Soviet Construction Research Articles

Formation of the Youth Union (Komsomol) in Kyrgyzstan in the 10-20s of the XX Century

On the initiative of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), in July 1918, the Organizing Bureau was created to convene a youth congress. On October 29, 1918, the First Congress of the All-Russian Congress of Workers’ Peasant Youth Unions opened in Moscow. He discussed reports from the field, approved the Charter and the main theses of the Komsomol Program. In the theses, emphasizing the solidarity of the Russian Communist Youth Union (RCYU) and the RCP(b), the congress formulated the goals of the Komsomol: active participation in the propaganda of the idea of ​​communism, the involvement of worker and peasant youth in active Soviet construction; determined the forms and methods of cultural and educational work among young people, etc.

Trainin Ilya Pavlovich: in the struggle for the right at the turning of the epochs

The article is devoted to an overview of the life path and scientific heritage of Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences Ilya P. Trainin. Scientific work of I. P. Trainin combined with organizational, socio-political and pedagogical activities. From 1942 to 1947 he served as Director of the Institute of Law of the USSR Academy of Sciences (in 1931 – Soviet Construction and Law of the Communist Academy; now – Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences). He owns research in the field of International Law, domestic and foreign State Law. The scientist’s scientific works have always covered key and topical problems of legal science and practice: the sphere of national relations, citizenship, issues of sovereignty, federation and autonomy. During the Great Patriotic War, I. P. Trainin wrote a number of works devoted to the mechanism of the fascist dictatorship and the responsibility of Nazi Germany for the atrocities and damage caused by its aggression and military robbery.

He taught to build not only cheaply, capital, but also beautifully

Introduction. In construction science, the name of Professor Boris Grigoryevich Skramtaev is widely known to the engineering community of the country and far beyond its borders. He actively participated in the formation and development of the Russian scientific school of concrete and reinforced concrete. The construction industry actively implemented the innovation of researcher Skramtaev and his colleagues, using precast concrete proposed by scientists on large-scale construction sites, introducing new types of cements developed by them for the construction of residential and industrial facilities.
 
 In Boris Grigoryevich's informative biography, in addition to research on hydraulic engineering, coarse-porous and high-strength concretes, participation in the development of inorganic binders is vividly reflected. He devoted a lot of time and effort to leading research teams, the results of which are impressive by today's standards. Thus, during the difficult for the country war period, scientists under the leadership of Professor Boris Grigoryevich Skramtaev contributed to the full and timely provision of domestic industry with building materials, primarily high-quality concrete and reinforced concrete, even in extremely difficult periods for the construction industry during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war restoration of the national economy.
 
 The aim of this article is to conduct an author's analysis of the fruitful scientific activity of Professor B.G. Skramtaev, to confirm his talent as a leader of research teams. To trace the biography of the outstanding Russian scientist Boris Grigoryevich Skramtaev, the founder of the Russian school of reinforced concrete, who made a great contribution to the creation of modern building materials, various types of concrete, which were actively used in the construction industry.
 
 Results. The article examines and analyzes the newly discovered biographical data about Professor B.G. Skramtaev, analyzes the influence of the environment in which the scientist's worldview was formed, the motives of his active and fruitful activity in the field of concrete science. For the first time, the responses of representatives of the scientific community and heads of interested ministries of the country about B.G. Skramtaev's popular textbook "Building Materials", which has undergone five reprints, has become a reference book for several generations of students and engineers.
 
 Conclusions. The source base of the research has been expanded, archival documents and materials that were previously unknown or little known to the scientific community have been introduced into scientific circulation. Several materials have been found confirming the heuristic outstanding abilities of researcher B.G. Skramtaev in the field of concrete science.
 
 The role and place of scientific activity of Professor B.G. Skramtaev as a theorist on the creation of new promising concretes and mixtures for the construction industry are determined.
 
