I. A. PORTYANKIN. V. I. Lenin and the Bolshevik Press, 1895 - 1914

Citing concrete historical facts, the author of the article convincingly shows that beginning with 1895, V. I. Lenin for many years took an active part in directing the organization and editing of more than 30 central Bolshevik newspapers and magazines. Lenin was the organizer and, in actual fact, Editor-in-Chief of the "Iskra" - the first All-Russian Marxist newspaper which played such an outstanding role in creating a new-type political party of the working class.

The Soviet press - the press of the world's first socialist state ruled by workers and peasants - was created under V. I. Lenin's direct leadership.

The article points out that for the first time in the history of Marxism V. I. Lenin formulated and theoretically substantiated the thesis that the press is the ideological weapon of the party and convincingly showed the vast role of journalism in the everyday life and activity of the Communist Party, in the people's revolutionary struggle, in the building of socialism and communism.

Much attention in the article is devoted to illustrating the cardinal principles of V. I. Lenin's editorial work-unswerving fidelity to Communist ideology, irreconcilability in the struggle against opportunism and revisionism, practical implementation of the Party's theory and policies. Lenin was an editor of a new type, a classical example of an editor of the Marxist, Communist press. He rejected the bourgeois and reformist approach to journalism as a means of achieving personal political aims and objectives. Having founded the proletarian press, he placed it in the service of the working class and made it a mighty weapon of political education and organization of the broad popular masses for the overthrow of the exploiting system, for the establishment of Soviet power and for the building of socialist and communist society.

Citing concrete facts and examples from the history of the "Iskra," "Proletary," "Sotsial-Demokrat," "Pravda" and several other newspapers, the author reveals some of the most brilliant and sterling qualities manifested by V. I. Lenin in his editorial activities-his principled Party stand, his efforts to imbue the Bolshevik press with a spirit of Marxist staunchness and constraint and strengthen its ties with the masses.

Lenin's experience as an editor, his teaching on the proletarian press acquire especial significance and actuality in our days. Lenin's instructions on the problems of the press and his personal experience as an editor are of great value and practical importance to the Communist press of other countries.

M. I. KULICHENKO. V. I. Lenin's Role in the Establishment and Consolidation of the State Union Between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine (1917 - 1922)

Drawing on the example of mutual relations between the two biggest Soviet Republics, the author reveals V. I. Lenin's unflagging concern for the solution of the national question, for bringing about the unification of the peoples of the former Russian empire, liberated by the Great October Revolution, into a single close-knit Soviet multinational state.

Citing concrete historical facts, the author shows the immense service rendered by V. I. Lenin in theoretically elaborating ways and means of solving the national problem and the forms of upbuilding the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as well as his guiding role in carrying these theoretical principles into practical effect.

V. I. Lenin tirelessly guided the Party in its struggle to eliminate the elements of distrust between the great Russian and Ukrainian nations that were inherited from the past, and worked strenuously to bring them closer together and strengthen their bonds of friendship. An immense part in the achievement of this goal was played by the irreconcilable struggle waged by V. I. Lenin and the Communist Party against the Russian dominant-nation chauvinism and Ukrainian bourgeois nationalism, by their selfless efforts to educate the working masses in the spirit of proletarian internationalism.

In the period of the October Revolution V. I. Lenin attached paramount significance to the unity of revolutionary actions carried out by the working people of Russia and the Ukraine. In the early years of Soviet government Lenin devoted particular attention to the promotion of the broadest possible cooperation in the economic, political, military, cul-

tural and diplomatic fields between the two fraternal Republics, regarding it as a firm foundation for the formation, strengthening and development of their state union. The great Russian people rendered extensive and disinterested assistance to the Ukrainian working people in upholding their freedom and independence, in routing their numerous internal and external enemies, in upbuilding the Ukrainian Soviet state and restoring its war-ravaged economy.

The author shows the guiding and directing role of V. I. Lenin and the Central Committee of the Communist Party in bringing about Soviet Russia's reunion with Soviet Ukraine and emphasizes the immense contribution made by the local Party, government, military and economic organizations and millions upon millions of working people towards the achievement of that goal.

Generalizing the experience of the revolutionary movement, the first achievements in the field of socialist construction and in the solution of the national question, V. I. Lenin gave the Party and the working people of Russia and the Ukraine concrete instructions on the most effective and expedient forms of mutual relations between the two fraternal Republics on the various stages of their development.

