Vol 16, No 4 (2017)

The article presents a comparative analysis of different kinds of contracts concluded du-ring the resettlement of foreign colonists to Russia in the 1760s. The agreements are classi-fi ed and characterized in terms of form, structure of content and composition of counterparts. The content of the contracts is correlated with the legislative norms as well as with other sourc-es, which infl uenced the creation of such a kind of document. The paper studies the agreements with different subcategories of foreign colonists: manufacturers, recruiters (“vyzyvateli”), plowmen. The author demonstrates the process of the rights and obligations establishment in the contracts as well as how the working-out and discussion of conditions were conducted, fi nally - in what degree the foreigners could infl uence the results. If, for example, the foreign specialists, who were hired to the Russian service temporarily, had more chances to change and improve the terms of contracts, in the case of foreign colonists, the latter ones more often just had to accept the conditions offered by the government. The author concludes that the agreements with manufacturers in many ways were similar to those with hired foreign specialists; contracts with “vyzyvateli” were the most unifi ed and, with rare exceptions, strictly corre-sponded to the form determined by the law. The paper reveals the specifi cs of the content of contracts, in particular, chapters concern-ing the subject of agreement (the main task of a foreigner was to cultivate land, to organize a factory or to attract colonists-farmers), obligation of transferring knowledge and experience to Russian pupils, fi nancial issues, conditions of trade, possibilities of leaving Russia and ac-tions in the case of foreigner’s death.The author shows the involvement of agreements with colonists in the general develop-ment of contractual relationships between the state and foreigners as members of the Russian society.

In the early 19th century, with the arrival of foreigners, there began the development of the Province of the Don Cossack Host. It was provided by favourable factors: vast areas of uninhabited land, low cost of land and low rent. In the second half of the 19th century the colo-nization of the Don Cossack Host became more intensive. It is the Germans, both offi cials and entrepreneurs and ordinary colonists who played an important role in this. In the article the author tries to show the degree of infl uence of the Germans on the socio-economic and cultural development of the Don Cossack Host in the 19th - early 20th century. On the basis of the scientifi c literature and archival materials, there are analyzed the activities of the Germans of different status and class: from the Ataman of the Don Cossack Host to an at-torney at law. The author describes the role played by the offi cials of the German nationality in establishing economic and cultural life in the Don lands. It is found that they were the initiators of the opening of schools, newspapers, parks, as well as educational institutions. In addition, attention is paid to the fact that the area was inhabited by German colonists engaged mainly in the agricultural or industrial entrepreneurship. They were able to develop their activities through the use of modern advanced technology, sound economic policies, the availability of transport infrastructure and sources of raw materials, as well as the initial absence of fi erce competition. The author concludes that despite their German origin, all of them considered themselves Russian subjects and made efforts for the prosperity of the region in which they found themselves due to various circumstances.

The article considers the role of foreigners in the publishing business of Moscow in the last third of the 19th - early 20th century on the example of Moscow printers E.-C. A. Lissner and A.A. Levenson, whose ancestors came to Russia from Austria and Germany. The historio-graphical review showed that the history of Moscow publishing houses and foreign printers who arrived in Russia remains beyond the scope of the current scientifi c interest. There are analyzed the stages of the development of the publishing business, it features, printing fi ndings, the specifi cs of the book market.E.-C. A. Lissner and A.A. Levenson are the brightest fi gures in Russia in the fi eld of publishing. Starting from scratch, they were able to create unique typography, in which it was possible to produce multicolour hard products, phototype table, to improve engraving, chromolithography and colour photozincography. To perform these works, they attracted specialists who were able to develop and implement new ways of printing. E.-C. A. Lissner and A.A. Levenson collaborated with the best artists of Russia helping to implement the ideas of publishing quality printed products that contributed to the aesthetic education of readers. The article reveals the importance of the activities of the two publishers of German origin E.-C. A. Lissner and A. Levenson in the development of the Russian culture (literature and art) and the popularization of scientifi c knowledge. They laid new principles of publishing and printing of illustrations, created a new trend in book production. Their activities contributed to the opening of new names in literature and art, promotion of Russian printing technology and book production to both domestic and foreign markets, development of book art and improve-ment of printing.

