Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ
ISSN (print): 0130-3864
Media registration certificate: No. 0110133 dated 02/05/1993
Founder: Institute of General History RAS, Russian Academy of Sciences
Editor-in-Chief: Mirzekhanov Velikhan Salmankhanovich
Number of issues per year: 6
Indexation: RISC, list of Higher Attestation Commissions, CrossRef, White List (level 2nd), Scopus
«Modern and Contemporary History» is a leading Russian historical periodical devoted to the problems of modern and contemporary history, methodology, source studies and historiography of world history, as well as the history of international relations and foreign policy. The Journal brings together professional historians from all over the world dealing with the problems of world history, introduces readers to the most up-to-date research in both Russian and international historical science, and informs them of the most important scholarly events.
The Journal was founded by the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) itself. It is published six times a year and covers the problems of international political, economic, and social history, the theory and methodology of historical science, the history of international relations, and historiography. Considerable attention is paid to the publication of historical sources (documents, memoirs), coverage of events academic life, and scholarly criticism.
The Journal is included in the List of leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and publications recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission for the publication of doctoral theses. All articles published in the journal correspond to the Nomenclature of Specialties of Scientists, approved by Order No. 1027 of the of Ministry of Education and Science of Russia of October 23, 2017:
- 00.00 Historical Sciences and Archeology:
- 00.03 World History
- 00.09 Historiography, Source Study and Methods of Historical Research
- 00.10 History of Science and Technology
- 00.15 History of International Relations and Foreign Policy
Articles published in the journal are indexed by Scopus, the Russian Scientific Citations Index and RSCI Web of Science. In accordance with the international standard of scientific periodicals, each published article receives its unique DOI code (Digital Object Identifier).
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No 6 (2023)
Theory and methodology of history
“Political Anatomy” and the Idea of Public Wealth from William Petty to Adam Smith
Abstract
Inthe article, the author attempts to solve three interrelated problems. First, by offering new readings of key texts authored by leading British thinkers and representatives of different strands of seventeenth-century economic thought, she explores the emergence of the labour theory of value in the intellectual context of the seventeenth-century scientific revolution and under the influence of its inspirer, Francis Bacon. Secondly, the author raises the question of the exact form in which the idea of labour as the source and foundation of social wealth, expressed by William Petty, an active critic of the doctrine of mercantilism and one of the founding fathers of English political economy, was initially embodied, as well as the “art of numbers” – quantitative methods of economic and demographic statistics, in his first economic work – “A Treatise on Taxes and Contributions”, published in 1662. Thirdly, the author examines and evaluates the economic ideas and proposals of William Petty and his associates as an integral part of their political views and ideas about “social wealth” and the importance of scientific knowledge for the improvement of public administration. She pays particular attention to the connection between the economic views of William Petty, a major Irish landowner, as set out in “The Political Anatomy of Ireland”, “A Treatise on Ireland,1687”, and other statistical works, and George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, with the assessment of the prospects for the development and future arrangement of Ireland, as well as with proposals for the unification of the two and even all three Kingdoms.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):5-17
5-17
James Harrington and His Perception of History: From Narrative to Theory
Abstract
In the article, the author tracks the dynamics of the views on history of the well-known seventeenth-century English politician and philosopher James Harrington, considering and analysing them in the broad context of changing attitudes to history in Europe during the Renaissance and Early Modern period. The author maintains that in Harrington's texts one can find a combination of traditional approaches, characterised by an attitude to history as a set of historical arguments in favour of different political positions, and new approaches, associated with an awareness of the differences between the past and the present and the impossibility of direct application of historical models to the present. He examines a number of discussions between Harrington and his contemporaries devoted to analysing various historical events and processes. In particular, the author examines the different assessments of the political structure of Greek Sparta and ancient Israel. He demonstrates the influence these assessments had on the complex formation of Harrington's and his contemporaries' attitudes towards different models of political government, such as the republic. The author examined the novelty of Harrington's position in terms of analysing the causes of the Civil War in seventeenth-century England. New interpretations of the dynamics of societies' political development proposed by Harrington are largely related to his vision of the interaction between economic conditions (balance of land ownership) and political power in its various forms (monarchy, aristocracy, republic). A key conclusion of the study is that Harrington's historical approaches combine, in an intriguing and imaginative way, mere historical description as a narrative practice with a desire to create and develop a political theory that claims to analyse the dynamics of historical events and to elaborate the various political positions associated with the republican tradition.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):18-33
