SUMMARIES OF ARTICLES

Academician I. I. MINTS. Soviet Russia and the November 1918 Revolution in Germany

The author cites extensive tactual material to show how after the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia the gradual strengthening of Soviet power and the growing influence made by the ideas of the October Revolution on the working people of the belligerent countries forced the two conflicting imperialist groups - the Entente and the German bloc - to put aside their contradictions and seek to unite their forces for the overthrow of Soviet power. At that critical moment a revolution broke out in Germany, which helped Soviet power to thwart the sinister designs of the interventionists. Notwithstanding the difficulties with regard to food supplies, the author writes, Soviet power at once came to the assistance of the famished German workers and proposed to the new German authorities to form an alliance for the joint struggle- against the internal counter-revolution and the armed intervention launched by the Entente powers. But the Right-wing leaders of German Social-Democracy turned down the friendly proposals of the young Soviet Republic. The November Revolution, though it did not develop into a socialist revolution, proceeded under the impact of the liberating ideas generated by the October Revolution and, consequently, played an immense role in revolutionizing the working people of Germany.

S. DOERNBERG. The G.D.R.: Stages of Development and Consolidation

The liberation of East Germany by the Red Army created favourable conditions for the Democratic Republic on October 7, 1949, was a cardinal factor in the process of the anti-fascist, democratic regeneration of the German people. The proclamation of the German anti-fascist democratic stage overgrowing into the socialist stage. In the course of the first ten-year period the foundations of socialism were laid in the G.D.R., which was followed by the complete victory of the socialist relations of production in all spheres of the national economy. Significant achievements in the field of economic development made the G.D.R. one of the ten most developed countries in the world. Together with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries the G.D.R. consistently strives for co-operation with all the forces that are waging a tense struggle against the aggressive designs of the imperialist circles.

M. P. KIM. The Subject-Matter of the General Historiography of Culture

The author emphasizes the urgent need to subject to a broad discussion the question concerning the subject-matter of the general historiography of culture so as to work out a clear conception corresponding to its actual content. Drawing on his assessment of the progress of research in the history of Soviet culture, the author puts forward his considerations with regard to evolving a new scheme of research in the problem, which would proceed from a broader, more comprehensive, synthetic approach to culture as a complex, multi-faceted and, at the same time, intrinsically integral system distinguished for its rich content and multiform functions; The author believes that at the present juncture there emerges the possibility of more fully defining the most important problems and tasks of research in the history of Soviet culture on the basis of generalizing the experience in the field of studying culture and analyzing the present-day cultural realities. The authors proposals are graphically reflected in a scheme reproduced in the concluding part of the article.

S. S. KHESIN. The Revolutionary Military Committees and Their Contribution to the Victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution

The article gives a generalized picture of the activity of the Revolutionary Military Committees set up in the period of the October Revolution in different parts of Russia and characterizes the general features and principles intrinsic to these revolutionary bodies. The authors attention is tocussed on the local Revolutionary Military Committees and their role in the establishment and consolidation of Soviet power in the country. He clearly shows that the Revolutionary Military Committees were special and extraordinary bodies providing operational leadership in the struggle for Soviet power, and in the majority of cases performing the functions of the first executive apparatus of the Soviets. In their activity the Revolutionary Military Committees relied on the support of the working masses and were predominantly influenced by the Bolsheviks, which largely explains the successful performance of their functions.

стр. 222

A. G. KUZMIN. Concerning the Ethnic Nature of the Varangians

The article examines the question concerning the ethnic nature of the Varangians against the background of the ethnic processes under way on the territory extending from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The author develops the earlier expressed supposition that the Varangians inhabited the islands and the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. In the first centuries A. D. the Celtic-speaking population lived in that area, but in the latter half of the first millennium it was largely Slavonianized, although separate groups continued to retain two languages-Slavonic and Wendish. Many ethnonyms (Varangian, Ruthenia, etc.), personal names in the Varangian epic poems and many names figuring in the treaties concluded by Prince Oleg and Prince Igor with the Greeks find their explanation in the Celtic languages. At the time of their appearance in Eastern Europe the Varangians had already adopted the Slavonic language, although they still continued to retain some elements of the old Celtic tradition.

G. P. MURASHKO. Nationalization of the Basic Means of Production in the Countries of Central and Southeastern Europe in 1944 - 1948

The article shows by way of comparison the place and role of nationalization in the development of the revolutionary process in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Rumania and Hungary, and analyzes the conditions attending the formation and realization of the concepts held by the Communist and Workers parties with regard to taking possession of the key economic positions in the state. The author arrives at the conclusion that the radical intervention of the revolutionary forces rallied around the working class and its political vanguard in the revolutions of the 1940s was practically effected in some countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia) in the course of the emergence of peoples democratic rule and in others (Bulgaria, Rumania and Hungary) prior to the final establishment of political hegemony by the working class in society.

A. A. MURADYAN. The "Positions-of-Strength" Concepts in U. S. Foreign Policy

The article traces the evolution of the "positions-of-strength" concepts widerspread in Americas historical and political literature from the turn of the 20th century to our days. The author shows that these concepts are used as a cover to justify the foreign policy and to protect the economic interests of the American capitalists and their bourgeois state. The ideological and political exponents of the "positions-of-strength" policy believed that by building up its military potential the U.S.A. would be able to dictate its will to the socialist countries. The growing might of the Soviet Union and other countries of the socialist community upset these calculations. The radical turn from the cold war to the relaxation of tension now taking place in relations between states with differing social systems compels the more farsighted and realistic-minded American statesmen to reexamine the outworn and long- discredited doctrines underlying the "position-of-strength" policy.

Permanent link to this publication: