«Ударные темы» сектора истории Средних веков Института истории АН СССР: год 1937

Средние века. 2025. Т. 86. № 4. С. 148–170.

Sharova A. V.

"IMPACT THEMES" FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDIEVAL STUDIES IN THE INSTITTE OF HISTORY OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR: THE YEAR 1937

The article is devoted to the story about the beginning of the work of the Department of Medieval studies of the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the so-called "impact themes" (udarnie temi), which in 1937 primarily meant re-reviewing previously published articles to identify political and ideological “errors”, participating in the activities on criticism of fascist historiography, as well as developing the structure and content plans of volumes on the history of the Middle Ages for the "World History". The archival materials allow us to show how the academic writings had been changed under the influence of soviet political order, and to see a generally successful attempt to consolidate the scientific community of specialists in the Western European Middle Ages to implement a large-scale plan of "World History." The reviews and "reviews of reviews", written by historians, are a vivid example of the entry of Medievalists into the new reality of Soviet historical science and the specifics of its organization and functioning. The works of E.A. Kosminsky, D.M. Petrushevsky, V.M. Lavrovsky, N.P. Graziansky, A.I. Neusykhin in 1937, not directly related to their scientific interests, but dictated by their Institute of History affiliation, shows that so-called "impact themes" not only required the physical and creative forces of the scholars, but also formed a specific, more politicized language of their texts. This activity made them think about the well-being and survival of the staff of the Department of medieval studies itself, since any ideological mistake threatened its employees with political accusations, which was especially dangerous in the atmosphere of the "purges" of the Institute in 1937.

Keywords: soviet medieval studies, Институт истории АН СССР, Д.М. Петрушевский, советская медиевистика, Institute of History, Е.А. Косминский, V. Lavrovsky, В.М. Лавровский, советская историческая наука, D.M. Petrushevsky, E.A. Kosminsky, сектор истории средних веков, Department of Medieval studies, Sector of the History of the Middle Ages, Graziansky, Neusykhin, fascist falsification of history, Н.П. Грацианский, А.И. Неусыхин, фашистская фальсификация истории