18-33
Modern history
Legitimation of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich as Duke of Holstein-Gottorp in the Holy Roman Empire
Abstract
In the article, the author, drawing on unpublished materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, examines three related subjects. The first subject concerns the recognition in 1745 of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich as Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and as an adult a year ahead due to his conversion to Orthodoxy and fears that a change of religion could become an obstacle to taking possession of the duchy. The second subject concerns the negotiations to grant Holstein-Gottorp an individual vote (Virilstimme) in the College of Princes of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. The negotiations continued intermittently for almost two decades and were not successful due to conflicts between Holstein-Gottorp and the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which was held by the King of Great Britain. The third subject is connected with the receipt of investiture for the possession of the Duchy, which Peter Fyodorovich in fact refused due to the reluctance on the part of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to have the Tsesarevich's representatives participate in the traditional ceremony, which involved kneeling before the Emperor. However, the refusal did not prevent the Grand Duke from asserting his status in the Holy Roman Empire or compromise his right to hold the Duchy.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):34-48
34-48
The Concept of the Public Good in the Reform Project of Catherine II
Abstract
The public good was one of the key concepts of Enlightenment political discourse, although its content eluded precise definitions, being lost between the “common good”, interpreted from Christian and moral perspectives, and the “common interest” underlying the social contract. Most philosophers and writers of the eighteenth century regarded it as a field of action of the sovereign, as a sovereign's duty, and only Montesquieu connected it with reflections on the republican structure of the state rather than with the image of an idealised monarchy, transforming the idea of the public good into the principle of collective virtue, which is the basis of citizens' unity and the sphere of their collective responsibility. The public good turned out to be one of the most important concepts in the legislative vocabulary of Catherine II, along with the concepts of the Fatherland and patriotism, with which it was closely connected. The empress actively introduced it into the Russian political discourse. However, the analysis in this article of the preambles to the laws accompanying her administrative, economic or educational reforms allows one to see that in her interpretation the public good was systematically identified with the personal interests of the sovereign and was easily confused with state interests. The author suggests that Catherine II, who considered herself to be Montesquieu's disciple, did not adopt the approach proposed by her mentor in “De l'esprit des lois”, an approach that viewed the public good as a political virtue and a sphere of collective responsibility of citizens, remaining within the old paradigm that treated the public good as a duty of the sovereign and as a favour he bestows on his subjects.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):49-60
49-60
Russian Embassy in Brussels on the Policy of Leopold I During the Franco-Austrian War, 1859
Abstract
After the Crimean War of 1853–1856, the isolated Russian Empire was looking for ways to recover its lost geopolitical standing. Given these circumstances, St Petersburg saw Brussels as a convenient place to gather information about the state of affairs in Europe. In addition, the role of King Leopold I of the Belgians on the eve of the Crimean War was quite noticeable. In addition, considering the active foreign policy of the King of the Belgians, Russia had a certain interest in Leopold I and counted on his mediation in fostering relations with Great Britain and establishing ties with Napoleon III, who was seen as a potential ally by Alexander II. However, Leopold I, despite Belgium's improved relations with France during the Crimean War, feared the foreign policy ambitions and annexationist plans of the French emperor. The King of the Belgians was suspicious of the Franco-Russian rapprochement and, actively advocating the alliance with Great Britain, Austria and Prussia, supported Austria in the war of 1859, which was bound to lead to the deterioration of his relations with Russia. The analysis of the dispatches of the Russian envoys in Brussels, introduced into academic circuit, allows one to study the activities of Leopold I in the international arena and considerably enrich the political portrait of the king, as well as to open new pages in the history of both Belgian-Russian relations and diplomatic negotiations of European states during the Italian crisis of 1859.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):61-76
