Bulletin of Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. Series Russian history
ISSN (print): 2312-8674, ISSN (online): 2312-8690
Media registration certificate: ПИ № ФС 77 - 61216 от 30.03.2015
Founder: Peoples Friendship University of Russia
Editor-in-Chief: Moseykina M.N., Doctor of Sc., Full Professor
Frequency / Assess: 4 issues per year / Open
Included in: White List (2nd level), Higher Attestation Commission List, RISC, Scopus, WOS
Current Issue
Vol 24, No 2 (2025)
- Year: 2025
- Articles: 12
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/2312-8674/issue/view/21705
Full Issue
PEOPLES AND REGIONS OF THE USSR DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR
Genocide of the Soviet People in German Occupation Policy: Civilizational Perspective on the "War of Extermination"
Abstract
The authors examine the historical grounds for assessing the policy of Germany and its allies in the occupied territory of the USSR as a purposeful genocide of the Soviet people. The key research method in-volved correlating empirical material of mass atrocities and plans of the Nazis with the definition of genocide as outlined in the “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. The novelty of the problem consists in the assertion of the thesis that the genocide against the Soviet people should be considered an integral issue to the civilized international community. The article presents arguments for the expediency and reliability of recognizing the genocide not only in ethnic, but also in civilizational terms. The approaches formulated in the article could potentially contribute to the adoption of a legal provision recognizing the genocide of the Soviet people and holding those responsible accountable at the legislative level of the Russian Federation.



857th Artillery Regiment of the 316th Rifle Division in the Battle of Moscow during the Great Patriotic War
Abstract
The study is devoted to the identification of the personnel of the 857th Artillery Regiment of the first formation of the 316th Rifle Division. Despite numerous macro-statistical studies and active databases dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, there are still a lot about homeland defenders of 1941-1945 which re-mains unknown. In order to fill these gaps, the authors place emphasis of their research on the unit of the 316th Rifle Division formed in Alma-Ata, with people enlisted from the Central Asian Military District. The methodological approach included the cross-textual and discourse analysis of the regimental and divisional documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and a comparison of the obtained materials with the scientific literature conclusions on the military actions during the Battle of Moscow in 1941. The research result is the comprehensive reconstruction of the organization, equipment, and duties of the personnel of the 857th Artillery Regiment. The data were divided into those set by the Red Army’s table of organization and the actual figures on the ground, data which allowed the authors to observe dynamic changes during military actions. The research yielded important clarifications in the make of the 857th Artillery Regiment’s personnel and battle routes and it sets the groundwork for further study of the action of larger military units.



Armenian Pilots’ Contribution to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War
Abstract
The authors present for the first time the contribution of Armenian pilots to the common victory in the Great Patriotic War and is based mainly on the basis of newly discovered archival documents. Along with representatives of other peoples of the Soviet Union, thousands of Armenian pilots fought in the Red Army Air Force. More than a thousand of them distinguished themselves in the air battles for the Baltics, the Black Sea region, and other regions of the USSR and were awarded orders and medals. Many Armenians held high positions in various units of the Red Army Air Force. Sergei Khudyakov (Armenak Khanferyants, the Hero of the Soviet Union) was the commander of the 1st, then 12th Air Army, Sergei Sardarov was the commander of the 123rd Air Division, Rafael Kaprelyan was the commander of the 89th Air Transport Regiment (the Hero of the Soviet Union). In total, 14 Armenian pilots were awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and Nelson Stepanyan was awarded twice hero of the Soviet Union.



History of the Jewish National Military Unit Project as part of the Red Army in 1942-1943
Abstract
During the Great Patriotic War, over fifty national military units were formed as part of the Red Army. In addition, military units were composed of foreign citizens. Based on documentary sources, the article examines the history of the unrealized project of forming a Jewish Army in early 1943. The analysis is based on the set of documents revealed by the author in the fund of the Chief Directorate for the Formation and Staffing of Troops (Glavupraform) of the Red Army in the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The article examines the peculiarities of Soviet Jews’ position in the Red Army, associated with their high representation among the commanding staff. From the beginning of the war, the Jewish public debated the formation of a Jewish military unit as part of the Red Army. This issue was close to realization only once. The appeal of a serviceman, G.L. Zilberman, was received by E.A. Shchadenko, the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, who on January 15, 1943, prepared a draft resolution of the State Defense Committee for the formation of a force. The article examines the circumstances of the preparation of this document and analyzes the reasons why it was not implemented.



