Abstract: The subject of this article is the Ancient periphrastic geography tradition, starting from Homer and others to Giraldus Cambrensis, who viewed Ireland's Celtic archaism and mythology inseparably from its physical boundaries through the lens of local histories and legends. The author of this study attempted to track the changes in Ancient descriptive geography as perceived in that genre by Strabo and other classics of the genre. The focus of this study is the reception mechanisms of the Ancient scientific geography paradigm by a cleric of Cambridge-Norman origin at the end of the 12th century. The study's main research methodology is source criticism. This includes the use of the textological tools from the approach of Microhistory and History of Ideas. The aim of the article is to reconstruct the Welsh monk's "living world" during the High Middle Ages in order to identify how and for what purpose he used the legacy of the Ancient world both phenomenologically and epistemologically. The main conclusions of the conducted study are the author's following two deductions: 1) the genre of periphrastic geography had not been preserved in its pure form towards the end of the 12th century; 2) the objective of the author of the “Topographia Hiberniae" was exclusively utilitarian and self-interested (the treatise represents a transitional form of historical sources between political pamphlet, bestiary, geographic treatise and chronicle, annals): in order to legalise the presence of the Anglo-Norman army in the Northern part of Ireland. The author's main scientific contribution is his successful application of the methods from the approach of History of Ideas on the material from Medieval Ireland and South-Eastern Wales. The work's novelty lies in the little-used treatise's introduction into the scientific use of the Russian historiographical community.

Keywords: Giraldus Cambrensis, Stabo, geography, Homer, periphrasis, Celtic archaism, church leader, John Lackland, Ireland, Galfridus Monemutensis

Abstract: The article makes an attempt to systematise the scientific literature regarding women's issues, placing at its heart the topic of the women's movement in Russia. The women's movement is reflected in a wide spectrum of topics, not only directly related to the position of women in various spheres of life, their role and place in society, and their assertion of economic and political rights, but also related to the general patterns of social progress with the perspective development of civil society in Russia. The analysis of the existing historiography on this question was conducted using the principle of chronology, defining the main directions in the study of the women's movement. In describing the information value of the literature concerning "women's issues", it is necessary to underline that this literature is in general limited to understanding the main conceptual approaches. The most popular topic remains the question of men and women's equal rights in diverse life spheres, the changes in gender roles, women's emancipation, and the fight for the right of having a free choice and the liberal political involvement of various unions and leaders of the women's movement. The history of the women's movement maintains scholarly interest, as well as its experience and achievements in historical retrospect.

Keywords: interdisciplinary studies, social movements, civil society, Feminism, gender, gender studies, historiography, sociocultural approach, social history

Abstract: The subject of this article is the targeted art missions of Soviet artists in 1922–1932, which are of great interest to historians of Russian art of the 20th century. As the focus of this study the author chose the mission of the Association of Artists of the Revolution in the Kolomna factory during the summer of 1931. The aim of the article is to reconstruct and describe the above-mentioned targeted art mission, to draw its organisational and artistic conclusions, as well as to determine the place of this mission among other targeted art missions in 1922–1932. During the course of this study, the author used both general historical methods (e.g. the comparative-historical method, which is crucial in identifying the particular features of the studied phenomenon) and specific art history methods – the iconographic and stylistic analysis of the works created in the course of the 1931 mission. This article for the first time attempts to analyse the mission of the brigade of the Association of Artists of the Revolution in the Kolomna factory during the summer of 1931 and to assess its significance in the formation of the practice of targeted art missions. The author's unique contribution to the study of this subject is the introduction into scientific use of previously unused archival materials, as well as paintings and graphics.

Keywords: C. A. Ushenin, V. V. Zavyalov, B. A. Zenkevich, A. V. Moravov, I. N. Pavlov, P. A. Radimov, V. N. Perelman, E. A. Katzmann, Soviet visual art, targeted art missions

Abstract: This article examines the crucial role played by J. V. Stalin in the creation of the Moscow University of the Toilers of China – UTC (renamed in 1928 as the Communist University of the Toilers of China – CUTC), which in the second half of the 1920s trained political activists for the Chinese Revolution. The article also considers the disagreements between the strategies of J. V. Stalin and L. D. Trotsky regarding the Chinese Revolution and the consequences of this intraparty political struggle on the fate of the students, the University of the Toilers of China and the Chinese Revolution in general. In writing this article the retrospective, comparative-historical and historical-dialectic research methods were used. The author examines the main reasons for Stalin’s change of attitude towards the university that resulted in its closure in 1930. One of the main reasons behind this decision was the disagreement in position and strategic assessment of the question of the Chinese Revolution between J. V. Stalin and L. D. Trotsky. The author comes to the conclusion that the opposition between the two leaders of the All-Union Communist Party directly influenced the situation within the university body. The Stalin-Trotsky disagreement intensified the political struggle between the students and the members of the Communist Party of China and of the Koumintang party. These processes had an effect on the life of individual students and on the Chinese Revolution in general.

