Contenu du sommaire

Marc Raeff, Codification and law in imperial Russia. Some comparative comments. Contrary to the experience of most Western and Central European countries, imperial Russia did not complete the codification of its laws, thus precluding the formation of a Rechtsstaat and of a genuine bureaucracy. This served to retard the emergence of a legal consciousness in government and society and contributed to confuse the notions of legality among the intelligentsia and the people. This development further contributed to undermine the regular process of social and political modernization and reform.

John P. Le Donne, Catherine's governors and governors-general, 1763-1796. The purpose of this article is to discuss one of the major changes brought about by the local government reform of 1775-1782 in the charge of governor. The governors of central Russia before the reform are identified and their career pattern is described in some detail. A similar examination of the background and functions of the post-reform governor-general follows, and a comparison of their posts shows that the governor-general, not the new governor, was the successor of the pre-reform governor. The article also seeks to explain why governors-general were appointed over two provinces while the statute of 1775 provided for one in each province. It is suggested that the divergence reflected the rivalry between Potemkin and the Procurator-General and resulted in giving Potemkin a measure of control over the administration of central Russia which had been until then the almost exclusive preserve of the Procurator-General.

Steven L. Burg, Russians, natives and Jews in the Soviet scientific elite. Cadre competition in Central Asia. Increasing members of non-Russians, and especially of Central Asians, have been entering the ranks of the Soviet scientific and technical elite since the end of World War II. High proportions of these cadres remain in their titular republics, giving rise to a process of "nativization" of the scientific elite. "Nativization" in Central Asia is producing increased competition for positions there and, consequently, increased inter-ethnic tensions between native and non-native cadres. Soviet sociologists suggest that such tensions can be controlled by ensuring continued upward mobility for native cadres. One means by which the central Soviet leadership might attempt to ensure such mobility is the gradual removal of Jewish cadres from positions in Central Asia and their replacement by natives. This might be achieved simply as the result of the natural reduction in the number of Jewish cadres likely to result from death, emigration, and the declining number of new Jewish candidates for positions. If this natural decrease is not sufficient, the Soviet leadership is likely to remove Jews forcibly.

Catherine Durandin, Russia, Rumania and the new borderlines in the Balkans: the case of the Dobrudja. The Dobrudja's annexation to Rumania, resulting from a decision of the Great Powers at the Congress of Berlin gave rise to some paradoxical propositions. At the beginning, Rumanians refused to take over this land. Nevertheless, at the time, the acquisition of the Dobrudja is presented as legitimate: the annexation bears on a land placed within natural borderlines; the Wallachian presence on the Dobrudjian territory is centuries-old. The only obstacle is the crossing of the Danube that "had been placed by fate as a barrier between the Rumanian country and the Dobrudja". This problem is solved within a general program culminating in the inauguration — with a great array — of the harbour of Constantza by the king in October 1909. This is a choice of the Rumanization. Carol of Rumania wanted to transform his country into a kind of western state at the oriental borders. This colonization of the Dobrudja by Rumanians meant, with the accelerated departure of nomadic populations, the extinction of a former civilization. The annexation of the Dobrudja to the Old Kingdom in 1878 shows the Unitarian tendency of Rumanian nationalism based on the geopolitical argument of natural highways from the Carpathian region to the sea.

Claire Mouradian, Immigration of the Armenians of the diaspora towards the RSS of Armenia. 1946-1962. The history of Armenia is marked by permanent migratory movements of its population pressed abroad by wars, invasions, oppression and massacres. This article studies the recent phenomenon of the mass-return of the Armenian diaspora to its fatherland, organized by the USSR after the Second World War. After having defined the essential diplomatic and strategical reasons of the movement, the article analyzes the propaganda themes making use of the national question and their impact. It goes on to examine the integration of the immigrants in their host-country, Soviet Armenia, its specific problems and a certain failure. The question then arises whether the diaspora constitutes the only aspect of the national Armenian problem the sole solution of which would be immigration.