bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The History of the “Parsuna”-Icon of Saint Pancratius of Tauromenia from the Collection of the State Russian Museum: Research Problems
Authors: Kazbekova Elena
Published: January 2025

Analysis of the few published sources and scientific works devoted to the icon of the Holy Martyr Pancratius of Tauromenia (Taormina) from the collection of the State Russian Museum, the identification of monuments “related” to it, the restoration of the events of the epoch of its creation and the beginning of its existence, the study of the inscription on the back of the icon and the clarification of its dating did not reveal traces of the presence of the icon and the veneration of St. Pancratius in the family of Duke Alexei Mikhailovich Cherkassky and Maria Yuryevna Trubetskoy and their daughter Varvara, married to Petr B. Sheremetev, showed the need to search in the archives, forced us to look for alternative versions of the history of its creation and the first owners. The study of related monuments, the outline of events and the connection of the Holy Martyr Pancratius with the Apostle Peter may indicate an earlier creation of the icon, at the end of the 17th — beginning of the 18th centuries, and the first owners with the name Peter. In the life of A. M. Cherkassky, these names marked the Kremlin and Tobolsk periods of his family’s history: that was the name of his elder brother, who died in Siberia, married to the daughter of Boris A. Golitsyn, as well as two (?) Alexei Mikhailovich’s own sons from his first marriage to A. L. Naryshkina. The version that the icon could have belonged to the family of his elder brother, Peter, is confirmed by the presence in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin of another icon depicting St. Pancratius (“The Lord Sabaoth with the saints”), the patronal list of which partly correlates with the names of the Cherkassky-Golitsyn-Musin-Pushkin’s family.
Demarcation of the Russian-Polish Border in 1634—1637: “How the Old Residents Led”
Authors: Stepanova Iuliia
Published: January 2025

This work is a continuation of the study by the author of the historical geography of the Upper Depression and Upper Volga of the 16th — 17th centuries. The article analyzes the process of land surveying of the Russian-Polish border, which took place after the conclusion of the Polyanovsky Treaty of 1634. Materials of boundary descriptions have not been published and are stored in the 79 RGADA fund. The scribe materials of Toropetsky, Rzhevsky and Belsky uezds were also involved in the work. The documents of demarcation provide the possibility of detailed reconstruction of the border in different parts and methods of its routing. In the process of delimitation, the important role was played by the local population — “old residents” who had knowledge of the old borders. During the demarcation, the old and new boundary signs were identified, such as: pits, mounds, pillars, signs on pillars and trees, kopets, furrows. As a result of the study, the Toropets and Vyaz’ma parts of the border in contact with Belaya uezd were localized. During the survey, the exchange of territories was made between Belaya and Rzheva uezds; the dispute over the volosts of the Toropets uezd, the territories of which are reflected on the maps, was resolved. The addition to the article contains the list of disputed and exchange lands included in the boundary description of the Toropets part of the border. The data obtained significantly complement the ideas about the historical geography of Belaya uezd and neighboring territories.
Medieval Parchment Isotope Mass Spectrometry in Determining Regional Features of the Old Russian Manuscripts Production in the 11th — 14th Centuries: Specifics and Limits of the Method
Authors: Ukhanova Elena
Published: January 2025

Lack of information about the origin of most Old Russian manuscripts of the 11th–14th centuries led the author to the idea of using to determine it the method of mass spectrometry of the isotope ratios of carbon δ13С and nitrogen δ15N in samples of collagen of the parchment itself and strontium δ87Sr in chalk, which was used in its production. This method has proven itself well in modern archaeological research. The parchments of 25 manuscripts stored in the Department of Manuscripts of the State Historical Museum were analyzed. The first results obtained indicate great prospects for a new direction of research. They made it possible to determine the features of the creation of individual unique codices, to reconstruct certain conglomerates of manuscripts and thereby restore the lost connections between them. The data we presented are preliminary and need clarification in the process of further research.
Contextual Analysis of the Text “The Customs of Tortosa” (1272—1279): Possibilities and Limitations
Authors: Korneeva Anna
Published: January 2025