 In the article, the scientist B.G. Skramtaev is shown as a versatile and in-depth researcher, the author of numerous textbooks and monographs, relevant articles on the topics he studies. For example, his 1952 textbook "Building Materials" reflects the priority of Russian science and technology more fully than previous editions. It presents the achievements of Soviet construction materials technology and changes in outdated terminology on building materials. The fifth edition provides new data on materials and reinforced concrete parts for prefabricated construction, takes into account the basic principles of the draft Schedule, replenishes the section "Achievements of domestic science and practice", reflects the works successfully implemented in practice in 1950–1952, including personal works of the authors, especially in the field of new cements, concrete technology and building solutions.
 
 The conclusions obtained as a result of the analysis of the material contribute to the study of the originality of the versatile personality of B.G. Skramtaev, his phenomenon in scientific thought in the field of concrete science and building materials in the period of the 1930s–1960s.

The main directions of the study of federalism in the Russian legal science of the 1920s

The subject of the study is the theory of federalism in the Russian legal science of the 1920s. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the theories of federalism of the 1920s based on the study of a wide array of publications of this period. The research methodology includes the following methods. The chronological method allowed us to distribute legal facts and their interpretations in chronological order. The comparative legal method was used to compare legal phenomena and institutions of different periods. The method of hermeneutics was used in the interpretation of texts.The following scientific results were obtained.The 1920s were a special period in Russian legal science. The ideological demands of the Soviet government formulated an urgent scientific agenda. At the same time, the political regime of this period allowed for relative freedom of scientific activity. The discreteness and continuity in the study of the problems of federalism are noted. In Soviet conditions, the federal theme was of particular relevance because of its practical significance. The development of the theory of federalism was carried out simultaneously with the approval of the Soviet federal state, the legal consolidation of relations between its subjects. The organizational center for the study of the theory and practice of federalism was located in the system of academic scientific institutions.The problems of federalism in the legal perspective were studied within the framework of state law. In addition, they were part of the subject of a new complex industry, which became known as "Soviet construction".Publications of the 1920s reflected the interdisciplinarity of research interpretations. In the comparative legal aspect, the theory of federalism and types of federations were studied. In the political aspect, the features of the Soviet federation, its differences from the federations of the bourgeois type were studied. The practice of Soviet construction was analyzed and generalized from a practical perspective. The key research issue of the 1920s was to determine the legal nature of the Soviet Federation. Definitions of the legal nature of the RSFSR and the USSR were given. An important conclusion was made about the continuity and continuity of the forms of the Soviet federation. Many questions remained debatable. Clarity was not achieved on the following issues: on the composition of the subjects of the RSFSR; on the combination of national and state sovereignty. For the first time, the question of the place and role of the historical Russian center within the USSR was raised. During the period of the 1920s, priorities in the study of the problems of federalism changed. At the beginning of the period, the main attention was paid to the study of the federation as an effective way to solve the national issue. The federal structure was considered a transitional form of the Soviet state. A state built on the principles of proletarian internationalism was declared promising. At the end of the 1920s, the concept of a large unified state was most actively developed. It was proved that within the framework of the USSR, national demands are satisfied and the interests of all nations are respected.

Organization of Social Assistance to Indigenous Minorities in the Turukhansk Region in 1920-1925

The authors consider the issues of involvement of native minorities of the Russian North in the Soviet construction in the first half of the 1920s. The problem is illustrated through the example of Turukhansk region (until 1930 it united the peoples that populated the North of Yeniseysk Governorate). The source base includes the documents from the fund of the State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Territory. It is noted that during the early Soviet period the national policy towards the indigenous peoples of the North was characterized by flexibility and search for balance between the interests of the government and the northern peoples. This policy was mostly founded on socio-economical tasks, rather than political ones. At this stage the government assumed the administration management, provision of economic aid to the native minorities of the North, preservation of the life-sustaining system for using natural resources, all that determined their traditional lifestyle. There began the creation of institutions of self-government (clan councils), trade services, medical care and school education. It was the Northern instructors that acted as conductors of Soviet policy among indigenous peoples. It was intended, on the one hand, to streamline the activities of Soviet institutions among the indigenous peoples of the North, and on the other hand, to help the latter adapt to the new socio-economic conditions. The authors determine the specifics and role of Northern inspectors (from 1924 - instructors in foreign affairs) through the nature of interaction between state, local administrative and clan institutions in the process of developing and implementing support for indigenous peoples of the Yenisey North; their general catastrophic situation could entail irreversible processes of the extinction of these peoples.

