B. A. ANTONEiVKO. B. I. ISKANDAROV. The Development of Historical Science in Soviet Tajikistan

The article highlights the principal stages in the development of historical science in Tajikistan since the establishment of Soviet power in this Central Asian Republic. The authors describe the emergence and development of scientific centres conducting research work in the sphere of history, and characterize the main trends and subjects of research. The article enables .one to form a clear idea of the achievements in the field of studying the history of the Tajik people in pre-revolutionary years and in the Soviet period, of the most important archeological discoveries in the Republic's territory and the significant progress made in the sphere of ethnography, and outlines the prospects of the further development of historical science in the Tajik S.S.R. The achievements of Soviet scientists in elaborating a number of complex problems in the history of Tajikistan, the authors write, is the best and most convincing proof of the utter insolvency of the theories propounded by bourgeois ideologists with the aim of misinterpreting and grossly distorting the history of the Soviet Central Asian Republics.

I. V. KUZNETSOV. The Multiplicity of Economic Forms in Capitalist Russia

The article subjects to a critical analysis the "theory of the multi- system economy" which has found reflection in a collection of articles published under the general title "Certain Aspects of the History of Capitalist Russia. The Problem Concerning the Multiplicity of Economic Forms" (Sverdlovsk, 1972). The author cites extensive factual material to illustrate this problem. The attempt to proceed from the "theory of the multi-system economy," in the author's opinion, has led individual historians towards misinterpreting the cardinal problems of the history of our country in the epoch of capitalism generally and in its imperialist stage in particular.

L. A. GOLDENBERG. The Development of Historical Cartography in Russia Before the Revolution and in the Soviet Period

The article traces the- development of historical cartography in pre-revolutionary Russia and in the U.S.S.R. as an auxiliary historical subject and as a separate branch of cartography. Particular attention is devoted by the author to the historiographical significance of historical maps. The author singles out a number of principal stages in the development of Russian historical cartography, giving a brief characteristic of diverse cartographic works differing in their themes, forms and purposes, and examining the main directions of historical cartography- educational, scientific reference (research) and popular science (for propaganda purposes). The work of compiling comprehensive historical atlases containing scientific reference data and providing a reliable basis for drawing historical maps of any type and designation represents a new trend in Soviet historical cartography.

V. T. PASHUTO, B. A. RYBAKOV. A Collection of Ancient Sources on the History of the Peoples of the U.S.S.R.

The basic aim of "A Collection of Ancient Sources on the History of the Peoples of the U.S.S.R." now being compiled and prepared for publication by the joint efforts of a group of Soviet scientists is to provide historians with documentary material for tracing the process of the origin and development of classes and states on the territory of the U.S.S.R. and for defining the place occupied by the peoples of our country in world history during the period of antiquity and the Middle Ages. The collection will include ancient Russian, Latin, Scandinavian, Arabic, Persian and other narrative sources shedding light on the history of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. up to the middle of the 13th century; the

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earliest records of the legal acts adopted by the peoples of our country, materials and research works devoted to the history of the oldest state formations on the territory of the U.S.S.R. It is proposed to publish the sources or the relevant excerpts thereof in the language of the original with exact translation and commentaries.

G. V. MELIKHOV. China's Territorial Expansion in the Amur Region and Central Asia in the 17th-18th Centuries During the Reign of the Ching Dynasty

Drawing on official Manchurian-Ching sources, notably on "Та Ching Lichao Shila," the author gives an objective appraisal of the attempt made by the Ching empire to resort to armed force for the purpose of gaining a foothold in the Amur Region in the eighties of the 17th century, after the Amur territory had already been incorporated in the Russian state, as well as of the invasion of Central Asia by the Ching-Manchurians, regarding the above- mentioned actions as undisguised armed aggression and territorial expansion.

B. KUZAK. Soviet Aid to Poland in the Concluding Stage of the Great Patriotic War (1944 - 1945)

The article shows the significance of the assistance rendered by the Soviet Union to Poland in the concluding stage of World War II. Drawing on archive materials, the author reveals the importance of Soviet assistance in providing the population of Poland with food and in rebuilding the country's war-ravaged economy. Of utmost significance for the strengthening of People's Poland and for promoting Soviet-Polish relations was the signing on April 21, 1945, of the Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Postwar Co-operation between the Soviet Union and Poland. The article lays particular emphasis on the assistance granted by the Red Army to the population of Poland in supplying it with foodstuffs, in safeguarding and restoring industrial enterprises, in organizing Polish administration in the western and northern territories. Considerable attention is devoted by the author to the activity of Soviet experts in rehabilitating Warsaw and to the important work carried out by the Soviet Union's economic mission in the Polish capital in 1945.

V. F. KOLOMIITSEV. Charles de Gaulle and France's Foreign Policy

The basic concepts of France's contemporary foreign policy were formulated by General de Gaulle. The period ushered in by his advent to power in 1958 and ending with his resignation in 1969, the author writes, can be called a period of "free-hand" diplomacy. The most important distinctive feature of de Gaulle's foreign policy was the desire to alter the pattern of relations that had taken shape in the capitalist world in the period following the termination of the second world war. The change of the balance in favour of the United States, in his opinion, had to be rectified. De Gaulle's foreign policy line reflected the striving of the French monopolies to secure more advantageous positions within the framework of the over-all imperialist strategy. At the same time, as regards the cardinal issue of war and peace, his policy duly took into account the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the French people.

A. G. ARBATOV. The Pentagon's Role in Shaping America's Foreign Policy During Two Postwar Decades

One of the main features typical of the United States' foreign policy after the second world war was the unprecedented growth of militarism in many of its spheres. It was manifested on more than one occasion in the employment of armed force for open intervention in the internal affairs of other peoples and for exerting pressure on other countries. This policy was furthered by the frenzied armaments race, the establishment of aggressive military- political blocs, the "military presence" in alien territories and by the extension of military aid to America's allies. The "position-of- strength" concept was made the underlying principle of Washington's foreign policy. The employment of armed force became Washington's answer to the new phenomena taking place in the world. The inordinate expansion of the military-industrial complex and the steady enhancement of its influence on the process of formulating the cardinal foreign policy principles gradually began to restrict the U.S. Administration's freedom to manoeuvre.

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