This article examines the debated question in modern historiography of whether the last lifetime diary entries of former Emperor Nicholas II, written in mid- to late June (Old Style) 1918, were later subject to external editing (removal of individual sheets, interpolations by outsiders). The relevance of this issue stems not only from the traditional interest of researchers in the diaries of the last autocrat, but also from the fact that the circumstances of the death of the former emperor and his family on the night of July 16–17, 1918, in Yekaterinburg remain shrouded in mystery. The question of the completeness and authenticity of Nicholas II's last daily entries was first raised in 1988 in an article by I. G. Nepein. The historian noted the absence of diary entries for the last days of the former emperor's life and also identified a discrepancy between the number of sheets indicated and the number of pages in the file, leading to the assumption that individual sheets of the manuscript were subsequently cut off by unknown individuals. This conclusion was uncritically accepted by researcher Yu. A. Grigoryev, who in turn advanced a hypothesis regarding the contents of the confiscated entries, in which the diary's author could have described the circumstances of his final days, including the preparations carried out by the Ural Bolsheviks for the assassination of the royal family. P. V. Multatuli continued his in-depth study of the diary entries from the final period of Nicholas II's life. Focusing on the letters from an anonymous "officer" mentioned in the diary regarding the release of prisoners, the historian questioned the authenticity of this entry and suggested that it was later falsified to prove the former emperor and his family were preparing to escape from prison. The author's source analysis of the former emperor's diary entries, based on their originals, held in the State Archives of the Russian Federation (GARF), has allowed for a significant revision of the established historiographic picture. The absence of entries from the monarch's final years does not support their removal, as similar omissions had occurred previously. The discrepancy between the number of sheets and pages in the file is explained solely by inaccurate page counts, and the entry of June 30 (July 14), 1918, is indeed the last, as there are no other notes or signs of deletion after it. The suggestion that the entry about the family receiving anonymous letters was falsified does not hold water, as the diary's pen was replaced, creating the erroneous impression of erasures, different letterforms, and different font weights. It is concluded that the conspiracy theories about the falsification of individual diary entries are conspiratorial in nature, which in no way refutes the authenticity of Nicholas II's final diary entries.

This article, based on materials from the State Archives of the Yaroslavl Region (SAYaR) and the Rybinsk Branch Archives (RBF SAYaR), examines the specifics of criminal prosecution of attempted spousal murder cases in Yaroslavl province. This topic is relevant due to the pressing need to preserve the traditional family and the unresolved problem of domestic violence. The study utilized general scientific and historical research methods (historical-genetic and historical-comparative), as well as methods used in studying the history of everyday life. The specific nature of the cases under study necessitated the use of a gender approach, allowing for the examination of the differences in the conduct of judicial proceedings between men and women. Attempted spousal murder in the provinces is rarely the subject of independent research and is more often explored in the context of broader studies on the everyday family life of various segments of the population and marital conflicts. Working with unpublished archival materials allowed us to examine specific court cases and unique family situations, using these as examples to identify the challenges of law enforcement and the attitudes of the state and the regional judicial system toward criminals of different genders. The author examines the reasons that motivated spouses to attempt on the life of their husband or wife, noting their similarities. The stages of legal proceedings in the early 1860s and throughout the remaining period following the transformation of the judicial system, as well as their goals and main content, are summarized. The length of legal proceedings in male and female cases is analyzed, and the factors that delayed the process are noted. The main part of the work is devoted to examining the circumstances of the cases, the charges brought and the punishments actually received by criminals, opportunities to evade justice, and the courts' handling of "slander." A source study analysis of Yaroslavl materials from various court proceedings revealed a relatively adequate attitude toward female criminals on the part of judicial institutions at various levels, as well as court attempts to acquit not only men but also women on reasonable grounds, although, in essence, no one was protected from violence at the hands of their significant other. Studying this problem from a historical perspective will be useful for understanding the causes of violence in modern Russian families and developing more effective strategies for preventing domestic violence.