На переломе: Ф. А. Степун о революции 1917 г. и советском строительстве в России

The aim of the article is to highlight the historical, philosophical and religious views of Fyodor Augustovich Stepun (1884–1965), a scientist, philosopher, Christian thinker, about the 1917 Revolution and post-revolutionary Soviet construction in Russia. The relevance of the topic is justified, and the necessity of its further study is emphasized. The author characterizes the corpus of sources, including Stepun’s works of different years that comprehend this topic. The author emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of Stepun’s research strategy that combines scientific methods of knowledge, such as the critical method, the method of ideal-typical construction, the biographical method, the method of philosophical criticism of literary texts, and the main provisions of religious symbolism, which implies the study of history in the context of higher religious ideas. Based on such an interdisciplinary approach, Stepun considered the revolution as a religious and historical tragedy of the Russian people and the Christian world as a whole, while paying attention to a careful study of the factual material. Stepun’s ideas about the causes of the Revolution of 1917 are highlighted, in the structure of which he attributed a key place to the counterproductive policy of the Russian autocracy and World War I, which was unsuccessful for Russia. The complexity of Stepun’s ideas about the February and October revolutions is emphasized. Attention is focused on his positive attitude to the February Revolution, the main goal of which was the democratization of the Russian political system. Stepun also accepted the October Revolution, which raised the world-wide theme of socialism, connected, in his opinion, with the Christian project of the transformation of the world. The thinker’s ideas about the religious consciousness of the people as a factor of their political activity in the revolutionary epoch are analyzed. A positive attitude is observed. Stepun’s ideas about the revolutionary game, in his interpretation reflecting the population’s search for forms of social adaptation in the first post-revolutionary years, are considered. His deep rejection of Bolshevism as a political system with its God-fighting and class ideology, which contributed to the widespread state violence and immoralism in the country, is emphasized. It is concluded that Stepun’s conception of the 1917 Revolution and Soviet construction in Russia is meaningful, and that it is relevant to contemporary Russian society.

ПЕЧАТНЫЙ СОЦИАЛИЗМ И (МНОГО)НАЦИОНАЛЬНАЯ ДЕТСКАЯ КНИГА

Presenting the collection of archival articles on the creation of national literatures for children in the USSR, the brief introduction proposes to see the early Soviet construction of a new subfield of national literatures as yet another example of invented traditions. New children’s literatures in Soviet republics demonstrated their deep involvement in the common — Soviet — literary development and simultaneously their cultivated sense of cultural autonomy, marked by specifically national themes, plots, and styles. Translations of international classics into national languages added a necessary “global” and “universal” dimension to national children’s literatures. In turn, the activation and instrumentalization of folklore helped to identify and popularize “specific” ethnic points of view and intonations. As the key example of this dynamics, the introduction examines two performative “parades” of national children’s literatures, which were staged in the journal Detskaia literatura (Children’s Literature) in 1936–1937 and in 1971–1972. Within forty years, almost universal complaints about the lack of qualified children’s writers were replaced with extensive reports about highly developed systems of creation, production and dissemination of literature for children.

ВЕЛИКИЕ СТРОЙКИ КОММУНИЗМА В ЗЕРКАЛЕ СОВЕТСКОЙ НОСТАЛЬГИИ

The article examines the evolution of the mythology of the great construction projects of communism in the context of nostalgia for the Soviet. The author shows the specifics of the formation of the mythology of great construction projects in the Soviet media sphere through connection with the basic constructs of the official communist ideology. This mythologem was never able to move into the discourses of historical memory, since the exposure of the cult of personality and mass repressions launched the process of undermining trust in the Soviet mythological pathos of the great construction projects of communism until its complete ideological corrosion during the period of perestroika. However, the specifics of the accumulation of primary scientific data on the history of the economy of forced labor in the USSR pushed into the shadows the real participation in great construction projects not only of the civilian population, but also of Komsomol activists who went en masse to these sites at the call of the Communist Party. The initial conditions of many construction projects were very harsh, and the objects themselves were distinguished not only by their scale, but also by their knowledge intensity, which implied their high technological efficiency. Currently, great Soviet construction projects penetrate into the space of media memory through the digital content of tourists, whomthey attract as a source of unprecedented impressions of exotic sights. The author concludes that in the case of great construction projects, Soviet nostalgia as a cultural movement works with the material, rather than symbolic, dimension of great construction projects, drawing positive connotations to elevate their image within the experience industry.

