Academician S. L. Tikhvinsky
The year 1984 was marked by a number of major events in the socio-political life of the country. It was marked by the implementation of the decisions of the XXVI Congress of the CPSU, the June (1983) and other Plenums of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which opened an important stage in the development of research in the field of social sciences, the activation of the activities of research teams and each scientist individually. All-Union scientific and practical Conference "Improvement of developed socialism and ideological work of the Party in the light of the decisions of the June (1983) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU", national discussion and adoption of the draft of the Central Committee of the CPSU on school reform, the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, on the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, on the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, on the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. the revolutions of 1905-1907 in Russia were a true reference point in the work of Soviet social scientists. In order for the ideas contained in these and other party documents to be implemented in practical matters, it was necessary to mobilize creative potential and activate scientific research.
The party's demand to increase the importance of social sciences in solving practical problems of improving a developed socialist society also applies directly to historical science. Its ideological, political and educational role is especially great. This is due both to the internal needs of the progress of our society and to the unprecedented aggravation of the international situation and the ideological struggle on the world stage. At a time when imperialism, while launching an offensive against socialism, is trying to distort the essence of the processes taking place in socialist society and falsify the history of mankind, it is the duty of Soviet historians to respond promptly and effectively to anti-Marxist concepts, and to focus their efforts on shaping a fully developed socialist society.
The party points out that in the ideological and moral image of a citizen of our country, the main features are an active life position, a high sense of responsibility for the task assigned, and an ideological spirit, without which good work, organization and order are unthinkable as components of our success. "Increasing the labor and social activity of the Soviet people, strengthening discipline, and fostering patriotism and internationalism are important tasks of all ideological activity," 1 it was pointed out at the March (1985) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
1 Materials of the Extraordinary Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, March 11, 1985, Moscow, 1985, p. 10.
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The role of historical knowledge in shaping these and other features of the Soviet citizen cannot be overemphasized. This knowledge helps to strengthen the conviction of Soviet people in the correctness of communist ideals, develop a sense of historical optimism, educate them on the basis of revolutionary, military and labor traditions, Marxist-Leninist worldview, proletarian socialist internationalism, patriotism, intransigence to hostile ideology, readiness to fulfill their international duty, enrich their spiritual world with all the best of the cultural heritage of mankind. History education was and remains an important tool for fostering citizenship, Soviet patriotism, and internationalism; it is an excellent school for awakening labor enthusiasm and developing initiative 2 .
Guided by the decisions of the XXVI Congress of the CPSU and the Plenums of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Soviet historians conducted research in 1984 in the following main areas: theoretical and methodological problems of the world-historical process; history of the construction of a socialist society in the USSR and other countries of the socialist commonwealth; domestic history of the pre-October period; history of the world revolutionary liberation process; history of foreign policy of the USSR and other countries of the socialist community. international relations; history of the Second World War; history of world culture and social thought; ethnogenesis, ethnic history and modern ethno-social processes; criticism of bourgeois falsifications of the world-historical process; critical analysis of the role of religions in the past and in the modern world. A characteristic feature of these studies was the increased attention to solving practical problems of improving a developed socialist society in the field of ideology, politics, national and cultural construction, the focus on a more in-depth development of the Marxist-Leninist concept of the world historical process, a broad display of the historical paths of various peoples, countries and continents, and the study of ideologically and politically relevant problems.
During the development of theoretical and methodological problems of the world-historical process, the main attention was focused on the preparation of generalizing works. The publication of the 13-volume "World History" has been completed, and the study of general patterns and specific features of the change of social formations on the European continent, in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Africa, and the states of the East has been undertaken. It was possible to significantly deepen the Marxist-Leninist concept of human development as a single, natural and progressive process in all the variety of events and phenomena from ancient times to the present day, and to show how the history of individual states fits into the framework of world history, to refute bourgeois theories of the "exclusivity" of the history of individual countries or peoples.