The article is devoted to the problem of migration in the Russia-Kazakhstan border-zone in 2003-2016. Historiography on this topic is still in its infancy, published works are often interdisciplinary and rely almost on archival funds. Currently, the development of historical research in the field of migration and frontier studies is hampered by an insufficiently studied source base, primarily specialized archival funds and document collections reflecting migration processes in the border-zone, and assessments by regional authorities of the risks associated with border status. To further enhance scientific knowledge on the issue, it is important for the historical community to understand what materials on this issue are available in archives, their potential, and the range of topics that can be studied based on these documents. Thus, the repository of the United State Archive of the Chelyabinsk Region (OGACHO) has a fund of the Main Directorate for Interaction with Law Enforcement and Military Agencies, which revealed valuable documents for the period when cooperation between the Russian and Kazakh sides on the preventing illegal migration and smuggling was intensifying. This occurred against the background of strengthening cooperation between the authorities and security agencies of the Russian and Kazakh regions after the 2003 Forum of Border Regions in Omsk. The materials of the archive fund are limited to 2016, when large-scale reforms of the Ministry of Internal Affairs took place and the accumulated documents were transferred to the archive for safekeeping. The materials of the extended meetings of the FSB Board and the Security Council of the Chelyabinsk region can provide a systematic understanding of cross-border security issues to the historians. During these meetings, the annual work of government and law enforcement agencies was summarized, including various statistical indicators, challenges to cross-border security were outlined and so on. The introduction of these documents into scholarly will help better understand the migration situation on the border with Kazakhstan over the past two decades. Taking into account the limited volume of the manuscript, the author focused primarily on the interactions of enforcement agencies in the Chelyabinsk and Kostanay regions, as well as on the the characteristics of illegal migration and smuggling routes across the border. Such documents are just beginning to be introduced into scholarly, so it is crucial to expand the source base and incorporate data from the archives of other Russian and Kazakh regions to continue the research.

Landrat books, the last and largest sub-ward descriptions of Russia (1715-1720), are among the little-studied sources. They received their name in the 19th century after their compilers - landrats (assistant governors). Interest in them first appeared in the early 20th century during discussions about population fluctuations in the Petrine period. However, the complexity and heterogeneity of the form, the vastness of the data contained in them and the lack of final calculations significantly complicated their use as a source on demographic history. The Peter the Great's government's refusal to take into account the data of the landrats' books and the transition to a fundamentally new organization of fees - per capita, served as another reason for skepticism about the reliability of the data of this last household census. Over time, this skepticism acquired in historiography the character of a complete rejection of landrats' books as sources of information. The materials of these voluminous folios were ignored, and generalizing conclusions were made on the basis of comparing statistical data of the 1678 household census and the results of the first revision of the per capita census (1718-1727). Meanwhile, the Landrat books are an interesting and informative source of information. They are not inferior in reliability to the censuses of 1678, if only because they were compiled on the basis of careful comparisons with their data, as well as with the materials of the census of 1710. Nowadays, interest in landrats' books is growing due to regional studies. Working with these documents is difficult, but can yield significant results. It is especially important to realize that the landrats' census was part of a series of descriptions of its time and should be considered in the general system of sub-ward censuses. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)It was the materials of past descriptions that were used by the compilers of landrats' books when they reconciled the data and added new information. The focus of the article is the Voronezh Landrats' Book of 1716. Its example demonstrates the importance of this type of source, as well as its relationship with other sub-ward censuses. The Voronezh Landrath Book has a complicated form: it begins with a comparison of data from 1716 with data from 1678, relating to the city and then to the district. Then follows the comparison of information about other population groups, which relates to 1716 and 1710: here, too, the information first refers to the city, and then to the county. This structure is explained by the fact that the census enumerators divided the population into social groups and compared each of them separately. The social principle prevailed over the geographical one. The main purpose was to compare the actual data with the census of 1678, but where new yards and population groups appeared, the comparison of which with the old census was impossible, they turned to the materials of the description of 1710. After determining the structure of the book, it is possible to compare its data with the census book of 1678 and the special Voronezh census of 1714. The analysis finally shows that the data obtained by landrats are more complete than all others. Thus, the studied materials clearly demonstrate the importance of comparative studies in the study of the Landrat books complex. This is the way to assess the completeness of data of each book separately, to see its place in the general series of sub-ward censuses of the region. Only such careful and painstaking work can give a noticeable result for the study of the socio-demographic history of Russia in the Petrine period.

