A. V. MITROFANOVA, L. S. ROGACHEVSKAYA. The Stakhanov Movement: History and Historiography

The article deals with the prerequisites of the Stakhanov movement in the mid-1930s, its unfolding in all industries under conditions of building socialism. It traces the interdependence between the level of production and the scope and forms of the emulation, recalls the first Stakhanovites and their followers. The authors also trace the main stages of historiographic development: the prewar, the war, the second half of the 1940s and the 1950s, and the 1960s and 1980s. They provide a characteristic of different types of historical writings on the question, their merits and demerits and offer their own view on the periodisation of the Stakhanov movement.

Leutenant-General M. M. KIRYAN. The Victory in the Far East

The article reviews the situation in the Far East towards the end of the war, the causes behind Soviet entry into the war against imperialist Japan, the military strength of the sides and the course of military operations, heroism of Soviet soldiers. The Soviet victory in the Far East, writes the author, was a crushing blow at Japanese imperialism and international reaction, it was of a crucial importance for strengthening positions of democratic forces especially in the countries of East and South-East Asia.

V. S. VYGODSKY. Engels as a Student of "Capital"

The author analyses the role of Engels in a scholarly investigation of the history of Marx's Capital, and in elaborating the principles of its study and publication. Engels has demonstrated that the history of Capital is inseparable from Marxist development in general, and its periodisation should rest on Marx's elaboration of the theory of surplus value. Political economy in the broad sense is an organic part of Marx's work as it studies the consequitive changes of socio-economic formations as a single historical process. Engels laid the foundations of scientific studies of Marx's legacy.

A. L. YASTREBITSKAYA. The Family in Mediaeval Town

The author takes as her subject the following questions: the family and kindred relations and their functioning among urban nobility, merchants, artisans which were typical of the entire mediaeval society and singles out those prominent in urban settlements. She emphasises that the urban family was not so much the scene of "disintegrating traditional structures" as of transformation of those features which were typical of the feudal society as a whole. The urban family developed along two opposing trends - that of consolidating the family around closer relatives, which led to individualisation, and that of preserving kindred relations of lignage.

A. N. BARKOVSKY, B. N. LADYGIN. Emergence and Development of International Economic Relations of a New Type

The authors discuss the process of emergence and development of international economic relations within the framework of the socialist community and provides a picture of their emergence by stages from the immediate post-war years to the Moscow CMJEA Summit of 1984.

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