Important theoretical and methodological conclusions are obtained in the process of developing problems of primitive history. These findings are supported by a number of unique archaeological discoveries. Thus, a monument of the Olduvai period (1.5 - 2 million years old) was discovered on the Arabian Peninsula. Completed t. 3 "The history of primitive society", which provides a comprehensive coverage of the current state of problems of anthroposociogenesis and shows that the mechanisms of the emergence of classes and the state, with all their diversity, obeyed general historical laws. The study of the early class civilizations of the New World made it possible to speak quite thoroughly about their deep similarity with the civilizations of the Ancient East. Development completed
2 Pravda, 23. III. 1985.
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a topic that substantiates the existence of a historical and cultural ethno - linguistic Central Asian-East Turkestan community in antiquity and the Middle Ages. A new concept of the role of the ancient centers of the Northern Black Sea region in the evolution of ancient society is developed. The concept of the polis as one of the typical forms of slave society is substantiated.
Prepared vol. 1 "History of Europe" and vol. 3 "History of the peasantry in Europe", two volumes of the work "Ancient Greece". They further developed the Marxist understanding of the nature of the slave-owning formation and the role of the feudal peasantry. Work on the "History of the Peoples of East and Central Asia", which traces the mutual influence of traditional and modern elements in the countries of the East, has been completed. This made it possible to show that while the formation nature of Western and Eastern feudalism was similar, the latter was highly heterogeneous. A series of works devoted to identifying the patterns of transition from feudalism to capitalism among the peoples of Central and South-Eastern Europe and the formation of nations in this region has been completed. In the future, the development of the Marxist-Leninist theory and methodology of the historical process will be continued within the framework of the long-term comprehensive program "General laws and specific features of the development of social formations". It is planned to carry out, in particular, a cross-cutting study of the history of the leading capitalist countries in the XX century, as well as the main aspects of the development of the world capitalist system as a whole.
In the study of the history of the construction of a socialist society in the countries of the socialist commonwealth, questions of the history of the construction of developed socialism in the USSR came first. The analysis of the social structure of Soviet society, its economy, the social consequences of the scientific and technological revolution, the problems of forming the personality of the Soviet person, the rapprochement of the city and the countryside, mental and physical labor was continued. A collective monograph on the history of developed socialism in the USSR has been published. A number of papers on the theory and history of developed socialism have been completed. The two-volume monograph "Basic problems of the history of the consolidation and development of socialism in the USSR" examines the fundamental issues of socio-economic, political and cultural development of the country from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. The authors studied the general and special features of the development of Soviet nations in the conditions of mature socialism; factors, trends, patterns and prospects for strengthening their social homogeneity in the process of forming a classless society; national labor traditions and their role in improving labor efficiency; some specific requests in the field of language, culture and everyday life of non-indigenous nationalities living in a non-ethnic environment; factors contributing to overcoming national prejudices and strengthening the unity and friendship of the peoples of the USSR.
When considering the history of the socialist countries of Central and South - Eastern Europe, an analysis of social processes in individual states of the region was undertaken in combination with a comparative typological generalization. This allowed us to present the general and specific phenomena of building socialism in them, the characteristic features of their social structures. With reference to the socialist countries of Asia, in particular in the collective work "Experience in building a socialist economy in Asian countries", new arguments are given to confirm that positive results in their development are achieved only by relying on the experience of building a new society in the countries of the socialist community and taking into account national specifics. The practical experience of building socialism in these countries refutes the thesis
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on the "different quality of laws" of progress in the advanced and underdeveloped countries of socialism. In the 12th five-year plan, it is planned to continue studying this topic within the framework of the long-term comprehensive program "History of Building a developed Socialist Society", as well as in works on socialist construction in Europe, Asia and America.
The study of the Russian history of the pre-October period was primarily embodied in the preparation of serial generalizing works on the working class (from the XVII century) and the peasantry from ancient times to the XX century. This made it possible to trace the patterns of development of the main working classes of our country, to comprehensively reveal the process of transformation of the Russian working class into a hegemon class and the historical necessity of an alliance of the peasantry with it. These generalizing works lay the foundation for the subsequent comparative-historical study of the main producing classes of antagonistic societies within the European and Asian regions of Russia. A number of works on the formation of Russian state-monopoly capitalism were also prepared. A series of studies on the political system of the autocracy was completed, which allowed us to deepen our understanding of the forces that opposed the working masses.
Further study of the history of Ancient Russia was carried out in connection with the processes taking place in neighboring countries. A broader chronological framework of the history of the Old Russian state is justified. The article considers the question of Russia as one of the natural heirs of the civilization of the ancient and Byzantine world.
