G. D. KOMKOV. 250 Years in the Service of Scientific Progress

The author briefly surveys the path traversed by Russian science since the establishment of the Academy of Sciences to the present time, tracing the causes that led to the emergence of this scientific centre in Russia, the conditions attending the activity of the Academy of Sciences under the tsarist regime and the achievements of its scientists. The article focusses attention on the functioning of the Academy of Sciences after the victory of the socialist revolution in Russia, laying particular emphasis on the role played by V. I. Lenin in evolving new principles of organization of science, stressing the unflagging concern shown by the Communist Party and the Soviet state for the needs of the Academy of Sciences, characterizing its present state, its organizational structure and the place it occupies in socialist society, and acquainting with the achievements of prominent Soviet scholars in the sphere of natural and social sciences.

M. T. BELIAVSKY. The Founding of the Academy of Sciences in Russia

The founding of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg in 1724 was an outstanding event in the history of Russia, imperatively dictated by the country's vital requirements and supreme national interests. The groundwork for its establishment was laid by a series of major reforms effected during the reign of Peter the Great. A close analysis of the preliminary design of the Academy and of other sources graphically shows that its founding was preceded by a protracted preparatory stage in the course of which the experience already accumulated in the functioning and structure of similar-type scientific institutions in Western Europa was duly taken into account. Adequately provided with financial resources and research facilities, the Russian Academy of Sciences from the very outset became a generally recognized research and educational centre of nation-wide importance. Many world-famous scientists of that period worked in the Russian Academy. All this enabled it to occupy a worthy place among its counterparts in other countries and subsequently to play a leading role in the advancement of Russian science, education and culture.

L. N. PUSHKAREV. The Academy of Sciences and 18th- Century Russian Culture

Side by side with powerfully stimulating the development of Russian science, the Academy of Sciences made a signal contribution to the advancement of 18th-century Russian culture. The gymnasium and university functioning under the auspices of the Academy of Sciences blazed the road to science for many prominent 18th-century Russian scholars and significantly contributed to the development of Russian education and enlightenment. The Academy of Sciences played a conspicuous part in sponsoring the publication of books, newspapers and magazines; it was instrumental in promoting and encouraging all- round research in past and modern Russian history. The Academy of Sciences had its impact on the development of Russian art, notably architecture, decorative painting and applied arts. It actively responded to the events of social life. The author graphically shows that all these successes were achieved in spite of the fact that the ruling classes of Russia persistently tried to convert the Academy of Sciences into a narrow caste institution called upon to meet the requirements of the royal court and government.

E. D. LEBEDKINA. The U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences and International Scientific Organizations

After a brief characteristic of the international ties maintained by Russian scientists in the pre-revolutionary period, the author proceeds to examine the activity carried on by the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences in international non-governmental scientific organizations and the participation of its scholars in international scientific co-operation and in diverse programmes sponsored within the framework of these organizations, primarily in the International Council of Scientific Unions.

The author describes the forms of co-operation among scientists of the socialist countries in the sphere of exact, natural and social sciences aimed at enhancing the

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efficiency of social production in the conditions of socialism and accelerating the rate of scientific and technological progress. The article accentuates the role of international scientific co-operation in bringing about a relaxation of international tension, strengthening the principles of peaceful co-existence and making for broader mutual understanding among nations.

A. S. GROSSMAN, N. A. PANKOV. The Growing Role of Public Opinion in the Struggle Tor European Security and Co- operation

The authors devote particular attention to the process of detente in international relations, to the strengthening of world peace as a result of the peace policy consistently pursued by the Soviet Union and the other countries of the socialist community. The article makes a point of stressing the steadily growing role played in recent years by world public opinion in the effort to promote detente and all-round co-operation on the basis of the principles of peaceful co-existence. In this connection the authors analyze the progress and sum up the results of the most important international forums of public forces, notably the World Congress of Peace Forces. The Soviet people believe, the authors write in conclusion, that the powerful peace offensive launched by the U.S.S.R. and other socialist countries will be crowned with success because more and more people in all countries and continents are joining the ranks of peace fighters.

S. P. GUSEV. Soviet Industrial Workers in the Period of Developed Socialism

The article briefly characterizes some of the processes associated with the quantitative and qualitative changes which occurred in the composition of Soviet industrial workers during the 1960's and early 1970's. The author draws attention to the changed sources of replenishing the industrial labour force, to the growing number of industrial workers and important changes in their national composition, to modifications in the sectoral and territorial distribution of manpower. Side by side with analyzing the changes in the professional composition of workers in industry, the author emphasizes the role played by general education and vocational training in improving the qualitative composition of industrial workers, laying particular accent on the high technical level and the new social and cultural make-up of industrial workers as the most advanced contingent of the Soviet working class.

I. A. BULYGIN. Peter the Great and His Church Reform

The article makes it amply clear that the substance of the reform was not limited to the abolition of the patriarchate and its replacement by a synod. In the initial period of the church reform the government's principal aim consisted in expropriating the material wealth possessed by the church. It was in furtherance of this aim that the possessions of the clergy were placed under the jurisdiction of the Monastery Department. This was followed by partial secularization of church-owned estates. The reorganization of the supreme governing bodies of the church was carried out only in 1720 - 1721. Later, in 1722 - 1725, the government proceeded to introduce permanent staffs for all church proprietors and ecclesiastical institutions. The reform, the author writes in conclusion, exerted a powerful influence on the position of the monastery peasants by placing a sizable proportion of them in the category of stale peasants.

V. P. SMIRNOV. The Progress of Research in the Contemporary History of France

The author traces the progress of research in the contemporary history of France carried on by French historians during the postwar years. For a long period of time the study of contemporary history in French universities, which traditionally serve as the chief centres of French historical science, was practically abandoned. But in recent years the situation has changed markedly and the interest in contemporary history is growing rapidly. Some of the more topical problems of contemporary history are tackled by specialized research centres. Politological and sociological methods of research are finding more extensive application in contemporary history. Much influence on the development of the French historiography of contemporary history is exerted by publicistic works and memoirs. Particular attention is devoted by the author to the achievements in French historiography registered by the Marxist-Leninist trend, whose prestige has been rising steadily in recent years.

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