E. V. TADEVOSYAN. The Subject Matter of Scientific Communism and Its Place in the System of Social Sciences

In connection with the introduction in all Soviet institutions of higher learning of "The Fundamentals of Scientific Communism" as a new independent subject, the article examines such important methodological questions as the subject matter of scientific communism, the place it holds in the system of Marxism-Leninism and its interconnection with the other component parts of Marxist-Leninist science, the character of the laws and categories of scientific communism, the international essence of the theory of scientific communism, the correlation between the theory of scientific communism and the history of the CPSU. Scientific communism enables one to form a clear understanding of the cardinal organizational principles and basic stages in the development of communist society. The attention of scientific communism is centred on the socio-political laws, ways and methods of the revolutionary transformation of society along communist principles.

The author also dwells on certain practical questions concerning the need of differentiating the teaching of the various social sciences with a view to eliminating unjustiffied duplication and parallelism. He proceds from the premise that each particular subject must, in strict conformity with its scientific content, find its own specific aspect of presenting one or another problem of communism. The article puts forward a number of concrete proposals aimed at further improving and perfecting the structure of the course devoted to the fundamentals of scientific communism.

V. E. SHUTOY. Link-Up on the Elbe

The article is written by a participant in the events described on the basis of documents kept in the Central Archive of the U.S.S.R. Defece Ministry. The article is divided into three parts. The opening part of the article is devoted to the diplomatic preparation for the link-up of the Allied forces on the Elbe. The author examines the question of why and on whose initiative the Allied armies met on the Elbe and not considerably farther to the west-on the borders of the occupation zones in Germany, as was decided at the Yalta Conference.

The second part of the article describes the military situation on the eve and during the link-up on the Elbe, and compares the Anglo-American military operations with those of the Soviet forces at that time. The author shows what formidable difficulties had to be overcome by the Soviet Army in its advance to the Elbe (it had to fight stubbornly to surmount water barriers, big forests and swamps, minefields, strogpoints, defence fortifications, etc.), while the forces of the U.S. 12th Army Group, as was frankly admitted by their commander Omar Bradley, did not fight their way from Kassel to Leipzig and to the Elbe, but "marched triumphantly under white flags."

In conclusion the author describes the warm and friendly atmosphere that pervaded the meetings of representatives of the Soviet and American army units in the last days of April.

N. I. SINITSYNA and V R. TOMIN. Collapse of the Nazi Agrarian Policy on the Occupied Soviet Territory (1941 - 1944)

The article is devoted to an important problem in the history of the second world war. The authors make an attempt to disclose the nazi aggressors' policy towards the collective and state farms, towards the Soviet peasantry. The article shows how the leaders of Hitler Germany, who perfidiously attacked the Soviet Union, tried to carry into effect a far-reaching programme of enslaving, plundering and destroying our country. The so-called "new agrarian order" instituted by the nazi invaders in the occupied Soviet territories was aimed at establishing landlord and kulak domination, at restoring the exploiting classes.

The article reveals the forms and methods of the nazi agrarian policy directed towards unmerciful plundering of the Soviet peasant masses and reducing them to the

status of slaves of the German masters. But these criminal plans were thwarted by the Soviet people. Hitler's "new order"-a system founded on violence and inhuman exploitation-collapsed under the powerful blows of the Soviet Army and the broad partisan movement in the German rear.

Representing the first Soviet work in this field, the article is based on numerous archive materials, documents and publications.

