Libmonster ID: UA-12937

Edited by I. A. Fedosov (in Russian). editor), I. I. Astafieva, I. D. Kovalchenko, Moscow, MSU Publishing House, 1970, 469 p. The print run is 10,000. Price 1 rub 37 kopecks.

Recently, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in the problems of source studies. Both its theoretical foundations and individual issues of specific source studies are being successfully developed .1 The attention of historians is drawn, in particular, to the earlier

1 See, for example: S. M. Kashtanov and A. A. Kurnosov. Some questions

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very poorly studied sections of source studies of the national history of the period of capitalism 2 . All this created the conditions for the appearance of consolidated works on source studies of the history of the USSR of the XIX-early XX century. The first attempt of this kind in the post-war period was V. I. Strelsky's book " Source Studies of the History of the USSR. The Period of Imperialism "(Moscow, 1962). Another step in the same direction was taken by the staff of the Department of History of the USSR (the period of capitalism) Moscow State University, which created a textbook on source studies of the history of the USSR covering the 19th and early 20th centuries. (before 1917) 3 .

The introduction sets out the most important methodological provisions concerning the problems of source science, principles of classification and methods of source analysis, defines the main tasks of the manual: to give students an idea of the complexes of sources on the most important problems and help them learn general methods of working on the main types of sources (p. 9). The structure of the book is based on chronological and thematic principles, sources are analyzed by their types. These principles are mutually related in the manual. Sometimes, when considering materials on individual issues, one type of source is in the center (for the history of socio - economic development, this is mainly statistical data, for the history of the internal policy of tsarism - legislation and official records management materials). In some sections, sources are reviewed by their types (periodicals, memoirs). In almost every section, the material is considered separately for the pre-reform period, the era of pre-monopoly capitalism, and the period of imperialism. This approach made it possible to describe compactly and quite fully the main groups of sources on the history of socio-economic development, the internal and foreign policy of tsarism, and the social and revolutionary movement. The advantage of the work is also the consideration of not only publications, but also the most important archival collections.

However, with such a structure, repetitions and compositional fuzziness were unavoidable. Thus, in the section on sources in socio-economic history, the question of methods of working on statistical materials is considered only in the chapter devoted to sources of the second half of the XIX-beginning of the XX century. Work on legislation is discussed only in the chapter on legislation of the period of imperialism. At the same time, the methods of working on periodicals are covered twice: both in the chapter devoted to the press of pre-reform Russia, and in the chapter on periodicals of the era of imperialism. The sections on memoirs, diaries, and private correspondence also have some shortcomings in the arrangement of the material: the methods of working on this group of sources are mentioned twice (pp. 347-351 and 385-398). Each of these chapters provides a classification of memoir sources (pp. 352, 369). Although these classifications are somewhat different from each other, this is not specified in any way.

The review of sources on socio-economic history is preceded by brief essays on the state of statistical science and characteristics of statistical institutions in Russia in the XIX-early XX century. Special attention is paid to statistical materials of the post-reform era, and V. I. Lenin's instructions on methods of working on this type of source are widely used. However, the question of average data in statistics should be more clearly stated. The authors confine themselves to a cursory reference to the fact that V. I. Lenin did not deny the significance of the average figures and saw in their reasonable use an opportunity to consider the regularities of phenomena in socio-economic life (p. 48). But what is the essence of the average data and what are the principles of their "reasonable use", remained unclear.

Analyzing sources on the problems of the internal policy of tsarism, the authors did the right thing, paying special attention to the materials of official records management. Their role in the conditions of the domination of the bureaucracy was exceptionally great, but they have not yet been sufficiently analyzed from the source study side. To the circumstances-

theories of source studies. "Historical Archive", 1962, N 4; L. N. Pushkarev. Classification of sources in Soviet Source Studies (1917-1964)." Voprosy archivovedeniya", 1965, N 1; V. I. Strelsky. Theory and methodology of source studies of the history of the USSR. Kiev, 1968.

2 "Some issues of studying historical documents of the XIX-early XX centuries". Collection of articles. L. 1967.