Drawing on concrete historical facts taken from Soviet realities, the author paints a vivid picture of V. I. Lenin's direct leadership of the process of extending and developing state relations between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine in the period 1917 - 1922. From a federation formed by voluntary agreement between Soviet Russia and the Ukraine the two Republics subsequently proceeded to the highest form of Soviet federation, constituting the underlying basis of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

G. I. MIRSKY and L. V. STEPANOV. The Twentieth Century and Colonialism

The article traces the development of the great historical process of the national liberation of the Asian and African peoples from the chains of colonial oppression.

The opening part of the article is devoted to a detailed examination of the principal causes and factors that have given rise to the imperialist colonial system. The authors analyze the social and economic essence of the colonial system and characterize the forms and methods employed to further the expansion of finance capital in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Describing the sanguinary colonial wars, the authors cite concrete historical material to confirm the thesis that the existence of the colonial system has from its very inception been inseparably linked with violence and destructive wars. At the same time, when examining the position obtaining in the semi-colonies, G. Mirsky and L. Stepanov make a point of stressing that at the very dawn of the 20th century imperialism employed the method of indirect domination, which found expression in exercising political control and resorting to unrestricted economic exploitation without direct colonial administration - a method that subsequently became an important instrument in the expansionist policy of U.S. imperialism which created an "invisible dollar empire."

The authors trace the principal stages in the development of the national-liberation movement, emphasizing the decisive influence that was exerted on it by the Great October Socialist Revolution, which ushered in a new era in human history - the era of the general crisis of capitalism and its component part - the crisis of the colonial system.

The authors convincingly demonstrate that in its significance and international implications the disintegration of the colonial system in the postwar period is the second major historical event after the rise and development of the world socialist system.

G. Mirsky and L. Stepanov expose and effectively prove the insolvency of the "colonialists' voluntary withdrawal" theory that has now gained wide currency in the West. Citing concrete examples relating to India, Burma. Viet-Nam and Indonesia, the authors convincingly prove that the colonialists' "withdrawal" was an inevitable and forced move prompted by the powerful impact of the liberation movement and the changed alignment of forces on the international scene, primarily the decisive weakening of imperialism and the steady strengthening of the world socialist system. The authors point out that after the second world war American imperialism became the chief bulwark of colonialism. The article analyzes the methods of furthering America's expansionist drive, brings out the real essence of the "vacuum" theory and the concept of building up military blocs, shows the sum and substance of the policy of granting "aid" to underdeveloped countries on shackling terms detrimental to the sovereignty of the independent Eastern countries. The authors highlight the events of the Middle East crisis of 1956 - 58, expose the aggressive nature of the Baghdad pact and the Eisenhower doctrine, and trace the roots and aims of the U.S. and British intervention in the Lebanon and Jordan. The problems of neutralism and Afro-Asian solidarity are analyzed in the light of the new alignment of world forces and against the background of the struggle between the two mutually opposed social systems on the international arena. Particular attention is devoted to the economic assistance rendered by the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries to many Asian, African and Latin-American states. The authors substantiate the conclusion that the socialist camp is a reliable champion and defender of the Eastern countries' independence.

The concluding part of the article is devoted to a number of important issues connected with the mounting national-liberation movement in Africa, the Congo crisis, the

Cuban Revolution, the Fifteenth Session of the U. N. General Assembly which endorsed the Soviet Union's proposal on complete abolition of colonialism. Drawing on their analysis of historical experience, the authors arrive at the conclusion that the final collapse of the disgraceful colonial system is inevitable.

M. N. TIKHOMIROV. Preservation and Study of Historical Manuscripts in the U.S.S.R.

The article draws the attention of Soviet historians to certain problems connected with the preservation and study of the rich collections of ancient manuscripts in the U.S.S.R. The author highlights the immense achievements registered by Soviet historical science in this field and at the same time discusses a number of measures aimed at improving the safekeeping and study of ancient manuscripts.

The article points out that the Soviet Union possesses vast collections of ancient manuscripts. Among the most extensive and complete collections kept in Soviet archive depositories are the manuscripts of three fraternal Slav peoples - the Russians, Ukrainians and Byelorussians. Some of the oldest Russian manuscripts date back to 11th - 15th centuries. These include the Gospel of 1057 written for Ostromir, the Mayor (possadnik) of Novgorod and relative of Jaroslav the Wise, manuscripts of the oldest chronicles, the Russkaya Pravda (Russian Truth), various legends, deeds, charters and other documents.