A major achievement was the preparation of the next volumes of "Archeology of the USSR". Five of them were published earlier, and four were completed in 1984. This 20-volume publication, which has no analogues in world historiography, contains a rich set of archaeological material on the history of all the peoples of the USSR from ancient times to the XIV century.
In the 12th five-year plan, historians ' efforts will be focused on further in-depth understanding of the main problems of Russian history in the pre-October period, primarily in the context of their relationship with the world - historical process.
When studying the history of the world revolutionary liberation movement, the main attention was paid to the preparation of collective and individual monographs aimed at a comprehensive study of the problem. The Russian revolutionary liberation movement was covered in works and publications about the Decembrists, social processes in the mid-19th century, revolutionary situations in Russia in the late 70s and early 80s of the 19th century and 1901-1904, and some aspects of the 1905 - 1907 and February revolutions. One of the results of these studies will be the multi-volume work " History of Three Russian Revolutions "(vol. 1b), which will undertake a holistic analysis of the revolutionary events of the early XX century in our country, trace the continuity and historical features of each revolution, their conditionality as a single line of the revolutionary liberation movement.
Further study of revolutions in European and American countries allowed us to make generalizations that characterize them as a natural outcome and the highest form of class struggle in antagonistic societies. Volumes 4-6 and 7-8 of the fundamental work " International Labor Movement. Questions of history and theory". They assess the international significance of the Great October Socialist Revolution and its impact on the world revolutionary process, highlight the cardinal problems of the world revolutionary movement in recent times, and trace the patterns and features of the people's democratic and socialist revolutions
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in the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. The works on the revolutionary process in the East show how at different stages of national liberation revolutions, prerequisites are created for their development into people's democratic revolutions. In the 12th five-year plan, the study of the history of the revolutionary liberation movement will be continued within the framework of the long-term comprehensive program "Revolutions and Social Progress".
In the field of the history of the USSR's foreign policy and international relations, primary attention was paid to revealing Lenin's concept of peaceful coexistence, analyzing and showing the peaceful foreign policy of the USSR and the entire socialist community, the history of the struggle of peoples against imperialist aggression, and exposing the expansionist foreign policy of the United States and NATO. The preparation of a work that will reveal the problems of peace in Europe during the XX century has begun. A study is published on the role of proletarian internationalism in the development of Asian and African countries that have both taken the path of building socialism and adopted a socialist orientation. Works on relations between Russia and the USSR with the countries and peoples of Central and South-Eastern Europe and the East are being prepared. Together with scientists from other socialist countries, multi-volume documentaries on the history of these relations are being prepared. In particular, work has been completed on volume 3 of documents on Soviet-Bulgarian relations and volume 12 on Soviet-Polish relations. A series of comprehensive scientific forecasts has also been developed, including forecasts of the foreign policy orientation of Asian and African countries. The 12th five-year plan will continue to study the history of modern and contemporary international relations. This will be reflected in the works united by the perspective comprehensive program "Problems of War and Peace in the XX century".
The completion of the 12-volume History of the Second World War 1939-1945 was of great scientific and political significance, especially in connection with the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Together with historians of other socialist countries published the work " The Second World War. A brief history". In these works, a comprehensive study of a wide range of socio-economic, political, ideological and military problems is carried out, and the lessons of war are analyzed. A number of other publications on the history of the Great Patriotic War and World War II, as well as a series of books "Peoples in the Struggle against Fascism and Aggression"were published.
In the field of studying the history of world culture and public thought, the preparation of a generalizing study on Soviet culture, as well as a Set of historical and cultural monuments of the peoples of the USSR, has been launched. General methodological problems of the modern mutual influence of the cultures of the Eastern countries, the cultures of socialist and capitalist countries were developed. Significant achievements were made in studying the cultures of pre-capitalist formations: the two-volume work "Culture of Ancient Rome" and the three-volume "Culture of Byzantium" (vol.1 published last year) were completed. For the first time, a comprehensive analysis of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the Ancient East is undertaken from the standpoint of Marxism-Leninism. A number of works devoted to the comparative typological study of material and spiritual cultures have been prepared.
