No 6 (2025)

The article presents the perspective of French diplomats on the evolution of relations between the USSR and the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria in the late 1960s and the first half of the 1970s. Despite Algeria gaining independence from France in 1962, Paris continued to view the young Arab country as within its sphere of interest and closely monitored the growing influence of Moscow in Algeria. The author consistently shows that the foundation of Soviet-Algerian relations was cooperation in the military sphere. Algeria was one of the African countries where Soviet military specialists worked on a permanent basis. Algerian military personnel, including the officer corps, underwent military training in the USSR. Moscow carried out large-scale arms supplies to Algeria. The article is based on documents from the French Foreign Ministry archives, a significant portion of which is introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time. It mainly concerns diplomatic reports and analytical notes prepared at the French embassy in Algeria. A notable intensification of Soviet-Algerian relations occurred in the mid-1970s in connection with the escalation of the conflict between Algeria and Morocco over Western Sahara and the onset of the Angolan conflict. The scale of Soviet arms supplies to Algeria significantly increased during this time. However, in the economic sphere, the USSR noticeably lagged behind Western countries in the competition for the Algerian market, which initially had stronger positions in the region and remained the main buyers of Algerian hydrocarbons. Overall, under conditions of limited economic capabilities, the USSR pursued a cautious and pragmatic policy in Algeria. The skillful use by Moscow of the mistakes made by Western countries with respect to Algeria, as well as the successful work of Soviet mass media in Algeria, allowed the Soviet Union to gradually develop its relations with the young Arab country.

This study examines how the specific principle of personnel selection for the reformist government influenced the development of Russia's "shock therapy" program in 1991. This principle was presented as technocratic, implying that individuals were chosen for managerial positions based on professional merit rather than political affiliation. In reality, the team of reformers was united by the idea of a rapid transition to a market economy, intended to lead the country out of an economic crisis. The research attempts to assess the administrative and managerial consequences of appointing a team of external specialists and the role of their economic views in designing the program of economic transformation. The theoretical framework aims to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of this personnel approach in forming government structures. The study employs formal logic and relies on a set of general scientific (analysis, synthesis) and historical (historical-legal and historical-systemic) methods. Its scholarly novelty is determined by the problem's formulation and the introduction of previously unused sources into academic discourse. An analysis of administrative documents, memoirs, and media materials has revealed significant internal processes and relationships within government structures and the professional community. It is shown that in recruiting personnel for the administrative and intellectual support of the reform, Gaidar could rely only on a relatively small number of research institutes and a narrow group of foreign advisors. The subsequent course of developing and implementing the reforms intensified conflict between the government team and the professional community, leading to the ideological isolation of the reformers. The associated labor shortage necessitated a focus on the most critical aspects of "shock therapy." Efforts to control its implementation were hampered by a lack of administrative-managerial experience, time, attention, and coordination between the government's economic bloc and other state bodies. While the ideological cohesion of the small circle of reformers facilitated the implementation of economic transformations amidst large-scale resistance, it simultaneously hindered the construction of a market economy in its intended form.

The subject of the research is the characteristics of Soviet-Estonian relations in connection with the problem of ensuring the security of Northwestern Russia during the interwar period. Throughout the 1920s, the Soviet leadership regularly proposed to Estonia to discuss the issue of concluding a bilateral non-aggression pact (or "guarantee treaty," as this project was referred to until 1932), as well as ensuring mutual neutrality. The results of the Locarno Conference of 1925, which did not guarantee the borders of Germany's eastern neighbors, made this issue particularly important for the security of the northwestern borders of the Soviet state. On November 28, 1923, a draft of the relevant "guarantee" agreement was sent to the Estonian government through the Soviet envoy in Estonia, L.N. Stark. In May 1926, the Estonian government officially expressed its agreement with the USSR's proposal to conclude this treaty. However, due to pressure on Estonia from Poland, official negotiations only began in October 1926 and were accompanied by serious difficulties. As a result, in June 1927, the negotiations were interrupted. The Estonian side would only propose to resume them in December 1931, which took place on January 20, 1932. During the work, the author relied on a wide range of published and archival sources on the studied issue. The research employed the method of diachronic analysis and the historical-comparative method. The scientific novelty of the presented work lies in the systematic analysis of key aspects of Soviet-Estonian relations in the 1920s and 1930s, related to the issues of ensuring regional security in Northwestern Russia. The conclusion drawn is that the development of Soviet-Estonian relations occurred against the backdrop of increasing military-political tension in Europe, which directly affected the bilateral relations between the USSR and Estonia during the studied period. After the failure of the Eastern Pact idea, the danger of Nazi expansion to the east and northeast, including through the Baltic states, increased. In these conditions, taking into account the entire set of analyzed factors, the content of Soviet foreign policy towards Estonia changed.