3 Authors: S. I. Antonova, I. I. Astafyev, V. I. Bovykin, V. A. Vdovin, S. S. Dmitriev, P. A. Zayonchkovsky, L. G. Zakharova, N. S. Kinyapina, V. Ya. Laverychev, K. G. Levykin, L. I. Leskova, M. G. Sedov, S. M. Sidelnikov, V. A. Fedorov, I. A. Fedosov, R. G. Eimontova.

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To describe the main groups of materials of office correspondence, we should add an indication of some of its features, without which the study cannot be comprehensive. We have in mind first of all the fact that such correspondence, as a rule, was not intended for disclosure. Given that the material presented will not be made public and therefore cannot be the subject of criticism from third parties, correspondents allowed themselves to speak more freely. Due to class, party, departmental, or even opportunistic considerations, in some cases they could, for example, openly write about the atrocities of the punishers, while in others, on the contrary, they could deliberately distort the data at their disposal .4
Highlighting the methodology of working on a very important group of historical sources for the XIX century - legislation, the authors showed methods for studying each law at all stages of its passage before approval. Based on specific material, the manual reveals Lenin's method of analyzing legislative acts of the autocracy (pp. 102-110). But the question of the relation of the already adopted legislative act to the conditions of public life remained almost ignored. Meanwhile, the significance of the law as a source also depends on the extent to which the norms established in it have been implemented in practice. Unlike many bourgeois scientists, especially representatives of the state and law schools, Soviet historians consider it unacceptable to accept the letter of the law as the content of life. The founders of Marxism-Leninism have repeatedly pointed out the impotence of legal norms, even if supported by the power of the state power apparatus, to prevent the natural course of social development .5
The section on sources on the history of foreign policy provides a fresh and interesting analysis of a wide range of different materials. The center of attention is the official material-treaties, treatises, conventions, as well as diplomatic correspondence. A special section sets out the general principles of working with diplomatic documents and gives their classification. While recognizing its conventionality, as the authors do, we believe that we should have been more consistent in assigning a particular type of document to a particular group. It is controversial to place a review of memoirs, diaries, and periodicals here. After all, these same materials are considered in special sections of the book.

From a wide and diverse range of sources on the history of the liberation movement, the authors chose the main object of analysis of judicial and investigative materials and records management of the punitive organs of the autocracy. This choice is due to the importance of these materials in the study of the liberation movement, especially in the pre-reform era. Denunciations, written testimonies, protocols of interrogations, confrontations, conclusions of investigative commissions, sentences and other materials of political investigation, trial and investigation are comprehensively analyzed, and the peculiarities of such sources of the period of imperialism are shown. Noting the biased nature of forensic investigation materials, the authors at the same time draw attention to the need to take into account the totality of factors that acted during their compilation and were reflected in their content. The authors seek to trace the connection between the stages of the revolutionary movement and the nature of the sources, in particular on the materials of the testimony of revolutionaries before the tsarist court.

Some other types of sources on the history of the liberation movement are considered in connection with the analysis of forensic investigation materials. The program documents of the Decembrists are mentioned, for example, when considering such a complex of sources as documents and materials seized from the accused during the arrest (p.173-174). The authors note, however, that P. Pestel's Russkaya Pravda and N. Muravyov's Constitution were already the subject of a special source analysis. It seems, however, that the program documents of the liberation movement should also be assigned to a special group in the reviewed manual. The chapter on the materials of political processes of the second half of the XIX century is somewhat different. Unlike other chapters, it focuses not so much on the source analysis of materials as on the characterization of the significance of major political processes in the 60s-90s of the XIX century. Generally,

4 For more information, see L. E. Shepelev The researcher's work with archival documents, Moscow-L., 1966, pp. 82-90.

5 See, for example, Karl Marx and Fr. Engels, Soch. Vol. 19, p. 408.

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However, the section on sources on the history of the liberation movement is one of the most interesting and vividly written parts of the manual.