Донское просвещение в эпоху реформ и революций (середина ХIХ в. – первая треть ХХ в.)

The periods of reforms of the 19th century, revolution, civil war and Soviet construction of the 1920s of the 20th century, unprecedented in the concentration of innovations in the Don enlightenment, are investigated. The author traces the formation of the legal statuses of the estate-Cossack and peasant schools of the Don region, the emergence of female and secondary education in the region. Changes in the educational space of the Region of the Don Army (RDA) are associated with the inclusion in 1878 of the Rostov region and the Taganrog city government in its composition. An analysis of various types of RDA schools showed that there were twice as many parish schools in military villages and farms as there were schools in peasant settlements. The primary school of the Synod, after growth in the 1880s, lost its position at the beginning of the twentieth century due to the low level of education. The peculiarities of secondary education in the region are the class-Cossack character of gymnasiums in the Cossack centers of the Department of Internal Affairs, the priority development of military Cossack educational institutions, the provision of benefits to specialists of Cossack origin. The establishment of the Don Polytechnic Institute in Novocherkassk meant that, in terms of the development of education, the RDA rose to a level comparable to the central regions of the country, at the same time, most school-age children did not have access to educational institutions. During the Civil War on the territory of the White Cossack quasi-state “The Great Army of the Don”, the learning process was not interrupted, and functioned according to the laws of the estate school. The Soviet Unified Labor School, separated from the church and representing equal rights to education for representatives of all social groups and nationalities, was formed after the end of the Civil War. The system-forming link was the state administration of education, acting in line with the decisions of the Communist Party. In the 1920s and the country made a leap from mass illiteracy of the population to the introduction of universal compulsory primary education, which stopped the constant reproduction of the illiterate when new generations entered life. Development of the Don regional educational space system in the 19th-20th centuries became a progressive civilizational process.

The Main Directions of Ideological Work with the Youth of Ossetia in 1918-1924

The article discusses the main directions of ideological work with the youth of Ossetia in 1918-1924. The relevance of the topic is determined by the insufficient study of the ideological component of the youth movement in the North Caucasus in the early Soviet period, which determines the purpose of this study. The article shows that the youth movement in Ossetia was closely connected with the activities of the all-Russian youth organization – Russian communist youth union (1918, since July 1924 – Russian Leninist Communist Youth Union, since 1926 – All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union/Komsomol), created by the Soviet government for the political education of the young generation of the proletarian republic. Its appearance was due to the need to unite the disparate youth organizations that already existed in various cities of the country and create a single center operating under the leadership of the Communist Party. The process of formation of Komsomol bodies spread in the national regions of the country, including the Terek region, and then in the Mountain ASSR and its individual regions, including Ossetia. One of the main goals of the youth policy was to attract to the side of the party the broad masses of young people who could be involved in the restoration of the economy. Youth organizations in Ossetia solved various party tasks. Ossetian youth were actively involved in Soviet construction. It also participated in rallies, meetings and other public events. The work of the youth was expressed in the organization of Komsomol cells in the Vladikavkaz district, Digoria and remote villages. The fight against unemployment was carried out by involving young highlanders in production. The conclusion is drawn about the role played by the youth Komsomol organizations of Ossetia in strengthening the Soviet power, establishing party work in the politically, socially and economically difficult North Caucasian region. The source base of the study was made up of publications in the mass periodical press, collections of documents on the history of the Ossetian organization of the Komsomol, as well as materials from the SOIGSI Scientific Archive. The study was carried out on the basis of a problem-chronological approach using general historical methods and taking into account the principles of historicism, consistency and objectivity.

