Abstract: The object of this research is the collective fate of former members of the united opposition (Bolshevik-Leninist faction) in the 1930s. This topic is rarely covered by the researchers and remains poorly studied. The subject of this article is the peculiarities of professional career of the oppositionists reestablished in the ranks of the Communist Party. The group under review is the members of the All Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), who in May 1927 signed the “Declaration of 83”. Comparative analysis of the available biographical records on the signers of the “Declaration of 83” allow determining the spheres of professional activity of the former Bolshevik-Leninists. The author enlists the spheres of their activity, indicating the number of employed capitulated factionists therein, as well as positions held by them, enterprises and institutions they worked at during this period. The conducted research demonstrates that the highest concentration of capitulated oppositionists was in the industrial sector, while professional spheres, such as science, trade, etc., are noticeably behind. At the same time, former Bolshevik-Leninists often mastered new types of activities. Most of them were appointed as chief executives, which the author explains with shortage of personnel committed to the Communist ideas who possessed organizational experience. The novelty of this research consists in the statement that the returned to the All Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) supporters of Trotskyism and Zinovievism), despite their demotion, were actively engaged in Stalin's modernization. They were appointed with executive positions and included into the ruling elite (although holding a special “niche” therein).

Keywords: biography, opposition statement, political exile, faction, Bolsheviks-Leninists, united opposition, Bolshevik party, social rank, professional activity, nomenklature

Abstract: Soviet historiography features a thesis that in the course of struggle against industrial strikes in Russia during the World War I, the government applied solely repressive measures, including armed suppression of worker strikes, prosecution, imprisonment, and conscription. The reports of proceedings of Special Council on State Defense, which was composed of the representatives of key ministries, State Soviet, State Duma, as well as entrepreneurial circles and nongovernmental organizations, allowed the government representatives to more objectively understand the essence of the “employment issue” in the conditions of protracted war and possible methods of its solution, including prevention of strikes, especially at the enterprises involved in execution of defense orders. The article presents the analysis of the content of discussions and decisions on the employment issue adopted within the framework of Special Council for ensuring steady operation of factories and preventing downtime as a result of strikes and quitting of employees. It is worth noting that a considerable part of political and military figures, major industrialists supported peaceful methods of solution the employment issue, such as negotiation process, seeking compromises, creation of reconciliation chambers and other specific authorities. However, the absence of an agreement and interaction between different departments impeded the development and implementation of prompt and effective measures to address the employment issue.

Keywords: reconciliation chambers, Council of Ministers, sequestration, strikes, Special meeting, labor issue, World War I, industrial mobilization, wages, food supply

Abstract: This article reviews the known facts on the work and concepts of Russian higher educational institutions of the 1650s-1700s. The author analyzes the polemics that unfolded in the XVII century and continues until today around higher education in Russia from Fyodor Rtishchev's School to Zaikonospassky Greek Schools created by Likhud brothers. It is noted that the idea of autonomous estate-inclusive university in Moscow, which was conceived by the Tsar Feodor III Alexeyevich and received privileges in the Grant Letter of 1682, was never brought to life. The author reveals the motives of resistance to introduction of regular education and recognition of rules of the rational science. It is demonstrated that breaking with the Russian traditional church rituals by Patriarch Nikon on the basis of false Greek scholarship caused doubts of the society on the utility of foreign regular science; and the desire of the devotees of Greek scholarship to prove that Latin education, unlike Greek, is harmful for the faith, nullified the attempt of Tsar Feodor III Alexeyevich to create a Moscow university for preparing secular and church personnel. Such struggle for the Academy resulted in the clash between rationalism of the enlighteners and authority of the church, which destroyed and suppressed the enlighteners, and discredited the church. In the XVII century, no Higher educational institutions were established in Russia; moreover, the Moscow academic staff was annihilated. In the context of the reforms of Peter the Great, the humanities education in Russia of the XVIII century was implemented Little Russian scholars, while natural scientific education – by Western scholars.

Keywords: Simeon Polotsky, Greek Likhud's schools, Moscow Academy, Epiphany, Zaikonospassky, Printing House, of Rtishchev, schools, Sylvester Medvedev, Euthymius

Abstract: The object of this research is the process of drafting and passing of the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation. The subject of this research is the political confrontation between the President and legislative authority in the context of elaboration of the basic law of the Russian Federation. The article employs the method of systemic analysis, which allows to gradually trace and analyze the events that determined the impossibility of adopting the Basic Law at the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation. The author outlines the causes of confrontation between the President and the legislative branch, as well assesses the political situation, in which the new political system layered over the old, forcing the Congress of People’s Deputies and the Supreme Soviet of Russia to leave the political arena. The article reveals the conditions established in Russia in the 1990 – 1933 for the transformation of sociopolitical relations that allowed the President to take control over the initiative, which determined the political structure and the vector of socioeconomic development of the country. Based on the chronological analysis of the events, the conclusion is made that the likelihood of vast increase of the President’s role in the new political system was predetermined by indecisiveness of the legislative branch. The President and his team were able to implement in draft of the Constitution all their intentions balancing the presidential and parliamentary authorities.