61-76
The Birth of the Third Republic in France Through the Eyes of a Russian Diplomat, September 1870 – May 1871
Abstract
St. Petersburg was well aware of the development of the situation in France, which led to the fall of the Second Empire and the proclamation of the Third Republic on 4 September 1870. The main source of such information for Emperor Alexander II and Chancellor Gorchakov was Grigory Nikolaevich Okunev, Russia's chargé d'affaires in France. His extensive correspondence from Paris and then from Bordeaux, Tours and Versailles, whither the republican government was forced to move, formed the basis for this study. To date, this valuable source has not attracted the much-deserved attention of scholars of French history and Franco-Russian relations. Meanwhile, Okunev's dispatches and telegrams preserved in the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (Moscow) are of considerable interest. He was an immediate eyewitness who tried to comprehend the process of formation of the Third Republic. Okunev's information to a certain extent influenced the formulation of the Russian Empire's approach to the young French Republic. The chronological framework of the article covers the period from the revolution of 4 September 1870 to the elections to the National Assembly, the formation of the government of Adolphe Thiers (February 1871) and the subsequent conclusion of the Treaty of Frankfurt (10 May 1871), which ended the Franco-Prussian War. The author analyses the Russian diplomacy's view of the revolution of 4 September 1871 and the birth of the Third Republic in France. He explains the reasons behind St. Petersburg's recognition of the French Republic, even though it was not sure of its stability.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):77-94
77-94
20th century
The “Note” of the Consul in Basra K.V. Ivanov: Problem Statement of the Study of the East in the Russian Foreign Ministry of the Early XX Century
Abstract
The issues of accumulation, ordering, systematisation, and practical implementation of colonial knowledge, “knowledge of the Orient” were on the agenda of various departments of the Russian Empire, which developed their own ways of solving them. Considerable efforts in this direction were made by military circles, however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was well aware of this task, as evidenced by the publication of two issues of “Proceedings on the Study of the Orient”, carried out on the eve and during the Great War, which contained not only factual works, but also reflections of the Foreign Ministry officials on this problem. This was reflected in the editorial prefaces and especially in the position paper of Consul Konstantin Ivanov, who believed that proper organisation of information collection about the region, reciprocal coordination of the activities of various Russian institutions, and provision for the proper role of the consulates would, firstly, make Russian policy more expedient, and secondly, achieve the tasks set with less effort, since in his terminology this sounded like “using local conditions”. Ivanov's “Note” is an interesting and vivid example of the reflection of an agent of the Empire's foreign policy on the problem of optimizing approaches to solving political problems of the state, compiled in the spirit of orientalist discourse, implicitly assuming the ideas of inequality, superiority, the need to possess knowledge for governance and domination, reconstruction and arrangement of non-European regions in the interests of the dominant power.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):95-108
95-108
FBI Opposition to German and Japanese Nationalist Organizations in the United States (1941–1945)
Abstract
In modern research on the history of the United States in World War II, it is quite popular to study the opposition of the American special services and, in particular, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to various organizations of the German and Japanese diasporas in new historical conditions. The appeal to traditional methods of historical research, comparative studies and the principles of historicism will make it possible to more accurately trace the process of tightening the counterintelligence work of the Bureau and the close connection of concerns about the involvement of public organizations in the intelligence activities of the enemy. The broadcast of nationalist ideas by various communities of Germans and Japanese under the auspices of their governments quickly attracted the attention of the FBI, which is in the process of consolidating its powers as the main US counterintelligence service. At the same time, the investigations and trials conducted by the John Edgar Hoover department following these investigations often had an openly political color and increasingly consolidated the beginning of a political investigation in this service. This practice and its implementation ran into a tough contradiction between the legal norms of America, which proclaimed "democratic values," the right to freedom of speech and the needs to strengthen the internal security of the state and society in wartime. All these processes and the associated nuances and complexities are considered on specific examples of the work of federal agents against various pro-German and pro-Japanese organizations in the period 1941-45.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):109-121
109-121
The 1954 Geneva Conference: Who Won?