Keywords: political repressions, Chinese Revolution, J. V. Stalin, L. D. Trotsky, University of the Toilers of China, Chinese students, political struggle, Trotskyists, Communist Party of China, Koumintang

Abstract: The article is dedicated to the current historiographical issue concerning the participation of the Joint State Political Directorate (JSPD) agencies in the dekulakisation and dispossession process of wealthier peasants (Kulaks) in outback regions. Scientific literature reflects two different points of view on this question. Some scientists place the entire dekulakisation responsibility on the Joint State Political Directorate, while others allocate this responsibility among various party and government bodies of the still forming state command and administrative system. The basis of this research is archival material from the State Archive of the Novosibirsk region, as Novosibirsk at the time was considered to be the region's capital. The author applies the methodology of the system analysis to this study and complements it with the procedural approach taken from sociology. This has allowed to focus on the situation’s dynamic development, on the behaviour of various participants and to reveal the cumulative result of their activities. The author corroborates his conclusion that the initiative, ideological substantiation, and the dekulakisation process belonged to the party and government systems. Local JSPD agencies were assigned with planning the operations, coordinating the activities of the different administrative agencies, and informing the higher authorities about the changes in the operative situation. Thus, there was a whole system in place for the eradication of the wealthy peasantry.

Keywords: Joint State Political Directorate (JSPD), Kulaks, Dekulakisation, dispossession, plan, excesses, commissioners, party activists, Administrative Department, escapes

Abstract: The article is focused on describing the adverse trends of the economic development of the nobility's property and the objective indicators of the impoverishment of the nobility at the end of the 19th–beginning of the 20th centuries on the example of the Voronezh governorate. The author examines the objective reasons for the deterioration of the nobility's material position and the crisis indicators of the evolving estates of the nobility. The author further analyses the changes in the quantity of land owned by the nobility from the moment of the abolition of serfdom up until 1906, examines the amount of debt accumulated by the nobility of the Voronezh governorate and the number of properties mortgaged by the nobility. The article provides information about the governorate’s richest nobility members and the amount of property they possessed on the basis of archival documents. In writing this article the author applied the principle of historicism and objectivity, used the comparative-typological and concrete-historical methods, as well as the methods of historiographical and source study analysis. On the basis of the various examined sources, the author presents the broad summarising statistical material that allows as accurately as possible to depict the changes in the material welfare of the nobility in the Voronezh governorate. The analysis of the nobility's state of land ownership has allowed to determine the development dynamics of the economic position of the class as a whole. The generalisation and systematisation of the material from unpublished archival sources allow to obtain the most reliable information regarding the impoverishment of the richest class in the Russian Empire.

Keywords: abolition of serfdom, impoverishment, debts, land ownership, estate, Voronezh Governorate, nobility, primogeniture, Nobility Assembly

Abstract: The article is focused on analysing the role of the book-laureates of the Stalin Prize (prize named after J. V. Stalin) in the construction of a unified history of the peoples of the USSR. The author demonstrates the ideological context of the turn towards the ideology of "the Fraternity of Peoples" and the role of history in it. The author regards the Stalin Prize as a "soft" means of ideological control. The analysed laureate books include those by B. D. Grekov and A. Y. Yakubovskiy, J. J. Zutis, S. V. Kiselev, B. B. Piotrovskiy, L. P. Potapov, and S. P. Tolstoy. The article underlines that it was precisely the historical constituent that had played one of the leading roles in the formation of the Soviet national community. The author comes to the conclusion that Ancient periods in the histories of the peoples of the USSR were favoured for the benefit of constructing a unified historical past, since these periods were easier to present in the needed light. Demonstrations of the USSR peoples’ antiquity were particularly welcomed, as well as proof of their influence on world civilisation. Particular attention is paid to searches of examples of class solidarity in history. A common tragedy that unified the peoples of the USSR was also found: the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

Keywords: Stalin prize, Soviet historical sciences, ideology "Fraternity of Peoples", nation building, peoples of the USSR, ideology, propaganda, history policy, Stalinism, historians