The article discusses the possibility of using the method of contextual analysis in computational linguistics to study the Catalan code of urban law “Customs of Tortosa” (13th century). This legal monument stands out among similar collections of urban customs of the 13th — 14th centuries, firstly, by its significant volume (about 1350 articles) and, secondly, by the fact that it was originally created in the Old Catalan dialect, and not in Latin. The methodology of contextual analysis allows us to clarify the origin of individual norms of this code and the features of its compilation by legists of the 13th century. The main achievement in the application of this technique was the establishment of textual ties between the “Customs of Tortosa” and the “Usatges of Barcelona”, since in researchers most often pointed to the connection of the first monument with various versions of the “Fuero of Valencia”. At the same time, like any technique, contextual analysis has its limitations of applicability, in particular in relation to medieval texts. The purpose of the article is to identify these limitations and, taking them into account, to demonstrate how effective the method of computational linguistics can be in the study of a historical source written in the “folk dialect”, which in the 13th century was still only in its early stages of becoming a language of law and office work. The main surprise for us was that the proximity metrics for Latin insertions from separate books “Customs of Tortosa” turned out to be closer to the text of “Usatges of Barcelona”, than a number of texts with which the last set of ordinary law was traditionally compared by researchers.
The Payment Book of Bezhetskaya Pyatina of Novgorod Land as a Historical Source
Authors: Gavrilov Pavel
Published: January 2025

The article is dedicated to a fragment of the payment book of the Bezhetskaya pyatina of the late 15th — early 16th centuries. Using the method of data stratigraphy, layers of information in the document, which originate from different periods, have been analyzed. An attempt has been made to justify the fact of the scribe book by V. G. Naumov being unfinished at the time of composing the payment book, which was used as the basis for the latter. The text of the source formed three types of abbreviated records based on the relevance relative to the intermediate version of the scribe book: reproducing the text, updating information about changes in the endowment lands at the time of composition, and updating information about lands in all funds with annotations in the margins some time after composition. The route of the scribes' movement around the mentioned pogosts-places of the Bezhetskaya pyatina has been reconstructed. In the north-western territory of the pyatina, the text of the payment book leads the reader in a “loop” from the north-eastern part and returns to the Spassky pogost in Molodilno. After record 61, the compiler returned to describing the lands of the parish and mentioned the volost of Somino, owned by Yeremy Gavrilov, a Novgorod proprietor. After pages 327—328 and 366—375, there is a spatial gap in the listing of pogosts, and the subsequent text on pages 369, 376, 377 belongs to the south-eastern part of the pyatina. Pages describing the south-western and north-eastern parts of the pyatina have also not been preserved. The chapters-headings of the source were organized according to the same principle as the material of the scribe book of the Derevskaya pyatina of 1495/1496. This is established by observations of the mutual arrangement of ownership categories of land holdings of landowners, lords, and rural churches. The least representative in this regard are the endowment and manorial lands, due to the instability of their ownership. The data of the document were updated at different stages of working with the text, both the payment and the scribe book.
Ars Navigandi: the Forms for Producing and Passing on Knowledge among Sailors (on Materials of Latin Romania in the 14th — 15th Centuries)
Authors: Emanov Aleksander
Published: January 2025

The Author analyzes the Byzantine Periplus, Latin and Old Italian Pilots, Compass Charts and Atlases of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, Notes by Connoisseurs of Navigation Skills, so-called “zibaldone” and “taccuino” from the 14th — 15th Centuries, reconstructs the Forms for producing on new Knowledge in Science of Navigation, which has so seen explosive growth, and for learning in the Seafaring Art. The main Form of both was the living immediate Practice for Shipping. Every Ship went in the Mediterranean in the 14th — 15th Centuries had often been a Research Laboratory and School at the same Time, where on the one Hand constantly replenished, reviewed and corrected the Knowledge about Conditions on Sea, and on other Hand practiced Skills of successful Navigation Management in an iterative Process.
Ebionites and Adoptionists as Precusors of “Nestorianism”: the View of a 6th-Century Syriac “Monophysite”
Authors: Zabolotnyi Evgenii
Published: January 2025

The desire to strongly classify heterodox movements in Christianity and demonstrate genealogical connections between them was typical for the hereseological tradition not only in Byzantium, but also outside it, for example, in Sasanian Iran. Here, Simeon of Beth Arsham († 540), bishop of the Church of the East, who assessed very negatively the reception by the East Syrian tradition of an extremely diophysite Christology associated with the School of Antioch, presented his version of the genealogy of “Nestorianism”. Searching in Greek sources for the origins  and parallels of this genealogy, which seeks to connect the “Antiochene” adoptionism, primarily that of Paul of Samosata, with Judeo-Christian movements, is one of the main goals of the paper. The orientation of Simeon, as well as Severus of Antioch and Philoxenus of Mabbug, who had constructed very similar genealogies in Greek and Syriac respectively, towards a common source can hardly be doubted, which has already been convincingly shown in historiography. On the contrary, what is unexpected is the almost complete correspondence of Simeon’s scheme to the ideas which were developed in the classical hereseological treatises of Greek-speaking authors of the 2nd to 5th centuries, namely Irenaeus of Lyons, Eusebius of Caesarea, Epiphanius of Cyprus and Theodoret of Cyrus.
Marginal Notes of a Humanist: Attributing Manuscript Notes in the 1511 Edition of Vitruvius from the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts library
Authors: Anikyev Ilia
Published: January 2025

