Abstract: The article investigates the administrative unions of the XIX century, which provided frameworks for the countries for cooperation on permanent basis. Crucial characteristics of international administrative unions, their specific features and some of reasons for these institutes formation are determined and described in this paper. Referring to the relevant international legal foundations, the most substantial, according to the author, examples of administrative unions, which have played essential role in correspondent directions of intergovernmental cooperation developing, are indicated here. More than that, main results of their activity are also illustrated in the article.Historical and legal analysis of international administrative unions system, based on scientific studies, the primary sources (international legal acts) and data on the results of administrative union activity are carried out in the frameworks of research.The scientific novelty of the research displayed in historical and legal analysis of international administrative unions as a stage of formation of international intergovernmental organizations.The main conclusions of the study are: The main prerequisites for the formation of the administrative unions system was an intensification of relations in various fields, including international law. Administrative Unions had a number of features: a contractual interstate general administrative and organizing characteristics. The Russian government took essential part in the formation and functioning of most unions. Administrative Unions became one of the first organizational forms of intergovernmental association integration. They made a base of international cooperation on permanent basics and became a foundation for developing international intergovernmental organizations.

Keywords: Russia’s international relations, Protection of industrial property, International Bureau of Weights, Universal Postal Union, International Telecommunication Union, International Union of Railways, History of international law, History of international organizations, XIX century, Administrative unions

Abstract: This article focuses attention of the changes in civil law and procedure, which characterized the process of development and codification of the Soviet legislation over the period of mid 1950’s – mid 1960’s, as well as determines cause-and-effect relationship between the studied transformations and reforms of the Stalinist party-state and political-legal model. Examination of the principles of Soviet civil law and procedure was subjected to creative interpretation; particularly, the author conducted a detailed analysis of provision on the judicial independence in the Soviet State. The work explores the process of formulation and adoption of the fundamentals of civil legislation, as well as fundamentals of civil procedure of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and union republics of December 8, 1961. The opinions of the Soviet scholars-civilists related to the development of conceptual apparatus of the branch of the Soviet civil law are being researched and analyzed. The main conclusion of this work consists in the determined by the author multiple and exceptionally important changes in the Soviet civil and civil-procedural law during the studied period reflected in codification of the late 1950-1960’s, which contributed into restoration of the Socialist lawfulness. The author made an original conclusion that the conducted in 1950-1960’s codification of the Soviet civil law was based on the doctrine developed in the works of scholars-civilists in the 1940-1950’s, in other words, within the dominant system of state planning and its frameworks of directive distribution of virtually all material resources. The author’s special contribution lies in the fact that the qualitative political-legal transformations, which took place in USSR over the period of mid 1950’s – mid 1960’s, encouraged the development of the organizational-legal mechanisms of protection and preservation of rights of the Soviet citizens.

Keywords: Freedom of contract, Property right, Humanization, Democratism, Socialist lawfulness, XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Soviet State, Legislation, Civil procedure, Civil law

Abstract: The subject of this research is the historical experience of constitutional structuring under the conditions of civil war and foreign intervention of the unrecognized state of Far Eastern Republic (1920-1921). The author examines the process of establishment of the state and development of Constituent assembly of the Main Law (Constitution) by the constitutional commission. The article analyzed the impact of Soviet and bourgeois principles upon the content of main provisions of the Far Eastern Republic Constitution of 1921. The system of supreme and local authorities of the Far Eastern Republic, as well as main directions, forms, and methods of their work are being studied. The author notes the consolidation of the new economic policy in the Articles of the Far Eastern Republic Constitution of 1921. The article underlines the absence within the Soviet and modern historical legal scientific literature of the comprehensive research that are able to determine the specificities of the Main Law of the Far Eastern Republic in comparison with the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic of 1918. The conclusion is made that the Far Eastern Republic Constitution of 1921 could become the legal foundation of the future democratic legal state and justly holds a special place in the country’s constitutional history.

Keywords: Concession, New economic policy, National revolutionary army, Democratic centralism, National Assembly, Constituent assembly, Parliamentarism, Far Eastern Republic, Buffer, Unrecognized state

Abstract:   The subject of this research is the notion of legal ideology and its connection with the dogmatic jurisprudence. The main attention is given to correlation between the notions of legal ideology and juridical dogmatic theology, determination of their differences and similarities, as well as interaction in the process of legal regulation. Revelation of the subject of research is conducted from the perspective of functional approach: the author determines the role and importance of legal ideology and juridical dogmatic theology within the system of law alongside the process of legal regulation, as well as accentuates their practical and pragmatic nature. The article reveals the notion of legal ideology and its functional significance in legal system. The author’s original understanding of the grounds and structure of legal ideology is provided. The work gives characteristics to the process and necessary conditions for establishment of the juridical dogmatic theology. The author reveals the interconnection between the juridical dogmatic theology and legal ideology, as well as complementarity of their action in the process of legal regulation.  

