People's Commissariat Research Articles

History of the Сreation of Home Built Equipment for the Industrial Cultivation of Microorganisms

A bioreactor (cultivator or fermenter) is one of the main elements of the vast majority of instrumentation-technological lines of immunological medicinal preparations. The construction of special equipment for industrial microbiology in our country was determined by the research, related to the development of technology of the production of live plaque vaccine. In the early 1930’s A.L. Berlin studied the approaches to the creation of laboratory cultivating devices in the city of Saratov on the basis of the State Regional Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology of the South-East of Russia, the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR. At the same time this problem has been solved by N.G. Shcherbina in the Crimean Sanitary-Bacteriological Institute (Sevastopol). In 1936, a group of researchers from the Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene of the Red Army (Kirov) was involved in the research of the processes and technologies of the industrial microbiology. In 1946 the first industrial apparatus of A.F. Shesterenko under sterile conditions ensured the production of large volumes (up to 800 mattresses) of the culture of the vaccine strain EV of the NIIEG line of the plague microbe.

Вхождение И. В. Сталина во власть: От проекта социалистического контроля до руководства Наркоматом рабоче-крестьянской инспекции

The article analyzes activities of J. V. Stalin, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (B), while serving as People's Commissar of State Control. The study aims to identify main objectives of the reorganization of the People's Commissariat, which resulted in its gaining supervisory supra-government functions under the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in April 1918. The decree rather dubiously attempted to shift the blame for governing bodies’ shortcomings to tsarist bureaucrats who cooperated with Soviet authorities and were dubbed ‘technical officers with pre-revolutionary experience.’ The draft of the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee ‘On State Control’ of March 8, 1919 showed the same intention to cover up a dangerous phenomenon — formation of close-knit Soviet bureaucracy which was characterized by incompetence, low standard of culture, irresponsibility, and tendency to feather their own nest. The article reveals cases when crimes of such party and soviet officials could no longer be concealed; control bodies — workers’ and peasants’ inspectorates — formed spontaneously to unmask and punish them, and yet some of their members, under pressure or from self-interest, tended to show understanding for offenders and petitioned for commutation. To admit publicly (i.e. in a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee) to the dangerous phenomenon was impossible, since it rose a legitimate question of advantages of the Bolshevik coup in October 1917. And yet it was likewise impossible to ignore malfeasance in office perpetrated by the new Soviet bureaucracy. Neither reorganized People's Commissariat of State Control, nor its successor, People's Commissariat of Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection (formed by incorporation of the Central Control Commission of the RCP (B)), could eradicate this so-called ‘bureaucracy.’ The author brings into question the popular thesis that J. V. Stalin was an ‘accidental’ figure to succeed to the Bolsheviks’ leader V. I. Lenin.

«Я дерусь со всеми, которые, не так поступают, как Коммунисту следует…». Письмо Ф. А. Земита Н. Н. Крестинскому о финансовой работе в Сибири. 5 января 1920 г.

The article offers a source study of the letter of the head of the Financial Department at the Siberian Revolutionary Committee F. A. Zemit to the People's Commissar of Finance of the RSFSR N. N. Krestinsky. Its text analysis clears up the issue of creation of Soviet regional governing bodies in the financial–economical sphere in Siberia at the final stage of the Civil War. The published source allows to outline major impediment to restoration of the Soviet finance system in Siberia after the Civil War: shortage of financial workers, their low professional qualifications, lack of regulatory documentation for organizing activities, etc. Key methods used in the study are biographical and problematic/chronological. Biographical method allows to interpret the document and to link it with professional activities of F. A. Zemit in Omsk. The problematic/chronological method allows to trace the developments in regional finance and to understand their causes by placing them into historical framework. The letter was written by F. A. Zemit in early January 1920 – at a most difficult time in his career in Siberia. The author considers this ego-document unique and revealing in its way. On the one hand, it is an official appeal of an inferior financial manager to the head of the People's Commissariat of Finance; its content is practical and no-nonsense. On the other hand, its style indicates a warm friendly and trusting relationship between the sender and the addressee; F. A. Zemit was, apparently, able to report personally to the People's Commissar of Finance of the RSFSR on the difficult situation in the region and to do so with great frankness. This publication may be of interest to scholars in history of Russian finance, Russia Civil War, Soviet society, and Siberia of the period.

