A. F. KHAVIN. The Captains of Soviet Industry (1926 - 1940)

The author describes the training of the managerial personnel for Soviet industry from the early period of industrialization to the Great Patriotic War.

the readers will become acquainted with veteran economic executives, erstwhile miners, stokers, turners, fitters, seamen, with the far-reaching measures carried out by the Soviet state to equip these cadres with theoretical knowledge. The article vividly tells of the rapid influx of the new technical intelligentsia into Soviet industry, showing how this process was accompanied by advancing the skill and knowledge of thousands upon thousands of industrial and economic executives with a long record of work in the national economy. In conclusion the author vividly portrays a number of outstanding leaders of industrial enterprises and construction projects, devoting much attention to their methods and style of work.

M. A. VYLTSAN and M. P. KIM. Cultural Development in the Soviet Countryside (1933 - 1940)

Drawing on new archive materials, the authors analyze such major problems of cultural development in the Soviet countryside as elimination of illiteracy among the adult population, the building of schools, training skilled personnel for collective-farm production, carrying on political, educational and cultural work among the peasant masses. The article graphically shows how the profound socio-economic changes in the' position of the peasantry were accompanied by a veritable cultural revolution in the countryside, how in the process of cultural development a big stride was made towards eliminating the gaping disparity in the cultural level of the urban and rural population, as well as between the country's central districts and outlying national areas.

E. I. KRUPNOV. The Caucasus in the Ancient History of Our Country

The article makes a point of stressing that the multi-national Caucasus, which is rightly regarded as the birthplace of a distinctive (so-called Iberian-Caucasian) linguistic family and the centre of ancient original culture, at the same time served as a kind of bridge connecting European and Asian culture. The author traces the historical and geographical routes along which many ancient tribes from the Caucasus settled in the southern districts of the U.S.S.R. Drawing on a wide range of sources, he indicates the time and conditions of the emergence in the Caucasus of a productive economy (with farming and cattle-breeding), which superseded the primitive appropriating economy (hunting, gathering fruit, berries, nuts, etc.). The period between the 4th and 3rd millenniums B. C. is marked by the appearance in the Caucasus of primitive copper-smelting under the influence of the more advanced civilizations of Asia Minor. A separate chapter in the article is devoted to the establishment of the earliest cultural unity in the Caucasus, its disintegration in the 3rd millennium B. C., and the division of the "Iberian-Caucasian" linguistic family into three principal groups of Caucasian languages. The first earliest penetration in the Caucasian environment of Indo-European ethnic elements from Russia's southern steppelands, in the author's opinion, can be dated not earlier than the second quarter of the 2nd millennium B. C. The opinion that the route, followed by proto-Hittites in their advance from the North to Asia Minor lay through the Caucasus, which has become fairly widespread in the linguistic world, is effectively refuted by the author.

In the closing part of his article the author draws the conclusion that for many millenniums the Caucasus was the centre of the rich and original ancient cultures of the copper-bronze age, in whose womb there emerged the first (in the U.S.S.R.) class and state formations.

S. M. ASKOLDOVA. The Principal Trend in American Bourgeois Historiography of the Labour Movement

The article examines the theoretical views and methodological principles of the leading school in the American historiography of the labour movement - the Commons school of Wisconsin - which originated in the U.S.A. at the beginning of the 20th century. The Commons school was developing in close theoretical and practical contact with American trade unionism and served, in effect, as a theoretical substantiation of Gompersism in the trade union movement. Proceeding from the theory of American "exclusive-

ness" as their chief premise, the exponents of the Wisconsin trend attempted to prove the possibility of an exclusively "neutral" trade union and labour movement in the United States, advocated the need of completely renouncing an independent labour policy and limiting the workers' struggle to the economic sphere. Such important aspects of the Commons' theory as upholding the interests of high-skilled workers and narrow craft unions, belittling the significance of mass struggle, class-consciousness, socialist ideas and, in particular, the role of the American Socialist Party are entirely subordinated to this principal task. The works produced in the 1920's-1950's by historians belonging to the Wisconsin school are distinguished for their clearly expressed anti-Communist character. The basic theoretical propositions of this school remain unchanged in the works of contemporary bourgeois historians devoted to the American labour movement.

A. Z. MANFRED. The Socio-Political Ideas in 1815

The article represents a paper read by the author at the Twelfth International Congress of Historical Sciences in Vienna. It analyzes the development and character of the socio-political views expounded by the different class groups of European society following the 25 years of revolutions and wars that had shaken Europe to its very foundations. The author records a number of changes and new phenomena which appeared in the ideological and political life of Europe towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The idea of the divine origin of monarchical rule was completely discredited, as a result of which the system of ideas on so-called "traditionalism" and attempts to provide ideological substantiation for the clerical-absolutist restoration proved unsuccessful both in real life and ideology. Of far greater practical significance were the principles of "legitimism," utilized both in the Vienna Congress decisions and in the reactionary policy of the Holy Alliance. These Rightist ideological tendencies were opposed by heterogeneous ideological trends representing other social forces. Liberalism had many different shades-from George Canning's Tory liberalism in Britain to the Santarosa national-liberation movement in Piedmont. The historically progressive forces were represented by the national idea, the national-liberation movement. The revolutionary- democratic ideological trend was likewise developing. At the extreme Left flank of the ideological struggle of that period were the most prominent representatives of utopian socialism.

L. S. VASILYEV and I. A. STUCHEVSKY. Three Models of the Origin and Evolution of Pre-Capitalist Societies

The article continues the discussion on the Asian mode of production, started in Issue 2 of our journal. Taking guidance in the ideas formulated by Karl Marx in his "Forms Preceding Capitalist Production," the authors single out three basic models of the origin and evolution of pre-capitalist societies: ancient (slave-owning), feudal and "Asian." The authors maintain that in the process of disintegration of the primitive communes there always emerge two principal tendencies-the slave-owning, based on the inhuman exploitation of alien slaves, and the feudal, based on exploiting the labour of fellow-countrymen, the communal peasants. The peculiar character of development of one or another primitive commune, determined by a number of causes, can be either conducive to the strengthening of one of these tendencies (in which case we have either ancient or feudal type of model) or provide equal possibilities for the coexistence of both. In the latter case, which is typical of practically all non-European societies known to history, the intertwining and combination of slaveownership and feudalism in their early (or even comparatively developed) form result in the emergence of a third, "Asian" model. The three models are very close to one another and relate to the single secondary precapitalist formation based on non-economic compulsion.

A. I. GUKOVSKY. Controversial Problems of Soviet Archeography

The article discusses the principles of selecting archive documents for publications intended for researchers and examines different types of such publications. The author graphically shows how these types were used in Soviet archeography at different stages of its development, how it treats the question of types of publications. The author does not agree with those who exaggerate the scientific value of thematical publications, maintaining that the selection of documents according to their "importance" or "typicalness" inevitably reflects the subjective views of the publisher. Hence, the scientific significance of any concrete thematical publication has to be determined by criteria applicable to monographic researches. The author gives preference to editions permitting the publication of complete sources and stresses that all attempts to identify such concepts as "complete archive fund" and "complete source" are profoundly erroneous. The article points out that thematical publications of documents are most appropriate in editions popularizing historical knowledge as well as in textbooks.

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