East European History

Number 1 (3), 2017

3-6
The January Uprising of 1863 Influence on the Status of Officials of Polish Origin in the Middle Volga Region and the Urals

Authors: Andrei A. Mashkovtsev

Abstract

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This article is devoted to the analysis of the reaction of the officials of Polish origin who served in local government bodies in the Middle Volga region and the Urals to the January Uprising of 1863. Based on the materials of the central (GARF, RGIA) and regional (NART, GAKO) archives, the author shows that many representatives of the Polish diaspora in this region, including some officials, “greeted” this event sympathetically. Some individuals were not afraid to openly express their negative attitude to the tough actions of the Russian authorities to suppress the Polish national liberation movement. Not only the Polish employees themselves, but also members of their families (for example, wives) demonstratively wore various Polish symbols. Such a manifestation of solidarity with the insurgents, although of a single character, nevertheless contributed to the formation of a certain stereotype to all Poles of the region. They were perceived by the leaders of local administrative and police bodies as supporters of nationalist and separatist ideas. Naturally, it had a negative impact on the future career of officials of Polish origin.

7-16
Historical Russian Studies in Georgia

Authors: RoinMetreveli, Zurab Papaskiri

Abstract

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Number of views: 573

Throughout nearly 2 centuries Georgia was a part of the Russian state space. Despite it, the research of the problems of actually Russian history was never the priority direction in the Georgian historiography. Historians of Georgia presented several theses relating to especially Russian topics, but, their achievements in the field of the Russian history very modest and the main thing, in Georgia the school of sciences of historians-specialists in Russian studies having any weight in science was not created. The Georgian historians nevertheless found the niche — they were engaged in exploring of the Georgian-Russian relationship and, having created powerful scientific heritage in this area, enriched considerably the knowledge not only specifically in the field of the Georgian-Russian relations, but also in the scales of foreign policy of Russia in the Caucasian direction in general.

17-22
Cultural and Educational Activities of Community-Based Organizations in Kursk Governorate at the turn of 20thcenturies

Authors: Oleg E. Chuykov

Abstract

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Number of views: 509

Educational work of community-based organizations in Russia at the turn of 20th century was of great importance for the development of the province. Kursk land was not an exception. In Kursk governorate (an administrative division of the Russian Empire – gubernia), public initiative was common in the activities of out-of school educational institutions, vocational, female and pre-school education. Commissions on Public Readings and Kursk Teachers’ Society should be specially noted among the community-based organizations with regard to their active work. They worked with the approval of the Ministry of Education and the Most Holy Synod (the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and 1918). Cultural and educational activities of community-based organizations were very popular among the local community; in the governorate, it was supported by the representatives of the local government and the merchants. The active work of the members of these organizations was also aimed at ensuring the interaction between the power structures and local financial elite because the financial support of this kind of activities was of a fundamental nature and required large investments.

23-39
Specificities of Soviet Repatriation in Slovakia in 1944–1952

Authors: Michal Smigel

Abstract

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Number of views: 607

The paper provides insights into the practical implementation of the Soviet repatriation operation in Slovakia between 1944 and 1952. It reveals mechanisms employed to carry out the repatriation, the degree of coercion, the role of the Slovak party and its security agencies.The paper offers a general analysis of the methods and fields of action that the bodies involved in the repatriation of Soviet citizens worked in. Materials used include documents of central, military and several regional archives in Slovakia. Additionally, it makes use of modern foreign and Russian scientific publications on the research topic. To address research goals, the work applies general scientific and traditional methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and the historical ad comparative method. Particular importance in the paper is attached to the methods of concretization and generalization, which allowed us to extend the general framework of the Soviet repatriation operation in 1944-1952 using the example of one country – Slovakia with the focus on the operation's practical implementation. In conclusion, the authors point out that the Soviet authorities performed arbitrary actions, first of all, in the march of the front when actual Soviet citizens and people of “Soviet origin” from Slovakia (including opponents of the Soviet system and communist ideology) were forcibly taken away. As the war ended, the situation in the country normalized and the Soviet troops withdrew from Czechoslovakia, repatriation was already conducted in the interpretation of the Slovak security agencies and army authorities (often with numerous violations in a gross and hostile manner). It was aimed to clear the territory of Russian emigrants and all sorts of wartime refugees from the USSR (in a broader sense, all foreigners who did not have a residence permit) and it was brought about by the country's subordinate and lackey relations with the USSR and the influence of the left forces in society that generally accepted a concept of an ethnically pure national state of Czechs and Slovaks, which had no minorities and various foreign elements.