The article deals with the process of researching the marginal notes in the copy of Fra Giocondo’s 1511 edition of Vitruvius’s “Ten Books on Architecture” kept in the Research Library of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. Authors highlight the course of the studying, that led to identifying the author of the writings, the Venetian humanist Daniele Barbaro, provides classification of marginal notes, and examines individual cases of the Venetian humanist’s studying Vitruvius, in order to highlight the use of textological methods in the Age of Renaissance. Authors demonstrate as well the prospects for further study of the marginal notes in the light of this discovery.
The Origins of the Russian Bishops and the Problems of the Russian Book Culture of the 16th Century
Authors: Usachev Andrey
Published: January 2025

The article is devoted to the influence of the Russian bishops’ career and their spiritual background on the development of the book culture (mainly its elitist segment) in Russia in the 16th century. It was established that about 100 bishops took the monastic vow in the monasteries not far from where they lived. But becoming abbots and bishops they continued their careers in another regions. The article shows that not rarely they were accompanied by the monks who took the participation in the books’ production, initiated by their patrons. The removal of bishops and abbots with the persons who were close to them was connected with the relocation of monasteries’ books. The author pays much attention to supporting the connections of bishops with their alma mater or the monasteries where they lived for a long time. As a rule they made donations to these monasteries including books which were copied in the regions where they continued their careers. The research is based on the Russian central and local chronicles, the records of income and expenses, the books of donations, the acts, the sinodics and the colophons.
A Long-Standing Dispute about “Applicare”: the Union of Kreva (1385) and the Problem of the Powers of King Władysław II Jagiełło in the Polish Crown
Authors: Dziarnovich Aleh
Published: January 2025

The conclusion of the Union of Kreva (1385) between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland meant significant changes in the political space of Central and Eastern Europe. The Union of Kreva can be considered as personal. We can talk about different political and legal interpretations of the term “applicare” from the act of the Kreva Union. In the Polish Crown, this term was taken literally, which was confirmed in the act of the Union of Horodło (1413). The development of political processes led to the formation of a model of a Dynastic Union only within the framework of the Vilna-Radom Union of 1401. But what powers did the new king Władysław II Jagiello have in the Polish Crown? Even before the signing of the union, Queen Jadwiga was proclaimed and crowned king (rex). Thus, King Władysław II Jagiello could officially exercise his powers in the Polish Crown only together with Queen Jadwiga. This system can be defined as the Kreva model of the Jagiellonian Union: it was not the Gedemin dynasty that was invited to the Polish throne, but its specific representative in the person of Grand Duke Jagiello as the husband of Queen Jadwiga.
Islam in the USSR in 1979: a View from France on Soviet Religious Policy
Authors: Osipov Evgeny
Published: January 2025

The events of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1978—1979 led to a noticeable increase in interest in Europe, particularly in France, in the study of Islam and its role in the transformations that were taking place at that time. The article analyzes the French view of Soviet policy on the Islamic issue based on documents from the archives of the French Foreign Ministry. The author shows that France paid serious attention to studying the growth of the Muslim population in the USSR and the potential influence of the demographic factor on the integrity of the Soviet state in the medium term. In the analytical notes of the French Foreign Ministry, primarily the French Embassy in the USSR, it was concluded that, according to all significant socio-economic criteria, the situation with the Muslim population in the USSR in the late 1970s significantly contrasted with that which caused the events in Iran or Afghanistan, and the sharp increase in demography in the national republics did not carry centrifugal risks for the USSR. The entire Soviet policy on the Islamic issue as a whole was also assessed positively. It was noted that Moscow managed to build a system of relations between Islam and the state, in which religion even acted as a stabilizing factor for the national policy of the USSR.
Pseudoheraldry on Mamluk Coins
Authors: Elokhin Kirill
Published: January 2025

The article discusses signs depicted on the coins of the Mamluks, which had been minted for several centuries of their rule in Egypt and Syria. Some of these signs seem to be borrowed from European heraldry. Such signs could be inherited by sultan’s successors, even despite the change of dynasties. Based on this knowledge, some Western and Russian specialists believe that heraldry did exist in the culture of the Mamluks. The article provides arguments that refute this point of view. The author argues that the Mamluks had their own emblematic system, only partially similar to European heraldry, but based on completely different principles in a completely different society. Formation of this emblematic system was affected by the peculiar structure of the Mamluk state, the elitism of those who had the right to have their own emblem. As for the coins, when they were used, the signs depicted on them could serve as certain markers for use in commercial transactions. The ideology and propaganda were secondary to the economic ones.
The ARCOS Case and “War Scare” of 1927 in Soviet-British Relations
Authors: Sergeev Evgeny
Published: January 2025