This article deals with the transformation of a Danish woman’s perception of the Soviet life through the prism of her personal life experience. The study is based on the analysis of Sigrid Ulrikka Alma Aagaard’s letters addressed to her mother and younger sister from the Soviet Union, the memoirs of her sons and closest associates. All these materials were stored in the author’s personal archive and published for the fi rst time. The study reveals a close connection of the woman’s personal life with foreign political events, changes in the Soviet-Danish relations that directly infl uenced her fate and worldview. Particular attention is paid to the gradual alienation of the woman from her roots, the need to get used to the new reality and master the rules of the game dictated by the Soviet reality. Having understood the work of the Soviet system, she tried to comply fully with all its requirements. She turned from an idealist into a submissive performer of the will of the state. She was aware that she was always under surveillance, “hooked”, and at any time she could be put before a moral choice. Sigrid ceased to be a Dane, she no longer belonged to the world in which she had been born and grown up. What she had learned in thirty years of her life outside her homeland forever alienated her from her compatriots. At the same time, she found faithful friends in the Mordovian camp TEMLAG, where she was from 1937 to 1946, among the wives of appointees, who, like her, went through hardships, arrests and imprisonment.

The article presents the analysis of the participation of foreign countries in solving the problems related to the management of domestic and foreign policy in Tuva in the ear-ly twentieth century.The problem of determining the legal and political status of Tuva and its territorial jurisdiction is traditionally bound in domestic and foreign historiography with the words “Uriankhaiissue”. The latter, as a rule, is considered in the context of rivalry be-tween Russia, China and Mongolia - the countries of the “Central Asian triangle”. The author pays attention to the interests of other countries, including Japan and the coun-tries of Western Europe, in this region. There has been conducted a generalized analysis of the information relating to the presence of Western industrial capital inTuva, shows the nature of the relations between the European entrepreneurs from Russia, China and Tuva authorities. The article provides the detailed facts of the presence of various groups of foreign citizens in the province in the period of the protectorate. In the context of the analysis of the general geo-political situation in Central Asia, the author describes the actions of the Russian authorities against foreign troops, including the methods and forms of work in that direction. The author comes to the conclusion that, despite the use of exclusively peaceful measure-sagainst foreign troops in Tuva, the local authorities sought to prevent any actions aimed at undermining the Russian positions in the region. For this reason, depending on the geopolitical situation in Tuva, the regime of stay of foreigners, issuance of permits softened or hardened. The author concludes the study with the description of the events of the 1920s, the time when there was a change of concept relations with foreign states due tothe Bolsheviks’ coming to power.

The urgency of the reference to the historiography of the issue of Soviet women’s every-day life during the thaw period is explained by the preservation of the image of the woman of the post-war society - mother, wife and worker - at the present time. Studies of this multi-role image have not only scientifi c, but also practical signifi cance. This article examines the views of Soviet and modern Russian historians on the way of life of Soviet townswomen. Being in different ideological conditions, researches tried to reconstruct the history of Soviet women and their way of life using various approaches to the studies. This historiographical review makes it possible not only to determine the periodization, but also to fi nd out common and special characteristics in the scientists’ views of Soviet women’s way of life. As a result of the research, the author singles out four historiographical periods. The fi rst stage from the 1950s to the mid-1960s was characterized by the desire of researchers to prove that the “women’s issue” in the USSR was successfully solved, as well as to demonstrate the care for women on the part of the state. Due to the researchers’ enthusiasm for studying these aspects, the issue of women’s non-offi ce hours became secondary. The historiographical pe-riod from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s was similar to the previous stage. However, 1975 proclaimed the Year of Women, conditioned the increase of sociologists and historians’ inter-est in the “time budget” issue of Soviet townspeople in their everyday life. In the period from the second half of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, there was an increase in the range of sources. Besides that, there appeared new approaches to researching women’s everyday life. The present stage, beginning from the 2000s, is characterized by the most diverse studying of the details of women’s daily life: clothes, furniture, housing conditions, reproductive health, the microclimate in Soviet families and motherhood.