2022

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — M. M. Safonov. “AGENT OF HEKKERN” (A. A. AKHMATOVА AND N. N. PUSHKINА)

In the late 1930s A. A. Akhmatova began to work on the history of the death of A. S. Pushkin. The work continued until her death. On the eve of the death of Akhmatovа called these articles “almost ready”, but did not give them to print. This circumstance must be taken into account when evaluating these essays. E. G. Gerstein called Ahmatovа’s studies about the death of Pushkin “artistic concept” and allocated as distinctive features “the artist’s imagination”. In fact, they are artistic works that the form of a documentary study. Akhmatova based on the classical work P. Shchegolev about the last duel of Pushkin. And presented the death of the poet, which painted her poetic imagination. From this outstanding pushkinist Ahmatovа inherited hostility to the wife of the poet, who was the head of the fateful duel. The most interesting thing in this Akhmatovа’s cycle of articles is the language they have been written. Language features of this difficult time, when party and government figures one after another declared spies of foreign states.

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — A. I. Rupasov. THE NORTH-WESTERN REGIONAL ECONOMIC MEETING: PROBLEMS OF PROSPECTIVE PLANNING OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (SECOND HALF OF THE 1920S)

By the mid‑1920s, USSR industry had approached the limit of its extensive development, which inevitably placed the political leadership of the state before the most difficult problem of planning on a national scale. The authorities of the North-West region had to solve a complex of problems in planning the development of the regional economy, including the problem of slowing economic development, reduction of raw material and fuel resources of industry, elimination of commodity hunger for consumer goods, scarcity of financial influence from the central government, shortage of skilled labor, deterioration of transport infrastructure. Solving all these problems in the forward planning process was complicated by the diktat of the Centre in defining the parameters of regional economic development, and the reticence of the Centre towards the requests of regional authorities for additional funding. As a result, the process of elaboration of perspective plans turned into a fiction. In practice, planning was reduced to the coordination of rather unreliable information received by the North-Western Regional Economic Meeting from the provincial economic meetings, with the norms sent from the Centre. This practice was quickly revealed to be flawed, calling into question the very need for the existence of the North-Western Regional Economic Meeting.

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — B. N. Kovalev. THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE SOVIET STATE SECURITY: THE BATTLE OF LENINGRAD, 1941–1944

The battle of Leningrad (1941–1944) was a fierce struggle. The Soviet state security bodies were opposed by both the Nazis and their allies. The former did not always emerge victorious over the latter. This can be explained not only by the high efficiency of the Germans. The human factor played a crucial role in this confrontation: mistakes, miscalculations, individual derelictions of duty and failures of Soviet security officials. On June 22, 1943, the head of the Leningrad Directorate of the NKGB, Pyotr Kubatkin, held a training seminar for his employees. In the seminar, his deputy, Colonel Iona Ivanov, made the report “Secret agents: training and the pace of work”. It analyzed the experience gained by the KGB servicemen over the two years of the armed confrontation. Pyotr Kubatkin emphasized the following. “To make an arrest with no sufficient ground, with no adequate verification is a shame and a crime for our bodies. We should have a bare-knuckled fight with this shameful phenomenon in our ranks; we absolutely cannot put up with this crime. Our goal is to continue to work so that there are no violations of the rules”.

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — E. Yu. Skvortsova. LIBERATOR OF AUSCHWITZ GENERAL F. M. KRASAVIN: ORDER OF ALEXANDER NEVSKY DURING LIFE, REHABILITATION — POSTHUMOUSLY

The Order of Alexander Nevsky is the only one that existed (with some changes) in the times of the Russian Empire, in the USSR and in new Russia. To trace the fate of the holders of the Order and collect them in a single catalogue is a topic for a major study, which it seems will be done sooner or later. This is also required by the culture of remembrance as in the fates of the heroes one can trace the continuity of the country’s history. On the example of the fate of one of the awardees of the Order of Alexander Nevsky — General F. M. Krasavin — shows the reflection of turning events in the life of Russia.

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — P. A. Avakov. A NEW STUDY ABOUT THE RUSSIAN-TURKISH WAR OF 1710–1713 (REVIEW OF THE MONOGRAPH: ARTAMONOV V. A. THE TURKISH-RUSSIAN WAR OF 1710–1713. MOSCOW: KUCHKOVO POLE, 2019. 448 P.)

The monograph under review is a serious contribution to the study of the foreign policy and military history of Russia in the first decades of the 18th сentury. V. A. Artamonov used a large array of historical sources (primarily archival ones) and offered a number of innovative assessments and conclusions.

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — P. V. Krylov. “GET BEHIND SOMEONE ELSE’S GAME”. BOOK REVIEW: TRAVIN D. YA. WHY HAS RUSSIA LAGGED BEHIND? ST. PETERSBURG: EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY IN ST. PETERSBURG, 2021

The review analyzes a polemical book that examines the history of Russia in the Middle Ages and early Modern times in the context of modernization theory. The author of the reviewed work convincingly proves the objective reasons for the lower intensity of modernization of Russia against the background of neighboring countries.

PHJ No 4 (36) 2022 – Z.V. Dmitrieva. Mikhail Borisovich Sverdlov (1939–2022)

On April 21, 2022, Mikhail Borisovich Sverdlov, an outstanding historian, source specialist, archaeographer and historiographer, died. The scientist’s entire scientific life was connected with the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he went a long way from graduate student to chief researcher. Mikhail Borisovich was not only Russia’s leading specialist in history, Ancient Rus` and Russian historiography, but also the author of manuals on the history, theory and practice of studying the history of Russia of the 6th–13th centuries.

PHJ No 4 (36) 2022 – A.A.Yefimov. Differential approach of the Ministry of the Imperial Court to rewarding for creation of the Oreanda residence

One of the most important areas of activity for the Ministry of the Imperial Court was the creation of residence complexes for members of the Romanov dynasty. At the same time, the estates of the southern coast of Crimea rightfully occupy the second place after the capital’s palaces. However, in historiography, the problems of organizing, administering, and financing works have not been sufficiently studied, with the predominance of works of art criticism and cultural studies. The issue of determining, assigning and issuing awards and incentives to persons involved in the creation of residences is also included in this circle.

PHJ No 4 (36) 2022 – A.Yu.Stefanenko. Logging during the siege of Leningrad

The article dwells on the issues of labour organisation at forest camps during the siege of Leningrad. The extensive nature of timber harvesting has prevailed before the blockade and continued to persist during the siege. During the blockade, the city administration rejected to use only repressive methods and increased measures to motive workers by the food supply. Despite this, logging continued to be a problem due to the growing demand for wood for Leningrad industry.