Soap as a Product of the Food Industry in the Blockaded Leningrad: Production and Existence in 1941-1942
Abstract
The authors discuss the problems of functioning of soap factories in the conditions of the siege of Leningrad, representing the perfumery and cosmetics industry of the food industry. Attention is paid to the range of products manufactured by enterprises, the peculiarities of the raw material base. The conditions that provoked the decline in production, the deterioration of product quality and the narrowing of the range of manufactured goods have been studied. Attention is focused on the search for fat substitutes and the use of the company's equipment to open new areas of activity that take into account the circumstances of wartime. The interaction of the USSR Drug Food Industry and the special commission of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on food supply of Leningrad in connection with the supply of food raw materials and foodstuffs to the blockaded city is analyzed. The intention of the central government bodies to include household soap in shipments of food products to ensure timely card delivery to the population and replenishment of supplies has been revealed. And also to send railway trains with vegetable oil to Leningrad to create raw materials for soap-making enterprises. The article considers the practices of household detergents and attempts by the population to use soap as an exchange tool to expand the food ration. The features of personal hygiene of blockade runners in conditions of acute shortage of detergents and interruptions in the work of baths are characterized. The conclusion is made about the progressive difficulties in maintaining soap production in the conditions of the blockade of the city. Despite the efforts of the management of enterprises to find substitutes for raw materials and change technological processes, the complete exhaustion of even conditionally suitable materials for soap production could not allow the restoration of detergent production with the start of electricity supply to plants.



Schools of the RSFSR North-West under Occupation of 1941-1944
Abstract
The authors analyze the Nazi occupation policy in the field of education in the north-west of the RSFSR. The work is based on the documents from central and regional archives (the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents of St. Petersburg, the Central State Archive of St. Petersburg). The authors used the documents and materials of the Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of the Atrocities of the German Fascist Invaders and Their Accomplices, as well as clerical documents of the partisans and documents related to the activities of the occupation administration in the field of school education. Among the sources used are the documents and memoirs published in various collections. The author within their work shows: the reduction in the number of schools and students in the region, changes in the content of curricula, the measures of the occupying authorities towards teaching staff, and the problems of organizing the educational process. The authors note that the Nazi occupation policy in the field of school education was aimed at eradicating the Soviet ideology from the educational process, establishing total control over the younger generation, as well as educating children and adolescents as workers for Germany. The authors conclude that it was not possible to establish a full-fledged educational process in the north-west of Russia under occupation for many reasons: the large amount of left-out of students, the actions of partisans, a lack of teaching staff, educational literature and school supplies, and few appropriate premises. In those years children and adolescents suffered from hunger, deprivation, and deaths of relatives; many of them had no opportunity to attend school.



Kolomna Machine-Building Plant during the Great Patriotic War: Defense and Civil Production
Abstract
The authors examine the activities of the Kolomna Machine-Building Plant during the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War. The authors show the process of rapid restructuring of the enterprise for defense production, including the production of armored hulls for the T-60 tank, platform wagons for 25 mm and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, Katyusha rocket launchers, artillery shells, and armored trains. The study also reveals the features of the evacuation of tank production to Kirov and the production facilities involved in the manufacturing of platform wagons for anti-aircraft guns for Krasnoyarsk in October 1941. The authors analyze the activities of the specialists, who after the evacuation of the main production facilities, remained near the frontline Kolomna to organize complete overhaul of tanks and self-propelled artillery guns damaged on the battlefield and to produce crowfeet and cast steel turret of machine-gun position for the construction of a fortified area on the probable way of the Fascist offensive on Moscow. These workers also produced metallurgical and mining equipment during the same period. The material of the article is based on: the decisions and resolutions of the State Defense Committee, archival documents from the museum of the joint stock company “Kolomensky Zavod,” the company managers’ memoirs, and other historical research. It was found that in the most difficult conditions of wartime, the specialists and equipment of the Kolomna Machine-Building Plant had become the basis for the creation of large defense enterprises in Siberia and after the liberation of Donbass - in Kharkov. The specialists who remained in Kolomna, along with some of those evacuated from Kirov and the besieged Leningrad, also managed to recover the design and production of mainline steam locomotives and medium-speed piston engines at the Kolomna Machine-Building Plant.



