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PHJ No 4 (36) 2022 – Yu.L. Kosenkova Transformations of the hypothetical model of human in urban planning of the Soviet period

Recent decades of historical studies devoted to the everyday practices of a Soviet individual have revealed a depressing picture of a chronic discrepancy between the interests, needs and sometimes the most pressing demands of people and the nature of surrounding city environment. In the article, this situation is considered as if from the opposite side — what were the positions of the professional community of Soviet architects and urban planners who created said environment.

PHJ No 4 (36) 2022 – G.M.Ivanova. The quality of life of a Soviet person in the mid-1950s through the eyes of Finnish journalists

The article, based on materials from the TASS Bulletin of Foreign Official Information, reveals the details of the stay of a delegation of Finnish journalists in the Soviet Union in October 1954. Modern historical knowledge makes it possible to characterize the position of Finnish journalists as objective, and to recognize their assessment of the quality of life in the USSR as quite adequate.

PHJ No 4 (36) 2022 — E.Yu.Zubkova. From a “survival society” to a “consumption society”: the transformation of conditions and practices of consumption in the USSR (1940s–1960s)

The article considers the main tendencies of transformation of conditions and practices of consumption in the USSR as one of the key indicators of change of the standard of living and quality of life of the population — from the end of the Second World War to the end of the 1960s. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, statistical data and the results of sociological research, the conclusion is made about the gradual formation in the USSR of a specific, “Soviet” variant of consumption society — “society of consumption under deficit”.

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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 — Ju. Moshnik. “THE HEROIC TALE OF THE RUSSIAN ENGELBREKT”. FILM IMAGE OF ALEXANDER NEVSKY IN THE PRE-WAR FINNISH PRESS

“Alexander Nevsky” was the only motion picture of S. M. Eisenstein and the last Soviet film that was released to the public in Finland before the start of the Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War of 1939–1940. Even before the premiere in Helsinki on August 20, 1939, the Finnish press published articles about Eisenstein’s creative work and the success of “Alexander Nevsky” at the Soviet box office. After the premiere screening, critical reviews of the film were placed on their pages by all the central newspapers of the country. The interest of Finnish film critics in Eisenstein’s new picture was due not only to the outstanding artistic merits of the film, brilliant camera work and acting, but, above all, the relevance of the issues raised in the film for the modern political agenda.

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — A. N. Chistikov. THE LENINGRAD REGIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE CPSU IN THE 1960S AND 1980S: ELECTIONS AND RESULTS

Based on published and unpublished documents, the paper analyses the process and results of elections to the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU in the first half of 1960s and second half of 1970s. Relying on formal criteria proposed by Central Committee of VKP(b) in first post-war years, the author concludes about significant influence of formal approach in formation of governing party body of regional level. A degree of pre-determination increased from the first half of the 1960s to the turn of the 1970s and 1980s. In addition, a policy of quotas based on gender, job, professional, or social characteristics was put in place. At the same time, the authorities have had to respond to the demands of the times, which is reflected in particular in the clarification of educational and vocational criteria. The individual case leads to the general question: were some elements of such a policy specific to Soviet society or to the bureaucratic system of governance as a whole?

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PHJ № 2 (34) 2022 — A. I. Prokofiev. CELEBRATION OF THE 300TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PEREYASLAV RADA IN 1954: DISCOURSES OF HISTORICAL MEMORY ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRTEEN YEARS WAR 1654–1667

In 1954, the USSR celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada on the occasion of the declared allegiance of the Zaporozhian Army to the Moscow state. The anniversary was given great importance not only in the artistical, but also in the scientific life of Soviet society. Cinema, painting, literature, history, pedagogy — everything seemed to serve the cause of uniting the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. Did the concept of “reunification of Ukraine with Russia” exist before 1954 in the Soviet historical language, or was a new tradition emerging before our eyes? Which discourses did Soviet historians present when speaking about the Rada and the beginning of the war between the Moscow state and the Commonwealth in 1654–1667? The purpose of this study is to consider the language of describing the historical process in the scientific and artistical space.