Документы Центрального государственного архива Удмуртской Республики о формировании системы военных комиссариатов на территории Удмуртии в первые годы советской власти

Drawing on materials from the Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic, the article studies the establishing and functioning of the military commissariats network in the first years of the Soviet power. The outspread of the Civil War and the Allied Intervention therein necessitated calling up citizens, primarily workers and peasants, for compulsory military service. The establishment of the commissariats for military affairs marked the beginning of accounting of able-bodied males and their conscription into the armed forces. Volost, uezd, and gubernia commissariats for military affairs were organized by volost, uezd, and gubernia Soviets of workers', soldiers' and peasants' deputies; commissars and military leaders of volost, uezd, and gubernia commissariats were appointed by volost, uezd, and gubernia Soviets respectively and by the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs. Studying activities of local military authorities is of great importance, as it allows to see beyond central authorities actions, to understand how their decisions were implemented at the local level. Consequently, this allows to evidentiate the process of the Soviet armed forces creation in all its multiformity and complexity. On the territory of Udmurtia, armed hostilities continued from August 1918 to late June 1919, and newly formed military commissariats had to perform many tasks, both peaceful and military. First and foremost, they had to account of and mobilize officers and soldiers returning from the fronts of First World War. Much effort was required to drill recruits who had no military training. The military commissariats were also to prevent the widely spreading desertion. These functions were performed under difficult circumstances of rapidly shifting front lines, as areas and towns of the Vyatka gubernia repeatedly passed from the Reds to the Whites and back again.

Объемы российской золотодобычи в 1901-1917 гг.: источниковедческий аспект

This paper explores the problem of gold mining output in the Russian empire in 1901-1917 drawing on published and archival data. The aim of the study is to clarify indicators of gold mining production, since in the leading studies the data vary due to the peculiarities of metal accounting. It draws on published materials and archival documents of the State Institute for Design of Enterprises of Gold and Platinum Industry of the Glavzoloto of the People's Commissariat of Nonferrous Metallurgy (Giprozoloto), prepared in 1944 as a ‘Collection of Materials on the Gold Industry: 1493 - 1943’ and stored in the State Archive of the Magadan Region. Materials of the Giprozoloto Institute contain calculations of gold production in Russia and the USSR from 1745 to 1943, as well as technical and economic information on national gold mining industry in the early 20th century. The analysis shows that gold mining indices in scientific literature and sources are given according to data from gold log-books or gold-smelting laboratories. Gold log-books did not reflect the volume of actual mining, they only showed the gold registered in mines; moreover, some gold was withheld, and then came in to laboratories for alloy. Accounting for metal in the gold-smelting laboratories showed higher and more accurate production figures, since it included artisanal mining gold. However, as the source study demonstrates, figures of gold production in 1901-1917 according to the Giprozoloto Institute (805.4 tons) and according to L.B. Kafengauz (814.6 tons) based on data of gold-smelting laboratories and incorporated volumes of uncleaned bullion gold entered in there. The results of the study change the views on the volume of gold mining in Russia in this period that prevail in the historiography. It should be noted, that according to calculations, confirmed indicators of industrial production of chemically pure gold in Russia in 1901-1917 amounted to 682.5 tons. Final figures of gold industry of the period in amount of chemically pure gold obtained in gold-smelting laboratories corresponded to indices of value of gold production used in the analysis industry dynamics, and is considered correct, when compared with the USSR gold-mining indices.

Общественные настроения среди населения города Ленинграда и Ленинградской области в июне – августе 1941 г. По материалам оперативных сводок НКГБ СССР

The article considers one aspect of everyday life of the population of Leningrad and the Leningrad region in the first months of the Great Patriotic War, which had been carefully concealed by official Soviet propaganda. Throughout all postwar decades up to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian historical science continued to reproduce the myth of absolute unity of the Soviet society and mass patriotic enthusiasm of the working class, kolkhoz peasants and intelligentsia in the face of enemy aggression. And yet archival documents of the state security agencies reveal numerous facts and distinctive features of anti-Soviet manifestations among various socio-professional groups of the population of Leningrad and the Leningrad region in the first months following the German invasion in the Soviet territory. These facts show that the imminent war had a serious impact on the inner world of the inhabitants of the Northern capital of the Soviet Union, exacerbating numerous problems that had accumulated in the Soviet society in the decades before the war. The article mostly draws on the recently declassified situation reports of the People's Commissariat of State Security for the city of Leningrad and the Leningrad region from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense. It deals with such occurrences of anti-state sentiment as panic rumors, anti-Soviet agitation, listening to the radio-broadcasts of hostile states, distribution of anti-Soviet leaflets, planning pogroms of local party and state leaders. It analyses key features of anti-Soviet manifestations among urban and rural population. It contains information on the first manifestations of collaboration among those inhabitants of the Leningrad region, who had ended up in the territory occupied by the German troops. It studies mechanics of repressive activities of state security bodies caused by restructuring of Soviet society, while the military operations began.

