Abstract: The object of this research is one of the key personas in history of the Russian Civil War – Matvey Aleksandrovich Sulkevich. The subject of this research is the explication of the beginning of life path of the future prominent General, his career advancement, complicated process of acquiring experience in the military-professional activity within the context of scientific and publishing activity of the scholar. The author examines the biographical details of M. A. Sulkevich, his scientific-military and social work, assessment of the vector of activity of the General, and development of his personal values. Using the source analysis and biographical method, the author qualitatively processes the biographical information from the reference material in the prerevolutionary annual publications, reminiscences of the comrades, as well as the history of Sulkevich’s military service. The scientific novelty consist in the fact the author is first to determine within the extensive biographical material the two discernable vectors in the scientific and publishing activity of M. A. Sulkevich; one of which was related to the military career of the prominent General, future Chief of the Crimean Regional Government. His brilliant education received in the Voronezh Cadet School, Mikhailovsky Military Artillery and General Staff Academy, as well as participation in the Russia-China and Russo-Japanese War and Chinese expedition against the Boxer Rebellion cemented the reputation of M. A. Sulkevich as one of most skilled military experts of the Russian Empire.

Keywords: educational activities, military science, Russian-Japanese war, Russian-Chinese war, Russian Empire, Sul'kevich, education, biography, career, General

Abstract: This article analyzes the activity of the leader of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement Yasser Arafat. Leaning on the Russian and foreign sources, the author examines the process of establishment of Yasser Arafat as a politician, analyzes the benchmarks of his political course, as well as Arafat’s impact upon the Arab World and the rest of the world. The article demonstrates the various points of view upon the activity of Yasser Arafat, because some consider him a terrorist, while the Palestinians call him the “chief”, who made an indisputable contribution to the development of the non-existent state of Palestine. Using the historical-biographical approach and methodology of narrative history, the author determines such traits of Yasser Arafat, which made him the leader of his nation, as well as analyzes the factors that impeded the successfulness of the political course of Y. Arafat.

Keywords: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Jerusalem, Kuwait, Egypt, Palestine Liberation Organization, Fatah movement, Palestine, the liberation of Palestine, Arafat, Palestinian National Authority

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the question of historiographical mastery of the topic of state policy of the Republic of Bashkortostan in the area of modernization of the higher legal education at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. The goal of this research lies in substantiation of the scientific significance and relevance of conducting a comprehensive historical study that reveals the process of institutionalization and activity of the system of the Bashkortostan Higher School of Law in the context of contemporary history. The subject of this research is the establishment of national historiography of the higher legal education in Bashkortostan. The authors examine several problematic and thematic levels of historiosophical material – from general questions of state educational strategy to the history of particular universities and their departments. The scientific novelty consists in the analytical overview of national historiography of state policy in the area of the Bashkortostan Higher School of Law at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. It is concluded that in the late 1990’s – 2010’s there have formed the body of scientific literature that comprises the theoretical and factual basis for the emergence of objective representations on the historical experience and the results of development of the professional education in Russia within the framework of contemporary history. At the same time, the topic of modernization of the Bashkortostan Higher School of Law did not receive proper coverage in the historical research. Therefore, the study of historical experiences of implementation of state policy with regards to the development of higher legal education in Bashkortostan during the 1991 – 2000’s is a relevant scientific task, which solution is maintained by the historiographical, archival, and published historical sources.

Keywords: higher legal education, law faculties, Russian higher school, educational policy, Russian reforms, historiography of the Republic of Bashkortostan, historiography of national history, universities of Bashkortostan, academic science of Bashkortostan, Bashkir State University

Abstract: The object of this research is the metric books of the Synagogue of the city of Mariinsk and Mariinsky district of Tomsk Governorate, which represent a natural sampling and contain cumulative data that reflect demographic processes in Jewish community of the late XIX – early XX century. The subject of this research is the external and internal criticism with delineation of information gaps and determination of limits in exploitation of the data for genealogical and demographic reconstructions. Focus is made on the internal criticism of the source, correlating the extent and quality of filling in the metric books with a particular Jewish scholar of Rabbi, their level of education and command of the Russian language. The author concludes that the metric books of Mariinsk Synagogue of Tomsk Governorate also have distortions and information gaps inherent to all historical sources. In the context of genealogical reconstruction, a researcher will inevitably face the incompleteness of data due to the partial absence of separate pages that contain the data alongside the peculiarities of filling in the metric books. In assessing the demographic processes, the marriage and death data, due to the high level of representativity will provide the appropriate results, while the birth data will not be able to do the same, due to the low representativity of data that survived.