The subject of this research is the archaeological collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R.G. Kuzeyev of the Ural Federal Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2026. The focus of the study is the history of its formation through collections compiled as a result of archaeological field research (excavations and surveys) conducted in the Southern Ural region. The aim of the research is to systematize and summarize all available information about the history of the formation of the archaeological fund of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography from the founding of the museum to the present day. Special attention is given to the contributions of all Soviet and Russian archaeologists whose research has resulted in valuable materials on the history of the Southern Ural region from the Paleolithic era to modern times being deposited in the storage facilities of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography. A comprehensive approach was employed in the study, based on archival, historical-comparative, and quantitative methods. For the first time, based on existing literature, data from the Scientific Archive of the Ural Federal Scientific Center, and internal museum documentation of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, the history of the formation of its archaeological fund has been examined, starting from the museum’s founding in the 1970s to the present day. The names of all researchers and archaeologists who contributed to its formation have been indicated. For the first time, information about the peculiarities of the replenishment of the fund from 2000 to 2020 has been introduced into scientific circulation. It has been established that until the end of the 20th century, the museum primarily received archaeological collections from employees of the Institute of Language and Literature History, while from the beginning of the 21st century, the main source of new acquisitions has been researchers from the Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R.G. Kuzeyev.

The subject of the research is the state-confessional relations in historical sources. The object of the research is the liberal political parties of Russia in the early 20th century, as well as historical sources on the formation of their ideology and practical activities, such as legislative acts of the Russian Empire, party documents (programs, protocols of congresses and meetings of the Central Committee, etc.), stenographic reports of meetings of the State Duma of the Russian Empire, documentation of religious organizations (primarily the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as Muslim and Roman Catholic communities, as the three most numerous confessions in the state), personal sources, and materials from the archives of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus (in particular, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the State Archive of Vitebsk Oblast, and the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Belarus). The author employed problem-chronological and historical-comparative research methods. The problem-chronological method allows for the demonstration of the development of specific historical processes over time. The application of the historical-comparative method helped to identify the commonalities and differences in historical sources on the thematic problem. The relevance of the research topic is determined by the theoretical and practical significance of the ideological and theoretical views and practical activities of Russian liberals in the early 20th century concerning state-confessional relations. It is also driven by the growing public interest in religion and the church. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the author's examination of the extent to which issues of state-confessional relations are reflected in the ideology and activities of Russian liberal parties in the early 20th century through the lens of both political and church history. After reviewing the information on historical sources related to the stated problem, one may arrive at the following conclusions. A comprehensive analysis of various types of historical sources allows for the construction of an objective picture of reality that reflects issues of state-confessional relations in the theory of Russian liberalism and in the practical activities of liberal political parties in the early 20th century. Furthermore, the source base enables the formation of an understanding of the positions of representatives of both all-Russian and national liberal parties, primarily Tatar (Muslim) and Polish (Roman Catholic), regarding the relationship between the Church and the state in the pre-revolutionary period of Russian history.