CULTURAL ORIGINS OF THE CITY OF OSH AND OSH REGION

The article deals with the cultural transformation of the city of Osh and Osh region (under the USSR). The October revolution made a radical revolution not only in the field of socio - economic, political and national relations, but also in spiritual life: in culture, ideology, morality, as well as in the life and traditions of the peoples of our Republic. It not only opened the people wide access to spiritual values, but also made them direct creators of these values. From the first days of the victory of the October revolution, it was decided to eradicate such remnants of the middle ages as class, national inequality, the disenfranchised status of women, etc. First of all, it was necessary to create a new school, in its essence, principles, structure and objectives radically different from the old one. Education in the new schools has become free, compulsory, co-educational for children of both sexes and independent of their nationality. All peoples have the right to study in schools in their native language. In April 1918, the people's Commissariat of education was established at the V Congress of Councils of Turkestan, local departments of public education at the Executive committees of regional and district Councils. On may 20, 1918 the Council of public education was formed in Osh.

Regionalisms and Imperialisms in the Making of the Russian Far East, 1903–1926

Tracing the emergence of the Russian Far East as a new region of the Russian Empire, revolutionary Russia, and the Soviet Union through regionalist and imperialist discourses and policies, this article briefly discusses Russian expansion in the Pacific littoral, outlines the history of regionalism in North Asia during the revolutionary and early Soviet periods, and focuses on the activities of the Far Eastern Council of People's Commissars (Dal΄sovnarkom), the Far Eastern Republic (FER), and the Far Eastern Revolutionary Committee (Dal΄'revkom). Inspired by Siberian regionalism and other takes on post-imperial decentralization, the Bolshevik Aleksandr Mikhailovich Krasnoshchekov and other regional politicians became the makers of the new region from within. Meanwhile, the legacies of the empire's expansionism, the Bolshevik “new imperialism” in Asia, and the Japanese military presence in the region during the Russian Civil War accompanied the consolidation of the Russian Far East.

Negotiating Lives, Redefining Repressive Policies: Managing the Legacies of Stalinist Deportations

Negotiating Lives, Redefining Repressive PoliciesManaging the Legacies of Stalinist Deportations Alain Blum (bio) and Emilia Koustova (bio) Translated by Madeleine Grieve and Catriona Duthreuil Administrative collective exile, implemented in 1940 and 1941 and again from 1944 onward, involved the deportation of hundreds of thousands of people from the western territories annexed by the Soviet Union after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed in August 1939. These forced displacements fitted into a broader policy of Soviet mass deportations, which had started with the collectivization of the countryside in 1929–32. More than six million people were deported and assigned the degrading, restrictive status of "special deportees," "special settlers," or "exiles," a status that evolved during subsequent waves of deportation and over time.1 [End Page 537] It was the task of the Soviet authorities that succeeded Stalin in 1953 to manage this population, scattered over a vast territory but strictly delimited in administrative terms, and to decide whether or not to release people in these categories and reintegrate them into mainstream society. Rather than abolishing the special regime governing the special settlers, the Soviet authorities kept it in place for many years. Decisions about the special deportees were not coordinated with the policy to release and rehabilitate former prisoners, which covered both ordinary criminals and political detainees.2 The timeframes were not the same, and the types of procedures implemented also differed. Although Lavrentii Beria's intention was evidently to follow up the amnesty decree of March 1953 with similar measures applicable to a large percentage of the forcibly displaced population, any such measures were suspended after Beria's arrest.3 While for the camps the authorities opened both individual and collective judicial procedures in the form of sentencing reviews and amnesties, these mechanisms were not extended to the special settlers, who had never been sentenced by a court. Instead, their status had been assigned and their deportation effected on the basis of administrative decisions (orders issued by the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs [NKVD], the USSR Council of Ministers, or the Council of Ministers of the republic concerned), or decisions emanating from an extrajudicial body with sentencing powers—namely, the NKVD Special Conference. The Soviet authorities, extremely wary of this population, dismantled the world of the deportees very slowly, mirroring the gradual nature of its constitution. The system was dismantled by collective decrees and instructions issued by the central government between 1954 and 1965, regulating the [End Page 538] deportees' release and return.4 These decisions took effect last on the western fringes of the Soviet Union. The status of "special settler" did not disappear completely until 1965, some 12 years after Stalin's death. And it was not until perestroika, in 1988 especially, and subsequently in the states that became independent in 1991, that more general legislation finally overturned the Stalinist decisions. Until 1988, therefore, decisions on the release of individuals and the restitution of property were still underpinned by Stalinist political and social categories. Those who had been deported as "bandits," "accomplices of bandits," "members of a bandit's family," and "relatives of kulaks" did not receive the same treatment by the Soviet authorities. Rather than challenge these Stalinist representations, the actions of the authorities only mitigated their impact on the lives of the people concerned. Release did not automatically entail the right of return or the restitution of confiscated property or housing, for which deportees had to make separate demands. During the crucial decade of 1954–65, each wave of collective release of millions of special settlers was decided and organized at the highest level of the state. But these decisions were sometimes anticipated by the republic authorities, which implemented various procedures for the release of certain individuals. State hesitancy and the relative leeway granted to republics led to an entanglement of collective procedures initiated by Moscow and of individual procedures initiated by the republic authorities. In this article, we do not address the mechanisms of collective releases, which are well known.5 We focus instead on individual release procedures and therefore on the practices implemented by the republic governments, as illustrated by the case of Lithuania. The example of Lithuania is at once emblematic...

