Republic. It was to strive for geopolitical compromise in face of the Civil War and the Allied Intervention. The paper discusses conditions for establishment and reasons for further expansion of the Korean section. On the basis of documents from central and regional archives that are being thus introduced into the first scientific use, the contradictions of the national section formation are shown, the positions of the warring parties and the role of Soviet Russia representatives in the settlement of conflicts are highlighted. The conclusion is made about further directions of work with Korean communists. The past provides an opportunity to take a critical look at the events of a century ago, while the opening of the Comintern archives allows the open press to saturate its content with new data. The main body of unpublished documents on the activities of the Communist International is contained in the fond 495 of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, however, information on some aspects may be found in other federal and regional archives. It is no secret that foreign communists played their role in the foreign policy of Soviet Russia, and their help was big. However, the process of bringing them to work in the interests of the RSFSR has not yet been fully studied. Expediency, cost, and consequences of their work may be arguable, but only one conclusion is allowed: this page of national history should not be forgotten, it has to find its researchers. Recently, the study of the activities of departments and sections of the Communist international has not been popular among researchers either. The notions of ideological work have fallen by the wayside, pushed away by the Soviet past of the Comintern departments and sections. However, in our view, some aspects of the activities of divisions and sections of the Comintern remain relevant.

The Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) leadership’s trial in 1938.

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-82
Author(s):  
Tatiana Melnichenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Political History ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Black Spots ◽  
Russian State ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic

This article is devoted to one of the most tragic topics in the history of this party and the history of the Spanish Republic as a whole, namely, the trial of the leaders of the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification. The following unpublished documents stored in the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History were used for the analysis (F. 495. Op. 183): letters, personal files, protocols of interrogations after May Days, lists and reports on the “connection” between Trotskyi and the POUM, reports on the preparation and course of the trial of the POUM. Members of the POUM were accused of participating in a “rebellion”, moving to change the social order of the Republic. The accusation of the POUM connections with Franco did not seem convincing, either in Spain or abroad. The international public’s attention was focused on the trial of the POUM. Despite the fact that Spain failed to organize a show trial in the style of the “Moscow trials” and the “conspiracy between Trotskyi and Fascists” was not confirmed, the verdict had a negative impact on the POUM reputation. Thus, the trial of the POUM remained in history as one of the “black spots” in the interaction between the Spanish Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. However, the prisoners of the POUM resisted pressure, they were supported morally by participants of the campaign of solidarity in Spain and abroad. The struggle for a kind of rehabilitation of the party continued in emigration.

AGITATION AND PROPAGANDA PROTECTION OF STATE INTERESTS IN THE IVANOVO REGION IN 1941

2020 ◽  
pp. 58-65
Author(s):  
Vladimir Okolotin
Keyword(s):  
Initial Period ◽  
The State ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Radio Broadcasting ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Defense

The article is devoted to the study of the actions of the Soviet state on agitation and propaganda protection of state interests in the Ivanovo region in 1941. It reflects the measures of the Soviet government and the state defense Committee of the USSR to prevent uncontrolled forms of dissemination of information that arouses alarm among the population and measures of responsibility for these actions. Important attention is paid to such official means of countering German propaganda in the Ivanovo region as radio broadcasting, periodicals and film production. It shows the specifics of their activities in the most difficult conditions of the initial period of the great Patriotic war, the degree of perception of the population of the region of the information they bring. The article is based on the materials of the Russian state archive of socio-political history, the state archive of the Ivanovo region and the local periodical press. The results of this research may be of interest to specialists in the history of the great Patriotic war, students of higher educational institutions, as well as the General public.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document