scholarly journals Soviet Citizens’ Wages and Their Purchasing Power in 1940–1955 (Sverdlovsk Region)

Author(s):  
Vladimir N. Mamyachenkov ◽  

Material living conditions of the Soviet population during World War II and in the postwar years have been studied by a large number of scholars. At the same time, few publications deal with wages as a socio-economic category. This article aimed to examine the level, dynamics, and purchasing power of Soviet citizens’ wages in 1940–1950, taking the Sverdlovsk Region as an example. The chosen topic is relevant, since payment for work is, in the majority of cases, the most important incentive to human activity. The period under consideration was extremely eventful for the Soviet Union, encompassing the Great Patriotic War and the postwar reconstruction. From 1940 up to the early 1960s, the number of scholarly publications on the problematic aspects of wages was rather limited. Importantly, this paper claims that the analysis of wages is unproductive without taking into account the specifics of the realities of Soviet everyday life, which affected consumption figures. It is noted that during the war, the state ration prices remained practically unchanged, while commercial prices rose more than tenfold, which made the goods virtually inaccessible to the vast majority of consumers. The author concludes that the prewar level of consumption for most citizens of the USSR was achieved by the early 1950s.

Author(s):  
Galina N. Kaninskaya ◽  
Natalya N. Naumova

The article is devoted to the participation of French pilots of the Normandy squadron in battles on the Soviet-German front as part of the Red Army in 1943-1945. After the defeat of France at the first stage of World War II (1940), the occupation of its territory by Germany and the organization of the Resistance movement “Fighting France” in London by General Charles de Gaulle, the pilots joined him expressed a burning desire to fight the enemy in the skies over Soviet soil. Their participation in the ranks of the Soviet Air Force was a unique event in the history of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union (1945-1945). The article analyzes the information of the Soviet press during the war years about the French squadron “Normandie-Niemen”, which fought in the Soviet Air Force on the Soviet-German front. It is shown that Soviet readers during the Great Patriotic War could get a very complete and reliable idea of the military exploits of French pilots, find out the names of heroes, get acquainted with the military everyday life of officers, appreciate their patriotism and sincere friendly feelings for the Soviet Union and its people. Along with stories about the air battles of the Normandy, the articles of Soviet correspondents contained information about the history of France, how the pilots reacted to the defeat of their country, how and where they fought in the first stage of the Second World War. The press of the war years gave brief sketches of the everyday life of French fighters on Soviet soil, about the curious events that happened to the pilots of the squadron. On the example of newspaper publications 1943-1945. about the military alliance of our and French pilots, you can get an idea of how the cooperation of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition developed and strengthened.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Е.В. Дьякова

Цель исследования – выявление круга основных проблем, находящихся в фокусе внимания украинских ученых, исследующих историю Второй мировой войны. Материалами послужили монографии, сборники статей и отдельные статьи в наиболее авторитетных научных журналах страны, опубликованные в 2014–2019 гг. Применены историко-генетический, сравнительно-исторический и типологический методы, позволившие установить, что в последние годы ведущие историки Украины продолжили менять концепцию истории Великой Отечественной войны с учетом «Методических материалов…» Украинского института национальной памяти. Сделаны выводы, касающиеся тематического спектра публикаций современных украинских историков. Отмечено, что особое внимание ими уделялось изучению пропаганды (как советской, так и гитлеровской), вопросам противоборства советских и нацистских спецслужб, уточнялись определения ряда терминов, связанных с событиями 1939–1945 гг. Выявлено большое влияние на содержание данных публикаций преобладающей сегодня на Украине идеологии. The aim of the study is to identify the circle of the main problems that are in the focus of attention of Ukrainian researchers of the history of World War II. In this case, materials published in 2014–2019 served as materials: monographs, collections of articles, and individual articles in leading scientific journals of the country (The Ukrainian Historical Journal and Pages of War History of Ukraine). The historical-genetic, comparative-historical and typological methods are applied. It is noted that, after the events of 2014, there have been quite noticeable changes in the Ukrainian historiography of World War II and its component, the Great Patriotic War. The author notes that, in recent years, leading historians of Ukraine continued to change the concept of the history of the Great Patriotic War, taking into account the “Methodological Materials for the 70th Anniversary of the Expulsion of Nazi Occupiers from Ukraine” by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, published in 2014. These recommendations consolidated the process associated with the exclusion of the term “Great Patriotic War” from scientific discourse in Ukrainian historiography. The author notes that Ukrainian historians clarified some basic military categories, concepts, and terms (military art, strategy, operational art, battle, military operation, etc.) used to describe the events of the Great Patriotic War. The material of theoretical articles is analyzed, which reflects the changes that are introduced into the mythologemes of the Ukrainian concept of World War II. It is indicated that, in many works, there is a negative criticism of the actions of the Soviet Union on the eve and during World War II, as well as criticism of the modern Russian concept of the Great Patriotic War, which is sometimes surprising. The importance of disclosing archival funds (including the archives of the Security Service of Ukraine, both central and regional) for historical research is emphasized. Conclusions are drawn regarding the thematic range of publications of modern Ukrainian historians. It is noted that a special attention is paid to studying both Soviet and Nazi propaganda, issues of confrontation between Soviet and Nazi intelligence services, the fate of German prisoners of war, celebration of the Victory Day on May 9 in different cities of the country. The author points out that the ideology prevailing in Ukraine has a great influence on the content of publications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-702
Author(s):  
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet

