The article considers the activities of the Krasnoufimsk second-grade school, created in 1894 on land leased from the zemstvo by the Perm diocesan committee of the Orthodox missionary society. The history of the school reflected the complex problems of the relationship between the zemstvo and the Russian Orthodox Church in the field of public education. The active participation of the uezd zemstvo in the creation of a church-parish educational institution was due to the need to train teachers for literacy schools in Russian and Mari villages. Zemstvo members realized the importance of spreading education among the non-Russian inhabitants of the uezd, who were as important taxpayers as the Russian peasants. The church and school authorities initially allowed representatives of the zemstvo to administrate the educational institution, introducing them to the school council. However, after the two-grade school was transformed into a second-grade school in 1897, its administration structure completely changed. The school board with the participation of zemstvo representatives, which had previously been in charge of the educational institution, was abolished. The school came under the full control of the diocesan school board. The zemstvo, however, retained the allocation of a material allowance to the school in the amount of 1,240 rubles. The zemstvo members not only constantly monitored the expenditure of zemstvo funds, but also used the factor of zemstvo financing in relations with the Perm diocesan committee of the Orthodox missionary society. When in 1905 the Orthodox public organization attempted to transfer part of the funds from the income from the lease of the Missionary Field to the needs of the mission, a resolution of the zemstvo assembly followed with a threat to stop the allocation of the allowance to the school. The committee was forced to agree with the decision of the zemstvo assembly. In general, it can be noted that, despite the contradictions and rivalry between the zemstvo and the Orthodox Church for leadership in the field of education, cooperation between them was maintained. Financing of the Krasnoufimsk second-grade school from zemstvo funds continued throughout the pre-revolutionary period.
The paper analyzes the contribution made by the “Alpha” counter-terrorism unit to the fight of security agencies against domestic and international terrorism, political extremism and espionage during the Soviet period, from its formation until the collapse of the USSR. Unlike the existing publications on this issue, which are mainly memoir-journalistic in nature, it presents an academic historical account of the material based on an integrative method that allows summarizing historical experience. An analysis is carried out of the main areas of activity of the “Alpha” counter-terrorism unit from 1974 to 1991. The paper also examines the mechanism of formation of the defining functions of special forces and their use in ensuring the security of international events, identifying and arresting agents of foreign intelligence services, protecting government officials, countering internal terrorist attacks related to the seizure of buildings, air and ground transportation. The paper expands historical knowledge about the outstanding special operations of members of the “Alpha” special unit, memorializes their unprecedented feat, helps strengthen the patriotic and spiritual and moral education of Russian citizens, and demonstrates the effectiveness of accumulated experience in anti-terrorist activities to counter modern threats to Russian statehood.
The article analyzes the history of the creation of the multivolume collective book “The History of Siberia from Ancient Times to the Present Day” (Leningrad: Nauka, 1968–1969) in the context of the formation of a model for coordinating the work of Soviet historians in the 1960s. The authors of the article examine this topic from three perspectives. The first perspective concerns the question of the concept behind “The History of Siberia”. In this case, the authors study information from the oral tradition and materials from archival documents and conclude that the idea of compiling a multivolume “The History of Siberia” was first put forward in 1959 at one of the meetings of the PCON SB of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The second aspect of the problem under consideration is related to reconstructing the mechanisms for preparing the five volumes of the publication. The authors analyze a wide range of sources and compare the results obtained with similar data regarding the preparation of other multivolume publications in the USSR (in particular, “World History”). It is concluded that the main feature of the organizational model for preparing “The History of Siberia” lay in the need to coordinate the efforts of Siberian historians with their Moscow-based colleagues. Special attention is paid to the contribution of V. I. Shunkov and A. P. Okladnikov to the preparation of this multivolume work. This topic leads the authors to more complex and multifaceted questions regarding the specifics of interaction and coordination between Soviet capital and regional scientific centers in the 1960s–1970s. Finally, the third aspect addressed in the article focuses on examining the specifics of the representation of “The History of Siberia” in Russian and foreign publications.
The article analyzes large-scale processes of modernization within the domestic optical-mechanical industry during the first half of the 20th century. The study is based on a unique historical source — the transcript of a ceremonial meeting held to mark the 25th anniversary of the State Optical Institute (Gosudarstvenny’j opticheskij institute — GOI) in 1943. The paper examines in detail the key developments in the Soviet optical industry over a quarter of a century, and identifies the specific mechanisms by which the academic community adapted to the stringent demands of wartime, the difficult conditions of evacuation and the acute shortage of material and technical resources. On the basis of a thorough analysis of archival materials, the author demonstrates that by 1943, the GOI had completely transformed itself into a powerful, integrated scientific and industrial complex, which successfully ensured the USSR’s complete technological and raw-materials independence in the strategic fields of military glassmaking and defense instrument engineering. The institute’s anniversary meeting is viewed not as a formal, ceremonial event, but as a symbolic act marking the scientific and technical maturity of Soviet optics, as well as an effective institutional mechanism for interaction between fundamental science and the People’s Commissariat for Armaments. It is concluded that, during the Great Patriotic War, there was a significant increase in the influence of academic research on mass industrial production. This process not only promptly met the urgent needs of the front, but also laid a solid technological foundation for the successful fulfilment of the country’s subsequent strategic objectives in the post-war period.
The article examines the issue of legalization and the establishment of a system for registering foreign nationals and stateless persons permanently residing in the USSR during the 1920s and 1930s. The study aims to identify the specifics and dynamics of the early Soviet system of registration and migration control in relation to foreigners. The formation and development of departmental registration, the regime of stay and residence are reconstructed that makes it possible to reconstruct the actual legal status of foreigners in the USSR. The analysis is based on the study the authorities’ regulatory and legislative decisions in conjunction with the enforcement practices carried out by the OGPU — NKVD and militia. The importance of administrative departmental statistics is shown in terms of criteria for collecting and recording data, population dynamics and accumulation of information on flows, contingents and personal data. It is established that the country’s leadership demonstrated interest in obtaining expanded data on different categories of foreigners that led to the formation of a non-public departmental multilevel system for recording and monitoring their movements, thereby enabling the application of various forms of discriminatory measures and repressive practices against them. It is concluded that, in the USSR, citizenship policy was geared towards the accelerated naturalization of foreigners and stateless persons.