The article presents the results of a comprehensive study of one of the monuments of the Russian old-settler population of the Tobolsk Priirtyshya — the village of Shishkina on the Tobol River. Since this territory is one of the key areas in the exploration of Siberia, its study is considered relevant. At the same time, the history of Russian settlements in Tobolsk Priirtyshya has been insufficiently studied, which hampers a detailed characterization of the historical and cultural features of the region as a whole. The village of Shishkina is first mentioned in written sources from the early 17th century, and at present, it has almost completely ceased to exist. Due to the fragmentary nature of the information about the settlement, a comprehensive picture of the emergence and development of Shishkina has been absent until now. The conducted research aimed to fill this gap. A comprehensive approach was used in the study of Shishkina, drawing on various sources. Data from written and cartographic sources were utilized. The geomorphology of the Tobol River section was studied, along with its influence on the natural boundaries of agricultural lands. The data from archaeology allowed for an assessment of the material culture of the examined village. The research conducted showed that even small rural settlements, such as Shishkina, contain valuable information about the history of Siberian exploration, transport infrastructure, social composition, and everyday culture of the old-settler population of Tobolsk Priirtyshya. The comprehensive approach, which combined written and archaeological sources, not only made it possible to more fully reconstruct the history of a particular settlement but also to gain a deeper understanding of the features of land development, socio-economic processes, and everyday life of Russians in Siberia from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. Despite the relatively small volume of archaeological work, which does not allow for generalized conclusions about the peculiarities of the material culture of the residents of Shishkina, preliminary conclusions can be formulated. Although this settlement appeared quite early, in the early 17th century, and was an important point on the Moscow-Siberian tract near Tobolsk, this did not serve as an impetus for the growth of its residents' prosperity.

The publication examines the formation of the image of Swedish Livonia in the accounts of foreign authors from Western Europe who visited the region in person in the second half of the 17th century. During the period of Swedish dominance and the abolition of the old English privileges of the Muscovy Company, the Baltic region increasingly attracted the attention of the English and Dutch. Thanks to the accounts of Patrick Gordon, a Scottish officer in Russian service, and participants in the Earl of Carlisle's embassy to the courts of the Russian, Swedish, and Danish monarchs, it is possible to reconstruct the general perceptions of English subjects of Sweden's Baltic possessions. These accounts correlate with the accounts of Dutch diplomats who visited Swedish Livonia during the same period. Having visited the province, the authors compiled vivid and pithy descriptions not only of everyday life on the road and the region's natural environment, but also their thoughts on the customs of the local population, the prospects for trade development, and the defense capabilities of Swedish Livonia in the face of its eastern neighbor. A comparative analysis, by comparing the accounts of English and Dutch authors, allows us to create a relatively coherent image of the Swedish possessions in Livonia, as they were seen in Britain and the Republic of the United Provinces during the period of Swedish great power. The Baltic possessions of the Swedish crown are presented as a region that is relatively backward and unpopulated, but not without natural resources. The defenses of Swedish Livonia are weak, with Riga serving as the main fortress, simultaneously serving as the main center of trade and Swedish dominance in the region. It is Riga that the English and Dutch perceive as a truly European city, compared to the poor, semi-wild, and barbaric province. Despite the devastation of the Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658, the region quickly recovered. However, it clearly lacks the attention it deserves, with road infrastructure development, the modernization of fortresses, and the construction of new fortifications neglected. The local population was subjugated by the Swedes and even economically leaned more toward the neighboring Russian state.

The Russian Federation is a maritime power for which the history of the Navy is of great importance and inseparable from the history of the state. Throughout the development of the Russian Navy, the creation and use of ship models has contributed to the effectiveness of maritime activities. This article examines the use of ship models in national practice – in shipbuilding, training of naval personnel, as well as in matters of patriotic education and the preservation of maritime historical and cultural heritage. This study is relevant, firstly, due to insufficient coverage of this topic in historical science, secondly, due to the significance of naval activities for the country as a whole, and thirdly, the importance of preserving the material and historical heritage of the Russian Navy. The purpose of this work is to identify the significance of ship models for the Navy. The subject of the study is to determine the role and place of ship models in the history of the Russian Navy. An analysis of specialized literature and a study of archival documents revealed that ship models accompanied the formation and development of the Russian Navy throughout its entire existence. The study utilizes traditional historical research methods: the principle of historicism, historical typology, and historical comparative methods. As a result of this study, the author presents for the first time a modern understanding of the importance of ship models for the Russian Navy. The significance of this work lies in the fact that the results obtained through analysis and generalization allow a wide range of historians and museum specialists to expand their understanding of ship models, qualitatively improve their application in science, education, and upbringing, and utilize such objects as historical sources on the history of shipbuilding, the Navy, and museum studies. The author concludes that ship models played a significant role in the history of the Russian Navy, made a significant contribution to shipbuilding, were widely used for training personnel for the Russian Navy, organically integrated into the system of patriotic education, and can be useful in the current stage of its development.

