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PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — K. V. Godunov. DEBATES ON CIVIL WAR DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

This article examines how the debates that took place during the First World War influenced the dissemination of the concept of “civil war” and the impact this had on the political situation of the time. Particular attention is paid to discussions within the radical socialist milieu. It is demonstrated that the proponents of the slogan advocating the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil war — first and foremost, V. I. Lenin and his supporters — acted within a specific historical and ideological context. They took into account the earlier discursive articulations of civil war as well as the experiences of socialists in other countries, particularly the rhetoric of Karl Liebknecht. Drawing on the views of prominent Bolsheviks such as A. G. Shlyapnikov, A. M. Kollontai, and N. I. Bukharin, the study shows that not all members of the party unequivocally supported Lenin’s call for civil war. Even among Lenin’s prominent allies, interpretations of the slogan varied, with differing views expressed regarding its meaning and practical implementation. Debates about the means of ending the global conflict and about the prospects for revolution and civil war were significant in several respects. During the First World War, the Bolsheviks acquired the reputation of being the “party of civil war”. This image played a major role in various anti-Bolshevik propaganda campaigns in 1917, even though in reality, not all members of the party fully endorsed Lenin’s position. Disputes surrounding the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil war contributed to the cultural preparation for internal conflict. The notion of “civil war” gained renewed momentum and expanded its reach; its articulation during the crises of the First World War contributed to the radicalisation of the political situation. These debates among socialists led party activists at various levels — regardless of their agreement or disagreement with the necessity of civil war — to engage with the idea and to participate in the development of a political language centred around violence.

PHJ № 2 (46) 2025 — E. Yu. Zubkova. «VICTORY AND THE GREAT FAREWELL»: COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND THE POLICY OF REMEMBERING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR. 1945–1965

In the Russian context, multiple memories of the war coexist, with one type forming spontaneously as a “living” experience of what was lived through, and the other emerging as the result of a targeted state project, driven by a policy on constructing memory. To what extent did the state commemorative project take into account the public demand for remembrance of the war? Furthermore, what objectives did the state memory policy pursue in creating the image of the Great Patriotic War? In what ways did this image manifest itself in various memorial formats? The present article is devoted to these and other issues of the formation of memory of the war — from Victory Day 1945 to Victory Day 1965.

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PHJ №1 (45) 2025 — E. D. Tverdyukova. “BECOMING NOT ONLY TOBACCO WORKERS, BUT ALSO AMMUNITION MANUFACTURERS”: THE LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE LENINGRAD TOBACCO FACTORY NAMED AFTER URITSKIY V. N. RUMYANTSEV TO THE V. P. ZOTOV (7.7.1942)

The published document is a primary source on the history of the 1st Leningrad Tobacco Factory named after Uritsky. It was the largest enterprise in the USSR to operate during the siege of Leningrad, supplying the city’s population and its defenders with cigarettes and tobacco. In the challenging conditions of war and blockade, smoking frequently served as means of coping with psycho-emotional distress, alleviating hunger, and acquiring a certain ritualistic significance. The factory’s activities in the initial year of the Great Patriotic War are discussed by the factory director, V. N. Rumyantsev, in a letter to V. P. Zotov, A. I. Mikoyan’s commissioner on food issues. The factory’s staff, in their efforts to substitute scarce raw materials, not only produced tobacco products but also successfully mastered the production of ammunition and medicines. The author of the letter goes on to describe his efforts to maintain the factory’s operational capacity during the first blockade winter, and characterizes the domestic characteristics of the workers.

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PHJ №1 (45) 2025 — M. D. Novikov. DEVIATIONS IN THE PROCESS OF CONDUCTING INTERNAL GOVERNMENT LOANS IN THE USSR IN 1946–1957

The present article investigates the problem of deviations during the state domestic loan campaigns of 1946–1957 in the USSR. Existing studies have not considered this subject as an independent one. To address this lacuna, an extensive array of documents from federal and regional archives was analysed. A comprehensive analysis was conducted, encompassing both positive and negative manifestations of deviant behaviour. Additionally, the study delved into the intricacies of criminal activities within the Soviet financial sector. The study revealed that deviations were caused by organisational imperfections in loan campaigns, where the state itself, by establishing a norm, prompted citizens to engage in positive deviations, using informational influence as means to this end. In instances where these measures proved ineffective, recourse was headed to methods that, while not always fully legal, did not constitute a breach of criminal law. The necessity to accomplish the designated objectives necessitated a degree of persistence from the actors responsible for implementing state directives, which can be conceptualised as deviant behaviour. Furthermore, the article provides a detailed exposition of criminal activities that were prevalent during the mass-political campaigns under scrutiny. The documents of law enforcement agencies demonstrate a variety of methods of violating socialist legality, as well as an extensive list of citizens from different socio-professional groups who resorted to criminal methods of interaction with Soviet security forces. However, these materials pay little attention to the reasons that motivated citizens to commit such acts, thereby emphasised the problematic nature of the practice of state borrowing in the USSR.