Keywords: functions of legal ideology, legal consciousness, legal system, legal regulation, juridical dogmatic theology, legal reality, legal ideas, legal ideology, structure of legal ideology, philosophy of law

Abstract: The subject of this research is the reasons and conditions of mass cancellation (cessation) of the election results of the winter of 1924/25, which was a unique event in the Soviet political history. The established within historiography position on this matter, as a result of high level of absenteeism of population and formalization of electoral process, must be subjected to significant amendment. The causes of mass cancellation of the elections should be examined in the context of opposition inside the party, as well as socioeconomic and political development of the country. Essential factors, which justified the declaration of a “new course” and cancellation of elections, became the strive of grouping in party leadership that insisted in implementation of the more liberal course (in contradiction of the one suggested by L. Trotsky) for ensuring the advantage in retention of power alongside the support of population. The scientific novelty is substantiated by the introduction into the discourse of the new sources and innovative interpretation of the events associated with the mass cancellation of the elections of 1924, as well as development of the Soviet electoral system. The author underlines the transformation of the electoral model, characterized by the weakening of party-state pressure upon population and implementation of the limited alternativeness. The common electoral practice in the late 1920’s was the involvement of broad range of urban and rural population in the elections, free nomination and discussion of the candidates, requirements and mandates to the new Councils. The new reality became the rejection from the formal semi-mandatory voting for previously approved lists of candidates. Within the framework of the achieved consensus on the elections of the late 1920’s, the country’s leadership was able to expand the trust towards the authorities; the population received the opportunity of a direct dialogue with the government, as well as the ability to delegate their representatives and voice their demands.

Keywords: weakening of administrative pressure, change of electoral model, population support, formalization of electoral process, high absenteeism, inner-party opposition, Soviet electoral campaign, cancellation of elections, free nomination of candidates, requirements of population

Abstract: The subject of this research is the United States  foreign policy doctrine in relation to Afghanistan and states of the Soviet Central Asia, which undergone a drastic transformation in the end of the XX – beginning of the XXI century due to geopolitical changes, associated with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The conceptual structuring of Zbigniew Brzezinski defined content of the US foreign policy doctrine; and its major priority consisted in the attempt to establish the unipolar world and reconstitute the “neocolonial” system under the new circumstances. The main conclusion of this work consists in the scientifically substantiated positions on the fact that after the military Operation Desert Storm, the United Stated conducted the utilitarian policy in Central Asia and Afghanistan, which suggested the achievement of certain results within the framework of implemented foreign policy concept at minimum costs. Since the mid 1990’s, the United States established the “foundation” for the future “strategic breakthrough” in the region, the prerequisite for which were the economic interests, activation of the competitors, as well as the growing “Islamic threat”.

Keywords: political history, Central Asian region, evolution of foreign policy, US foreign policy, milestones in foreign policy, historical and political analysis, US geopolitical interests, US Afghan policy, US Central Asian Policy, US foreign policy priorities

Abstract: Based on the primary sources this article analyzed the complex of measures conducted by the Soviet leadership regarding the changes in social structure of the Communist Party over the period of 1920’s. The author examines the crisis phenomena in the party, which became evident in the early 1920’s, as well as determines their causes and consequences. The article explores the process of formulation of decisions by the supreme leadership of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) – All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks aimed at overcoming of the crisis phenomena in the party. It is defined that the key task of the actions taken in this direction consisted in strengthening of the social foundation of authority as the basis of domestic political stability. The author reveals the conceptual content of the process and forms of its manifestation along with the content and goals of particular measures of regulatory character pertaining to transformation of the social composition of the Communist Party, including purges of the party, “Lenin’s summon” into the party, as well as development of coarse criteria of formation of party’s composition, etc. The conclusion is made that the crucial consequence of the complex of measures taken in 1920’s on changing the social composition of the party, became the intensively developing process of division of the party members according to social estates – bureaucratic principle, creation of workforce potential of the government.

