Abstract: The relationship between China and the nomadic peoples of Central Asia, particularly the Xiongnu, has long captivated historians. These ties, fraught with contradictions and tensions, remain a key topic for understanding Eurasian history. However, conventional approaches to their study often overlook the complexity and multilayered nature of this interaction. Here, Lev Nikolaevich Gumilyov’s theory of ethnogenesis comes to the rescue—an approach that integrates historical geography, anthropology, and ecology, offering a fresh perspective on the past. Objects of Study: The Han Empire and the Xiongnu Confederation as two historical entities whose destinies became intertwined during the early antiquity period. Subject of Study: Their interactions in the 2nd–1st centuries BCE, viewed through the lens of Gumilyov’s ethnogenesis theory. Key methods include: Applying the concepts of passionarity, encompassing landscape, and phases of ethnogenesis to interpret historical events; Comparative analysis of ecological and social factors driving conflict dynamics; Verification of theoretical propositions using historical data. The source base comprises primary historical texts such as Ban Gu’s Book of Han (Hanshu) and archaeological materials. Research Hypothesis: Gumilyov’s theory, grounded in the notions of passionarity, ethnogenesis stages, and environmental influence, can explain why Sino-Xiongnu relations developed so unpredictably and demonstrate how ecological and energy factors shaped their dynamics. Scientific Novelty: This work marks the first systematic application of Gumilyov’s ethnogenesis theory to the study of Sino-Xiongnu relations. This approach expands its geographical applicability and tests its potential in the context of Eastern societies, which had previously been overlooked in most research. Analysis Findings: Gumilyov’s model explains the nonlinear nature of their interactions, the ecological determinism of conflicts, and the cyclical character of ethnic processes. Practical Significance: The study broadens the geographical scope of Gumilyov’s theory and verifies its applicability to Eastern societies.

Keywords: L. N. Gumilev, theory of ethnogenesis, passionarity, interdisciplinary research, China, ethnic group, landscape, ethnogenesis, Sino-Hun confrontation, Huns

Abstract: Continuing to explore Soviet collaboration, the author draws attention to the evolution of scientific thought about this phenomenon, analyzing in detail the work of domestic and foreign scientists. Decade after decade, the trends formed and put forward by historians as the main directions for analyzing, describing and evaluating the phenomenon of voluntary cooperation of Soviet citizens with the German occupiers are being analyzed. Of particular importance is the accumulation of scientific research on the topic, which allows us to see the key ideas, as well as their successive changes: declaring at the beginning the parallelism of views of domestic and foreign historians in the post-war period, the author identifies the first points of contact, finds coincidences and divergences of views, follows the development of the discussion about the prerequisites, motives, forms and fate of Soviet collaborationism. When writing this article, in order to organize voluminous disparate scientific information, the author used comparative and aggregate research methods, as well as the method of historical analysis. Noting the similarities and differences in the vectors of development of scientific interests of researchers on the topic of Soviet collaboration during the Great Patriotic War, the article shows how scientifically based disputes enrich each other in Russia and abroad. A special contribution of the author was the introduction of foreign literature that had not previously been published in Russian, as well as an appeal to the works of modern researchers of related history sciences (political science, international relations), which had not previously come to the attention of Russian historians. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of scientific concepts competing with each other, the author identifies areas on the topic of Soviet collaboration that need additional attention and development for both domestic and foreign specialists.

Keywords: the Great Patriotic War, collaboration, German occupation, complicity, Collaboration with the Nazis, World War II, Soviet collaboration, The USSR in the war, Betrayal, Military history

Abstract: The subject of this research is the origin of the Terek Cossacks living in the Prokhladnensky and Maysky districts of Kabardino-Balkaria. It was precisely in these areas that the Cossack gene pool was studied a few years ago, making it now possible to compare the geneticists' findings with the results of the author's analysis of historical sources. The appearance of Cossacks in these areas began relatively late: in the second half of the 18th century. These Cossacks included Volga and “Little Russian” Cossacks who moved to the Caucasus, retired soldiers, freeholders, and Russian and Ukrainian peasants. In this study, the author applied the historical approach, and consequently, the composition of the Cossacks population in each village is studied dynamically. The article's main research methods are the analysis of information contained in the sources, their systematization and synthesis. The comparison of the results derived from genetic and historical studies on the origin of the Terek Cossacks was conducted for the first time in historiography. The findings within the framework of population genetics of the Cossacks' assimilation of the areas belonging to the autochthonous population of the Caucasus are not supported by historical sources, where no such information is available. The revealed discrepancy and the discussions stemming from it will contribute to a further investigation of this topic, which thus highlights the relevance of this work.