The author examines the Soviet-British conflict, which was caused by the raid of the London police on the office of ARCOS and the USSR trade mission in mid-May 1927. The article covers the background, process and consequences of the search carried out by the Metropolitan police, focusing on the severance of diplomatic connections and the situation of “war scare” caused by the incident that led to the most serious crisis in bilateral relations during the twentieth century. Basing on declassified materials of British counterintelligence, as well as on the recently available documents from Soviet and British archives, including diplomatic correspondence, expert notes of both countries, private correspondence of participants and accounts of witnesses, as well as on press comments, the author concludes that the enacted police action could be explained by a complex of political and economic factors which made it inevitable, putting the USSR and Great Britain on the brink of an armed clash. It destabilized the process of the post-war international reconstruction within the framework of the Versailles-Washington world order. The material of the article aids to reconstruct the course of events in the spring and summer of 1927 from the perspective of today, emphasizing the relevance of studying the crises of the interwar period (1919—1939) for formulating the foreign policy of modern Russia.
Representation of the Virgin Mary on the Seals of the Teutonic Order in 13th — Early 14th Centuries
Authors: Baiduzh Dmitri
Published: January 2025

The seals provide new insights into the Teutonic Order's group identity. First of all, it concerns the visualization of saints as the preferred representative model of officials. Seals often demonstrate a ratio of local cults that differs from text evidence. Virgin Mary is represented in three main pictorial types: imago, historia, symbolon. Iconographic types form a hierarchy that correlates with corporate. The criterion is the presence of power’s insignia, characteristic of the high officers who elect the imago type. For Landmeisters and Landkomturs prevails historia. Symbolon is found only for Komturs. Although the Virgin Mary in most cases is represented with Christ, the “semantic” approach allows you to identify the central idea of the image.
Chance Discoveries in the Books of I. Kant: the First Lifetime Editions and Russian Translations of the Works of I. Kant in the Center of Social and Political History — a Branch of the State Public Historical Library of Russia
Authors: Novichenko Irina
Published: January 2025

The first lifetime editions and Russian translations of the works of Immanuel Kant became the object of study at the Center of Social and Political History, a branch of the State Public Historical Library of Russia. The article sequentially, in chronological order, examines the first editions of I. Kant’s works from the library’s book collections, all traces of the existence of books left by former owners and readers, as well as the first translations of these works into Russian. I. Kant’s books came to the library in the 1920s from various sources, but a significant part of them was received from the Leningrad State Publishing House. Kant’s works were in the personal libraries of V. Kuzmin, Counts Chreptowicz, Vera Zasulich, prominent Moscow lawyers. Translations were carried out by famous Russian philosophers N. Lossky, Vl. Solovyov and others. In the German edition of I. Kant’s work «Dispute of Faculties» (1793) numerous marginalia were discovered, among which it was possible to identify supposedly previously unknown autographs of I. Kant. They include the author's signature, text correction on some pages, recommendations for the reader to whom this copy was intended.
Two Coats of Arms of Bertrand du Guesclin
Authors: Tchernik Alexander
Published: January 2025

The article meditates on why, while possessing a family coat of arms, a famous French national hero of the 14th century was visualized by a different coat of arms. Naming Bertrand du Guesclin the Tenth Worthy in addition to the Nine Worthies — exemplary warriors of the Middle Ages — was one of the ideological activities of the French monarch during the Hundred Years' War. Depicting Bertrand du Guesclin not with his own coat of arms, but with the royal arms of France meant that the monarch assessed him as a victor and a hero. At the end of the 14th—15th centuries the arms became the arms of a cult hero, and later — the coat of arms of a French-born knight in the service of the French crown. The decision to bury him in Saint Denis was a further development of his cult. The metaphor of the Nine Worthies was common in medieval society as overly positive. The image of du Guesclin as the Tenth Worthy is clearly connected with the formation of French national identity; it recalls the all-French struggle with the British. Gradually, the medieval metaphor of visualization stopped working and practically disappeared by the turn of the 18th — 19th centuries.
The Inculturation and the Welsh Historical Consciousness in the Second Half of the 16th Century
Authors: Fyodorov Sergey
Published: January 2025