Коммунистический университет трудящихся Востока: создание и этапы становления в системе Коминтерна в 1920-1930-е гг.

The article reviews major milestones in the history of the Communist University of the Toilers of the East (KUTV) and its role in formation of the Soviet-centric political avant-garde in some countries of the East. The creation of this educational institution was connected with the resolution of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) оf January 21, 1921 On Organization of the Eastern Courses under the People's Commissariat of Nationalities (Narkomnats), later enshrined in the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (April 21, 1921). The university firmly established itself within the vast network of international institutions of the Comintern. Although it had never been quantitatively dominant in the institute, the Sector ‘A’ (or the Special Sector, or the Inosektor, as this department for international students was known in different periods) was crucial for the development of its complex system, as the policy of the 3rd International formed the core of its activities. The modest historiography on the history of the university in the Soviet period describes its development as overcoming difficulties in on-going forward movement. A more comprehensive picture emerges in the documents from the KUTV archival fond stored in the RGASPI (fond 532). 12,000 files of the fond include about 10,000 personal files of students and teachers. They show the sinuosities of the KUTV history from its organization to high noon of its activities and to its end in consequence of the restructuring of the party education system in the USSR in 1938. The university accumulated unique experience of training almost illiterate people to become middle-ranking executives in a very short time. A considerable part of the future leaders of colonial countries passed through the university. This Comintern coordinated process secured Soviet national interests. The university also laid the basis for Soviet Oriental studies. All this does not allow to call the university a purely propagandistic institution for ‘export’ of the world revolution and prompts to look behind utilitarian ideological clich?s. The article studies its unique experience in forming the national elites of the Oriental countries, which were to become communist champions of world revolution, and thus provides a professional-level picture of the university organization and management that recognized special nature of the multiethnic student body. It introduces statistical and personal data on the graduates that prove the efficiency of the university. The study may be of interest to political technologists, who determine mode of modern universities’ interaction with the Oriental countries.

Involvement of trade unions to supervision and control of legislation on labor maintenance in the period of establishment in Ukraine in 1917–1921

In the article, on the basis of the conducted analysis of the resolutions, instructions, subtitles of the People's Commissariat of Labor of the UkrSSR, the memoranda of the local departments of labor as well-known and for the first time discovered in the archival funds, it was determined that the factory and plant committees and local service committees, being primary centers of All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions, served as a low authority to legislation on labor legislation maintenance. For this purpose, under the factory committees and trade unions permanent commissions were established for labor protection. The order of the involvement of trade unions to the election of labor (legal), out of district and sanitary labor inspectors, controllers of the People's Committee of state control is analyzed. It was clarified that in practice the involvement of trade unions in the activity of supervision and control bodies in the field of labor was not as active as it was decreed, and was partially replaced by the party representation.It is confirmed that due to proclaimed at the tenth congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) the necessity of full transfer of functions on labor protection from the People's Commissariat of Labor to the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions, the Labor inspectorate joined the board of trade unions with the preservation of all its state-compulsory functions, including control over the implementation of labor service, the fight against desertion. It is concluded that after the events of 1917, trade unions lost the role of antipodes of state power and began to play the role of its active ally, which stemmed from the class nature of the state of the proletariat, which was declared as a defender of the interests of workers.