The richest depository of manuscript books and acts is the Central State Archive of Ancient Acts in Moscow. Some of the 16th - 18th-century documents kept there, notably a number of official documents of the Foreign Relations Department, are of great significance not only for the study of Russia's foreign policy in those days, but also for the history of Turkey, Iran, Britain, France and other countries Soviet archives also have extensive collections of documents on the history of Russia, the Ukraine and Byelorussia in the 18th and 19th centuries, and, in particular, documents belonging to the Soviet period.

The manuscript collections of the Armenians, Georgians and other peoples of the U.S.S.R. are truly unique. The Scientific-Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts of the Council of Ministers of the Armenian S.S.R. (the Matenadaran) is famed as the world's richest depository of unique Armenian manuscripts.

The U.S.S.R. also possesses extensive and remarkable collections of Eastern, primarily Arabic, Persian, Uzbek, Tajik and Tatar, manuscripts which are kept in the archives and depositories of Leningrad, Tashkent, Stalinabad, Baku, Kazan, Makhach-Kala and other Soviet cities.

The unabating interest manifested by Russian scientists in the fraternal Slav peoples of the Balkans from the early 17th century has enabled our country to acquire a large number of Bulgarian, Serbian and Moldavian manuscripts. The remarkable Synodal or Patriarchal collection, now kept in Moscow's Museum of History, was founded in the 17th century.

Thanks to the efforts of Dubrovsky, who collected manuscripts in France at the close of the 18th century (in the period of the French bourgeois revolution), and other progressive-minded Russian intellectuals, the Russian collections of manuscripts in the Latin, French, German and other West-European languages were considerably extended. The author stresses the fact that in the difficult years of economic dislocation caused by the war the young Soviet state, acting on V. I. Lenin's instructions, displayed unflagging concern for the preservation and extension of Soviet manuscript collections. In the years that have passed since then remarkable progress has been made in the field of developing and stimulating Soviet source research and auxiliary historical subjects. There appeared many publications of documents and numerous works on the history of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. as well as new magazines and symposiums devoted to problems of source research ("Historical Archives," "Problems of Source Research," "The Yearbook of Archaeography," etc.). Soviet historical research is making further progress in the critical analysis and study of sources.

At the same time the author dwells on a number of factors impeding further progress in the preservation and study of historical manuscripts in the U.S.S.R., paying particular attention to conditions in which the unique manuscript collections are kept and studied for the benefit of world science. Among other things it is pointed out that often enough the manuscripts are kept in conditions that cannot be described as favourable Even in the country's biggest manuscript depository - the V. I. Lenin State Public Library in Moscow - there is an urgent need to extend the area occupied by the Manuscript Department. A vast amount of work still has to be done in the field of systematization and cataloguizaticn of manuscripts, compilation and publication of archive guidebooks, etc Another important problem is the publication of new documents, since the comparatively small number of published sources is clearly inadequate. The author also stresses the fact that it is urgently necessary to draw up a general plan for the publication of the most important sources covering all branches of historical science. Serious attention should likewise be devoted to the archaeographical classification of sources.

Soviet historians are confronted with serious problems in the field of auxiliary historical subjects (paleography, numismatics, etc.), which must play an important part in Soviet historical science. Special attention should be devoted to the methods of teaching

source research and auxiliary historical subjects in Soviet institutions of higher learning. The author calls for effective measures to ensure further improvement in the safekeeping, classification and study of the rich collections of manuscripts by carrying on explanatory work in the newspapers and magazines and disseminating the rich experience accumulated by the country's major scientific-research and archive institutions. In conclusion the author emphasizes that it is necessary to work out a series of measures for the near future without delay.

S. D. SKAZKIN, N. A. SIDOROVA, A. D. LUBLINSKAYA, A. I. NEUSIKHIN, Z. V. UDALTSOVA, E. A. GRANSTREM, V. L. ROMANOVA, Z. A. SAMODUROVA. The Development of AuxiliaryHistorical Subjects in the Study of West-European and Byzantine Feudalism

The article is devoted to the pressing problems of developing in the U.S.S.R. of auxiliary historical subjects in the field of studying West-European and Byzantine feudalism, as well as to the tasks of further continuing the important work of utilizing Soviet sources on the history of the Middle Ages in the interests of historical science.

Extensive collections of unique West-European, Greek and Eastern manuscripts dating back to the 4th - 19th centuries are kept in the Soviet Union's libraries and archives. West-European manuscripts form part of the rich collections founded by P. P. Dubrovsky, P. K. Sukhtelen and N. P. Likhachov, which are kept in Leningrad; they also hold an important place in Lamoignon's collection kept in Moscow's Central State Archive of Ancient Acts, in the extensive collection of the Manuscript Department of the V. I. Lenin State Public Library of the U.S.S.R., etc.