In 1946, the entertainer and activist Paul Robeson pondered America's intentions in Iran. In what was to become one of the first major crises of the Cold War, Iran was fighting a Soviet aggressor that did not want to leave. Robeson posed the question, “Is our State Department concerned with protecting the rights of Iran and the welfare of the Iranian people, or is it concerned with protecting Anglo-American oil in that country and the Middle East in general?” This was a loaded question. The US was pressuring the Soviet Union to withdraw its troops after its occupation of the country during World War II. Robeson wondered why America cared so much about Soviet forces in Iranian territory, when it made no mention of Anglo-American troops “in countries far removed from the United States or Great Britain.” An editorial writer for a Black journal in St. Louis posed a different variant of the question: Why did the American secretary of state, James F. Byrnes, concern himself with elections in Iran, Arabia or Azerbaijan and yet not “interfere in his home state, South Carolina, which has not had a free election since Reconstruction?”


Author(s):  
Vēsma Lēvalde

The article is a cultural-historical study and a part of the project Uniting History, which aims to discover the multicultural aspect of performing art in pre-war Liepaja and summarize key facts about the history of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. The study also seeks to identify the performing artists whose life was associated with Liepāja and who were repressed between 1941 and 1945, because of aggression by both the Soviet Union and National Socialist Germany. Until now, the cultural life of this period in Liepāja has been studied in a fragmentary way, and materials are scattered in various archives. There are inaccurate and even contradictory testimonies of events of that time. The study marks both the cultural and historical situation of the 1920s and the 1930s in Liepāja and tracks the fates of several artists in the period between 1939 and 1945. On the eve of World War II, Liepāja has an active cultural life, especially in theatre and music. Liepāja City Drama and Opera is in operation staging both dramatic performances, operas, and ballet, employing an orchestra. The symphony orchestra also operated at the Liepāja Philharmonic, where musicians were recruited every season according to the principles of contemporary festival orchestras. Liepāja Folk Conservatory (music school) had also formed an orchestra of students and teachers. Guest concerts were held regularly. A characteristic feature of performing arts in Liepaja was its multicultural character – musicians of different nationalities with experience from different schools of the world were encountered there. World War II not only disrupted the balance in society, but it also had a very concrete and tragic impact on the fates of the people, including the performing artists. Many were killed, many repressed and placed in prisons and camps, and many went to exile to the West. Others were forced to either co-operate with the occupation forces or give up their identity and, consequently, their career as an artist. Nevertheless, some artists risked their lives to save others.


2020 ◽  
Vol 152 ◽  
pp. 142-151
Author(s):  
Uta G. Lagvilava ◽  

A few months after the fascist Germany’s attack on the USSR, under harsh wartime conditions, at the end of 1941 military industry of the Soviet Union began to produce such a quantity of military equipment that subsequently was providing not only replenishment of losses, but also improvement of technical equipment of the Red Army forces . Successful production of military equipment during World War II became one of the main factors in the victory over fascism. One of the unlit pages in affairs of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) is displacement and evacuation of a huge number of enterprises and people to the east, beyond the Urals, which were occupied by German troops at the beginning of the war in the summer of 1941. All this was done according to the plans developed with direct participation of NKVD, which united before the beginning and during the war departments now called the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, SVR, the Russian Guard, Ministry of Emergency Situations, FAPSI and several smaller ones. And all these NKVD structures during the war were headed by Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria.


1953 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-167
Author(s):  
S. Bernard

The advent of a new administration in the United States and the passage of seven years since the end of World War II make it appropriate to review the political situation which has developed in Europe during that period and to ask what choices now are open to the West in its relations with the Soviet Union.The end of World War II found Europe torn between conflicting conceptions of international politics and of the goals that its members should seek. The democratic powers, led by the United States, viewed the world in traditional, Western, terms. The major problem, as they saw it, was one of working out a moral and legal order to which all powers could subscribe, and in which they would live. Quite independently of the environment, they assumed that one political order was both more practicable and more desirable than some other, and that their policies should be directed toward its attainment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimia Zare ◽  
Habibollah Saeeidinia

Iran and Russia have common interests, especially in political terms, because of the common borders and territorial neighborhood. This has led to a specific sensitivity to how the two countries are approaching each other. Despite the importance of the two countries' relations, it is observed that in the history of the relations between Iran and Russia, various issues and issues have always been hindered by the close relations between the two countries. The beginning of Iran-Soviet relations during the Second Pahlavi era was accompanied by issues such as World War II and subsequent events. The relations between the two countries were influenced by the factors and system variables of the international system, such as the Cold War, the US-Soviet rivalry, the Second World War and the entry of the Allies into Iran, the deconstruction of the relations between the two post-Cold War superpowers, and so on.The main question of the current research is that the political relations between Iran and Russia influenced by the second Pahlavi period?To answer this question, the hypothesis was that Iran's political economic relations were fluctuating in the second Pahlavi era and influenced by the changing system theory of the international system with the Soviet Union. The findings suggest that various variables such as the structure of the international system and international events, including World War II, the arrival of controversial forces in Iran, the Cold War, the post-Cold War, the US and Soviet policies, and the variables such as the issue of oil Azerbaijan's autonomy, Tudeh's actions in Iran, the issue of fisheries and borders. Also, the policies adopted by Iranian politicians, including negative balance policy, positive nationalism and independent national policy, have affected Iran-Soviet relations. In a general conclusion, from 1320 (1942) to 1357 (1979), the relationship between Iran and Russia has been an upward trend towards peaceful coexistence. But expansion of further relations in the economic, technical and cultural fields has been political rather than political.


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