Department of World History of Oles Honchar Dnipro National University: past and present

Abstract

This article reveals problems of development of the department of the world history of the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University during last 100 years. The department began to form in 1918 when Katerinoslav university was opened. The world history researchers V. Evstafiev and M. Brechkevich became it’s first university lecturers, they formed potential basics of the research directions. During the fight with reactionary representatives in science and high school they were criticized and fired. The new generation of the department’s lecturers mostly consisted of youth, who had got education during revolutionary and after-revolutionary times. Teaching work became their main assignment, they were active participants in the struggle against “sabotage” on the historical front, reviewed the world history textbooks. Also they were monitoring implementation of the marxism methodology in the world history teaching. During the repressions which started in 1930th some of lecturers were fired and the departments’s head was arrested and then shot away. The historical department was liquidated in the second part of 1930th. At the ending of 1930th historical education at the university was resumed, respectively the department began it’s work again. The young lecturers, post-graduate students from Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv were hired. During nazi occupation the work was interrupted. The work resumption was in 1944, the department was headed by N. Ladizjenska who occupied this position before the occupation. Post-war years of the department’s work are characterized as high level of scientific activity, defense of masters’ thesis by the young lecturers, writing a number of scientific articles dealing the world history issues, which have never been published and now are kept in manuscripts. There was a World History museum at the department in 1940−1950th, founded by the head J. Rubin. At the beginning of 1950th the historical department was closed. The new stage of it’s work was related to 1967 when the department and the historical faculty was resumed. In 1970−1980th under the direction of department head the main scientific direction historical germanistics was based. Due to it’s work the department begun to publish the yearly scientific magazine «The German history issues». The department’s lecturers also worked through the problems of late Roman, American, English history. In 1990−2000th due to prof. S. Plohiy and S. Bobyleva the department became an acknowledged research center of the German diasporas in the Russian empire and Ukraine. The institute of Ukrainian-German historical relations was found at the department. The high scientific potential of the department’s lecturers was repeatedly confirmed by presentations on the conferences, published articles and monographs. Nowadays the department members are working through a number of important issues from German diasporas history, Bulgarian, Russian studies.