Propagandizing the Healthy, Bolshevik Life in the Early USSR.

This essay outlines the problems facing Soviet health authorities at the inception of the People's Commissariat of Public Health in 1918 and the innovative methods employed in sanitary enlightenment propaganda in Russia throughout the 1920s. Beset by funding issues and supply problems, the emissaries of health chose the cheapest means of health improvement (propaganda) with the most cost-effective method (prevention), and crowed of great successes even as large portions of the nation still suffered from lack of contact with sanitary authorities. Targeting Soviet citizens at every stage and space of life, the envoys of public health spread the message of prophylaxis.

The matter of extreme national importance

It is reported on the history of the development of the domestic agricultural machinery industry. It is noted that the beginning of the modern development of the industry was laid down by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of April 1, 1921, in which it is recognized as «... a matter of extreme national importance». It sets out a set of measures to create the industry as the basis for the de-velopment of the country's agriculture. The head institute All-Union scientific research Institute of agri-cultural engineering (VISKhOM), profile research institution, leading specialized design bureaus, student design bureaus and various factories are being created in different regions of the country. Being the lead-ing complex center for scientific research and practical development of new and promising agricultural technology, including the training of scientific personnel, the Institute VISKhOM played a major role in the development of domestic agricultural machinery and integrated mechanization of the country's agri-culture in the 20s and 30s, in its restoration to Postwar years of the last century. Achievement in 1947 of pre-war production of agricultural machinery. It is noted that the Institute VISKhOM developed and pro-duced in the industry a large number of new machines; many monographs and collections of articles and other scientific papers have been published, scientific and technical reports on the results of their imple-mentation of R&D have been compiled. Scientific and technical assistance was provided to design bu-reaus and factories of the industry in the creation and production of new equipment, according to method-ological and normative documentation. Significant is its contribution to the development and implemen-ta-tion of systems of machinery and technology in the country's agriculture. The UN General Assembly rec-ognized the need to increase the world's food production. Russia has a unique agrarian potential and can provide itself with quality, renewable products and its supply to the world market. It is noted that a number of problems of the domestic agro-industrial complex remain unresolved, for example, its insufficient support by the state, the liquidation of scientific research institutes of the industry, including VISKhOM and a number of factories. There is a need for a large-scale revival of the domestic agricultural machinery industry as an effective scientific and production system for the creation and production of modern ma-chinery of high quality and reliability for our agriculture with an extensive set of crops and with various technologies. The future of Russia's agriculture is the use of modern machine technologies as the basis for the country's food security and the competitiveness of Russian food in the domestic and world markets.

Dynamics of the library system in Tambov region (1930s - early 1940s)

Significant changes in the library network development of Tambov region have occurred as a result of reforming the administrative-territorial division. The counties and townships abolition has led to a change of the libraries typology. The Central Provincial Library was first transformed into the Central District Library (before 1934), then - into the Central Municipal one (until 1937), and, finally, to the Regional one (in 1937). A specific feature of the period under review was opening a central library in each district (with a network of mobile libraries), as well as the organizing stationary libraries at enterprises and large state- and collective-farms. Urban population was mostly served by a network of trade union libraries, rural inhabitants - by a library network of the People's Commissariat of Education. In 1940 the number of public libraries in Tambov region reached 552, including 453 ones in the countryside. The network of public (mass) libraries included the following libraries: state district ones - 42, state municipal ones - 4, state rural ones - 102, state children ones - 7, village state public library and reading rooms - 158, public libraries at the regional culture houses and other club facilities - 12, collective-farm ones - 56, trade union ones - 131, public libraries of other agencies and organizations - 27. Strengthening ideological pressure on library services resulted in the tightening of censorship, mass withdrawal of the ideologically harmful literature. Collections of seized books marked «do not give masses» were created in the libraries as special funds. New editions entered the region in a limited number. In general, in the 1930s the book composition in the library stocks of Tambov region is characterized by the following data by branches of knowledge: anti-religious literature was 2,2%, social studies - 19,5%, natural science - 4,6%, applied sciences - 6,2%, agriculture - 5,1%, history and geography - 6,5%, fiction - 28,7%, others - 27,2%. The total library fund had not enough fiction and books on natural history, book sections on technology and agriculture needed accession. By the beginning of 1941 the amount of the public libraries fund in Tambov region was totaled 843,948 copies. To improve significantly the level of library service the nation-wide measures have been taken, among them were the following: Library Campaign, All-Union Library Census, All-Union competition for the best area on performing the librarianship in the countryside. They were aimed at drawing public attention to the serious problems existed in the librarianship. However, the Library Campaign was not properly developed in Tambov region. Scanty funding, general unpreparedness, inadequate qualifications of librarians and other factors affected negatively to achieve this goal.

