V. M. KURITSYN. Steady Expansion of the Rights and Freedoms of the Individual in the Soviet State

The article graphically shows how the rights and freedoms of the individual, which are treated as an embodiment of the revolutionary remaking of society, of the achievements of socialist construction, have developed at the different stages in the history of the Soviet state. The author traces the dependence of the actual volume of rights and freedoms of the individual at each historical stage on such factors as the social structure of society, the alignment and correlation of the class forces, the forms and acuteness of the class struggle, the degree of maturity attained by the socialist relations, the material possibilities of society, the correlation of the forces of socialism and capitalism on a world scale and the. specific forms of their confrontation on the international arena. Particular attention is devoted in the article to the rights and freedoms of the individual granted by the new Constitution of the U.S.S.R. in the conditions of mature socialism.

V. D. POLIKARPOV. From the History of the Petrograd Revolutionary Military Committee (in the Light of New Sources)

The article contains an analysis of new sources on the history of the Petrograd Revolutionary Military Committee (RMC) which, in the period of struggle for the victory of the power of the Soviets, served as an instrument for the preparation of an armed uprising, and after the victory of the latter-as an extraordinary organ of the dictatorship of the proletariat, whose powers extended to the whole of Soviet Russia. The new sources which appear in scientific literature for the first time represent a series of reminiscences written in 1928 by S. I. Gusev, K. A. Mekhonoshin, F. I. Goloshchokin, J. H. Peters, M. J. Lacis, I. V. Balashov and other active functionaries of the Petrograd Revolutionary Military Committee. These reminiscences contain notes and comments to the minutes of the Revolutionary Military Committee, written in connection with the contemplated publication of the latter at that period. The notes and reminiscences contributed by active members of the Revolutionary Military Committee shed light on some questions of RMC history which still lacked the necessary clarity. At the same time they enable historians to appraise RMC minutes as the most important source on the history of the October Revolution.

V. I. KOSTRIKIN. The Peasant Movement on the Eve of the October Revolution as Reflected in Soviet Historiography

The article is devoted to contemporary Soviet historiography of the peasant movement in March-October 1917. It analyzes a number of generalizing monographic research works devoted to the agrarian revolution in Russia, as well as works illustrating the class struggle waged by the peasants in individual provinces and regions or highlighting individual aspects of the problem. Side by side with showing the achievements of Soviet historians in investigating the problem by making a deeper study of Lenin's conception of the October Revolution and drawing on new sources, the author examines the varying opinions and viewpoints expressed by different authors on specific historical questions, draws attention to inadequately elaborated problems and makes an attempt to define the tasks and methods of further research in some of the aspects of the peasants' revolutionary struggle in 1917.

A. JENSEN. The October Revolution and Denmark

In contradistinction to the Danish bourgeoisie, the working class of Denmark hailed the October Revolution and took an active part in the campaign launched in all parts of the world under the slogan "Hands Off Soviet Russia!" The Communist Party of Denmark, which actively propagated the ideas of the October Revolution and advocated the development of friendly relations with Soviet Russia, marched in the van of the country's revolutionary forces. The article traces the principal stages in the history of Danish-Soviet relations. The author draws the conclusion that the Soviet Union's foreign policy is meeting with ever-growing support throughout the world because by eliminating capitalist oppression and building a developed socialist society the Soviet state has charted the road to peace" freedom and progress for the whole of exploited mankind.

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E. F. KOVALYOV. The Great October Socialist Revolution and China

The article analyzes the basic factors contributing to the influence exerted by the Great October Socialist Revolution on China's social and political life in the period from the closing months of 1917 to the beginning of 1921. The author traces the impact made by the first reports on the victory of the October Revolution, Lenin's foreign policy, the spread of Marxism-Leninism and the development of internationalist ties maintained by the world Communist movement on the formation of the Communist Party of China. This event is regarded in the article as the greatest gain of the Chinese working class at that period. In conclusion the author writes that the influence made on China by the October Revolution fully confirms the universal significance of the laws of revolutionary struggle discovered by Marxist-Leninist science, which found their most convincing embodiment in the practice of the socialist revolution in Russia,

I. I. ZHIGALOV. The First Referendum in the History of Great Britain: Political Struggle, Results, Significance

The article is devoted to an analysis of the struggle waged in 1975 by the different classes, political parties and social forces of Great Britain in connection with the first nation-wide referendum on the question of the country's membership in the Common Market. The author highlights the position of Britain's main political circles and points a broad political picture of English society of that period. Held in an acute and complex internal before the referendum, when the Left wing of the TUC, the active functionaries of the Left Labour Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain adopted an identical position, demonstrated a new level of unity attained by the Left forces. Although the referendum endorsed Britain's continued membership in the EEC, the country's basic problems (inflation, soaring cost of living, unemployment, the mounting strike movement, etc.) remained unsolved.

A. A. KOKOSHIN. Evolution of the Latest American Conceptions of International Relations

The article subjects to a critical analysis the evolution of American conceptions of international relations during the past few years. Drawing on a number of works produced by prominent bourgeois politicians and historians in the field of international relations (H. A. Kissinger, Z. Brzezinski, M. Kaplan, W. R. Kintner, S. Hoffman, S. Brown, L. Bloom-field, E. Morse, J. S. Nye and others), the author gives a classification of these conceptions. The article also examines the conceptions of the "five-polar" structure of international relations, the two "triangles," the "regional balances of forces" and the "polyarchic system".

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