We have carried out research on the history of socialist doctrines, which are considered in relation to the class struggle. They contain new arguments against the concept of "filiation of ideas" and allow us to more clearly present the role of socialist teachings in the history of social thought and world culture. Actual problems of the history of social thought among the peoples of the East were studied. In the 12th five-year plan
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A series of studies will be prepared on the world-historical significance of building a new type of culture in the countries of the socialist commonwealth and a series of studies united by a promising comprehensive program "The Historical contribution of the peoples of the USSR to global culture".
The development of ethnic issues continued. In particular, the general and specific features of the nation were considered in comparison with other historical and stadium types of ethno-social communities. The development of the theory of ethnos, as well as the typology of the main historical types of ethnic communities and processes, was further developed. A monograph on modern ethno-linguistic processes in the USSR is published. The article describes the stages of ethnic development of a number of countries and peoples of the Ancient East, Central and South-Eastern Europe on the basis of interdisciplinary research. The study of the ethnogenesis and ethnic history of the peoples of the USSR has advanced. A 20-volume publication "Countries and Peoples" has been prepared - a comprehensive geographical and ethnographic description of the modern world, revealing the most important cultural, ethnic, demographic and environmental problems of our time. The generalizing work "Ethnic processes in the modern world" has been completed. In the next five-year period, the study of these issues will be continued within the framework of the promising integrated program "Ethnogenesis and Ethnic processes of our time".
Soviet historians have given a critical analysis of a number of bourgeois concepts of the history of Great October, World War II, the countries of the socialist commonwealth, the theory of "intercepting revolutions" in developing countries, as well as the methodological foundations of bourgeois historiography, primarily American and French. The monograph analyzing the main directions of non-Marxist historiography of the USA is completed. Works have been prepared that reveal the essence of reactionary theories on national and racial issues. Five volumes of the yearbook "Races and Peoples" and the collective monograph "Races and Society"were published. In the 12th five-year plan, the criticism of bourgeois falsifications of the world-historical process will continue.
The work on critical analysis of the role of religions in the past and in the modern world has been intensified. The yearbook "Religions of the World" was created. The role of religions and religious organizations, new phenomena in the activities of modern churches, and ways to overcome religious prejudices were studied. The 10-volume series "Religions in the XX Century", eight volumes of which have been prepared for publication, will be of great importance. In connection with the 1000th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in Russia, paganism and Christianity were studied. A number of works on the religions of the peoples of the East, in particular on Islam, have been prepared. These studies will be continued in the 12th five-year plan.
Only the most significant works performed by research teams that are part of the Department of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences are mentioned above. Recognition of their scientific achievements was, in particular, the award of the Lenin Prize to a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. - correspondent. V. L. Yanin and B. A. Kolchin, Senior Researcher of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and V. V. Sedov, Senior researcher of the same Institute, received the USSR State Prize. Proceedings of the Institute of Military History of the USSR Ministry of Defense and the Institute of General History of the USSR Academy of Sciences " World War II. A Brief History " received the international prize of the Academies of Sciences of socialist countries. The prize of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was awarded to the publication "Soviet-Bulgarian relations and relations". The Institute of History of the USSR of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR for publishing collections of documents on the history of culture of the peoples of the USSR, the Institute of Slavic Studies and Balkan Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR were awarded diplomas and medals of the VDNKh of the USSR -
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for his publications on the history of Soviet-Polish, Soviet - Czechoslovak, and Soviet-Bulgarian relations. A number of employees of the Department's institutes were awarded orders, medals, prizes, and honorary diplomas. The Laboratory of Conservation and Restoration of Documents of the USSR Academy of Sciences celebrated its 50th anniversary, and the Archive of the USSR Academy of Sciences held a housewarming party.
Studying the materials of the June (1983) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, considering the suggestions and comments made at the Social Sciences Section of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences on December 20, 1983, allowed the Department of History to outline specific measures to improve historical research in a number of relevant areas. A number of Office 3 Bureau meetings were devoted to a comprehensive discussion of these activities . The resolutions adopted on the issues raised there were discussed in scientific groups and were specified in decisions of directorates and party organizations of institutes and editorial offices of journals. These decisions are aimed at intensifying the efforts of research teams to analyze and highlight the changes that took place in the course of socialist construction in our country, to study the main directions of socio-economic, political, ideological and cultural development of socialist countries, to study problems related to the struggle of the USSR for peace and international cooperation, with the influence of the world socialist system on International relations is aimed at studying the socio-political evolution of various countries of the world. The Department's Bureau paid great attention to such issues as improving the theoretical and methodological foundations of historical research, increasing the role of historical knowledge in the ideological and political education of Soviet people, strengthening criticism of anti - Marxist concepts of the historical process, and improving the organization of historical research.
