Contenu du sommaire

Danielle Skakalski, Lithuanian and Volynian nobilities of the fifteenth century. Contribution to the study of the social vocabulary o£ the Lithuanian Great Principality. This article gives a brief outline of the formation of the Great Principality of Lithuania, and of the part played by its ruling class in the union with Poland until the beginning of the fifteenth century. It proceeds to analyze the terminology used to designate different categories of the nobility, mainly in the fifteenth century. The study proves the preservation of lexical tradition inherited from the State of Kiev and combined with terminology intentionally borrowed from the Polish vocabulary. The Polish influence was strongest in regions bordering Poland, such as Volynia. This terminological study shows the attraction exercized by the Polish social model of nobility on that of Lithuania, and, in general, the influence of Polish culture in a region historically belonging to the world of Eastern Slavs.

Mansura Haider, Relations of Abdullah Khan Uzbeg with Akbar. In the present paper, the writer has made an attempt to analyze the facts and highlight the different factors which had shaped the policies of Abdullah Khan Uzbeg towards Akbar. The discussions regarding the various embassies exchanged between the two rulers throw some light on the various stages of Indo-Uzbeg political relations and also indicate frequent changes in the balance of power in the lands beyond Hindukush.

Michel Hammer, D. A. Miliutin and Russia's foreign policy. Russian political staff often comprised dull, second-rate and vainglorious men. This was not the case of Miliutin. The present article endeavours to trace his profile and his military and ministerial activity until his resignation from service. Miliutin was a brilliant officer, a well-known historian, versed in strategical science, compelling recognition by his brilliant intelligence. In his post at the War ministry, he played a decisive part in the reforms. Later on he was associated by the tsar Alexander II to the examination of all the foreign policy options in which his influence was often noticeable. However, with time, he came to the conclusion that priority had to be given to the effort of renovation within the country which excluded all foreign adventure. But was it not too late? He thought that the heavy burdens weighing on Russia's fate were of such a nature that great convulsions were unavoidable.

Catherine Salzman, Consumer cooperative societies in Russia, goals v. gains, 1900-1918. The goals of the consumer cooperative movement fall into three categories. First, on an economic level, consumer societies tried to help members save money. Second, to promote the moral development of their members and, where possible, their political consciousness, they organized a wide variety of cultural and educational activities. Finally, the movement's leaders sought to use the general meetings of their societies to teach working class members to participate in running the cooperatives. The realization of these goals was hindered by traditional Russian habits, including reliance on credit, illiteracy, deference to authority and alcoholism, as well as by government repression and economic backwardness.

Michel Heller, Pamiať : smuggling of history. The five booklets of Pamiať (Istoricheskii sbornik) represent an important source of information on the political, social and cultural life in the Soviet Union since the time of the revolution and up to our days. The present article aims to acquaint with the contents of these compilations, whilst analyzing the causes of nationalization of history in USSR and the necessity to infringe upon the monopoly of memory reserved to the state.

François Cornillot, Anna Karenina: the diptych of Heaven and Hell. According to the initial plan of the author, the story of Anna Karenina was to be that of a downfall, the description of a drama lived by "a married woman, belonging to the high society, who had sinned". However, as a result of a long maturation, this initial story is finally counterbalanced by a second plot - the ascent and the spiritual emergence of Levin. This second theme seems even to take precedence on the first in the mind of Tolstoy. At least, that is suggested by the final composition of his work, in spite of its title: Anna's sin serves as a foil to Levin's triumph. By opposing to each other two models of life, the author seems to have written two models within one. However, to adopt such a view would be to misunderstand the outline given to the story and the author's profound intention: the extraordinary unity of these two volets of the great diptych is constituted by the intensity of the insight of a visionary artist discovering and exploring for us the ways of Heaven and Hell.

Catherine Poujol, The "Note on the commercial road from Semipala tinsk to Cashmere". The discovery in the nineteenth century by a Russian linguist of a text mentioning an unknown commercial road connecting Siberia to Cashmere through the high ranges of mountains of Chinese Turkestan represented, at that time, a study limited mainly to language and topographical particulars. The reason for a renewed examination bearing on this text is the interest that such a document presents inasmuch as it ascertains the commercial relations on the Russian-Chinese confines reminding of a glamorous past of these silk and fur roads that had lost since a long time their economic international significance. There remains to be seen whether this text is of real historical importance or whether it is simply an enthusiastic tale of an enterprising tradesman.

Extracts from the Merezhkovsky Archives. Letters of Z. N. Hippius to M. V. Vishniak, presented by Temira Pachmuss. Hippius' letters to Vishniak recreate vividly the atmosphere of "Russian Paris", in the 1920' s and 1930's. They reveal the complex interrelationships of Russian émigrés, who found themselves abroad in strained financial circumstances. The letters portray the émigrés' many activities, describe the appearance of Russian journals, newspapers and almanacs, and discuss various ideological conflicts and disagreements among the émigrés. The letters also convey Hippius' sense of humor and her keen observation. Moreover, they reveal her personality, as well as her complex Weltanschauung. She was endowed with an alert eye and a profound understanding of the events taking place around her. As Vishniak himself admitted: "Hippius' letters are extremely interesting. In them, she discussed the topics which were invariably important. Besides, she was an excellent stylist, always writing in a perfect and picturesque Russian..." Her letters "characterize her as a person and a 'politician.' " " Hippius' correspondence also enables the reader to observe the personality of Vishniak and his role as editor of an influential Russian publication in Western Europe.

Ivan Bunin' s letters to Mark Aldanov; II: 1948-1953, presented by Rosa Fedoulova. This publication bears on the years 1948-1953 and only includes the letters that serve best to throw a light on the writer's life, his relations with others and his professional activity. It contains many interesting appreciations of Bunin as regards his own work, the great Russian writers of the nineteenth century, A. Belyi, A. Blok, M. Gor'kii and the émigrés. Furthermore, these letters give information on the Life of the Russian emigration in France and in the United States, and on the foundation of Chekhov editions.