Keywords: Demographical process, Source criticism, Information gaps, Genealogy, Rabbi, Jewish scholar, Jewish synagogue, Register of births, Mariinsky Jews, Reconstructions

Abstract: The object of this research is the role of British War Cabinet in organization of intervention in Far East and Siberia. The subject of this research is the actions of British government pertinent to the agreement of the terms and conditions of intervention with the United States, Japan, and Soviet authorities in December 1917 – August 1918, which was a challenging task due to the clash of interests of the United States and Japan and their approaches towards resolution of the problems in these regions, not to mention the equivocal position of the Soviet Russia in discussing the “intervention upon agreement”, i.e. integration approved by the Soviet authorities. The main research methods are the following: chronological, comparative and narrative, substantiated by the strict chronological framework and the nature of the involved sources, some of which are used for the first time. The scientific novelty is defined by the fact that the attraction of the vast amount of sources from the National Archive that have not been previously introduced into the scientific discourse, allows studying the insufficiently covered within the Russian historiography topic on the role of United Kingdom in organization of intervention in Far East and Siberia with regards to agreeing the terms of intervention with the United States, Japan, and Soviet government. The conclusion is made that using its political leverage, the British government not only actively participated in conversations with Japan, United States, and Soviet authorities, but practically formed the agenda for such negotiations, persistently encouraging the partners to follow their directives.

Keywords: Lenin, Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George, Siberia, the Far East, War Cabinet, intervention, Trotsky, Lockhart, Entente

Abstract: The object of this research is the persona of A. N. Ushakov – the deputy of State Duma of the first convocation from Tob0lsk Governorate. The subject is his sociopolitical activity in 1906. Currently, there are no publications with sufficient description of his role in the sociopolitical processes unfolded in the governorate and the country during the establishment of the Russian parliamentarism. In order to fill the gaps in the deputy’s biography, the author examines and analyzes the materials from the personal fund preserved in the State Archive of Tobolsk, regional periodicals, and published sources. The methods of biographical analysis allow delving into the most significant events of A. N. Ushakov’s life – arrest, exile to the north of governorate for organizing the congress of peasants of Tobolsk District, election into the 1st State Duma, signing of “Vyborg Manifesto” after the disassembly of State Duma. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that it is the first work in historiography dedicated to A. N. Ushakov. The conclusion is made that the biographical materials of A. N. Ushakov are undeniably relevant for studying the establishment of parliamentarism in Russia, as well as sociopolitical history of the region overall. The revealed sources testify to the fact that with his official and social activity, Ushakov earned respect among his contemporaries who entrusted him with the right to represent Tobolsk Governorate in the 1st State Duma.

Keywords: First Russian revolution, election, First State Duma, the political exile, the Tobolsk prison, Congress of peasants, Tobolsk province, Alexey Ushakov, parliamentarism, The Vyborg appeal

Abstract: The subject of this research is the peculiarities of age and gender structure of urban population of South Siberia over the period from 1945 to 2017. Territorial framework include the national republics o Khakassia, Tuva, and Altai; the year 1945 is selected as the chronological boundary as benchmark of a relatively stable period in the Russian history, after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The selection of chronological framework was also affected by the entry of Tuvan Autonomous Oblast into the RSFSR in 1944. The goal of this article lies in examination of the development vectors of age and gender structures of urban population in the indicated republics for the formation of general picture of demographic trajectory of urban population of the region, as well as the prospects for its development in the nearest future. The research is prepared on the basis of statistical data of five All-Union and two Russian censuses, as well as current census registration presented on the official website of the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (http://www.gks.ru). Demographic development of urban population of South Siberia along with its age and gender structure has not been a subject of separate scientific research. Although it is necessary to conduct such analysis for the socioeconomic planning and development of the region, as well as for the regional historical science, because the impact of demographic processes upon the history of particular communities is an old-established fact. The study demonstrated a nonuniform distribution of urban population by age and gender, which significantly affected such demographic processes as birth rate and mortality rate.

Keywords: demographic aging, age mortality rates, urban population, southern Siberia, age and gender structure of the population, urbanization, average age, Khakassia, Tuva, Altay

Abstract: The object of this publication is the activity of the prominent Finno-Ugric expert, ethnographer M. T. Markelov (1899-1937), which was forcibly interrupted during the times of personality cult. The subject of this research is the little-studied Tomsk period of life and creative path of the Mordovian scholar. The goal of this work lies in introduction into the scientific discourse of the new materials from I. D. Voronin United Museum of Regional Studies of the Republic of Mordovia, which allows to fully comprehend the theoretical and practical importance of the activity of M. T. Markelov for the modern stage of development of Finno-Ugrian studies. It is established that M. T. Markelov was a pioneer of the Mordavian ethnographic science. His resilient character allowed staying socially active and cheerful person and engaged scientist: even being monitored, he continued his scientific activity as a Docent at the Tomsk State University, an acting director of the museum of ethnology and archeology, read the lecture on the “History of the Peoples of USSR”, “Ethnography of USSR”, etc., collected materials on the topic “History of Siberian Colonization”, wrote a dissertation. Examination of the materials from M. T. Markelov’s personal archive testifies to their high historiographical value; reveals new facts of the creative, scientific and pedagogical activity of the scholar in exile. The author also underlines the role of E. V.  Derviz and N. Y. Simonovich-Efimova in the life of M. T. Markelov.

Keywords: archival materials, Mari, Finns, Udmurts, Mordovians, traditional culture, ethnography, Markelov, Derviz, Simonovich-Efimova