As you know, the party focuses its scientific forces on studying key problems, suppressing small-scale farming, and expanding program-oriented planning for the development of science. During the discussion of these issues at the Bureau of the Department, it was considered necessary to start implementing long-term targeted integrated programs, each of which is dedicated to the main problem of history. Six such programs are planned: "The history of building a developed socialist society "(head-corresponding member. A. Polyakov), " Revolutions and Social Progress "(Academician I. I. Mints), "Problems of War and Peace in the XX Century" (Academician A. M. Samsonov), "Historical Contribution of the peoples of the USSR to global Culture" (Academician B. A. Rybakov), " Ethnogenesis and ethnic processes modernity "(acad. Yu. V. Bromley), "General laws and specific features of the development of social formations" (corresponding member. Academy of Sciences of the USSR Z. V. Udaltsov). These programs define the most important areas of historical research for the period up to 2000. They should serve as a guide for choosing the topics of collective and monographic works, publications, organizing conferences, meetings, symposiums and other events, as well as become the basis for long-term planning and coordination of historical research in our country. Their implementation will make it possible to focus the efforts of historians on the end-to-end development of actual problems of the world historical process. According to each program, working groups have been formed from representatives of institutions of the History Department and the preparation of prospectus plans has been launched, which will be approved by the Bureau of the History Department and the Social Sciences Section of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In accordance with the tasks set by the June (1983) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the History Department conducted a survey of the following subjects:
3 See about them; Voprosy Istorii, 1984, NN 3 - 7, 9 - 11; 1985, NN 1-2.
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adjustment of research plans aimed at expanding research on the problems of the history of improvement of a developed socialist society, the history of socialist economic integration, the world economy, developing countries, and the world revolutionary process. New relevant topics are included in the research plans. The time frame for working on individual topics has been reduced, and the preparation and publication of a number of books has been accelerated.
The Department of History considered it expedient to create a commission on the problems of historical education and youth education (chairman of the corresponding member). Academy of Sciences of the USSR A. P. Derevyanko). Now the issue of training and educating young personnel in a number of specialties, as well as the nomination of new heads of scientific departments, is acute. Shortcomings in working with young cadres are already evident when applying to graduate school. The topics of dissertation research are often determined by the personal interests of the graduate student or his / her supervisor and are not always associated with the main areas of research activities of institutes. Opportunities for publishing works of young scientists are limited. PhD theses sometimes do not meet the required scientific level. It is expected that the mentioned commission will submit its proposals to the Bureau of the Department on improving the training of historians.
Counter-propaganda groups have been established in the institutions of the History Department, and a long-term plan for implementing long-term propaganda and counter-propaganda activities has been developed. Among the planned studies directed against anti-Marxist concepts of the world-historical process are the joint Soviet-Czechoslovak work "Criticism of Bourgeois Falsifications of the History of socialist countries and the Socialist Commonwealth in Europe", monographs and collective works "Modern Foreign Ethnology", "English Bourgeois Historiography of the Second World War", " Methodological Problems of Bourgeois Historiography in the USA. 1945 - 1980.", "Modern foreign non-Marxist historiography", "Ideological struggle on the social nature and purpose of the socialist army", "Criticism of the theory and practice of the influence of the bourgeois West on the culture of developing countries in Asia and Africa", collections of articles "Criticism of bourgeois historiography of Soviet society. Theoretical and methodological problems", "Formation of the USSR and modern ideological struggle". In a number of institutes of the Department, extended meetings of academic councils were held on the topic "Ideological struggle in the international arena and the tasks of the Institute's divisions to strengthen the counter-propaganda orientation of scientific research". The plenary session of the Scientific Council "History of Historical Science"was devoted to the state of criticism of anti-Marxist concepts of the historical process.