Keywords: Communist Party, Ideological dissension, Social classes, Nomenclature, Bureaucracy, Social composition, Lenin’s summon, Purge, Ruling party, Bolsheviks

Abstract: Formation of the tradition of archetypal research of public-authority organization The subject of this research is the historical-political examination of the process of establishment and ideological-conceptual evolution of the notion of “archetype”, as well as the comprehensive analysis of formation of the archetypal tradition of cognition of the grounds of public-authority organization. The article substantiates the fact that the relevance and demand of the study of archetypal grounds is associated with the reconstruction of adequate to society forms of political-legal organization, as well as sustainable directions on institutional-authority development. In addition to that, the author underlines that within the history of political and legal thought there are various traditions of archetypal research, which are not reduced to just a single theoretical-conceptual format – analytical psychology that discovers the new heuristic opportunities in examination of the sustainable components of sociocultural evolution of the public-authority organization. The methodological and theoretical foundation is mostly based on developments on the area of political science, history of political teachings that belong to the Russian and foreign specialists, as well as separate positions of the theory of archetypes and political anthropology. The scientific novelty of this work consists in systematization and substantial interpretation of the fundamental directions in development of the archetypal traditions that ate based on the diverse worldview, philosophical, mythological, religious, and other grounds. The article proves that the ideas on the unified archetypal tradition, which originates from Plato and continues to the modern socio-humanitarian discourse, are erroneous. In reality, there are different ideological-conceptual vectors of understanding and interpretation of the concept of “arche”, which is associated with the establishment of a special direction in research of the in-depth foundations of social organization and political-legal thinking activity. At the same time, in this multiplicity of archetypal traditions, it is possible to highlight and conceptualize the core ideas, concurrent interpretations, as well as similar forms of cognition of the hidden and meaningful foundations of society, state, authority, and politics.  

Keywords: political organization, methodology, culture, policy, power, antiquity, archetype, political philosophy, tradition, evolution

Abstract: This article examines the unique for Polish numismatics case of minting the siege coins (second after besieging Gdansk by the army of Stephen Báthory in 1577). The author briefly reviews the circumstances, under which took place the siege of the Zamość Fortress in 1813, during the period of Napoleonic Wars, namely the retreat of the Great Army of Napoleon and advance of the Russian Empire army (foreign crusades). Under the conditions when all the cash money were spent for the needs of defenders of the fortress, the commander of the defending fortress M. Hauge made a decision on the emission of private coin. This work is based on in the materials on history and numismatics, examples of the coins, as well as Polish, American, and Russian sources. Despite all of the efforts to eliminate, the coins of Zamość Fortress held its place in the body of coins and medals of the period of Napoleonic Wars, and became an important national heritage and patriotic symbol, memory for the future generations about the heroic defense. The coins minted during the siege of Zamość Fortress in 1813 are the second (after the siege of Gdansk in 1577) and the last case of the siege coins in Polish numismatic, which is especially interesting for the research.

Keywords: Napoleonic wars, War of the Sixth Coalition, Duchy of Warsaw, Garrison, Fortress, Numismatic, Siege of coins, Siege, Siege money, Zamość

Abstract: This article is a sequence of the earlier published metrical materials regarding the genealogy of the Russian painter Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) and his wife Helena Shaposhnikova-Roerich (1879-1955) [1]. The object of this research is the genealogy of H. Shaposhnikova-Roerich, while the subject is the paternal line of Spahoshnikov-Papyshev-Varentstov studied on the material of digital metrical books of the St. Petersburg Central State Archive. Based on the found metrics, the author confirms I. V. Sakharov hypothesis that the maiden name of Roerich’s great grandmother Evdokia Nikolayevna Papysheva (around 1763-1818) is Varentsova. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that for the first time into the scientific discourse of Roerichology, this work introduces the authentic metrical records abouth the representatives of the bloodline of Shaposhnikov, Papyshev, and Varentsov, who lived in Saint Petersburg in the late XVIII – beginning of the XX centuries: on the birth of Yekaterina Kuzmina Papysheva (1793), death of Ivan Afanasyev Shaposhnikov (1859), as well as birth of his granddaughter Anna Ivanovna Shaposhnikova (1885 – around 1890).

