Aim. Identify the causal reasons for the dissolution of the USSR in terms of the analysis of the Soviet civilizational system and the development of the Soviet project Methodology. The presented materials were structured on the basis of expert interviews with a number of historians, political scientists and public figures. The analysis of the reasons for the collapse of the USSR was carried out at the level of comprehending the history of the Soviet project as a whole, the advantages and disadvantages of the socialism models. Results. Most of the experts agreed on the conclusion that there was no predetermination for the fall of the USSR. At the same time, the factors of the crisis of the late Soviet system were indicated, associated with strategic mistakes made at various historical stages. An important role, according to the conclusions of experts, in the fall of the USSR belonged to the factor of «betrayal of the elites». Research implications. The results of the analysis can be used to develop a holistic approach to understanding the collapse of the USSR and to use the experience to prevent similar civilizational catastrophes in the future. It is advisable to use the presented materials also in teaching a wide range of disciplines of historical and political science orientation.

Aim. The subject of the round table discussion was the analysis of historical consciousness in modern Russia. Methodology. At the round table the time when the problem of historical consciousness started to be formulated, the driving forces of the historical consciousness formation, the relationship between scientific historical knowledge and historical consciousness at the present time were discussed. Results. The concept of historical consciousness as time - the past, the present and the future - continuity in individual and public mind was worked out. Research implications. The discussion contributes to the study of the urgent problem - formation in Russian reality of a variant of historical consciousness corresponding to the conditions and characteristics of this time.

Aim. To determine the origin, meaning, time and reasons for the appearance in the Moscow coinage of the «penny rider» (or “rider with a spear”) symbol which subsequently acquired the position of the leading regional symbol. Methodology. The article considers a specific example of identifying implicit information of a political nature from numismatic sources. The method is neokantian. Results. A concept is put forward according to which the image of the «penny rider» (St. George on horse), which has become one of the leading symbols of Moscow and then Russian statehood, is taken from Western European, most likely from North Italian iconography and, possibly, is associated with the activities of Genoese monetarians. A reasoned conclusion was made, according to which the image of the «penny rider» was not initially associated with the image of the ruler, but in the 16th century it merged with the equestrian image of the Russian tsar. Research implications. The results of the study contribute to the history of Russian state symbols.

Aim. The aim of this paper is to find out the main tendencies in the development and the results of Russian foreign trade during Peter the Great’s reign. Methodology. The study is based upon the author’s survey in the national archives and summarizing the data in domestic and foreign literature. Results. The study covers the main changes in the foreign trade of Russia that took place during Peter the Great reign due to his reforms. They are: setting St.Petersburg as the leading Russian port in the Western European direction, return to domination of the English merchants among other foreign merchants in the Russian market and simultaneously starting regular direct contacts with France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, developing contacts with Northern German ports in the Baltic (Lubeck, Rostock and others), imposition of customs tariff as a tool for mercantilism and protectionism policy. Stable trade contacts with Eastern countries through Astrakhan and the Caspian sea were sustained. Intentions to expand the foreign trade initiated under Peter I are seen as unfulfilled: such as grain export, setting up direct trade with India, moderating trade with China. Research implications. The results of the study are significant for understanding the aims and the results of Peter’s reforms.

Aim. The research uses the data of Stavropolskiy kray and Terek region to define the essence of the Soviet state policy on providing conditions necessary for social protection of children who were orphaned due to socio-economic and political turmoil at the beginning of the 20th century. Methodology. Several archival funds of the federal (The State Archive of the Russian Federation) and local (The State Archive of Stavropolskiy kray) level were analysed through logical, problem-solving and chronological and comparative-historical methods with the aim of establishing the types of social rehabilitation centres for children which helped to solve the problem of accommodation of homeless children. The main focus of the research is the critical analysis of the condition of orphanages and the position of children on the example of Stavropolskiy kray and Terek region in the 1920s. Results. The authors come to the conclusion that despite a number of serious difficulties in the work of orphanages, important positive changes were initiated and introduced. Their major effect was that many orphans were able to find shelter then received education and obtained work skills. Research implications. The research introduces the main types of institutions for children and their practical activities in Stavropolsky kray and Terek region. Besides, due to the study of the archives, attention is paid to the peculiarities of their activities in the named area and to the social position of their wards. The article is of interest to a vast array of scientists, interested in social history.