The publication of research by Soviet historians in foreign languages has been expanded. Among them: "What and how was decided in Yalta", "On the way to the great Victory", " The struggle of the USSR for peace and security. 1917-1981", "Races and Society", "Genocide", "Western Ethnology: Schools, Ideas, Concepts", "Imperialism and crisis ethnic situations in developing countries", "Racism in the ideology and practice of modern imperialism". Collectives of the Department's institutions carry out a broad plan of participation in lecture propaganda (primarily through the Znanie society), at press conferences, "teleconferences" and international scientific forums. The Institute of Slavic Studies and Balkan Studies conducts a series of problem-oriented country studies lectures "Topical issues of the development of the countries of the socialist commonwealth". A round table discussion on ideological struggle and counter-propaganda was held at the Institute of World History.
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An important step in the promotion of historical knowledge was the decision of the Editorial and Publishing Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences to create a special editorial board of a series of popular science literature on history for publication in the Nauka publishing house. Prepared and published by the publishing house "Molodaya Gvardiya" thematic collection "History", which is a kind of mock-up issue of a popular science magazine on history.
In connection with the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the Department's institutions carried out various events. The Institute of Military History has made a great contribution to their implementation. In particular, he held press conferences for Soviet and foreign journalists "40 years of the defeat of the Nazi troops near Leningrad" and "Soviet partisans in the Great Patriotic War", prepared materials for the press conferences "40 years of the defeat of the Nazi troops in Belarus", "40th anniversary of the Belgrade operation", "1944 - the year of decisive victories" and for socio-political readings on the topic "The world-historical significance of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War". For Soviet and foreign military missions, this institute developed and published the materials "The Greatest Battles of the Great Patriotic War", "The Liberation Mission of the Soviet Armed Forces in Europe", prepared the materials" The Battle of Leningrad"," The Belarusian Operation","40 Years of the Great Victory". The Institute took part in the radio programs "Battle of Moscow" and "Battle of Stalingrad", advised on the projects of the Victory Monument on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow, the Battle of Stalingrad Museum. The institutes of the Department prepared a conference dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War, and an exhibition at the VDNKh of the USSR entitled "Contribution of Soviet Scientists to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and to the Struggle for Peace".
The Bureau of the Department considered a number of issues of a scientific and organizational nature: the activities of scientific councils were analyzed, the structure of some of them was changed (the Scientific Council for the Coordination of Oriental Studies created sections of South Asia, Sinology, the Middle East; the Scientific Council on the complex problem of " Patterns of historical development of society and the transition from one socio-economic new sections "Pre-monopoly capitalism" and "History of capitalism in the Era of its General Crisis" were organized; the Scientific Council on Historical Geography and Cartography was transformed into the Scientific Council on Historical Demography and Historical Geography in order to activate research on population History). Heads of scientific councils are recommended to develop specific provisions on each of them. Some of these proposals have already been submitted to the Department. In accordance with the recommendations of the Department's Bureau, a model regulation on the head institute was developed and submitted to the Social Sciences Section of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences in order to streamline relations between the main and republican institutes, historical departments of higher education institutions and scientific councils.
According to the recommendation of the Office's Office, structural changes were made in a number of institutes. However, their structure is not optimal in all institutes: due to the lack of specialists, some of them have dwarfed departments; sometimes sectors merge unnecessarily, because a change of promising young personnel was not prepared in a timely manner for their leadership. After analyzing the experience of planning and organizing scientific research in the institutes of military history and Oriental Studies, the Bureau of the Department recommended that all institutes more widely resort to the creation of intersectoral and inter-department research centers.
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problem groups. The Institute of Oriental Studies has the following problem groups: "Cultural heritage of the peoples of the East and the modern ideological struggle", "Islam and the modern ideological and political struggle", "Asia and China", "Criticism of Western theories of modernization of Afro-Asian societies". At the Institute of Ethnography, the problem group for the study of ethno-cultural processes among small nationalities and ethnic groups started preparing the work "Cultural and everyday processes among small ethnic groups of the peoples of the USSR".
The Bureau of the Department constantly paid attention to the activities of magazines. In general, it is necessary to recognize that all of them carry out a great deal of scientific, propaganda and counter-propaganda work. With long-term publication plans, journals also respond quickly to current issues of our time. Now, for example, they widely publish materials related to the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
The Bureau of the Department reviewed the state, development and improvement of scientific discussions. The interests of Soviet science and the ideological demands of our time require the development of coordinated points of view on a number of major scientific problems. In this regard, the positive role of discussions is obvious. They can be held at conferences, symposia, round tables, academic councils, or on the pages of journals. Such discussions should be fruitful, not return us to problems that have already been solved by science, but contribute to the development of scientifically based and ideologically verified views on controversial issues. The Office's Bureau approved an approximate list of recommended discussion topics.