Abstract
The article analyzes the 1954 Geneva Conference dedicated to the settlement of conflicts in Korea and Indochina. Despite the division of the conference participants into two camps, the motives of the delegations in each of them differed. Soviet diplomacy, led by Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, was concerned with obtaining a result that generally reinforced the peacekeeping policy of early détente. The Chinese diplomacy headed by Zhou Enlai sought to accomplish more specific tasks of creating buffers on the northern and southern flanks of the confrontation with the United States and its allies. As a result, Soviet diplomacy followed China's lead, and the option of partitioning Vietnam, first proposed by the PRC, was implemented, while the settlement of the Korean conflict was frozen. At the same time, the fate of Korea demonstrated to the participants that hopes for Vietnam's unification in the near future were illusory, yet the Vietnamese leadership nevertheless agreed to this option. Although, like their antagonists, the DRV and the DPRK played the role of junior partners, the representatives of the “great powers” took their position into account. Having weighed the disadvantages and advantages of partitioning Vietnam, the leadership of the DRV supported it. The PRC and the USSR also further improved relations with Britain and France, while the latter two went some way to isolating the more intransigent US diplomacy at the conference. As a result, the 1954 Geneva Conference was one of the major successes of the “early détente”, although it failed to create the conditions for long-term peace in Indochina.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):122-135
122-135
Berlin – Cuba: The Interrelationship of the Cold War Crises in the Strategic Assessments of the Superpowers1961–1962
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify real and potential interconnections between the Berlin and the Cuban crises in the strategic assessments of the Soviet and US leadership in 1961-1962. Author demonstrates that the contemporaries (political leaders, diplomats, military and intelligence experts of the two superpowers) saw the two, the most dangerous crises of the Cold War not as separate events but as those ones which could intensify each other. Essay is based on the variety of published and archival evidence on the Soviet and U.S. estimates made in 1961–1962. Article concludes that Moscow and Washington judged the Berlin and the Cuban Crises as interrelated in many ways. The Kremlin, being vigorously determined to solve the “Berlin question” before August 1961, changed the tactics after the construction of the Wall and tried to use the situation around the West Berlin as a means to camouflage the Soviet actions in regard to Cuba. For the White House, the August 1961 wasn’t the clear termination of the Berlin Crisis. In 1961–1962, there were numerous voices in Washington which speculated that USSR didn’t abandon its attempts to force the Western troops out of Berlin. For a long period of time, the U.S. decision-makers regarded the “Cuban question” through the lens of the Berlin one. Though the relationship between Berlin and Cuban Crises didn’t materialise, it influenced seriously the strategic estimates of the superpowers and, through the estimates, made an impact on the Soviet and U.S. actions at the height of the Cold War.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):136-150
136-150
The Chilean Revolution and the USSR: Salvador Allende Viewing from the Offices of the CPSU Central Committee
Abstract
The Chilean Revolution, which began with the rise to power of Salvador Allende in 1970 and dramatically ended with a military coup d'état and the death of the Chilean President on 11 September 1973, is one of the most significant events of Latin American history in the twentieth century, This revolution had an enormous international resonance, particularly on the political left, arousing wariness in the countries of genuine socialism, above all in the USSR, and hope among the European left, which believed in the success of the cause of socialism under conditions of freedom, democracy, and political pluralism. The person of Allende embodied the principles of the “Chilean way to socialism”, loyalty to democracy and freedom. President Allende was at the centre of attention of all world powers, including the USSR, which watched the socialist experiment in the most distant country in Latin America with keen interest. For Moscow, the ideas, political practice and personal characteristics of the Chilean leader were of great importance in determining both state and party-political policy towards the Chilean experiment. This point of view was not voiced publicly, but had a significant influence on decision-making in Moscow. In this study, the author seeks to reveal the evolution of the attitudes towards Salvador Allende on the part of the Soviet party-state apparatus, drawing on documents of the CPSU Central Committee.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):151-164
151-164
Modern history
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Defining the Model of Arab Statehood
Abstract