The article aims at inculturation process of the Welsh in a way which was facilitated by the English reformation in the second half of the 16th century. The author thinks that from the one side inculturation as a phenomenon and as a process involves an adaptation of an idea of the reformation and the reformed English church in the light of the specific Welsh cultural and historic features. From the other side inculturation underlines necessity of vernacularizing of the entire corpus of the religious literature which ensure an operation of the renewed church. The analysis is based on the “Epistle to the Welsh people” by the bishop Richard Davies (1505—1581) which introduces a first Welsh translation of the New Testament by William Salesbury (1520—1584) published in 1567. It shows how the Welsh intellectual tradition while adapting for a new circumstance utilized with masterly skills an entire complex of the Welsh legendary past in a way of proving preeminence of the old British church as well as explained a specific of the reformation process.
British Perceptions of Indigenous People Non-European World (Second Half of the 18th — Beginning of the 19th Century)
Authors: Ayzenshtat Marina
Published: January 2025

The founding of colonies overseas, the expansion of overseas trade, the trips of missionaries, travelers and adventurers led to a change in ideas about the world, are associated with meetings with the inhabitants of other continents and their diverse culture. The perception of this diversity took place within the framework of ideas about the historical development of the inhabitants of the East, America and Africa, and later Australia. In the last third of the 18th century. in public representations, the theory of the stage development of peoples was approved. Three stages stood out: savagery, barbarism and civilization. The British were confident that they had reached the stage of civilization, which was confirmed their economies, political and cultural development. People out of European world was savage and barbarous. The author thought this theory helped built model of world history, which rejected theirs culture and development.
The Colonial Policy of Great Britain in the Assessments of English Intellectuals of the 18th Century
Authors: Labutina Tatyana
Published: January 2025

Based on the works of famous intellectuals of the Enlightenment (D. Defoe, J. Swift, Halifax, Ed. Burke, Ed. Fletcher, J. Priestley, B. Mandeville etc.), the author for the first time in historical science addresses their views on the colonial policy of Great Britain in the XVIII century. Enlightenment figures who defended “land” interests (Party of Tories), criticized the actions of the authorities, since any external expansion (wars or the seizure of colonies) undermined the economic base of landowners. Supporters of “monetary” interests (Party of Whigs), approved of the policy aimed at expanding the territorial possessions of England, became initiators of projects to improve the army and navy, as they saw guarantees of successful territorial conquests. In the second half of the 18th century, with the growth of democratic transformations in the country, most intellectuals began to oppose colonial wars. They approved of the liberation wars of the North American colonies, India, and Ireland, and also advocated the right of nations to self-determination.
The Eastern Direction of Russia's Foreign Policy in the Assessment of “The Quarterly Review” in 1815—1825
Authors: Eremin Vladimir
Published: January 2025

The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 was marked by the Congress of Vienna, the formation of the Concert of Europe and the Holy Alliance, which were aimed to stabilize the socio-political situation in Europe. The Russian Empire played a special role in this process. In Great Britain, which had also strengthened its international position following its victory over France, Russia generated keen interest among both the political elite and public opinion within the country. This was reflected in numerous articles published in the periodical press. One of the most important periodicals of the early 19th century was The Quarterly Review, which expressed Tory political views. The review's critics, while analyzing current book releases, took the opportunity to inform their readers about Russian society, political leadership, and the particularities and directions of foreign policy. Despite the interest among researchers in the intellectual legacy of the magazine, the issue of the image of Russia and assessments of its foreign policy, particularly in the eastern direction, can't be described as fully studied. The specifics of the relationship between St. Petersburg and its neighbors in Central and East Asia have always been reflected in journal publications. Their authors raised questions about Russia’s role in the fate of this region, the nature of interaction with the countries surrounding it, and tried to obtain new information about distant and exotic places from the reviewed works. At the same time, they were also concerned about the fate of Russian-British relations and the existence of a threat to the interests of the United Kingdom in this region of the world.
The Struggle for the Shaping of the Republic of Guinea Foreign Policy in 1958—1961
Authors: Shipilov Alexander
Published: January 2025

The given article examines the processes of West Africa's involvement in the Cold War in 1958—1961 through the lens of the foreign policy emergence in the Republic of Guinea, the first independent African country that began to foster close relations with the socialist bloc countries and attempted to make this cooperation a driver of its socio-economic development. The article examines the major reasons for the shaping of this course during this period, divided into several categories. First of all, the significance of the influence great powers actively involved in the Cold War’ had on Guinea is considered. Separate special attention is allocated to impact on Guinea exerted by regional neighbors utilizing cooperation with great powers to pursue their own regional agenda. And finally, a special emphasis in the study of the aspects of the Guinean foreign policy course emergence in 1958—1961 is drawn to the analysis of the internal political features of the newly independent state. Based on the results of this factor analysis relying on an array of previously unpublished sources, an assessment of their hierarchy is carried out, with attention to the features of Guinean politics later adopted by other African states that declared a socialist orientation.
Changes in Britain's Taxation Structure During the Period of Colonial Empire Development
Authors: Tsareva Yulia
Published: January 2025