The article is devoted to the study of the species of temenos in Attica in the second half of the IV century BC. In historiography, this problem has not been practically investigated. As a rule, the authors of scientific papers address the issue of the definition and characteristics of temenos, based on information obtained from ancient literature or archeology. In historiography, as a rule, the problem of the most ancient temenos of the epoch of the II – I millennium BC is studied or this phenomenon is considered in the period of the V – III centuries BC on the territory of the Northern Black Sea region. At the same time, the question of what the temenos of Attica (the region of Athens) were like in the second half of the fourth century BC remains completely unexplored. The study of this problem is relevant, since in order to get a complete picture of temenos, it is necessary to identify the features of this phenomenon at different stages of the history of Athens. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to present the various types of temenos in the Attic of the second half of the IV century BC and to come to a conclusion about the meaning of this concept. The chronological framework of the study was not chosen by chance, since the epigraphic material, which contains information on this issue, dates back to that time. As a rule, these are inscriptions about the lease of sacred lands, carved on stone steles, which in the second half of the IV century BC were installed on the territory of the temples of the polis. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time in historiography, the question of the essence of temenos is studied on the basis of these materials. Using a systematic approach and comparative analysis, the specifics of the temenos, their characteristic features and differences are investigated. An analysis of the epigraphic material showed that there were various types of temenos, which were cared for by leasing them to citizens of the Athenian polis. After conducting a detailed analysis of the sources, the author comes to certain conclusions. Judging by the information on the lease agreements of the sacred lands, the temenos represented the territories of the sanctuary, which differed depending on certain factors. In this regard, several types of temenoses can be distinguished. Firstly, these are land plots suitable for various agricultural activities. Secondly, the lands that are used for pastures and in some cases they contain outbuildings and workshops used for processing raw materials. In addition, it is possible to separate out the land plots that are used for construction work on them.

Based on documents from two regional state archives: the Central State Archive of the Kirov Region (CGAKO) and the Central Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (TSANO), as well as materials from regional newspapers of the 1930s, new facts are being introduced into scientific circulation characterizing the activities of trade institutions of the All-Union Association for Trade with Foreigners ("Torgsin") operating in the territory the former Vyatka province in 1932-1936 . The article discusses in detail the specifics of the Vyatka department store No. 3 "Torgsin" (since 1934 – Kirovsky), which in 1932-1936. He was a key institution of the regional network "Torgsin". Since 1929, Vyatka province became part of the Nizhny Novgorod (since 1932 – Gorky) region as a result of administrative reform. In the context of the research topic, the activities of the Nizhny Novgorod (since October 1932 – Gorky) regional office "Torgsin", which was subordinate to the department stores "Torgsin" in Vyatka and the former Vyatka province until December 1934, are considered. Department store No. 3 "Torgsin" was opened in 1932 in Vyatka under the conditions of the card system. The principle of operation of the department store was based on the sale of scarce goods to the public, including imported goods, subject to the delivery of gold and currency, and later silver and diamonds, at a rate set by the state. Since July 1933, the management system of the "Torgsin", established in the Gorky Region, has changed, 11 district offices have been established. The article examines the activities of the Vyatka regional branch, which includes 15 trading establishments opened on the territory of the former Vyatka province. Department store No. 3 "Torgsin" became the head office of the Vyatka regional branch. Since January 1935, in connection with the organization of the Kirov Region, instead of the department, the Kirov regional office "Torgsin" was organized, under which 7 trading institutions remained. The activities of Torgsin in the territory of the former Vyatka province were unprofitable for local authorities, as they did not bring income to local budgets, but, on the contrary, required additional expenses. The idea of the government to make money by spreading the institutions of "Torgsin" to the territory of the deep country proved to be unviable. Most of the "Torgsinovs" opened on the territory of the former Vyatka province turned out to be unprofitable and closed shortly after opening. Vyatka (Kirovsky) department store No. 3 "Torgsin" became the most profitable of the department stores. In 1936, after the abolition of the card system, the activities of the All-Union Association "Torgsin" in the Kirov Region were curtailed.