Anti-Soviet Advocacy, Agitation and Defeatism Activities in Leningrad and Leningrad Region, June – August 1941 (based on the NKGB (People's Commissariat for State Security) Situation Reports)

Anti-Soviet Advocacy, Agitation and Defeatism Activities in Leningrad and Leningrad Region, June – August 1941 (based on the NKGB (People's Commissariat for State Security) Situation Reports)

FACTORS OF INSPIRATION IN ČENČU JEZUPS’ NOVEL “PĪTERS VYLĀNS”

Čenču Jezups or Dzērkste (real name Jezups Kindzuļs, 1888–1941?) was a Latgalian public figure, agronomist, publicist and writer. Date of his death is unknown – he was arrested in February 1941 by NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs), but after that there is no information about his further life. He participated in the Latgalian Awakening movement at the beginning of 20th century. Later J. Kindzuļs was one of the organizers of the Latgalian congress (1917) in Rēzekne and a member of Constitutional Assembly of Latvia (1920–1922). He was an editor of such periodicals as “Latgalīts” (1921), “Latgolas Zemkūpis” (1924–1935), “Latgolas lauksaimnīks” (calendar, 1924–1935). He wrote his novel “Pīters Vylāns” between 1935 and 1941. It was first published in Daugavpils in 1943 by writer and publisher Vladislavs Luocis. Later it was published again in Germany in 1967.Čenču Jezups’ novel “Pīters Vylāns” was analysed by Miķelis Bukšs, Ilona Salceviča, Oskars Seiksts. The mentioned papers reveal the meaning of Latgalian self-confidence, which is disclosed in “Pīters Vylāns”, but unfortunately the author of this novel seems to be forgotten. Therefore the aim of this research is to “decode” factors of inspiration in Čenču Jezups’ novel “Pīters Vylāns” to gain more information about author’s life and his value system.Inspiration is always connected with writer’s life experience. Furthermore, the writer creates his own world. Vladislavs Luocis wrote that J. Kindzuļs planned to write a trilogy (Lōcis 1965: 26), but because of Latvia’s occupation by the Soviet Union this intention was not fulfilled. Factors of inspiration are divided into two groups: literary and non-literary (Lukaševičs 2007: 5). Non-literary factors of inspiration are those connected with J. Kindzuļs’ life (social and political events, education and public activities, private life). Literary and cultural factors of inspiration refer to his interests and Latgalian self-identification.Novel “Pīters Vylāns” was written during the authoritarian regime of Kārlis Ulmanis (1934–1940) and deals with peasants’ life during the Russian Revolution of 1905 (1905–1907) in Latgale. The problems of Latgalian identity (to be russified or polonized, quest for identity as a possibility) are dealt with by means of such characters as Vera Semjonova, Stefa, Meikuls Stumbris and Buks. It may be that the characters Pīters Vylāns and Ontons Sleižs are the two sides of J. Kindzuļs’ alter ego. His life experience until World War I is revealed in Pīters Vylāns, but after 1920 – in Ontons Sleižs. J. Kindzuļs may have studied either agronomy or law in Petersburg (after 1907). He took part in Latgalian Musical society and later he worked in the editorial office of newspaper “Drywa” (1908–1912). J. Kindzuļs was involved in the First World War and after that he worked in Rēzekne Commerce School (1919). After 1922 he started farming in his household “Pelēķi” in Laucesa rural municipality and was busy with issues of agronomy in Latgale.J. Kindzuļs’ private life is revealed in two women characters: Elvira and Stefa. Kindzuļs himself had three wives: unknown (married before 1919), Hortenzija Kindzule (Dardedze, married about 1921), Jadviga Kindzule (Kondrāte, married before 1933). J. Kindzuļs became a widower twice. He had two sons: Česlavs (from his first marriage) and Andrivs Jēkabs (from the second marriage). The third child was a daughter, but he and his wife Jadviga lost her because she died of an illness when she was 3.Because of lack of information about J. Kindzuļs, there is no possibility to find out his interests. The only way to get more information about J. Kindzuļs is to research his novel “Pīters Vylāns”. From the novel we know that for J. Kindzuļs there are three groups of literary and cultural factors of inspiration. Firstly, it is Latgalian self-confidence, which appears in the use of Roman Catholic elements such as rites, prayers and honour songs for God. Secondly, it is syncretism of Christian faith and paganism, which is presented as rewriting of folksongs by hand and “vakariešona” or evening gathering. Thirdly, it is European culture, because it is clear that J. Kindzuļs knew, for example, such writers as Goethe, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, classical music (F. F. Chopin) and architecture. The amount of information about J. Kindzuļs must be enriched and research must be continued. Novel “Pīters Vylāns” was written after 1935 and it is autobiographical. Such characters as Pīters Vylāns and Ontons Sleižs reflect the personality of J. Kindzuļs, but Elvira and Stefa reveal some traits of his wives Hortenzija and Jadviga. J. Kindzuļs glorifies values which became significant after 1934: land and farming, peasants and unity. He describes the Latvians of Latgale during the Russian Revolution of 1905 (1905–1907), but at the same time he criticizes the tendency to be latvianized. The same attitude he has to russification. He accepts the ideological course of Kārlis Ulmanis policy and this ideological position of J. Kindzuļs is manifested as a form of rebellion.