For several centuries until now, scientists have been trying to explain the phenomenon of the British colonial empire: what caused of such a rapid development of an initially peripheral feudal state that settled on a small island in northern Europe? Some historians write about successful trade politic of England and consider the victory over Spain, France and Holland in the war for supremacy of the seas to be the decisive factor. Others researchers speak about uniqueness of England's monetary system, which had two unrelated currencies: the paper pound sterling, pegged to the gold standard, which circulated only in England, and the sovereigns, which were made in the colonies. The author of the article primarily focuses on how the English Parliament managed to optimize the national financial system of England, which in the future will become the foundation for the financial system of the colonial Empire.
Transfer of Russian Legal Norms in Central Asia in the Program and Practice of N. V. Charykov
Authors: Chernov Oleg
Published: January 2025

After and during the inclusion of Central Asia to the Russian Empire, one of the pressing problems in the development of the region was the problem of slavery and the slave trade. Russian diplomat Nikolai Valeryevich Charykov, who was appointed to the post of diplomatic official under the Turkestan Governor-General, and then a political agent in the Bukhara Emirate, took an active part in the process of solving this problem. A variety of archival and published documents (reports, memoirs, epistolary sources) allow us to present a picture of his activities. Charykov’s activities in Central Asia aimed at solving the problem of slavery and the slave trade were noted in Merv and Bukhara. In Merv, Charykov became a participant in its accession to Russia and the ban on alaman (robbery), and in Bukhara he became a conductor of the practical implementation of legal norms prohibiting slavery.
Foreign Business Trip of Soviet Scientists: Practices of Regulation and Organization (1920s — 1930s)
Authors: Gruzdinskaya Victoria
Published: January 2025

During and after the First World War, European scientific communities faced the problem of balancing between internationalist and nationalist interests. The opposition of the high ideal of the “republic of scientists”, on the one hand, and the utilitarian interests of governments, memory and psychological trauma of the war, on the other, set the trend for the development of world science in the interwar period. The article attempts to turn to the Soviet experience. Using the example of regulation and organization of foreign business trip, the presence/dominance or absence of these features was studied. The legislative framework, materials, and activities of bureaucratic structures and public organizations that were somehow involved in making decisions on the missions of scientists were analyzed. The study concluded that until the mid-1930s, the opposition of these trends was not clearly evident. During the first decade of its existence, the Soviet government was busy creating a new Marxist science, the main opponent of which was distinguished by class, not nationality. Those who remained in Soviet Russia presented the pre-revolutionary scientific tradition in adherence to internationalist ideals, seeing the preservation of their identity and involvement in the world scientific community.
Informal Empire of Great Britain in Latin America
Authors: Ivanov Nikolai
Published: January 2025

The term “informal empire” has become established in historiography from the 50s and is most often applied to the British Empire in the 19th century and its relations with dependent regions and nations that were not formally its colonies. Moreover, the apologists of empire (N. Ferguson, C. Carrington, the authors of the Cambridge History of the British Empire) insist that the British initially preferred “informal” relations, “gentlemanly” principles. In fact, the main instruments of British colonialism were bloody wars, annexations of territories, monstrous violence, and genocide of the population. The “informal empire” appeared in Latin America not in the least as the result of the good will of the British, but as a consequence of the largest military defeats on La Plata in 1806—1807. Its main elements in Latin America were: extraterritoriality (the norms and laws of the host countries did not apply to the British); unequal trade and economic relations, including the financial dominance of British banks, investments in the interests of maintaining the monocultural structure of the economy, the seizure and ruthless exploitation of the main centers of extraction of raw materials, the establishment of “price scissors” in foreign trade.
Law and (Dis)Order: Legal Regimes and Colonial Control in the Estimates of the British Military Class after the Great War
Authors: Malkin Stanislav
Published: January 2025

The era of Interbellum witnessed an incessant dispute of followers of different legal regimes of functioning of colonial order in the conditions of growing insurgency in the British Empire after the Great War. The discussion of the question reflected theoretical and doctrinal contradictions and disputes of military and civil authorities as to the borders of their responsibility in the matter. The article analyzes changes in the approaches of the military towards definition of parameters of enforcement of internal security within the empire after the Great War due to legal limitations and new challenges to the colonial rule rooted in the national liberation movements. The research focuses on the views of the military on the legal framework of the mechanism of control of colonial crises: the goal, objectives, parameters and purpose of introduction of martial law and state of emergency. This perspective of the research allowed a new way to put the question of evolution of administrative practices during the final stage of development of the British Empire, in the time of its decolonization and transformation. The article also dwells on the specifics of development of the imperial school of military thought of Great Britain in the context of growing importance of the armed forces and simultaneous shrinkage of opportunities to use other levers of influence on preserving the rule in the colonies and other dependent territories.
Colonial Administration Systems in Black Africa: South-West Africa (Namibia), Reserves and “Native Locations”, 1930s — 1950s
Authors: Balezin Alexander
Published: January 2025