The research is devoted to technical aspects of the formation of the Russian hydropower industry using the example of the history of the construction and operation of the "Bely Ugol'", one of the first hydroelectric power plants in pre-revolutionary Russia. The station was designed to provide electricity to the resort towns of the Caucasian Mineral Waters. This project was implemented in 1901–1903 by "Siemens and Galske". The authors consider the history of the development of the technical project and the construction of the Bely Ugol hydroelectric power station. Special attention is paid to the role of technology transfer in the development of energy engineering, construction and operation of hydroelectric power plants in Russia. The research is based on the materials of the Mining Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, stored in the Russian State Historical Archive, as well as on published sources. The authors rely on methodological approaches of science and technology studies, focusing on the relationship between technological and economic development of the region. The analysis of the revealed materials showed that during the operation of the "Bely Ugol'" station, significant design and constructive flaws were revealed, made by "Siemens and Galske" engineer S. M. Friedman. The successful elimination of the technical problems was the merit of the Russian electrical engineers M. A. Chatelain and P. D. Voynarovsky. It is noted that a comprehensive technical adaptation of the "alien" project to Russian conditions was carried out. The parallel connection of the Pyatigorsk HPP and the CHP into a single energy system has become a vivid testimony to the high level of the Russian engineering school. The authors conclude that the "Bely Ugol'" hydroelectric power station played a significant role in the development of hydropower in Russia in the early twentieth century.

The object of study is the evolution of Soviet historiography and the main driving factors during the specified chronological period, while the subject is the scientific contribution of domestic historians to the understanding of the processes of collectivization and "dekulakization" in the western regions of the USSR. The aim is to identify the key factors in the development of Soviet historiography on this topic, as well as their impact on the content of research and the scientific achievements of Soviet historians. The author examines in detail the evolution of themes and assessments compared to the preceding period, as well as the contradictions in the evaluations of collectivization and the statistics on the maturation of preconditions and the pace of collectivization in Western regions and republics. Special attention in the article is given to the specific factors influencing the development of historiography on post-war collectivization, under-researched topics, and the reasons for the persistence of little-explored issues. The analysis of Soviet historiography of post-war collectivization employs methods of periodization and a genetic approach to determine the nature of changes in historiographical positions and assess the degree of their influence; a systemic comparative analysis is used to compare the thematic development of research; as well as a problem-chronological method combined with the principle of historicism to structure the obtained results. The scientific novelty is due to a comprehensive study of the dynamics of Soviet historiography on post-war collectivization through the lens of modern concepts of the school of V. P. Danilov, which studied the collectivization of the 1930s. The author draws several conclusions. During the examined period, a significant number of documents were published, expanding the source base. Within ideological frameworks, Soviet historians were able to study in more detail the preconditions and mass post-war collectivization. Historians differentiated the measures applied to kulaks into economic actions and "dekulakization." For the first time, the number of kulaks by regions and those exiled to the PMSSR was provided, along with cautious critical remarks about the immaturity of the preconditions for collectivization. The methods of kulak resistance were studied in greater detail, and doubts were raised about the necessity of "dekulakization" due to the small number of kulaks in the PMSSR. A special contribution of the article's author is the examination of the specific factors affecting the development of the Soviet historical paradigm based on works about post-war collectivization, highlighting the contradictions in statistics and ideological settings. The results of the research can be applied in the scientific study of the evolution of Soviet historiography, as well as for educational and enlightening purposes.

