Abstract: The article analyzes the creation (and activity in the first year of its appearance) of the Tauride Department, a structural unit of one of the oldest public organizations – the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (hereinafter referred to as the IOPS MOO, or IOPS). The subject field of research includes the study of the issue through the prism of the personalities of the ruling Tauride bishops – Mikhail Gribanovsky and Nikolai Ziorov. The study is based on a wide and diverse source foundation, which makes up the body of unpublished sources, pre-revolutionary church periodicals, and the epistolary heritage of pre-revolutionary figures of the IOPS. The degree of development of the topic, on the contrary, is modest in its nomenclature due to the particular measurement and the extreme narrowness of the chronological framework of the study, covering 1897–1900. It is represented by a small group of scientists belonging to Russian historiography – the master in the study of pilgrimage S.Yu. Zhitenev, Rostov researcher I.G. Sharkov, our Simferopol (and now St. Petersburg) colleague V.V. Kalinovsky, as well as modest author's research of previous years. When using general scientific and concrete historical methods, preference was given to techniques for working with text sources of an official and speech nature – content and event analysis. The author of the article made the first detailed attempt at a phased semantic reconstruction in modern historiography, which, of course, gives it absolute novelty, supplemented by scrupulous verification of what is happening from several types of sources. The work can be informative for everyone interested in the history of IOPS (its structural units in the field), Crimean studies, pilgrimage practice and missionary activities in the Holy Land. In the course of the study, the author confirms the hypothesis put forward by him about the lack of Russianness in the Tauride province, which is now faced by the direct successor of traditions and the successor of the pre-revolutionary Tauride department – the modern Crimean regional branch of the organization. The set goal and the tasks being solved made it possible to identify similarities in the cultural and historical field and in the pressing problems facing the regional structure of the organization in diachron planes. Comparative analysis made it possible to conclude that the Crimean regional branch at the present stage has a lesser degree of interaction with the Simferopol and Crimean metropolis, while the pre-revolutionary Tauride department was controlled by the Chairmen, who were in the first hand, ruling the Tauride bishops.

Keywords: IOPS, Tauride department, Crimean regional branch, Pilgrimage, Sergey Alexandrovich, Livadia, Simferopol, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Bishop Mikhail Gribanovsky, Bishop Nikolai Ziorov

Abstract: The article is dedicated to one of the most difficult periods in the history of Soviet-American relations, the initial stage of World War II from 1939 to 1941. The author seeks to identify the role of trade relations in the interactions between the two countries. Despite declared neutrality, both countries moved closer to the warring states. The USSR, after unsuccessful negotiations in the summer of 1939, was forced to conclude a trade agreement with Germany and later a non-aggression pact. The USA, while declaring neutrality, initially supported England and France covertly, and then openly, allowing cash purchases of arms through amendments to the Neutrality Act of 1939 in November 1939, and later assisting the purchasing organizations of the allies. This led to the introduction of a "moral embargo" against the USSR, followed by a licensing and prioritization system for exports in 1940. This policy negatively impacted other neutral countries as well. The study is based on classical historical-narrative methods. The systemic method allows achieving the main goal of the work – identifying the role of Soviet-American trade relations in the interactions between the two countries from 1939 to 1941. The historical-chronological method reveals the dynamics of relations during the period under consideration. The comparative method is necessary for comparing the foreign policy courses of future allies. The People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade and Amtorg faced enormous difficulties in procuring machinery and cracking equipment. Foreign policy issues related to the Soviet-Finnish War and the property of the Baltic republics had a serious impact on the trade relations between the two countries, which, however, managed to avoid a rupture in relations and even extended the trade agreement in 1940. The main nomenclature of Soviet imports consisted of equipment and machines (over 60%). By the end of 1941, the amount of Soviet orders exceeded 130 million dollars; however, Soviet imports from the USA were significantly lower than those from Britain. After the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR and the USA managed to overcome confrontation and distrust, leading to the creation of the Big Three and the further development of the economic cooperation program of the coalition – lend-lease.

Keywords: Soviet-American trade relations, initial period of Second World War, moral embargo, Lend-Lease, Neutrality Act, Commissariat of Foreign Trade, Amtorg, Soviet-German Trade and Credit Agreement, Big Three, Great Patriotic War

Abstract: Euripides's "The Bacchae" is the only complete tragedy in which one of the main characters is the god and patron of the theater, Dionysus. It is therefore unsurprising that numerous studies have been devoted to his portrayal in this work. Most of these studies center on the comparison between Dionysus and Pentheus, another main character and the god's cousin, who rejects his cult. On the contrary, in Russian historiography, research questions devoted to Dionysus in tragedy have rarely been touched upon. The author aims to analyze the god's human epiphany. Human epiphany as a subject of study is particularly interesting because such theophany, given the god's appearance in tragedy seemingly with Dionysus's own permission, can be considered a metatragic element of the second order, as this epiphany is accomplished with the permission and intention of the already "tragedic" deity. In this article, the author employs general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, a comparative historical method, and terminological and lexical analysis. The author examines the appearance of human theophany and the tradition of its transformation, the main features of the image perceived by other characters, both hidden and intended for the audience, expressed in the chorus's lines, and a comparison of Pentheus and Dionysus. The author concludes that the god's appearance is variable, and his features in the tragedy "The Bacchae" are linked to the motifs of the work itself. The author examines the main themes associated with Dionysus's human epiphany, such as the concept of the god as an outsider, the impossibility of capturing him, and the duality of Pentheus and Dionysus, which receives particular attention in the article. The author concludes that Dionysus is conceptualized as non-dual in the sense implied by this term in transpersonal psychology. Further prospects for research into the god's human epiphany are also outlined.

Keywords: Dionysus, The Bacchae, epiphany, Pentheus, duality, stranger, captivity, otherness, non-duality, appearance