The article is devoted to the functioning of local government systems (Boards of Elders) in South-West Africa (Namibia) under the administration of the Union of South Africa in the 1930s — 1950s., in particular to the Board of Native location of Windhoek. It is based on the materials of the National Archives of Namibia — both archival documents themselves and official publications of the administration of South Africa, collected by the author during visits to Namibia in 2011 and 2024. The colonial administration of South Africa tried in every possible way to encourage Africans to participate in solving the problems of their everyday life through the Board of the Location. The very participation of Africans in the elections of some Board members was of great importance in this sense. The Board’s activities provided the Administration with a legal basis for implementing its decisions, and for Africans to convey their needs and aspirations to its representatives. Decision-making remained with the colonial administration, but the participation of traditional holders of power in the Board’s activities gave it a kind of legitimacy in the eyes of Africans.
Russian Diplomats on the Sacred College of Cardinals in the Context of the Question of the Successor to Pius IX
Authors: Kimlenka Katsiaryna
Published: January 2025

The pontificate of Pius IX (1846—1878) was not only the longest in history, but also one of the most politicised. In its second half, the Holy See faced problems in its relations with a number of governments. The completion of the unification of Italy resulted in the elimination of the Pope’s temporal power. The conclave following the death of Pius IX was to be held not in papal Rome, but in the capital of Italy. The Pope and some of the Cardinals considered the possibility of holding it outside the Kingdom of Italy. Contemporaries assigned a very important role in the history of the Catholic Church and the history of Church-State relations to the election of Pius IX's successor. All of this contributed to speculation about the most likely contenders for the tiara and the impact of the election of a particular Cardinal on the future policy of the Holy See. Information about the Sacred College of Cardinals was collected both by Italian statesmen and by diplomats accredited to the Holy See, including the Russian ones. In the 1860s and 1870s N. D. Kiselev, F. K. Meyendorff, P. A. Kapnist and L. P. Urusov did a great deal of work on collecting information about the composition of the Sacred College. The author of the article has attempted to determine what information about the Cardinals was of most interest to the Russian diplomats and to explain the reasons for this interest.
Structural and Technical Support for Eurasian Hegemony: German Policy in the East in 1918 through the Prism of Infrastructure History
Authors: Lannik Leonty
Published: January 2025

The last campaign of the Great War was accompanied by efforts of the German Empire and the de facto commander-in-chief of its army, E. Ludendorff, to proceed to the formation of German hegemony based on the results of victorious peace treaties with the fragments of the former Russian Empire and Romania. To continue the confrontation with the Entente, the Central Powers needed the immediate development of the resources of the East, which was possible only with the establishment of stable German hegemony with Eurasian expansion prospects. In addition to military-political means and human resources, the achievement of strategic goals depended on the control and development of infrastructure, primarily transport and communications. This was the key to the successful pro-German agitation of various political forces, to re-establish and improve trade turnover and optimize migration flows. The analysis of the infrastructure potential allows us to revise a number of assessments of the events of the Civil War in Russia, the finale of the Great War and the transformation of post-imperial spaces in Eurasia.
“Unusual colonies”: English Expansion in Canada in the 16th — 18th Centuries
Authors: Akimov Yury
Published: January 2025

The article deals with the English/British expansion in the northern part of the North America (in present-day Canada) since the early 16th century till the American Revolution. Special attention is given to the three “unusual colonies”: Newfoundland, Hudson Bay (Rupert’s Land), and Nova Scotia. It reveals the peculiarities of their economy, geostrategic position, settlement, and interaction with the metropolis. It is noted that their main difference from the thirteen continental colonies (the future U.S.A.) consisted in their physical isolation from them and from each other, their ultimate dependence on the metropolis and alienated (literally or figuratively) position, which eventually determined their further historical fate.
Formation and Development of Baltic Studies in Institute of World History RAS
Authors: Mikhailova Yulia
Published: January 2025