The article is dedicated to the history of the study of settlements of the Middle Bronze Age in mountainous Dagestan. Researching these settlements will shed light on issues of local specificity and the patterns of cultural-historical, socio-economic, and ethno-cultural development in areas with a high intensity of contact among various cultures. The article focuses on the historiography of the study of Middle Bronze Age settlements in the mountainous Republic of Dagestan, highlighting stages of research and summarizing the results. The first stage – pre-Soviet – from 1880 to 1917; the second stage – from 1918 to 1941; the third stage – from 1945 to 1951; the fourth stage – from 1951 to 1973; the fifth stage – from 1974 to 1991; the sixth stage – from 1992 to 2024. There are prerequisites for a detailed study of Bronze Age settlements in mountainous Dagestan. These are based on significant materials obtained and comparative data from other regions of Dagestan and the Caucasus. A large amount of material has been accumulated from settlements and cemeteries. An important circumstance is the presence of substantial research in the archaeology of Dagestan and the Caucasus, the data of which are analyzed in the article. The article analyzes perspectives on issues related to the study and interpretation of materials from Middle Bronze Age settlements in mountainous Dagestan. In summary, it should be noted that domestic monuments of Dagestan have been studied variably. Among the settlements in the mountainous region, the Upper Gunib and Irganay No. I settlements stand out due to the scale of research. The materials from the Upper Gunib and Irganay No. I settlements are a valuable source for studying the local culture, but unfortunately, they require summarization and complete publication. To fully address the issues related to the study of settlements from the Middle Bronze Age, new explorations and large-scale excavations are necessary. The settlements in mountainous Dagestan remain relatively poorly studied, particularly in Southern Dagestan, which remains a blank spot on the archaeological map of Dagestan. There is a pressing need to conduct large-scale excavations of settlements from the Kayakent-Khorochoyev culture.

The article examines the views of Spanish administrators in the 18th century regarding the transformation of the colonial administration system. The development of reform projects for overseas policy began in the 1720s and actively evolved in the 1740s during the Anglo-Spanish War over the Asiento from 1739 to 1748. In the opinion of bureaucrats, the main tool for reform was administrative activity, and the key figure in this process was the administrator. The purpose of this work is to reconstruct the characteristics of the new manager in Spanish America. The report analyzes three so-called colonial treatises from the 1720s to 1740s – “A General Representation of the State of the Royal Treasury” from 1725, “A New System of Economic Management for America” from 1743, and “Secret Reports on America” from 1748 – which describe the problems of the crown's possessions in the New World. By utilizing the method of the Cambridge School of intellectual history, it is possible to determine the common views of members of the Spanish administration regarding the necessary characteristics of the ideal administrator in the governed overseas territories. The use of historical sociology and postcolonial imagology methods allows for a comprehensive exploration of the topic, defining both the image and character of power and the rulers themselves. The novelty of this study lies in the use of materials from “A General Representation,” a little-studied source in modern domestic and foreign historiography, as well as the identification of new aspects and themes in the well-known work “A New System.” The examination of assessments of American administrators’ activities allows for the identification of new requirements for the administrator: concerning their social status, skills, duties, and ethos. Additionally, the criteria for selecting candidates for colonial positions at various levels are analyzed. Based on this, a conclusion is drawn about the evolution of qualitative requirements for the representative of metropolitan interests in the colonial environment: concerning the existence of estate restrictions and elements of vassal ethos on one hand, and the crown's striving for professionalization of the administration in the New World on the other.

The main source for the article is the travel notes of the official of the regional administration of the Yakut region, D.I. Melikov, compiled during his review of the northern districts in 1893. The territorial framework covers the Northeast Siberia, part of the Arctic Circle. The relevance of this research is determined by the ongoing broad interest in the history of the Arctic regions of Russia. Personal sources represent a valuable and unique layer of historical information. Such interest contributes to a deep study of the region and expands the understanding of its historical and cultural heritage. Melikov's notes contain impressions of the nature of the northern region, characteristics of local officials, Cossacks, priests, and indigenous people, the occupations of the northern peoples, descriptions of the animal world, as well as ethnographic notes with simple drawings. Additionally, they include brief comments on official activities. The author writes about his conversations with representatives of the northern peoples. The analysis is based on the principles of the historical method, which involves a systematic and objective consideration of the data in the context of historical-genetic, comparative, and typological approaches, allowing the identification of key features and interconnections that are essential for a multifaceted understanding of the historical process of the studied region. The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the fact that some of the information presented in the examined source has not been the subject of detailed study and is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. This source allows for the reconstruction of the past through the personal observation and impressions of an educated official, containing information that was not recorded in official documents, such as aspects of everyday life, relationships between people, and social issues. As part of the research, a comprehensive assessment of the information contained in the source was conducted to determine its significance for cultural, social, political, and economic aspects of studying the history of the Far North. The value of this historical source is confirmed by the materials contained within it and critical remarks about the everyday life of the peoples of the Far North.