Aim. Comprehensive review of sources on the Soviet award system. Methodology. The main content of the article is an analysis of various types of historical sources available to researchers, and the prospects for the development of poorly studied materials. Results. The classification of sources is given, conclusions are made about the degree of information content and study of their types, about the role of modern information technologies in expanding the source base of research of Soviet state awards and organizing access to it. Research implications. The author managed to update the problems of the source base for a generalizing study of the Soviet award system and the study of its individual aspects.

Aim. The purpose of this work is to define the contribution of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill to the signs of an ecological crisis in the territory of Koryazma and in the White Sea basin. Methodology. The article examines a set of mostly unpublished historical sources on the topic of research. In addition to general scientific methods, comparative, historical-genetic, etc. methods were used in the study. Results. In the study, the extent of the pollution of the natural environment by technological waste from the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill, the reasons that hindered the process of greening pulp and paper production were identified, the impact of environmental quality in the zone of the anthropogenic impact of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill on the health of the population, ichthyofauna of the Northern Dvina was assessed. Research implications. The research results contribute to the study of the ecological history of our country in the late Soviet period, when the signs of the environmental crisis have passed into the stage of global challenge to humanity.

Aim. To compare the solar images of the falcon in Slavic and ancient Egyptian mythology to identify common and distinct features of this symbol. Methodology. The article deals with the mythological ideas of the ancient Egyptians and pagan Slavs about the solar nature of the falcon and its connection with the world of the dead. The comparison reveals the similarities and differences of these views. The role of the sun falcon in the Slavic wedding ceremony is considered. Results. The falcon represented the sun in both Slavic and ancient Egyptian mythology. But, among the Slavs, it symbolized only the sun at its zenith. This is evidenced by the fact that his image is not present in the texts of funeral rites. And in the wedding song, it was a metamorphic image of the groom and often throughout the whole song - his only designation. And in ancient Egypt, the falcon represented the sun in its various guises. Research implications. Identification of common features in the comparison of elements of mythological representations (the image of the falcon-sun) in the pagan beliefs of peoples of different cultures and regions - as the pagan Slavs and the ancient Egyptians.

Aim. By analysing the dynamics of the development of the socio-political institutions of the Roman state at different stages of its existence, the article attempts to prove the relevance of the Asiatic mode of production and the invalidity of the concept of class theory. Methodology. Using the historical development of the Roman state as an example, the concept of estate-class and Asian formations is examined; the development of the basis and individual elements of the superstructure is analysed; a comparative characterisation of the results is made in order to identify inconsistencies and contradictions in them. The dialectical method of research is taken as the basis. General scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, hermeneutics, classification, typology, systematisation, analogy), special historical methods (comparative-historical, periodisation, chronological, problem-chronological, actualisation), methods of concrete and logical analysis were also applied. Results. It is revealed that there are weaknesses in the concept of the class formation, which do not allow to explain some phenomena in the development of the Roman state, while confirming the concept of the Asian formation. Research implications. The results of the research allow us to objectively examine the two major trends within the formational approach for inconsistencies with objective reality, i.e. allow us to verify or refute their scientific validity. In addition, a systematization of individual episodes of the development of social and political institutions of ancient Roman society has been carried out, which allows further use of these results in the research of related topics.

