Aim.  Systematic critique of the Western epistemological hegemony and universalist claims expressed in the imposition of the Western criteria of development and progress as the only true ones for the whole world.

Methodology. Analysis of Western studies demonstrating the importance of civilizations and denying the universality of the Western model of development. Criticism of the Eurocentrist approach in science and humanitarian studies, exposure of distorted ideas about non-Western cultures (as exemplified by the work of Edward Said “Orientalism”). Study of the historical practices of colonialism and their influence on the formation of false ideas about the superiority of the West.

Results. Identification and demonstration of the systematicity and magnitude of the Western epistemological hegemony. Understanding how Western ideas of science, truth, progress have been and continue to be imposed on the rest of the world. Justification of the need for a more systematic approach to the collapse of Western universalism in the context of the formation of a multipolar world.

Research implications. In theory, the work contributes to the development of post-colonial studies and formation of a more objective understanding of world history and cultural diversity. In practice, it can contribute to building more just international relations based on respect for the cultural identity of different peoples and the rejection of the imposition of Western values and standards as the only possible.

Aim. To develop approaches for reinterpreting the image of the West based on Russia’s historical experience of opposing Western civilization and its current value-based worldview positioning.

Methodology. The methodological foundation of the study is the combination of civilizational, discursive, and dichotomous approaches. The civilizational approach is used to examine Russia’s conflict with the West as a civilizational clash; the discursive approach focuses on the history of Russian social self-reflection; and the dichotomous approach investigates attitudes toward Western civilization through the dichotomy of good and evil.

Results. The study analyzes the perception of the West in Russian self-awareness throughout Russian history. Four historical stages of ideological representation of the West are identified. Approaches to reinterpreting the phenomenon of the West based on civilizational theory are proposed.

Research implications. The results of the study can be utilized in shaping social and humanitarian paradigms for Russia’s new worldview development and applied in the educational process.

Aim. To correlate the development of Russian historical science with global and Russian social transformations, modern geopolitical challenges. To define paradigms of new approaches to understanding the historical process.
Metodology. The development of Russian historical science at the present stage was assessed from the standpoint of historiography and the history of the philosophy of science. The theory of scientific paradigm shift in application to the current historiographical situation was applied.
Results.  Consideration of the modern historiographical situation led to the conclusion about the ongoing paradigm shift in Russian historical science. The previously dominant liberal paradigm has shown dysfunctionality and is being replaced by a paradigm associated with a civilizational approach, state sovereignty and traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.
Research implication. The findings can be used to describe new social and humanitarian paradigms and form approaches to the development of historical education.

Aim. To assess the role and place of finance Ministers of post-reform Russia in the general management system.
Methodology. Guided by the principle of determinism, the author believes that a special place in the management system of post-reform Russia occupied by finance ministers was determined by the trends in the development of their department during that period and their personal qualities. The main research method was structural and functional analysis. It allowed us to present the place of the financial department and its leaders in the overall structure of the Russian Empire’s management system.
Results. The special role has been proven of the head of the financial department in the management system of the Russian Empire, a high degree of its independence was noted from the imperial government, the special nature of relations with it, the ability to influence other departments achieved by the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century.
Research implications. Features of management interactions in the management apparatus of postreform Russia are disclosed using the example of the financial department. The materials of the article can be used in further research on the history of public administration in Russia.

Aim. To identify the democratic elements of public consciousness among the Cossacks of the North Caucasus in the context of the collapse of the monarchy.
Methodology. The article relies on the analysis of cause-and-effect relationships in the historical process, determination of ongoing social changes by the laws of social development. In addition to the well-known research methods, the author relied on a factor analysis of the problem under study, which helps to consider the components of changes in the consciousness and social behavior of the Cossacks in the south of Russia.
Results. Based on archival and historiographical sources, it is concluded that, despite the dedication and commitment to the monarchical, authoritarian system of government, the Russian southern Cossacks under the influence of objective historical challenges became part of the democratic alternative to the development of the country in 1917.
Research implications. The findings suggest that one of the most conservative social structures, the Cossacks, despite the changes in its social functions, is also subject to historical evolution and may find its new purpose, including modern Russia.

Aim. To analyze the features of the cultural policy of late Stalinism as a mechanism for achieving the “moral and political unity” of Soviet society and mobilizing public consciousness through the prism of the concept of catching-up modernization.
Methodology. The main content of the study is an analysis of the office documentation of the Department of Propaganda and Agitation of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b), deposited in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History. The research methodology was based on the principles of objectivity and historicism, such special research methods as historical-genetic, chronological, comparative and others were used.
Results. The analysis of late Stalinism through the prism of the concept of modernization allows for a deeper understanding of the objective and subjective factors that shaped the post-war development of the USSR, complementing modern ideas about the unfolding processes in the social and economic sphere and in the cultural policy of this period.
Research implications. The documentary collection on late Stalinism, the final publication project of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, which has been implemented since 2017, introduces into scientific circulation a set of valuable sources that reveal important aspects of both the paradigm of cultural policy formation and the role assigned to it in the Stalinist social and economic model.

Aim. To reveal the use of European integration processes and other economic and financial instruments by the collective West in the unfolding of the Cold War in the late 40s – 50s of the 20^th century.
Methodology. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research was built on the principles of objectivity and historicism, as well as such general scientific methods as problem-chronological and historical-comparative.
Results. The article attempts to prove that in the unfolding the Cold war in the late 40s of the twentieth century, the then collective West actively used various economic and financial instruments, trade restrictions, and that one of these main instruments – European integration economic processes – was integrated into the architecture of the Cold War by the efforts of the political leadership of Western countries. Along with this, this paper concludes that the Soviet critical assessment of the activities of the United States and the leading countries of Western Europe aimed at using economic discriminatory means of combat in the Cold War against the socialist countries is, for the most part, still relevant today.
Research implications. This article will help to better understand the place of the collective West in the unfolding of the Cold war against the USSR and its allies using economic, financial instruments, trade restrictions in general, and European integration processes in particular. The materials contained in the article can be used to prepare textbooks on the history of international relations and the history of European economic integration.

Aim. To consider the assessments of the role and significance of the Battle of Stalingrad in domestic and foreign school textbooks.
Methodology. The main content of the study consists of comparative analysis materials on the history of the Battle of Stalingrad in domestic and foreign school textbooks.
Results. The features of reflecting the history of the Battle of Stalingrad in textbooks in Russia, Germany, the USA, England and Ukraine are considered. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that there is a significant variety of interpretations of the role and significance of the history of the Battle of Stalingrad in domestic and foreign school textbooks, and its falsification by individual authors of textbooks.
Research implications. The research materials can be used by specialists in the field of history and education, school teachers in preparing for lessons.