The article is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Centre for Nordic and Baltic Studies of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It talks about the stages of the formation of the direction of Baltic studies at the Institute. The author focused on such issues as the establishment of relations between the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and historians of the Baltic countries, institutionalization of cooperation (the activities of the Russian-Latvian and Russian-Lithuanian commissions of historians), the publishing activities of the Centre over the past quarter century (collections of articles and conference materials, serial publications, issues of the ISTORIYA (Electronic Scientific and Educational Journal “History”), as well as activities in the field of integration of academic science and higher education. The activities of the Centre for Nordic and Baltic Studies of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences are an integral and inseparable part of modern Baltic studies. The interest in the Baltic region as a zone of cooperation and conflict will only increase in today's challenging international environment.
The Struggle for Public Health in the Context of Modernization Policy in Republican China (1912—1937)
Authors: Mikhel Dmitriy
Published: January 2025

The article deals with the history of the struggle for public health in the Republic of China, which was closely connected with the struggle for national sovereignty and the policy of modernization aimed at returning the country to the camp of great world powers. It is shown that during the period of the Beiyang government (1912—1928) the first steps were taken to attract specialists with Western medical education to the country, to train its own medical personnel and to support “progressive” medical science. Key to the Beiyang government's projects was a network of missionary medical schools and cooperation with the Rockefeller Foundation, with whose support the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) was transformed into a world center for medical science and the Beijing Health Demonstration Station was established. During the period of the Nanjing government (1928—1937), the initial health initiatives gained momentum. The PUMC became the main cadre provider for the national Ministry of Health, and the Beijing Health Station became the model for a whole network of health stations established in both urban and rural areas. The national health plans of the Republican government could not be fully realized. The reasons for this were lack of personnel, lack of resources and the war with Japan.
The German’s Recognition of the Genocide in Namibia: the Lost Opportunity for the Reconciliation?
Authors: Nesterova Elena
Published: January 2025

It is an open secret that former colonial powers are still longing to maintain their influence over the formerly dependent territories through the “nonviolent” utilization of soft power. The intention to cover up tracks and to get away with the bloody crimes of the predecessors as quickly as possible, having easily got rid of the inconvenient past reflect the modern German policy towards Namibia (formerly South West Africa) in particular, and that is despite the German’s recognition of the accomplished genocide in 2021. The contemporary relations between Namibia and Germany are to a great extent shaped by the shared colonial past.
The Formation of Russian Land Ownership in the Caspian Provinces of Iran: Legal Aspects and Difficulties
Authors: Larin Andrey
Published: January 2025

The article is devoted to the issues of legal regulation of Russian land ownership in the Caspian provinces of Iran. The appearance of large land holdings of Russian subjects and settlements of peasant colonists in the region shortly before the outbreak of the First World War required the search for ways to ensure their rights and interests. The situation was complicated by the lack of regulation of the issue in the existing Russian-Iranian agreements, as well as the negative attitude of both the Iranian government and Britain towards the expansion of Russian land ownership in the country. The article shows which solutions to the problem were proposed by local representatives based on practical experience in using available means, as well as the process of discussing this problem in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Opponents and Mediators. Metropolitan Iliya (Karam) and the Church-Diplomatic Struggle for Influence in the Middle East in 1945—1947
Authors: Beglov Alexey
Published: January 2025

This article reveals one of the aspects of Russian church-diplomatic contacts in the 1940s. It is about the mediation mission of Metropolitan Iliya (Karam), a hierarch of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. The idea for this mission emerged during the visit to the Middle East of a Russian church delegation headed by Patriarch Alexy I (Simansky) in May-June 1945. Initially, in late 1945 — early 1946, Iliya’s mission was aimed at reconciling the two parts of the Russian Church in Palestine, the Moscow Church and the emigrant Church. Then, in 1947 — early 1948, the Lebanese Metropolitan’s mediation activities included the Primate of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchates in order to induce them to visit Moscow for the Meeting of the Heads and Representatives of the Orthodox Churches. Analysing the activities of Metropolitan Iliya expands our understanding of the tools to which Moscow church diplomacy had to resort when its own resources were scarce in the Middle East region.
Accelerated Energy Transition — a New Manifestation of Neocolonialism in Africa
Authors: Volkov Sergey
Published: January 2025

Currently in Africa, as evidenced by recent events in the Sahel, the struggle for liberation from the neocolonial oppression of the collective West is expanding, which, for its part, is looking for new opportunities to strengthen its positions and expand the exploitation of African resources. It is becoming increasingly clear that the accelerated energy transition based on the development of renewable energy, using the huge African potential of solar and wind generation, is turning into a new manifestation of neocolonialism on the continent. While a large number of Africans still do not have access to electricity and clean cooking facilities, Western companies intend to use renewable energy generation mainly for the production of environmentally friendly hydrogen with the aim of exporting it to the developed countries. In addition, the development of renewable energy, which is much more material-intensive than traditional energy, leads to increased plunder of African mineral wealth, and primarily deposits of bauxite, graphite, manganese, copper and cobalt.