‘The dictatorship of the democracy’? The Council of People's Commissars as Bolshevik-Left Socialist Revolutionary coalition government, December 1917-March 1918

In its early months the Soviet republic was governed by the Council of People's Commissars as a dual-party coalition cabinet composed of Bolsheviks and Left S.R.s. This article examines the period of their collaboration in central government, a phase often sidelined in general studies of the Russian Revolution, and attempts a fuller and more positive reassessment of the activity of the coalition. The focus is on the practical functioning of coalition politics inside the council of people's commissars, or ‘Sovnarkom’, from December 1917 to March 1918, and the formal and informal methods through which the Left S.R.s were able to exercise some degree of influence over government.

Alexander Shlyapnikov, 1885–1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik by Barbara C. Allen

Reviewed by: Alexander Shlyapnikov, 1885–1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik by Barbara C. Allen J.-Guy Lalande Barbara C. Allen, Alexander Shlyapnikov, 1885–1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik (Chicago: Haymarket Books 2016) What should be the relationship between a communist party and trade unions? Alexander G. Shlyapnikov never doubted, from the moment he became politically conscious, that he had the right answer to this question: nothing less that the subordination of the former to the latter. This partiality was solidly anchored in his belief that there was a very close link between the fate of communism in the Soviet Union and the well-being of the industrial working class. Born in 1885 into poverty, Shlyapnikov's upbringing as a persecuted Old Believer shaped his personality, even though he became an atheist in his middle teens; indeed, it helped him develop powers of argumentation, critical thinking skills, steadfastness, even stubbornness in defending his views. During an early childhood spent in the small provincial town of Murom in Vladimir Province, this highly intelligent and intensely ambitious lad learned to appreciate studiousness, hard work, honesty, compassion, and sobriety; he also discovered that, despite his work ethic, more than one path of social mobility was closed to him because of his class – hence his distrust and anger towards the authorities and his desire for social justice. His decision to become a metalworker introduced him to revolutionary socialism. Arrested by the police in January 1904 for his underground work, he landed in prison where he met Bolsheviks; largely under their influence, he identified himself as a Bolshevik by the end of 1905. Drafted into the army in January 1907, he was sentenced to two years in a fortress for having refused to take an oath of service to Tsar Nicholas II. From January 1908 until late 1916, Shlyapnikov worked abroad (Switzerland first, then France and Scandinavia) as a skilled metal turner and fitter. A steadfast Bolshevik and a crafty underground activist who smuggled literature and people and evaded the police, he proudly organized factory workers on behalf of the revolution, while learning from West European socialist parties and trade unions. Like most Old Bolsheviks, Shlyapnikov was devoted to Lenin and respectful of his intellect, his learning, and his dedication to international revolution, but he was occasionally critical of his tactics (his factionalist methods of struggle, for example) and policies (his advocacy of national self-determination that ran against Shlyapnikov's conviction that all workers had common interests). In a nutshell, Allen remarks, "he addressed Lenin as a partner, not a lackey." (75) During these years, Shlyapnikov became convinced that workers should not depend on intelligenty (intellectuals) to accomplish their goals; instead, they should take their fate into their own hands. This commitment to worker power ran consistently throughout his life and would be the source of much grief. Shlyapnikov was the most senior Bolshevik in Petrograd in February 1917. He called for the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies to form a provisional socialist coalition government until a constituent assembly could design a new political system, and for an end to the war. He was soon edged out of the central party leadership, however, following the return from exile of Kamenev, Stalin, and in April, Lenin himself. Nevertheless, he played an active role in that tumultuous year – as a prominent member of the Petrograd Soviet involved in long and arduous tariff negotiations with representatives of the Society of Factory Owners; a key figure in rebuilding the Petrograd Metalworkers' Union and transforming it into a strong national union; finally, after helping establish both the Workers' Militia and the Red Guard, [End Page 356] a participant in the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917. Such an involvement on the part of a man who believed that only revolution could bring about real change should not surprise. As People's Commissar of Labour in Lenin's first government until October 1918, Shlyapnikov tried to use his power in order to increase the role of trade unions in economic policy-making and planning as well as in government. For him, the role of trade unions was crucial in the transition to socialism. Committed to...