Keywords: the Origins of the Terek Cossacks, population genetics, gene pool, assimilation, Kabardino-Balkaria, Cossack villages, Volga Cossacks, state peasants, retired soldiers, nations of the Caucasus

Abstract: The subject of this article is the current state of scientific research focused on the questions of the genesis and essence of the ideology of Russian nationalism. The author places emphasis on the relevance of this issue, as well as the complexity and inconsistency of the phenomenon of "Russian nationalism." Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the differences in the study of this problem between the studies of the Soviet and modern eras. The author investigates the reasons for the intensification of the research interest in the questions concerning Russian nationalism at the present stage and describes the main dissertation research results regarding this issue. Additionally, the author identifies the main research approaches that exist for the study of the emergence of modern Russian nationalism and its essence. The methodological basis of this article is formed by the set of methods characteristic of historiographic research, of which the main ones are: the comparative-contrastive, systematic and socio-cultural methods. The article presents the following conclusion: 1. In modern dissertation research, not only the question of the essence, but also the existence of Russian nationalism as an independent ideology has not been unambiguously resolved. 2. The study of the ideology of Russian nationalism is characterized by the methodological imperfection that has not been overcome to this day, which is due, on the one hand, to the application of largely scholastic schemes of Western constructivism and instrumentalism, and, on the other hand, to the influence of the former approaches of Soviet historiography. 3. Russian nationalism is an independent ideological phenomenon that is characterized by an amorphous ideological content, subject to the influence of socio-political conjuncture, but, at the same time, is based on the fundamental idea of the existence of the Russian nation as an independent and unique historical phenomenon.

Keywords: ideological amorphism, marginal political ideology, structural crisis, genesis determinants, collapse of the USSR, right-conservative ideology, Soviet social science, genesis of Russian nationalism, ideology of Russian nationalism, historiography

Abstract: Contemporary Russian and foreign historiography is actively discussing the concept of the Middle ages. Some of the key problems concerning this notion include its chronological frame, its watershed temporal marks, its applicability to regions other than Western Europe and the Mediterranean, and its socio-cultural content. Opponents of this term have put forward claims that this concept lacks an objective basis and that from its appearance during the Renaissance, it has been no more than a projection of the ideas of scholars from different schools and epochs about the past and their own times. In this line of reasoning we are advised not to study the Middle ages as such (with the exception of particular periods and phenomena), but rather to assess this notion at different stages of historiography and decide what particular perception is necessary for our own contemporary society and, consequently, conduct our research accordingly. In writing this article the author made use of the general scientific methods, i.e. the historical and logical methods, as well as the systematic and linguistic methods. The author demonstrates that the critics of the notion of Middle ages have failed to prove its ontological emptiness, just as they have failed to prove this for the concept of Feudalism, which as they claim has been discarded by modern historiography as useless for the understanding of the medieval world. The author comes to the conclusion that the idea of the ontological emptiness of the discussed notion should be considered in the context of the more general historiographical debates about historicism, the pertinence of contemporary scientific concepts for the study of history, and the very subject of historical research, including the expediency of posing “global questions” in history. The article shows that the refutation of the notion of Middle ages is connected with the refusal of studying the system of social relations that enables us to apprehend the medieval world in its wholeness. The author also considers the place of Medieval European civilization from the point of view of its cultural achievements and its unique capability of evolution without causing major social catastrophes. A hypothesis is advanced that this capability is in itself a most important characteristic of the Medieval epoch.

Keywords: Middle ages, Modern History, European Civilisation, medieval studies, medievalism, history of notions, property relations, Feudalism, fiefs and vassalage, seigneurie.

Abstract: The article examines the alcohol sales prohibition, at the same time with the Imperial Decree of 16 July 1914 on military mobilization, and its prolongation (22 August 1914) until the end of the war, in the context of an on-going historiographical discussion on the population’s level of well-being in post-reform Russia. One of issues subject to controversy is the question of alcohol consumption by the population after 1861. The article demonstrates, based on both statistics and narrative sources, that the attempt to diminish alcohol expenditures per household and, more generally, the sense itself of alcohol consumption within the population is not seriously founded. In particular, after the introduction of the alcohol prohibition law the population’s deposits in government savings banks dramatically increased, various types of personal debts decreased, nutrition improved, as well as living and housing conditions, and purchases of agricultural machinery augmented, and so on. At the same time, diseases, fire accidents, poverty, unjustified workplace absenteeism, and more – decreased.

Keywords: World War I, Alcohol Prohibition, “hungry export”, drinking income, population well-being, alcohol consumption, consumption per capita, deposits and savings, Russian history, “semantic inflation”.

Abstract: the article provides a detailed critique of the “new chronology” school which was presented on the “Culture” TV channel, as well as other representatives of “folk history”. The critique is based on the thesis of intellectual poverty of such pseudohistorians, as well as the factors in modern society which allow for pseudohistorical views to find a place in the modern culture and gain mass media coverage. The true goals of “folk-history” proponents is successful commercialization of historical research. It is quite obvious that their actions accelerate the forming of “diet history”, “bubblegum history” for the unthinking consumer.

Keywords: history, folk-history, chronology, middle ages, Russia, Europe, Law, Crusades, Mongol-Tatar empire, Huns.

Abstract: the life of Vorontsov M.C., one of the most important figures in Russian history of the first half of XIX century, is a vivid example of the free mind at the enserfed society. The foundations of his worldview was formed in England, in a legal state with a developed civil society. And it is a priori created a dissonance between the reality and the inner world of Vorontsov. Repeatedly he was faced with incomprehension and condemnation of his actions at work and in private life. For an internally free man it was not easy to live in serfdom Russia in the first half of the XIX century. Autocracy as a variant of an oppressive regime in all social strata fostered a certain type of mind arising from the organizing principles of tyranny: arbitrariness and fear. Such consciousness is, in principle, is outside of the legal field and evaluate the phenomena of life based on the dichotomy of “unconditional domination / submission”. The serfdom consciousness has become an important factor in the popularity of socialist ideas in post-reform Russia on different social levels.

Keywords: history, the Vorontsovs’ family, consciousness, freedom, serfdom, monarchy, legal consciousness, emancipation, rights, socialism.