The authors explore the genesis and peculiarities of the Saudi political system, considered as one of the statehood models that emerged in the Arab world in the twentieth century and is experiencing its crisis in the 2010s–2020s. They use a hybrid methodology that combines History and Political Sciences. This combination allows them to trace the genesis and evolution of the political system in the long-term retrospective. The sources for the historical part of the article include diplomatic documents from the USSR and Saudi Arabia that describe Ibn Saud’s measures to form the institutes of political administration in the Kingdom and its administrative territorial structure. Drawing on these documents, in the politological part of the article, the authors identify three clusters of elements of the Saudi political model: universal, which has parallels in the history of various states, Arab-Muslim, corresponding to the respective political culture, and specifically Saudi. The authors provide other examples when the aforementioned elements of statehood played a system-forming role and demonstrate the peculiarities of the Saudi mix of traditional and contemporary statehood elements. They propose to introduce the notion of a specific Arab model of the multi-component genesis of the state and show how such genesis influences the further development of the political system.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):165-179
165-179
The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia: History and Prospects for Development
Abstract
The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia, by its very existence, demonstrates an attempt to resolve territorial disputes in the Horn of Africa over the past two decades. Ethiopia and Somalia lay claim to the territory despite the fact that it is peripheral to both nations. Nevertheless, it is located at the centre of the Somali Peninsula, at the crossroads of trade routes from the hinterland of North East Africa to seaports, at the crossroads of Christian and Islamic civilisations. The formation of the Somali Regional State was made possible after Ethiopia became a federal state in 1994, when the rights of ethnic Somalis living in the eastern part of the country were redefined. The article provides an overview of the historical background of the Ogaden and analyses the problems inherent in its being part of federal Ethiopia. The uneasy relationship between the region and the modern Ethiopian state demonstrates that ethnic federalism, in the absence of developed democratic mechanisms, generates a number of contradictions between different peoples who, under a federal system, are entitled to, or at least hope for, legitimate representation in the central government. The interest of Soviet and Russian scholars in the “Ogaden problem” was mostly limited to the Cold War period, when two states tried to resolve territorial disputes by waging war with both sides receiving military support from the Soviet Union. Nowadays the question of effectiveness of ethnic federalism within Ethiopia is more in the focus of research. In the article the author analyses the main stages of the creation of the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia and offers some ideas for future studies of the Region.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):180-192
180-192
Analysing original documents
De Officio Boni Regis Aphorismus: On the Publication of Juraj Križanić's “Politics”
Abstract
The life and work of the encyclopaedist, Catholic priest, propagandist of the Slavic idea, Croatian Juraj Križanic (c. 1618–1683) have received considerable attention in historiography. Almost the most popular in his vast creative legacy is the treatise “Razgowory ob wvladatelystwu” (“Discourses on Government”), known in literature under its conventional name Politika (“Politics”). Its text, written partly in the “pan-Slavonic” language (Ruski jezik) invented by the author, partly in Latin, was initially partly (three-fifths) published in 1859–1860 by Pyotr Bessonov. In 1965, the first third of the manuscript was republished and translated into Russian. At present, Russian historiography considers it as a complete edition of the entire treatise, although for a decade and a half numerous attempts have been made to bring into the academic circuit the unpublished part of the manuscript, kept in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, in the form of quotations and excerpts accompanied by a translation. This publication contains the original text and the first Russian translation of the Latin chapter “On the Duties of a Good King”, which precedes the entire manuscript and survives only in photocopy, as well as the author's analysis of it. In this fragment, Križanic 's basic ideas about the principles of good government are reproduced in a concise form as a commentary on the story of the biblical King Solomon. The text illustrates the ambiguity of its author's views (dislike of foreigners, idealisation of autocracy and, at the same time, radical criticism of tyranny) and sheds light on the intent of the whole work.
Novaâ i novejšaâ istoriâ. 2023;(6):193-205
193-205
Reviews
206-209
209-211
Academic life
212-215