In October 1941, the State Defense Committee (GKO) of the USSR decided to form labor columns in the Central Asian Military District. In subsequent years, the need to expand the military industry and the increase in the number of defense enterprises led to the large-scale recruitment of civilians for construction and production work. Beginning in February 1942, the unemployed urban population was called up for labor service, and from the second half of 1942, all able-bodied individuals, including those with Group III disabilities, were subject to mobilization. Despite the expansion of production due to the evacuation of more than 150 factories and plants to the Uzbek SSR, where a severe labor shortage was also felt, 155,000 labor army soldiers were sent from the republic to other regions of the USSR. This article provides information on the collaboration between the archives of Uzbekistan and Russia in popularizing historical documents about the valor of the fighters in the labor armies. On May 14, 2025, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, the Glory Museum (Shon-sharaf) of the Victory Park Memorial Complex opened a joint archival exhibition on the theme "The Feat of the Labor Army Fighters from Uzbekistan During World War II." The primary goal of exhibiting archival sources was to introduce the general public to little-known documentary and visual materials related to the activities of the labor army soldiers. The presentation of new sources allowed the exhibition's curators to showcase not only their selfless labor but also illuminate the daily lives of Uzbeks during the war. The banner exhibition featured over 150 electronic copies of documents. The documentary basis for the joint exhibition was comprised of archival materials from the Perm State Archive of Social and Political History (PermGASPI), the National Archives of Uzbekistan (NAUz), the National Archives of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Documentation of Uzbekistan (NASTMDUz), as well as documents held in the collections of the Berezniki History and Art Museum and the National Archives of Film, Photo, and Sound Documents of Uzbekistan (NAKFFDUz). Following the exhibition, an action plan was signed to continue cooperation between the archives of Uzbekistan and Russia through the preparation and publication of a joint thematic collection of archival documents in 2026. Undoubtedly, such archival work will serve to popularize archival collections not only among researchers but also users. The scientific and practical significance of the exhibition lies in its aim to perpetuate the memory of those who sacrificed their lives to fight and made a worthy contribution to the victory over fascism.

The article presents previously unpublished archival materials from the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA) related to the activities of a prominent Russian state dignitary, economist and one of the leaders of the Russian-American Company (RAC) Count Nikolai Semenovich Mordvinov. The analysis of the sources, some of which are being introduced for the first time, allows us to reconstruct the mechanisms of formation in the Russian administrative circles of the Nicholas I era of a new concept of imperial space, aimed at the priority study of Russia's internal regions to the detriment of the creation of a maritime empire. Focusing on the history of Russian trade in the Pacific Ocean, the author proceeds from the analysis of the international situation in the 1820s, which is a reaction to the crisis of globalization of the early New Age, expressed in the rejection of the universalism of the Enlightenment, the formation of national ideologies, the shift of emphasis from world trade to the development of agriculture (and then industry) in domestic (national) territories as the main source of wealth. Within the framework of these trends there was a revision of the geopolitical strategies of the Russian Empire, which was marked by a shift from offensive maritime expansion in the World Ocean and the restructuring of government policy towards the development of Eurasian space, its natural and human resources. Showing increased attention to the internal territories and distancing itself from “overseas” possessions, Russia entered the stage of “self-colonization”, which took place in a special scenario compared to the Western European powers, and included vast areas of Eurasia in the processes of development. The prehistory of this stage was revealed in the documents of N. S. Mordvinov, one of the most influential Russian analysts of maritime policy and trade in the Pacific, whose analysis showed close links between the trade policy of the Russian-American Company in the Pacific in 1810-1820 and the awareness in government circles of logistical problems in the remote Pacific periphery. Having severely criticized the leadership of the RAC, N. S. Mordvinov developed program projects for the organization of trade in the Pacific Ocean, however, realistically assessing its possibilities, he pointed out to the authorities of the empire the “weak” points in the system of overseas possessions of the Russian Empire, the awareness of the vulnerability of which ultimately influenced the shift of the geopolitical vector and the increased state interest in the study of the internal space of the empire, one of the consequences of which was the establishment of the Russian Geographical Society in 1845.