Abstract: The research subject of the presented work is the biography and creative legacy of the Spanish intellectual, writer and philosopher Ramiro de Maeztu, while the research object is the evolution of his views, gradually going from the liberal ideas of the Generation of ’98 to his later conservative views. The author examines and analyses the stages in the biography and literary career of Ramiro de Maeztu, paying special attention to the historical context, the influence of his surrounding intellectual environment, and the sociocultural factors that determined the ideological evolution of the writer. The key method of research applied in this study is the method of the “new intellectual biography”. The author relies on the methodological developments carried out by the Centre for Intellectual History (Russian Academy of Sciences) on Modern Intellectual History, Personal History, and biographic research. As a result of this research the author comes to the following conclusions: the evolution of Ramiro de Maeztu's views was caused by the sociocultural and intellectual environment of the time, as well as the historical context of the era. The tragic events of 1898 became the starting point for the evolution of de Maeztu’s views, which led to the development of his concept of "Hispanidad". The novelty of this research lies in the fact that Ramiro de Maeztu is not a well-known figure in Russian historiography. This study is the first attempt to explore Ramiro de Maeztu’s life through the approach of "the new intellectual biography".

Keywords: Ramiro de Maeztu y Whitney, biography, intellectual history, national idea, history of Spain, conservatism, beginning of the 20th century, political publicism, Latin America, national identity

Abstract: The subject of this article is the socio-cultural image of the uyezd-towns of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. The focus of this study is the provincial periodical press, which reflects the most important problems, issues and events the inhabitants of the town of Tsaritsyn faced in their local life at the beginning of the 20th century. The author devotes particular attention to the description and review of newspaper articles in which contemporaries reverberated their thoughts on the issues, life and customs of the local inhabitants. The aim of this article is to present the socio-cultural image of the town of Tsaritsyn at the beginning of the 20th century. In order to achieve this aim the author gives special attention to the examination of the attitude of the inhabitants of the town of Tsaritsyn towards theatre and leisure in general, based on the material from the local newspaper "Tsaritsynskoe Slovo". The main method applied to this study is the comparative-historical approach. The interdisciplinary approach was also applied to the study provincial periodical press. The relevance of the current article lays in the fact that provincial periodical press remains today virtually unstudied. The author introduces into scientific use multiple new historical sources, above all, the newspaper "Tsaritsynskoe Slovo", which has not been examined anywhere. Meanwhile this newspaper is of great value both as a historical source and as a mirror of the life and customs of the inhabitants of Tsaritsyn at the beginning of the 20th century. Analysing the notes of the named newspaper, the author reconstructs the socio-cultural image of the town of Tsaritsyn which allows to reconstitute the general image of the uyezd-towns of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century.

Keywords: socio-cultural image, 20th century, culture, Tsaritsyn, periodicals, Saratov governorate, newspapers, Pre-revolutionary press, "Tsaritsynskoe Slovo", theatre

Abstract: A significant feature of the development of Russia into a modern state is its democratic parliamentary traditions, which in 2016 have crossed the 110-year milestone. The aim of this article is to study the experience and lessons of the election campaign of the political parties in Nizhny Novgorod during the elections to the First State Duma. The article presents a brief description of the leading political parties of the Nizhny Novgorod governorate and reveals the difficulties they faced during this election campaign, including: the necessity of conducting a propaganda campaign under the conditions of the Russian Revolution and the limited freedom of opposition parties. Additionally, all parties simultaneously had to address the issues of party formation and to organise election campaigns. During the course of the election campaign in Nizhny Novgorod, the parties used traditional forms and methods of election technologies – newspaper articles, brochures, proclamations, leaflets, meetings with voters –, as well as unconventional methods – from the use of administrative resources to manipulating ballots. A particular means of participating in the election struggle was demonstrated by the Nizhny Novgorod electorate through protest behaviour. In Nizhny Novgorod the Constitutional-Democratic Party won a landslide victory. A certain role in this victory was due to the agitators’ active participation, the party's more attractive program for the majority of the population, its variety of forms in working with the electorate, and the absence in the party elections of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Social-Democratic parties. But the more momentous contribution to the outcome of the election campaign was due to the presence in Russia of a huge body of protest electorate, which expressed its negative attitude towards the Russian government's policy by voting for the most oppositional party.

Keywords: parliament, election campaign, elections, political parties, electorate, Constitutional-Democratic Party, opposition party, election technologies, revolution, State Duma