ECONOMIC HISTORY OF RUSSIA
Foreign Borrowings in the Design of Russian Coins of 1700-1701
Abstract
Within this research, the author considers the borrowing of decorative elements in the design of the first coins of the “European” type and their supposed foreign prototypes. From 1698 to 1704, Peter the Great carried out a large-scale reform, which radically modified the money circulation and coin production in Russia. This reform also changed the appearance of Russian coins. “New style” Russian coins had appearance of European ones (round form, denomination, date, a state emblem), but they did not copy the corresponding parameters and representational details of the foreign cointypes as a whole. All of the above, this reform allows us to raise some questions on particular borrowing from European coinage, namely: what details of coin design were adopted? Which countries were they borrowed from? The comprehensive study of the details of coin design led to the conclusion that Peter I borrowed from European coin design, along with their classic round shape and even the word “coin” itself, in addition to a number of key image details. However, when the tsar was choosing design details out of a huge number of options, he was guided by his personal preferences.



Collective Farms of Black-Earth Villages in Russia during the New Economic Policy Period
Abstract
The authors consider the problem of the development of collective farms in the villages of the provinces of the Central Black Earth Region. The peculiarities of the peasants’ perception of the new forms of agricultural production are shown with their article, and an assessment of the villages of those peasants is also given. The authors analyze the behavioral models of various social groups in villages in the course of collective farm construction. The novelty of the research consists in both its thesis and the use of materials from regional and central archives; a number of documents are introduced into scientific use for the first time. They contain information about the development of collective farms, assessments of their effectiveness by peasants, and the influence of Soviet power during the New Economic Policy (NEP) period on the activities of artels, communes and agricultural associations. The authors studied the main aspects of the collective farms’ development: their social composition, problems and dynamics of development, reasons for liquidation, and size. As a result of the study, it was concluded that in the NEP period members of collective farms of the Central Black Earth Region had conflicting interests, a conflict which affected the course of their development. At the same time, practically all categories of peasants were pessimistic towards artels, communes, and partnerships as strategies for joint cultivation of their land.



DISCUSSIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Civilization: from Hypotheses, Legends and Epics to Legal Certainty
Abstract
The author considers various tales, epics and hypotheses reflecting the ideas of different peoples about the concept of civilization, establishes historical and legal differences between formational and civilizational concepts, and provides ideas about the degree of reality of certain hypotheses. The author in their work has analyzed the reliability of contemporary information characterizing the features of ancient and modern versions of certain civilizations, in connection with the time of their appearance, features of their genesis, and the specific lower and upper frames of their existence. The author highlights the mental features of the Russian civilization, which made a significant contribution to the progress of mankind. The author comes to the conclusion that civilization has several stages of its development and Russia occupies a special place in the system of world civilizations, since it is a state within whose borders there were in turn many civilizations, a existence representing unity in diversity through common borders, a common state language, a joint system of governance with domestic and foreign policy at the prerogative of the state. The national character is expressed in the language, as well as customs, morals, culture, way of life, administrative borders, etc.



Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca and the Results of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 in Russian Historiography
Abstract
The article analyzes the viewpoint of domestic historians on the “pluses” and “minuses” of the Küçük Kaynarca peace treaty of 1774, which consolidated the place and role of Russia in the Black Sea, eliminated the dependence of Crimea on Turkey and created conditions for the transition of the peninsula under the rule of the Russian Empire. Since even today the main provisions of the Küçük Kaynarca peace remain a subject of discussion, it is important to take into account, compare and summarize the opinions of domestic researchers to obtain an objective picture of the course and consequences of peace negotiations in 1774. The work also explains the factors that influenced the authors' positions regarding the assessments of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca and its consequences, as well as the contribution of this or that statesman, diplomat or military leader to the issue of concluding a peace treaty and ending the war between Turkey and Russia. The article compares the views of Russian historians on such issues as the importance for Russia of annexing the Crimean Peninsula, strengthening its position in the northern Black Sea region and freedom of movement in the Black Sea. An analysis of the works of Russian researchers allows the author of the article to show how assessments in historical science regarding the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca changed throughout the entire period of its study, and which remained unchanged.



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