Of no less interest from the viewpoint of science are the Greek manuscripts kept in the libraries and archive repositories of different Soviet cities. All in all, there are approximately 2,000 of them, the richest and most extensive being the collections of medieval Greek (and to a lesser extent of modern Greek) manuscripts kept in the Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library and in the Manuscript and Rare Book Department of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences Library in Leningrad. The Soviet Union's rich collections of official documents and seals enable our historians to conduct research into specific problems of diplomatics and sphragistics of West-European and Byzantine feudalism; there are also valuable collections of medieval coins, which are essential to the study of ihe history of currency circulation, financial systems, metal treatment techniques, etc.

Soviet scientists are carrying on systematic work in the field of the scientific processing, description, cataloguization and publication of West-European and Byzantine manuscripts belonging to the period of feudalism, since these manuscripts are unique in character and are of immense scientific interest. A number of guidebooks and catalogues have already been published. Among the recently published works are such important collections of archive materials as "The Historical Documents of Cremona" and "The Vazelon Acts," "The 11th-Century Psalm Book of Constantinople, Illustrated with Ornamental Miniatures," documents on the history of popular movements in France in 1559 - 1560. etc. Volume I of the "Documents on the History of the Civil Wars in France (1561 - 1563)" - the first in a series of documents on West-European medieval history compiled by the Institute of History of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences has already been sent to press. A number of theoretical problems pertaining to Latin and Greek paleography have been successfully solved in the works of O. A. Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaya, T. V. Louizova, E. E. Granstrom, A. D. Lublinskaya and other scientists.

However, many major collections of West-European and Greek manuscripts remain uncatalogued to this day. The published surveys of the manuscript funds kept in the Soviet Union's repositories give only a very cursory and general characteristic of existing collections, with special emphasis being laid on most remarkable and valuable specimens. Some of the printed catalogues (catalogues of Greek manuscripts, for example), compiled in the 19th century, have become outdated. Hence, the authors of this article believe that one of the basic tasks now confronting Soviet specialists in medieval history is compilation and publication of catalogues of Greek, Latin and West-European medieval manuscripts from the Soviet Union's collections. These printed catalogues should serve as a basis for subsequent compilation of summary catalogues embracing all medieval manuscripts kept in Soviet libraries and archive depositories. It would be undoubtedly of much value if Soviet researchers in medieval history participated in the collective effort of compiling a summarized World Catalogue of dated Latin manuscripts, the work on which has already been started. The article also stresses the necessity of developing theoretical work in the field of paleography and in the history of medieval Latin and Greek writing as one of the branches in the history of culture; it is necessary to continue the study of palimpsests, of which there is such an abundance in the Soviet Union's archive collections, and devote particular attention to tracing the ties between the Slav and Greek, as well as between Greek and Latin writing.

In order to carry out these tasks more successfully the authors propose, to launch on the training; of specialists in Greek, Latin and West-European paleography not only in the country's leading universities but in the Institutes of History as well. With a view

to developing auxiliary subjects, primarily paleography, it would be highly desirable to extend the scientific contacts maintained by Soviet universities and Institutes of History with corresponding institutions in other countries, carry on systematic exchange of microfilms, photostat copies of documents, the latest historical publications, etc.

The development of source research in the history of the Middle Ages and, consequently, the publication of sources is closely linked with the work of cataloguization and publication of archive materials. Important work in publishing valuable monuments of medieval history of the peoples of Southeast and Central Europe is done by the Archaeographic Committee jointly with the Institutes of History and Slavonic Research of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences. Publication has been started of a many-volume edition of Slavonic, Byzantine, Hungarian, Rumanian and other monuments under the general editorship of Academician M. N. Tikhomirov. However, very little progress has been made so far in the publication of sources on the history of West-European feudalism, although it should be perfectly obvious that their publication is of immense significance for the training of erudite specialists in the field of medieval and Byzantine history and auxiliary historical subjects. In conclusion the article sets forth a plan for the publication in the U.S.S.R. of source materials on West-European and Byzantine medieval history.