Keywords: Metrical book , Saint Petersburg, Anikina, Azaryev, Sakharov, Papyshev, Golenischev-Kutuzov, Genealogy, Roerich, Shaposhnikov

Abstract: The subject of this research is the Soviet history of one of the male monasteries – Ascension of David Desert during the first two decades after the establishment of Soviet government (1920-1930’s). The author demonstrates the relationship between monastery and Soviet authorities in the 1920’s – the time of depletion of the monastery, when Soviet government started to limit the monastic life. A noticeable place in history of David’s Desert of the 1920-1930’s hold the repressions towards the monks of the monastery: many of them suffered for their beliefs, and some were executed by a firing squad. Only some of them have lived to old age. The article is prepared based on the collected by the author and introduced for the first time archive material; using the method of historical reconstruction, the author reviewed the Soviet history of one of the male monasteries of Moscow Region – Ascension of David Desert. As an additional source, the work attracts the data from the conducted field ethnographic surveys of the native residents of local villages of Chekhov District. The scientific novelty first and foremost is defined by the application of new archive material on the history of Orthodox monkhood in Russia during the first decade of the Soviet government, including investigation cases of the period of clergy repressions in the 1930’s. The author meticulously describes the previously unknown period of the history of the Ascension of David Desert monastery, as well as concludes that the monks were able to preserve the monastic life until the late 1920’s.

Keywords: religious policy, monks, repression, Soviet authority, Orthodoxy, Ascension of David Desert, monastery, nationalization, Tikhon, Sergius

Abstract: The subject of this research is the Prussian belts of the early Medieval era. As demonstrated by the archeological data of the Southeastern Baltics, the Prussian belts of the XIII-XIV centuries were either of local origin (buckles – derivations from the Central European manufactures) or created by the example of Teutonic Order. The latter, in turn, could have the square-shape cover plates with the cross, which were borrowed by the Teutonic jewelers from the ancient population of modern Latvia. The presences of imitations of chivalric belts in burials of the Prussian nobles does not mean the acceptance of knighthood. The research is carried out by determination of the unique elements of these belts and comparison with other belts, as well as creation of a dynamic picture of development of this construct and details of Prussian belts in the Teutonic time. Until the present time, Prussian belts were not subjected to special examination in Europe. This article is the first experience of introducing into the scientific discourse of the unique discoveries, represented by the Prussian belts of Teutonic Order.

Keywords: status, knight, Gniozdovo, Novgorod the Great, Sambia, Teutonic Order, belts, Prussians, burial, Inhumation

Abstract: This article examines the socioeconomic moods of the youth shortly before the Great Patriotic War. The author analyzes the impact of the Soviet ideology and propaganda upon the process of transformation of the moods of Soviet youth with regards to economic and industrial activity. Special attention is given to examination of the role of Komsomol organizations in development of Stakhanovite movement and high-involvement work practices among the young generation. The author reviews the attitude of young men and women towards the work in collective farms, loan campaigns, socialist property, and changes in labor legislation. The relevance of this topic is justified by the fact that examination of the mechanisms of formation of youth consciousness alongside the impact of Komsomol propaganda, as an element of Soviet ideology upon the character of public moods of young generation, is purposeful for structuring of the youth policy at the present stage, as well as contributes into the fuller coverage of the controversial social processes among youth during the period of intensification of totalitarization of the society. The scientific novelty consists in carrying out a comprehensive research of socioeconomic moods of the youth over the period of 1937-1941 for the first time in history.

Keywords: Tambov Oblast, Stakhanovite, Loans, Labor legislation, Collective farm (kolkhoz), Soviet society, Public moods, Propaganda, Komsomol, Youth

Abstract: This publication gives an overview of I. I. Nazipov’s monograph dedicated to the complicated and insignificantly studies question of the Russian historical and historical-legal science – the political-legal connections of the principalities of Northeastern Rus’ and Horde of Ulus of Jochi. The author of the monograph, based on the absence or presence of the signs of states, made an attempt to determine the level of state subordination of the Russian lands in the XVIII-XV centuries to the Horde. At the same time, I. I. Nazipov leans on the research of peculiarities of the medieval reality that influences the content of the signs of state: religiousness, social hierarchy of medieval society, spatial narrowness of the worldview, lack of the idea of national unity. The presented in monograph positions are of scientific interest due to understanding of the main forms of connections between the Hord and the Russian principalities. Based on analysis of these connections and intensity of their manifestation during the separate periods, the author determines the presence of signs of the state unity of Russian lands and the Horse, or their weakening. The monograph is first to collect and generalize the material about the military cooperation of Russian principalities with the Horde. The work systematized the forms of military aid of the Horde to the Russian lands on deflection of aggression from the Western States.

Keywords: signs of the state, sovereign state, political and legal communications, historiographical appoaches, Ulus of Jochi, Russia, sovereignty, suzerainty and vassalage, tribute, military cooperation