The article examines the party "purge" that took place in December 1929 in the institution that was most responsible for the implementation of the new economic policy – the People's Commissariat of Finance of the USSR (NKF). The most qualified specialists concentrated here, who tried to combine market mechanisms with a team management style without prejudice to the economy. The People's Commissariat of Finance of the USSR employed many people who were related to finance in one way or another in pre-revolutionary Russia. They were the first to be fired after the purge of the state apparatus. The party purges were different. The question of social origin was not raised here, the party commissions dealt with the ideological fluctuations of party members, and any deviation from the general line of the CPSU(b) could influence the party's decision. The literature did not pay attention to the fact that the most important departments of the People's Commissariat of Finance of the USSR were headed by people from the Bund Party. One of these departments, Gosfincontrol, was headed by the head of the Bund party from 1917 to 1921, Aron Isakovich Weinstein. The management of state taxes was headed by M. O. Lifshits, the actual management of the Planning and Economic Management of the People's Commissariat was carried out by L. G. Shanin-Shapiro. In addition, there were many people in the People's Commissariat who did not achieve much success in the administrative part, but also joined this institution, having been a member of the Bund Party in the past. Belonging to this party was not the reason for the compromise, but everyone who was concerned about these issues tried to somehow justify themselves. There was no outright anti-Semitism, but all three chief executives of the departments, despite their outstanding managerial qualities, were dismissed. They had to be replaced by less qualified staff to carry out any orders from the authorities. The return from the NEP to the practice of "war communism" led to a significant decrease in the intellectual level of the NKF of the USSR. In a certain sense, this demotion was specifically achieved by introducing "nominees" into the People's Commissariat, who, as experience has shown, could not fully replace those who were dismissed.

This article examines the influence of archival practices on the formation of historical narratives using the research and reference apparatus of the collection of the Fifth Section of His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery (SEIVK), housed in the Russian State Historical Archives (RGIA). Drawing on concepts developed by researchers during the "archival turn," the author analyzes changes in approaches to the collection and description of archival documents and their impact on the production of historical knowledge. An important part of the study is the history of the SEIVK's Fifth Section archive, its transfer, and its incorporation first into the general archive of the Ministry of State Property (MGI), then into the Unified State Archival Collection (USAF). Attention is also drawn to changing approaches to document collection within the Central State Historical Archives of the USSR (TSGIA USSR). This examination of the collection's history allows us to answer questions about the current preservation of documents and the state of the research and reference apparatus. As of April 2024, the documents of the 5th Department of the SEIVK (including 2,075 storage units) constitute Collection 1594 of the Russian State Historical Archives. This article focuses on the state of the collection's inventories and their differences. The first inventory is a printed book edition published in 1887. The remaining three inventories were created by staff of the Central State Historical Archives of the USSR in the 1960s from documents allocated from various collections. At the same time, Collection 1594 was isolated from the general body of documents of the "Predecessor Institutions of the Moscow State Historical Archives" collection. This article consistently argues that inventories not only perform the functions of recording and systematizing documents but also significantly influence the formation of authoritative archival knowledge, scholarly interpretations, and the direction of research. Refunding of files not only affects the accessibility and retrieval of documents but also reflects archivists' understanding of the origin of documents and records the commonality of storage units combined into a single collection. The preservation of pre-revolutionary inventories and the compilation of new ones, in accordance with current requirements, change or consolidate the method of document description at the linguistic and "ordinal" levels. The conclusion is that the methods of describing and grouping archival files directly influence the development of historical knowledge. Studying the history of collections can not only expand our understanding of the history of archival affairs and the activities of collection creators but also refine archival heuristics.