SCIENCE OF MUNICIPAL LAW AT LOMONOSOV MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY

The article discusses the features of teaching municipal law at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. This was in uenced by various factors, the central place among which is the dynamics of ideas about the essence of local self-government. The issues of teaching municipal law at Moscow University are traditionally included in the range of tasks of the department related to the organization of state power - the department of state law, Soviet construction, now - the department of constitutional and municipal law. The teachers of the department have made and continue to make to the formation of local self-government and Russian statehood. Devoting their work to the problems of the organization and activities of local authorities, the teachers of the department, on the one hand, maintained the continuity of scienti c views, strengthening the traditions of the national state-law school, and on the other hand, they created the foundation for future statelegal (constitutionallegal) transformations, sensitively responding to the requirements of the time, and sometimes ahead of them. Special attention is drawn to the fact that the issues of teaching municipal law at Moscow University are traditionally included in the range of tasks of the department related to the organization of state power - the department of state law and Soviet construction, now - the department of constitutional and municipal law. The paper points to the contribution that the teachers of the department have made and continue to make to the formation of local self-government and Russian statehood as a whole.

Specificity of the formation of modern social housing in Ukraine as a consequence of the russian invasion

The Soviet Union, among other states, was distinguished by the construction of housing at a great pace and volume, which was included in the programs of future social development for every 5 years. It was believed that the scale of Soviet construction should testify to the advantages of the Soviet system of government (and in fact the ruling political regime was formed by a one-party system) and the socialist system of management. Housing construction was carried out for the people under conditions of equality and equal distribution by state bodies of living space per person. The liberation of Ukraine from the Russian Communist Party dictate led to a prolonged Russian invasion of Ukrainian land due to the Russian Federation's inadmissibility of such "arbitrariness" on the part of Ukraine as choosing a pro-European path and democratization. With the acquisition of Independence in Ukraine, there was a reassessment of the values previously declared by the communist authorities, when the dictatorship of the proletariat and the hegemony of the poorest sections of the population were proclaimed. Mass housing construction, as an industry that had to serve as communist propaganda, actually met the minimum needs of the people. This is especially evident when comparing the Soviet heritage and the modern construction of social housing in other countries. The state of war in our country has given us an understanding that the problem of creating social housing is growing in our difficult conditions, covers a huge number of the population that lost their homes as a result of hostilities and takes various forms that need to be identified.

Co‐temporality and Sovremennost': Late Imperial and Early Soviet Photographs

Co‐temporality and <i>Sovremennost'</i>: Late Imperial and Early Soviet Photographs

Review: Spatial Revolution: Architecture and Planning in the Early Soviet Union

Review: <i>Spatial Revolution: Architecture and Planning in the Early Soviet Union</i>

СССР и экономический аспект "новой восточной политики" Вилли Брандта: концептуальные основы экономического сближения

After Willy Brandt's government came to power, for the first time in the post-war period, the political situation turned from a deterrent into a stimulating factor for the development of economic relations between the FRG and the USSR. The concept of Brandt's “New Eastern Policy” was formed on the basis of a long evolution of his image of the USSR. In the field of economics, he stated the successes of Soviet construction and the need for assistance in this construction from the West. As burgomaster, the key to the birth of Brandt's concept was the construction of the Berlin Wall, after which the formula of “change through rapprochement” was born, where the economy played a constructive role as one of the areas free from irreconcilable contradictions. With the coming to power of Brandt, the interest in the development of eastern trade between business and government coincided. One of the main achievements of Brandt's eastern policy - the conclusion of the Moscow Treaty of 1970 - became a landmark event for the development of economic ties, creating a favorable business climate for the first time in the post-war period. For the Soviet side, the course towards economic rapprochement with the FRG was also determined by a complex of political and economic reasons. Germany, as a manufacturer of high-tech products, was of interest due to the need to modernize the Soviet economy, purchase machinery and equipment to increase labor productivity. The political factor was the desire to reduce the tension of the Cold War through mutually beneficial trade, while consolidating its own sphere of influence in Europe, and enlisting the support of influential commercial and industrial circles. General Secretary Brezhnev, KGB Chairman Andropov, as well as the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade played an important role in the development and implementation of the course.