Special sections are devoted to periodicals and memoirs. This distinction is explained by the fact that these types of sources have a common meaning, and all aspects of the historical process are reflected in them to one degree or another (p.11). The authors of these sections faced enormous difficulties. From the mass of newspapers and magazines of various types and directions, it was necessary to select for review those whose analysis would give the most clear idea of the importance of the press as a source in the study of socio-economic development, domestic and foreign policy, and culture of the country. At the same time, it was necessary to show general techniques and methods of working with the periodical press as a source. In some cases, the authors themselves had to plan the method of print analysis. In this regard, the classification of periodicals proposed by them is noteworthy, reflecting the really significant aspects of publications of the past and helping the researcher to navigate them (pp. 245-246), as well as the characteristics of ideological and political trends in Russian periodicals of the second half of the XIX - beginning of the XX century.

However, some estimates here seem controversial to us. Thus, considering the conditions of existence of the periodical press in the period from the end of the Crimean War to 1862, the authors argue that then "the revolutionary-democratic and liberal press, which received the right to legal existence, took a leading position in the Russian periodical press and began to play a decisive role in the development of public thought and literature" (p.270). Of course, in the context of the social - revolutionary upsurge, the advanced press was given great opportunities for its activities, for increasing its influence on the broad circles of the public. But while the autocratic-feudal (and after the abolition of serfdom - semi-feudal) order was preserved in the country, the dominant position among periodicals was still maintained by official and landowner-bourgeois organs. It seems inaccurate to divide the periodical press of the imperialist period according to its ideological direction into three groups: the autocratic-monarchist press; the bourgeois - liberal press, to which the authors "conditionally" refer periodicals of petty - bourgeois parties and organizations-Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries, etc.; and the Bolshevik press (p. 306). Despite all the ideological closeness of the Cadet and Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik publications, the latter still represented a different ideology from the liberal-bourgeois one.

The authors speak several times about two approaches to the study of periodicals. According to them, "the first approach is a holistic, comprehensive study of a given press body or several bodies of the same direction and time. The subject of research is the history of this organ or organs... The second approach is to turn the historian to a given organ or press organs in order to find in them separate sources on a particular topic, which in itself is not a topic about this organ or organs" (p. 246; see also p. 279). There is no reason to distinguish these two approaches as the authors do. Each individual material placed in a periodical organ is an organic part of its entire content, and it can only be used taking into account the specified circumstance. This means that the "second approach" proposed by the authors is inextricably linked with the first one.

It is important and very useful to characterize the methods of source research work with memoir and epistolary sources. The manual describes in detail the common features and differences of these similar sources. Reviews of memoirs, diaries, and correspondence compiled on a mixed thematic and chronological basis are also of great interest. It should be noted that this is the first time in our literature that such a wide-ranging review of memoirs and diaries from the period of imperialism is given.

The final section examines the works of V. I. Lenin as a source on the history of Russia in the era of capitalism. It shows the significance of Lenin's works as a source for the history of the class and ideological-political struggle of that time, as well as as a model for working with sources, selecting them, grouping them, and researching them from the standpoint of Marxist methodology.

Let's sum up the results. First of all, students and teachers received a valuable manual on the course of source studies of the history of the USSR

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XIX-early XX centuries. At the same time, its volume, as well as the previously published manuals on the course of source studies of the history of the USSR by M. N. Tikhomirov, I. L. Sherman, V. I. Strelsky and M. N. Chernomorsky, is very large: it is difficult for students to master such extensive material. However, these manuals provide a reliable basis for writing a stable textbook on the entire course of source studies of the history of the USSR.

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A. P. PRONSTEIN, K. A. KHMELEVSKY, SOURCE STUDIES OF THE HISTORY OF THE USSR OF THE XIX-EARLY XX CENTURY // Kiev: Library of Ukraine (ELIBRARY.COM.UA). Updated: 12.01.2025. URL: https://elibrary.com.ua/m/articles/view/SOURCE-STUDIES-OF-THE-HISTORY-OF-THE-USSR-OF-THE-XIX-EARLY-XX-CENTURY (date of access: 10.02.2025).

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