Special Camp Courts in the Soviet Union (the Second Half of the 1940s.)

He article describes the formation and activities of the ad hoc judicial bodies - the special camp courts in the Soviet Union during the second half of the 1940s. The author comes to the following conclusions: special courts were set up in camps hastily; deliberately there was no clearly defined jurisdiction of the camp courts; in the judicial personnel there was staff turmoil and behind-the-scene struggle. In addition, the activities of the bodies were affected by the confusion and "liquidation" sentiment that existed in the management of the camp courts. The thing was that the People's Commissar of Justice N. Rychkov had a very negative attitude towards the camp courts and, whenever convenient, indicated that the Interior Ministry only needed them as their "pocket" courts, turning to the debate on the question of inexpediency of the existence of the camp that "disorganized their work." It should be noted that the steering control apparatus saw staff turmoil. The formation of special camp courts took a fairly long period of time and did not quite corresponded with the plans of the government. The maintenance of the activities of the camp courts and the life of the court staff depended entirely on the heads of the places of detention which violated the constitutional principle of the independence of the judiciary and did not contribute to the effective work of these special courts. In addition, the special camp courts were clearly adversely affected by the excessive disclosure of their activities. The ratio of appealed convictions and sentences of the camp courts was high enough which explicitly talks about low qualifications of judges of special courts in the camp. Thus, in1947 the judicial panel on camp courts' activities of the Supreme Court of the USSR abolished 18% of sentences in cases decided under the procedure of Cassation. According to the official data of the Supreme Court of the USSR among appealed and protested sentences rendered by the courts, it upheld 69,9% in 1948; in 1949 - 68.1%; in the first half of 1950 - 66.5%.

ВИСВІТЛЕННЯ В СУСПІЛЬНО-ПОЛІТИЧНІЙ ЛІТЕРАТУРІ 1920-Х РР. КОРЕНІЗАЦІЇ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИХ МЕНШИН УСРР

The article analyses the process, how the socio-political literature of the 1920s presented the Bolshevik policy of so-called “korenization” (supporting development of indigenous cultures) of national communities on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. The Bolsheviks skillfully made use of national, ethnic, linguistic and cultural factors for their authority’s consolidation and gaining support among all national communities of the USSR, including ethnic minorities in particular Soviet republics. In the socio-political literature of the 1920's both goals of that policy and its practical implementation were propagated. Even the party’s and state’s leaders could be authors of publications on this subject, together with officials directly implementing above mentioned policy, members of the People's Commissariat for Education of the Ukrainian SSR, and publicists. The publications were based on Marxist ideology and on party programme and other documents of the Bolshevik Party related to the national question. At the same time, those documents contained materials illustrating the practice of “korenization” policy, including so-called "Soviet construction" among national minorities, national-territorial administration, creation of national, cultural-educational institutions, elimination of illiteracy among ethnic groups and minorities, activity of “village (cultural) houses”, reading-houses, clubs and libraries, as well as publication of newspapers and magazines in the languages ​​of national minorities, preparation of national cadres, and, finally, successes and difficulties of “korenization”. However, the socio-political literature considered the temporary "national-cultural autonomy" of national minorities through the prism of the "cultural revolution", treating such policy as an important component of the plan for building socialism.