L. P. BORISOV. The Osoaviakhim. Pages from History, 1927 - 1941

The article describes the activity of the Society for the Promotion of Aviation and Chemical Defence (Osoaviakhim)-the biggest voluntary organization founded in the Soviet Union in 1929 - 1930. The author highlights the Society's role in stimulating the political activity of the masses and drawing them into the country's social life, illustrates the extensive work carried out by the Osoaviakhim, which rendered important assistance to the state in developing individual, chiefly lagging or newly- founded branches of the national economy (aircraft and chemical industries, agriculture, etc.), in organizing military and defence work among the working people. The article examines the numerous and most diverse measures initiated by the Osoaviakhim, such as the organization of Defence Weeks,.the Antarctic, trans- Atlantic and other long-distance flights by Soviet airmen, rendering assistance to the Nobile expedition which suffered a crash off the coast of Spitsbergen, military- technical examinations among the youth, the distribution of. lottery tickets among the population, etc. The author cites extensive factual material vividly illustrating the Society's active participation in the collectivization of agriculture, in the Soviet Union's first practical efforts in the field of rocket engineering, in the socialist emulation movement and scientific research activity.

N. S. KINYAPINA. The Russian Autocracy's Industrial Policy During the Crisis of the Feudal System

The article discloses the class character of the policy of tsarism during the crisis of the feudal system (1820's - 1850's), the causes of its vacillations and contradictions. The author clearly shows that this policy was basically aimed at upholding the interests of the landed nobility. Particular attention in the article is devoted to the new phenomena taking place in Russia's economy and politics at that period, which graphically illustrate that, by defending the positions of the feudal class, the autocracy often enough objectively contributed to Russia's advancement along the path of capitalist development.

C. BOBINSKA. Source Deficiency (Methodological Analysis)

The question of source deficiency is examined in the article from the viewpoint of the class character of the process of source accumulation. Emphasizing the specific nature of this process among individual classes of society and the marked inequality of the exploited masses in this respect, which finds expression in the fact that "priority" with regard to sources belongs to the ruling classes, the author warns historians against the activity of individual classes and social strata in accordance with the amount of sources they left to posterity, a method traditionally employed by old historiography. Pointing out the extremely uneven reflection in sources of the activity of different classes and strata of society, particularly in the sphere of social consciousness, the author shows that side by side with written sources, which characterize in the main the activity of the governing classes over a protracted historical period, there exist many other sources, including diverse monuments of material culture, which reflect the spiritual and various other aspects of historical activity of the toiling masses.

The author stresses the importance of research in the social causes of source deficiency and underlines the need of bringing out new aspects in thoroughly investigated sources, the need of drawing on new types of sources in order to make the analysis of historical phenomena more comprehensive and, consequently, more objective.

I. M. KRIVOGUZ, D. P. PRITSKER, M. B. RABINOVICH and S. V. STETSKEVICH: The Basic Trends in Contemporary Soviet Historiography

The article highlights the development of Soviet historiography since the emergence of the Soviet state, without in any way attempting to give an exhaustive analysis of what has been accomplished by Soviet historians in the 47-year period. The authors review numerous monographic researches and articles, collective works by Soviet historians and

collections of documents, giving particular attention to those works which appeared since the end of the second world war.

The authors advocate a scientifically substantiated periodization of the historical process and put forward concrete proposals on this question. As distinct from bourgeois historiography, the article notes, research into contemporary history in Soviet historical science is focussed on a number of major problems which enable the researcher to reveal the leading role played by the popular masses in the historical process. Of paramount significance among these problems is the history of the revolutionary struggle of the peoples of the world, the history of social ideas and of the international working-class movement, problems of international and colonial policy.

Academician I. A. ORBELI. East and West in the 12th - 13th Centuries

The article by the late Academician I. A. Orbeli examines questions of the interinfluence of Western and Eastern cultures as a factor of cardinal importance to the progress of world culture. However, the author does not confine his research to this particular aspect. He cites numerous examples to show the importance of comprehensive research in the history of mankind by the joint effort of historians, archeologists, ethnographers, philologists and linguists.

I. A. Orbeli dwells in particular detail on the problems of integrated research in the history of culture and its most important component part-the history of art. The article draws the attention of scientists to a number of vitally important methodological and methodical questions pertaining to research in universal history and the history of world culture.

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