This article is devoted to an important component of the Moscow provincial Zemstvo’s activities - the road sphere. The new local governments introduced by Alexander II faced a set of complex problems, the most important of which was constructing the roads. In this article the author considers the main stages and milestones of a road management development in Moscow region. The pace of development and the statistics of roads construction is also discussed. The way Zemstvo’s territorial bodies solved the problems connected with roads constructing. Having carried out the complex analysis of the road sphere within the period of 1864 - 1893 the author concludes that new territorial bodies of Moscow province successfully coped with the problem of road construction and providing means of communication in Moscow region.

Basing on the archival sources the author analyzes many aspects of life and educational process in the local community schools in Moscow region in the second half of the XIX century. The author considers birth origin and confessional complement of the pupils, their educational skills and explains the reasons of missing school by children. The author also studies the educational management in the zemstvo’s primary schools: educational programs, textbooks, the use of technical outfit in the educational process. Besides, the author considers the way the Moscow regional local community developed and equipped libraries and public readings.

Basing on a wide range of historical sources the author of the article analyzes the projects of the Zemstvo’s conservative members on organizing rural banks and developing small land crediting in the second half of XIX - early 20th centuries. Objectively noting both positive and negative consequences caused by the introduction of conservative practices the author comes to the conclusion that the Zemstvo’s activities were disappointing, if considered through the "class interest" position. It was due to the fact that annual sales of nobility estates were twice as many as the amount of the lands bought by peasants.

This article analyzes the perspectives of intellectuals of different political views in the October Socialist Revolution, 1917. The author analyzes the spectrum of views on the Bolsheviks’ policy during the first weeks after the capture of power, which was reflected in the diaries and newspaper articles of that time. The author expresses the opinions of representatives of the various groups of intellectuals. They are ranging from V.V. Mayakovsky, who was close to the Bolsheviks, to V.I. Vernadsky, who was the Cadet Party member. The reasons of such opinions polarization among the intellectuals in October 1917 are revealed.

The article considers the problems of building and loan associations’ revival in the period when N.S. Khrushchev was in power. The author studies the tendencies of building and loan associations’ development. The reasons of government bodies’ interference into the process of forming building and loan associations, as well as their positive and negative sides are analyzed. The reasons of the Soviet state’s disinterest in a broader development of building and loan associations are considered.

This article discusses the current Ukrainian crisis resulting from a number of contradictions, both objective and subjective, which served the cause of both “Euromaidan” and “Russian Spring”, considered by the author through the prism of the revolutionary paradigm. Based on the research methodology of the revolutionary processes and the rebel movements proposed by Jack Goldstone, the author makes a comparative analysis of the “Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity” and the “Russian Spring” and adduces different scenarios of their development. The author points to the danger of «Somaliazation» of Ukraine and breakaway of the Donbass republics separated from it and notes the conditions of its neutralization

This paper deals with the transformation of the double contract from a private to public document. The author describes the double contract and observes the history of its usage from 4^th to 1^st century BC. Possible reasons for the above-mentioned transformation of the double contract are proposed: 1) coexistence of two systems of law, the Greco-Macedonian and the Egyptian one, in Ptolemaic Egypt; 2) the aspiration of the Ptolemaic state to make private contracts better protected through state notariate; 3) attempts of the state to fight against different abuses in private transactions.

This article discusses the problem of "love" and "friendship" perception by the English society of the XVIIIth century. Using literature and personal sources the author analyzes the new morality of that time, which developed as a result of the changes in attitude to property, birth and wealth; relations between husband and wife, friends and lovers. Besides, the problem of divorce among the nobility is touched upon. Having analyzed the sources the author shows that the attitude to such concepts as "love", "friendship", "adultery" differed from the modern perception. The way people interpreted these concepts is also described.

In 1918 on the initiative of the conservative trade-union center of the USA - the American Federation of Labor (AFL) -inter-American continental union association - the Pan American Federation of Labor (PAFL) - is created. Its purpose was to introduce the labor movement of Latin American countries into the mainstream of pro-American reformism, to include the unions into the common system of the expansionist policy of the USA. The course of the AFL in Latin America is best seen by the example of such countries as Venezuela, where within this period there was a regime of military-police dictatorship of J. V. Gomez.

The article describes the publications of Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov devoted to Yugoslavia. The review of literature and sources is provided. The author shows inaccuracies in the publications about Yugoslavia. The article explores the entire available range of K.M. Simonov’s publications about Yugoslavia. The author writes about of K.M. Simonov’s ability to be critical to his own publications and actions. At the same time the enormous contribution of the writer in creating the most truthful story about the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 is emphasized.The article supports the demand of an academic edition of collected works by K. M. Simonov in order to avoid speculations on the writer's name and his legacy.

The article discloses the character and specific features of german-russian relations in 2010-2014. Their influence on the economic cooperation of Germany and Russia is traced. At the same time the author notes that the tow countries had different aims. While the German elite tried to influence the policy of Russia through the economic cooperation, the Russian establishment pursued only economic purposes. This “political aspect” had a certain negative effect on the worsening of german-russian relations in 2014 as a result of the situation in Ukrain.