PHJ № 4 (44) 2024 – O. P. Ilyukha. ¡NO PASARÁN! METHODS OF INTRODUCING IMAGES AND SYMBOLS OF THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR INTO THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF SOVIET CHILDREN

The article elucidates the forms and methods of utilising the theme of the Spanish Civil War in the educational curriculum for schoolchildren, as developed by Soviet teachers and officially recommended. The article’s primary focus is on the channels and means of information penetration into children’s everyday lives, as well as the methods and techniques of its incorporation into the organisation of collective and individual leisure time. The collection of funds by adults to support the anti-fascist resistance, the exchange of symbolic items, regulated correspondence and other activities fostered a sense of involvement in the events in Spain, situating Soviet children on a par with Spanish teenagers who fought on the side of the Republicans. The content of the information flow transmitted by radio, film and photo documentaries, and numerous fiction publications was complemented by social, physical and intellectual activities. The creation of artistic images and various types of theatrical activities provided children with the opportunity to experiment with new behavioural models and to gain a deeper understanding of the situation in a distant country, enabling them to engage with it on a personal level. The direction of the creative initiative of schoolchildren was influenced by the strengthening of abilities to invent and inventiveness, which in turn reinforced the impact of propaganda and educational work. It is demonstrated that Spanish themes were extensively employed in the militarypatriotic education and political socialisation of schoolchildren. The impact of the “children’s segment” of the information campaign was a highly emotional response from children that surpassed expectations. The author concludes that the pervasive presence of the Pyrenees Civil War theme in the everyday lives of Soviet children contributed to the consolidation of signs, symbols and images of Spain in cultural memory and its intergenerational continuity.

PHJ № 1 (37) 2023 – Ilya N. Strekalov. The Soviet things — “characters” of our history? A review on the book: Golubev A. “‘Veschnaya zhizn’. The materiality of the late socialism”

Изучение советской истории, как показывает отечественный и зарубежный опыт науки, возможно посредством различных методологий. Историк Алексей Голубев в своей новой книге «Вещная жизнь. Материальность позднего социализма» предлагает принципиально новый взгляд на советскую (и, в частности, позднесоветскую) эпоху — через предметы материального мира, вещи.

PHJ № 1 (37) 2023 – S. L. Firsov. Reflection of the Korean War in the satirical press of the USSR (оn the example of the magazine “Krokodil” 1949–1950)

The article deals with the “ideological historу” of the first period of the Korean War of 1950–1953, which found a peculiar reflection in satirical articles and political cartoons published in the Soviet magazine “Krokodil”. The author shows the methods by which the Soviet reader was convinced that the initiator of the war was the South Korean side, led by Lee Syngman, supported by “American imperialism”.

PHJ № 1 (37) 2023 – Min Kyoung-Hyoun. Korean-Soviet relations after liberation: through the prism of Soviet-Japanese war and the rise of North Korea

The Soviet-Japanese war was of decisive importance for the people of Korea and divided it into two parts. Irresolvable contradictions between the Allies in the anti-Hitler coalition will soon lead to the creation of two independent states — the DPRK and the Republic of Korea. Features and conditions of the war and post-war period, which led to the split of a single people into two parts, are analyzed in the article. The study is based on an analysis of published and unpublished sources, including materials from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

PHJ № 1 (37) 2023 – A. I. Rupasov. Soviet-Finnish negotiations on direct air communication, 1950–1960s

As long ago as 1945 the Allied Control Commission had authorised the Finnish side to carry out regular flights with several European countries. This raises the question why this permission was not followed by direct air traffic between Finland and the Soviet Union. It was only after N.S. Khrushchev’s visit to Scandinavia in 1964 that the Soviet side gave its consent for Aero to carry out flights to Leningrad. This article analyses the long-standing Soviet-Finnish negotiations on direct air links.

PHJ No 4 (36) 2022 – N.A.Aralovets. Medical care in medical institutions of the RSFSR in the 1970s

The article mainly on archival data shows that in the 1970s the urban and rural population of the RSFSR received medical care in hospitals, outpatient clinics and clinics, dispensaries, as well as in feldsher obstetric stations. The article reveals the specifics of medical care for the population in dispensaries and feldsher obstetric stations. It is concluded that in the RSFSR, medical institutions provided the population with multifunctional medical care. However, the backlog of rural medical institutions from urban ones remained.