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PHJ № 4 (48) 2025 — N. V. Tikhomirov “THE WORK IN THE VILLAGE IS VERY, VERY WEAK”: THE SOVIET PEASANTRY IN THE REPORTS OF STUDENTS OF THE LENINGRAD POLYTECHNIC

Previously unknown to researchers, documents containing information about the life of the Russian countryside in the conditions of Soviet modernization of the first post-revolutionary decade are being introduced into scientific circulation. The publication presents the reports of students of the Leningrad Polytechnic of Railways, prepared by them based on the results of their work in practice in the villages of the North-Western region of Russia in 1924. The records reflect various aspects of everyday life, leisure, economic relations and the mentality of rural inhabitants. These materials help to understand better the general state of the Russian peasant world during this historical period and the problems faced by the leadership of the USSR in implementing the socialist restructuring of the country. The reports reflect the contradictions that have arisen in connection with the introduction of a new taxation system, cooperative construction, the implementation of the ideas of the cultural revolution, and the training of personnel for party and Komsomol work. The publication aims to expand the scientific understanding of the participation of Soviet students in the implementation of Soviet government activities in rural areas. These reports quantitatively and qualitatively complement the existing database of sources used by historians to study the Russian peasantry in the 20th century. Their involvement in research practice will make it possible to strengthen the anthropological component of modern peasant studies and will serve as information support for scientific research in the field of rural everyday life, the everyday thinking of rural inhabitants, and contradictions in the interaction of the city and the countryside. The published materials will also be useful for clarifying the specifics of understanding the problems of rural areas by party and Komsomol activists and their tasks in solving them.

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — M. D. Novikov. RATIONALIZATION PROPOSALS OF CITIZENS ON SOVIET MASS BONDS 1946–1957 AND PROJECTS OF “PEACE LOTTERIES” AS AN ATTEMPT OF SOCIETAL INFLUENCE ON THE STATE FINANCIAL POLICY

The article examines the letters of Soviet citizens to the state authorities on the subject of changing the practice of state compulsory bonds. These letters had a specific nature of content, so their addressees designated them as “rationalization proposals”. Among the documents considered there were both letters from ordinary employees of financial bodies (mainly savings banks and financial departments of districts and regions) and letters from people in no way connected with financial structures. All of these letters were aimed at solving the problems that were of concern to citizens in connection with the implementation of Soviet internal mass bonds. They included both organizational and operational nuances, as well as the issue of bonds and the payment of winnings. Among the documents studied were proposals for additional bonds or for reformatting the existing procedure for selling and circulating government bonds. Citizens did not propose any options to stop these campaigns because they had already become part of the usual order of things, but attempts to propose any changes to the current financial policy were also unsuccessful. Writing rationalization proposals provided citizens with an opportunity to engage in a dialogue with the government. They could try to pay attention to the actual problems of the Soviet people and try to solve them not with emotional statements, but with some concrete actions. People were able to enter into a dialogue with the state, but it did not develop further. The only thing that changed during the 12 years of massive loan campaigns was the ratio and amount of winnings, but despite the existence of such proposals, their influence on the decisions taken was not decisive. The materials studied in this paper allow us to take a broader look at the practice of mass bonds and the attitude of the population of the Soviet Union to these campaigns.