The Department of History conducted a number of joint activities with other departments to coordinate research. In January 1984, a meeting of the Bureau of the Department and the Board of the Main Archive of the USSR was held. There was a discussion about the urgent problems of using archival documents and the work of researchers in archives. The adopted resolution outlined a set of specific measures. Some of them have already started to be implemented. A plan for publishing sources for the period up to 1995 has been agreed. The Department of History and the Main Archive of the USSR planned to prepare a number of joint works, including the "Catalog of personal collections of Russian historians".
Last December, the Department took part in the scientific and practical conference of the Higher Attestation Commission of the USSR in Kiev. The conference was devoted to improving the training and certification of scientific personnel, strengthening ties between academic and university historical science. At the conference, suggestions were made based on the wishes of the Department's institutes. The Higher Attestation Commission management promised to take into account some of these proposals concerning simplifying the procedure for defending a dissertation, assessing the relevance and practical significance of dissertation research.
In the area of coordination of scientific research, it is a positive fact that along with the traditional forms of this work (meetings, conferences), the institutes of the Department have begun to conclude agreements on creative cooperation with peripheral institutes and other institutions. Every year, about 20 university teachers improve their skills as interns in the institutes of the Department. Representatives of higher education institutions are regularly admitted to the target postgraduate program of the institutes. Overall, however, coordination remains a weak point. Insufficient assistance is provided to peripheral institutes in the preparation of works on regional history. Almost forgotten is such an effective form of coordination as annual (or at least once every five years) meetings with the participation of university teachers and scientists
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branches and centers of the USSR Academy of Sciences, institutes of the republican Academy of Sciences. To improve the situation in the development of promising integrated programs, meetings are planned with the participation of historians from central and peripheral institutions. The role of scientific councils in coordinating research remains weak. They are not yet actively involved in the affairs of the Department.
The Office's Bureau paid serious attention to control issues. The following tasks were carried out: checking the timeliness and quality of the implementation of research plans, the progress of work on topics included in the coordination five-year research plan; adjusting research plans in accordance with the documents of decision-making and governing bodies; organizing the development of targeted comprehensive programs on topical issues of national and world history; analyzing the state of work on relevant monographs; analyzing the analysis of the scientific and organizational experience of individual institutions of the Department with its subsequent extension to other institutions; verification of the implementation of plans for international cooperation (primarily with scientists from socialist countries), staffing of research (especially those of a relevant nature); analysis of the performing discipline.
The Office's Office heard reports on the implementation of annual and five-year research plans, on the development of targeted integrated programs, on the state of work on relevant generalizing studies, on the experience of organizing work on individual topics, on the adjustment of research plans and on international cooperation. In particular, the course of preparation for the XVI International Congress of Historical Sciences, scientific relations with historians of capitalist countries, with scientists from Vietnam and other socialist countries of Asia, programs of scientific conferences, research plans, implementation of the action plan for the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War, the 800th anniversary of the "Words about the Regiment" were considered Igor".
Comprehensive inspections of the work of the Department's institutions were carried out. The Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Dagestan Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and the Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR were their objects last year.
The Department has not yet fully achieved high-quality and timely completion of individual tasks. This applies primarily to the implementation of the decisions of the Office's Bureau. Thus, the decree on the activities of scientific councils suggested that the directorates of institutes strengthen the material and technical base and staff of these councils, but little has changed in the situation of most of them. The Bureau of the Department approved approximate topics of discussion, and the management of institutes, scientific councils and journals were recommended to consider the issue of the state of discussions in accordance with their scientific profiles, but such work is still unfolding without proper activity. The same can be said about the implementation of the resolution of the Department's Bureau, which recommended that the institutes hold meetings of academic councils devoted to criticism of anti-Marxist concepts of the historical process and the state of development of theoretical and methodological problems of historical research.
There is also a question of holding a new All-Union Conference of historians.
1985 is the final year of the 11th five-year plan, the year of preparation for the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, the development and approval of research plans for the 12th five-year plan. This requires all departments of the Department to concentrate even more on solving actual problems of historical research.
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