A. A. PREOBRAZHENSKY and Y. A. TIKHONOV. The Initial Stage in the Formation of a Nation-Wide Market in Russia (17th Century)

Drawing on a detailed analysis of Soviet literature, the authors of this article make an attempt to sum up certain results of their research into the problem of the formation of an all-Russian market in its initial stage (17th century). The authors examine a number of important questions pertaining to the state of Russia's industrial and agricultural production and trade in the 17th century. The attention is focussed on the problem of social division of labour and commodity production in the sphere of industry and agriculture. The authors note that the 17th century witnessed the continuation and further spread of the process of the separation of towns from the countryside and the appearance of new urban centres in Russia. Owing to the rapid development of industrial and commercial activity, a number of rural communities acquired the features of urban settlements. The employment of wage labour in small and, particularly, in large-scale industry was growing and spreading. Parallel with delivering their output to the state, the first Russian manufacturing enterprises directed a definite part of their goods to the market.

Important changes were taking place in Russian agriculture in the 17th century. Grain-growing (Vologda, Ustyug, Vyatka, Kungur, Nizhegorodsk and other districts), grain-consuming (Northern Pomorye, Lower Volga, Cossack Don and other districts) and flax-growing (Pskov, Smolensk, etc.), areas stood out in bolder relief. The output of grain, flax, hides, lard, fats, hop and other products for the market was gradually coming to play a prominent part in the economy of the Russian countryside. The peasantry was the chief supplier of grain to the market. The authors of the article examine the activity of the middlemen who shipped huge consignments of grain and other agricultural products to those areas which could yield higher prices.

In the course of the 17th century handicrafts were gradually developing into small-commodity production in the industry of such towns as Yaroslavl, Tikhvin, Veliki Ustyug, etc. This period was distinguished by the steadily growing specialization of small-scale industry and increasing division of handicrafts into individual branches (metalworking, leather dressing, manufacturing of fabrics, etc.). Various non-agricultural pursuits involving the countryside into market relationships were growing among the peasants. An important indicator of progressive industrial development was the strengthened position of the middleman, who squeezed the immediate producer out of the market. This resulted in the artisan's growing dependence on, and subordination to, trade capital. The authors stress that the 17th century was marked by amalgamation of small-commodity production into state-owned and private manufacturing enterprises.

The authors cite facts showing the existence, in the 17th century, of commercial agriculture organized by merchants and well-to-do handicraftsmen. Money-commodity relations exerted a certain measure of influence on the system of feudal landownership as well. Both in big (B. I. Morozov and others) and small (A. I. Bezobrazov, the Pazukhins) feudal economies a definite part of the products began to acquire the character of commodities. The same tendency was clearly manifested in the case of some monasteries, particularly in the North. The 17th century witnessed the appearance of feeble shoots of wage labour in agriculture.

Operating in the sphere of exchange was the process of eliminating the narrow bounds of the local markets and the emergence of capacious regional markets whose contacts extended to the whole of Russia. There was a clearly expressed tendency towards specialization of the markets (grain, furs, industrial goods, etc.). The wholesale traders' dominant position on the market was steadily increasing. The article devotes particular attention to little-studied problems relating to the history of the formation of an all-Russian market in the 17th century.

The authors draw the following conclusions: in the early part of the 17th century Russia was a feudal country. The feudal system predominated; the growing serf-owning

relationships adversely affected every sphere of social life, laying a deep imprint on the rise and development of the new bourgeois relations. However, it would be wrong to conclude, proceeding from the weakness, comparatively limited spread and instability of new phenomena and processes characteristic of the initial stage in the formation of the domestic market, that the 17th century has nothing to distinguish it qualitatively from the preceding period.

The authors of the article believe that the following basic results of historiographical research into the problem are indicative of the qualitative peculiarities of the economic development in the 17th century.

First, social division of labour entered a stage when it created the necessary minimum of conditions required for the gradual development and consolidation of the money-commodity economy. Second, the important quantitative changes connected with a sharper division between industrial and agricultural labour, between town and country, specialization of production, continued expansion of the output of industrial goods and farm produce for the market, more extensive use of wage labour, etc., already give rise to certain qualitative distinctions of the period, including: a) amalgamation of production and the emergence of the manufacturing industry; b) extensive development of jobbing operations; c) increasing the volume of marketing operations and establishment of big merchant capital; d), elimination of narrow local bounds and a steep increase in the country's commodity circulation, particularly farm produce (grain, etc.); e) establishing a fairly stable nation-wide commodity exchange, which signified the emergence of a single home market.

The chief social result handed down by the 17lh century to the next historical epoch was the establishment of "bourgeois relations" - the rudiments of the new capitalist relations not only in the sphere of circulation but in the sphere of production as well. A careful analysis of Soviet historical literature reveals that beginning with the 17th century commodity economy is gradually converted into capitalist economy, as is shown by the emergence of the labour market and the intensified exploitation of immediate producers by commission merchants.

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