Aim. Analysis of the level of the causes of the cold war disclosure in the works of English-speaking historians. Methodology. The article analyzes the views of the cold war in Anglo-American research works, published in Russian and English and in the period from the beginning of the 50s of the 20th century to the present. The main subject of coverage is the classification of works into groups on economic, ideological, geopolitical, psychological, and other factors of conflict unleashing. Results. The analysis has shown that in most of the reviewed works on the history of the Cold War, the reasons are not always fully presented, sometimes they are erroneous and based on ideological myths about the USSR and Russia. The differences in interpretations and the diversity of views of English-speaking authors on the causes of the conflict are shown. Research implications. The main results of the article can be used by researchers on the problems of the cold war for a more complete understanding of the reasons for the outbreak of the conflict, presented by English-language historiography.

Aim. Analyze the works of the Bolsheviks leader V. I. Lenin about the «national question», written in the period 1903-1917. Analysis of the articles reveals the view of the ideologist and theorist of Bolshevism on the interdependence of the organizational structure of the party, the solution of the national question and the problems of the Russian and world revolution. At the same time, the basis of Lenin’s concept of solving the national question was the class revolutionary methodology. Methodology. The study was carried out on the principles of scientific objectivity, historicism, systematic approach, multidimensional approach based on specific historical, comparative, problem-chronological research methods. The use of these approaches made it possible to trace the reasons for clarity and consistency in promoting this concept for almost two decades, during which the strategic revolutionary goal remained unchanged and retained the tactics of solving the national issue. Results. An analysis of the views of the Bolshevik leader on the national question before February 1917 gives grounds to assert that the approach to its solution was limited to the tasks of the Russian and then the world proletarian revolution. Research implications. For the Russian state, the civilizational feature of which is its multinational character, the experience and practice of the formation and results of national policy will always be in demand. Its positive aspects and dubious projects in the past help in building a modern strategy and tactics for the formation of a multiethnic democratic state of Russia.

Aim. The purpose of the study is to define concepts from the place of «partisan» and «terrorist» in the «always spatial» (K. Schmitt) political order, presented in a totally different paradigm of the «concept of the political» (K. Schmitt) and the «economic paradigm of the political» (J. Agamben). Methodology. The research is aimed at obtaining a «radical concept» in which the real and the actual concepts are combined; consistent retention of the difference in the prospects for constructing concepts is a methodological requirement, especially in cases where the content of different concepts seems indistinguishable to the observer. Results. In the course of the work, in the horizon of two paradigms of the political Western political ontology, the areas of the concept of partisan and terrorist meaning were identified. «Partisan» is a figure of the political space of the order of sovereign states, the constitutive of which is sovereign and sovereign decision. The potential of a «terrorist» is revealed exclusively in a universal and global political space, the beginning of the order of which is «an empty space». Research implications. The result of the study is a consistent distinction between two figures of differently represented political order. It was established that a «terrorist», in the representation of the political in the liberal version of the economic paradigm, is an «absolutely alien», unrecognized and unlawful internal enemy disqualified as a criminal («legal disqualification») and «villain» («moral disqualification») against whom a just anti-terrorist war of destruction is being waged. The «terrorist» acts as the «other» of the excluded sovereign, making a decision about the total («symbolic strategy»: J. Baudrillard) destruction of the global liberal political order.

Aim. To analyze the causes of the origins and consequences of the Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict, the decisive role of Russia in its termination, and the justification of the legality and necessity of Russia’s permanent presence in Nagorno-Karabakh. Methodology. A concrete historical and systematic approach, comparative analysis, and a formal logical method are used. Results. The article considers and identifies the main trends and contradictions of the modern stage of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, shows the negative role of Turkey in fuelling the conflict, justifies the legality and necessity of Russia’s permanent presence in Nagorno-Karabakh as the main guarantor of stability and security. Research implications. The paper justifiably states that the unresolved problem around Nagorno-Karabakh is a destabilizing factor in the South Caucasus, which directly affects the national interests of Russia in the region. The summarized conclusions of the study can be used to develop a program of normalization and development of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. The materials of the work can also be useful in analyzing the situation in the Caucasus region and used in the educational process in studying disciplines on international relations.