Keywords: the political system, Congress of People's Deputies, Parliament, President of the Russian Federation, The basic law, Constitution of the Russian Federation, Constitutional Conference, The Federal agreement, Government of the Russian Federation, the state Duma

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the questions of party building of the constitutional democrats of Siberia during 1917 – 1920, which is one of most tragic periods of the Russian history. Based on the analysis of  published and archival materials and documents of the central and local committees of the People's Freedom Party in Eastern Russia during the Revolution and Civil War, the goal is set to determine the causes and follow the trends of changes in composition of the party, vector and nature of the activity of Siberian cadet groups. The research relies on the fundamental principles of scientific objectivism and historicism, which allows examining the topic in dynamics and in relation to the specific socioeconomic, political, and cultural circumstances that developed during this period. The scientific novelty consists in demonstration of the dynamics and identification of the causes of changes in composition and tactics of the Siberian cadet groups throughout the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War. Emphasis is placed on the “democratic counter-revolution” and the political regime of A. V. Kolchak. The conclusion is made that the nature of organizational party activity of the Siberian cadets is determined by a range of factors, namely local conditions and events that unfolded in the capital of Russia. A considerable influence was produced by the directives of the Central Committee of the People's Freedom Party, political orientations of the All-Russian National Center, and the experience acquired by the party and its leaders during the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War.

Keywords: revolution, party Committee, organizational and party work, party building, constitutional Democrats, people's freedom party, Civil war, party conference, Eastern Department, anti-Bolshevik movement

Abstract:  The object of this research is the 1957 Soviet administrative-economic reform, while the subject is the prerequisites for the development and implementation of this reform. The goal consists in determination and analysis of the prerequisites for the development and implementation of 1957 Soviet administrative-economic reform. The article examines the activity of the Soviet government and party in the 1950s; identifies the economic and political prerequisites that influenced the course of events. The reform was aimed at weakening the central authority, downsizing of ministries, simplification of the centralized planned system of economic management, and establishment of the new industrial management branches – councils of the national economy of administrative economic districts. The research is based on the principle of historicism, employs the historical-genetic, functional, and formal-legal methods. The chronological framework stretch from 1953 to 1957. The administrative-economic reform is conditioned by the economic and political prerequisites. The authors note the industrial slowdown, as well as the crisis of the state plan system. The political crisis that unfolded in the USSR in 1950s had most considerable impact upon the reform. The reform was of uninstitutionalized nature, and served as the mechanism for strengthening the party authorities. 

Keywords: soviet state, line ministries, Council of Ministers of the USSR, economic management, state planning, economic councils, industry management, administrative and economic reform, USSR, Khrushchev

Abstract: The Ōbaku-shū (Ōbaku School) is a new trend of the Japanese Zen Buddhism, which was brought to Japan by the Chinese monks who arrived the islands during the Edo period (1603-1868). The Ōbaku teaching of Chinese origin was an absolute novelty for Japan with its policy of isolationism from the outside world, which at the initial stages led to surge in its popularity. This article examines some peculiarities of the ritual practice and routine of the Ōbaku-shū, which most vividly characterize its connection with the mainland and sparks particular interest of the Japanese population of Edo period.  The scientific novelty is substantiated by the absence of special research in the Russian Japanese studies dedicated to the Ōbaku School, therefore, special attention is given to the English-languae and Japanese-language sources. The conclusion is made that despite the fact that the Ōbaku School eventually did not succeed in revolutionizing the Buddhist community of Japan, it still saw some level of success on the islands. The popularity of the new teaching in many ways was justified by its “otherness”, and “Chinese flavor”. The foreign origin and cultural peculiarities attracted people to the Ōbaku temples. The external decor and exoticism: musical instruments, colorful rituals, Chinese garments, hairstyles, monastery food, etc. formed a peculiar image of the school in the minds of Japanese people, and led to surge in its popularity in the new land.

Keywords: domestic culture, Buddhism, the Ming dynasty, China, Ingen Ryūki, Ōbaku, the Edo period, Japan, rituals, the Tokugawa shogunate

Abstract: Due to the fact that the tradition of close relation between the Orthodox Church and the state has formed since the time of the Byzantine Empire, the reflection of foreign policy ambitions of the Greek government on the foreign activity of the Patriarchate of Constantinople seems absolutely justifiable. In the early XX century, North America was a center of Greek migration, and simultaneously, the territory of proliferation of the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church; therefore, the United States spark particular interest in this case. The Patriarch of Constantinople attempted to dispute the jurisdictional affiliation of the United States by issuing the corresponding tomos. This article is dedicated to interaction between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church in the territory of the United States during the 1908 – 1924. The author explores the influence of Greece upon the relationship between the two Orthodox jurisdictions in North America. The activity of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the United States is compared to political events of Greece. The history of Orthodoxy in the United States in the first quarter of the XX century is highly researched however, the actions of church organizations are not always viewed from the perspective of the foreign policy of the countries involved. The conclusion is made on the possible influence of the Greek governmental forces on the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which in turn, stepped into the jurisdictional conflict with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Keywords: Russian-Greek relations, jurisdictional conflict, Orthodoxy in the USA, Greek Orthodox Church, Greek foreign policy, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Russian Orthodox Church, church and power, church and policy, Orthodoxy and politics