Guba region of Azerbaijan at the initial stage of Soviet construction (1920-1921),

Guba region of Azerbaijan at the initial stage of Soviet construction (1920-1921),

“The forgotten” law university: Institute of the Red Professorship of Soviet Construction and Law (1931–1938)

The article is devoted to a previously unexplored page in the history of domestic legal education – the organization and functioning of the Institute of the Red Professorship of Soviet Construction and Law in the 1930s. The article highlights the issues of the history of the predecessor of the IRP SSiP - the legal department of the Institute of the Red Professorship in 1924 - 1931, as well as key issues of the history of the IRP SSiP in 1931 - 1938: its organization, structure, teaching staff, students, the educational process, the distribution of graduates, etc.

Советская модернизация культуры и быта бурят в 1920–30-е гг.

Introduction. Since the 17th c. as part of the Russian Empire, Buryats found themselves in the sphere of influence of Western secular culture and Orthodox Christianity. Depending on the local natural and climatic conditions, some basic features of agriculture, mining, and Russian culture were introduced into the Buryat economic activities and everyday life, but, in general, the people persisted in their extensive nomadic and semi-nomadic economy and patriarchal culture. In 1923, with the birth of the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (BMASSR), the processes of transformation of their culture and life began in every sphere of their traditional life, such as economic activities, material culture, family and marriage relations, religious beliefs, public leisure, etc. The article aims to study the processes of modernization of Buryat culture and everyday life at the initial stage of Soviet construction. Materials and methods. Major sources for the study were documents from the State Archives of the Republic of Buryatia; also, published sources and media materials were of great importance for the discussion. In its methodology, the study proceeds from the principles of historicism, consistency, objectivity, and reliability, helpful in approaching the process of Soviet modernization of Buryat culture as a multidimensional, contradictory process, hence avoiding both one-sided criticism and idealization. Results. The undertaken analysis of pertinent media materials and archival sources shows that two stages may be singled out in the Soviet construction in Buryatia. The first stage, that began with the formation of the BMASSR and continued to the late 1920s, was the time of radical transformations introduced in the lifestyle of the Buryats, but, still, their traditional culture and life persisted. They were to finally give up, with the policy of collectivization and the process of settlement of the nomadic Buryats pursued by the Soviet authorities at the next stage marked by Velikii perelom (Great turning point) and the beginning of “militant atheism”, i. e. in the period of intensive construction of a new life and the eradication of traditional lifestyles. The study concludes that the Soviet modernization embraced every aspect of the Buryat society, and its impact was deep, comprehensive, and effective. The project was implemented, with objectives and hopes assigned to it fulfilled.

„Socialist postmodernism”: residential architecture in Kyiv Podil district (Ukraine)

Despite the short chronological span of the socialist era architecture heritage, it remains little investigated and underappreciated. Given the political and cultural isolation of the Soviet Union republics and strict architectural design regulations, there was a widespread belief that architects should not use innovative trends. This article exemplifies residential quarters in the historic Podil district, designed and built in the 1970s-1980s in Kyiv. They vividly demonstrate the postmodern ideas embodied in Ukrainian architecture. Methodologically, the article bases on the Ch. Jencks definition of postmodernism and in the comparison of his ideology with the implemented Kyiv project. It states that Kyiv architects proposed not typical Soviet construction projects but international postmodern architectural solutions. It proves that, on the one hand, Ukrainian architects had perfect qualifications to draw construction projects implementing advanced world trends of the time. But on the other hand, it highlights that postmodernism in architecture did not merely confine to Western Europe and the United States but also penetrated the Iron Curtain, exemplifying innovative architectural thinking which ran contrary to the modernist paradigm.

Heal and Serve

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan can be seen as a laboratory for examining the Soviet construction of masculinity during the last decade of the USSR. Focusing on male Soviet military doctors as individuals, this article aims to present how these doctors constructed their virile presentation of self in a war situation and how they managed their position within the military community. Taking a pragmatic historical approach, the article considers the doctors through their interactions with both women and men, examining gendered practices such as “protecting weak people,” “asserting authority,” “expressing emotions (or not),” and “impressing others.” It offers a case study for the analysis of one of the many forms of Soviet military masculinity under late socialism and its place in Soviet society.