A. V. IGNATYEV. The Bankruptcy of the Provisional Government's Foreign Policy

A. V. Ignatyev convincingly shows in his article that the very first composition of the Provisional Government, in which the tone was initially set by outspoken imperialists, essentially inherited the expansionist programme of the tsarist autocracy, although it made definite correctives in it and introduced certain new elements. The author points out that during the subsequent months of bourgeois rule the aim of the Russian imperialists in the war underwent further evolution which, despite certain fluctuations, mainly proceeded in the direction of relinquishing part of the claims. The Provisional Government made no effort to rid itself of the shackling dependence on the allies which it inherited from tsarism, but tried to choose a more favourable orientation: the tsarist government's orientation on France was substituted by orientation on Britain. However, the Provisional Government's expansionist designs, even in their curtailed form, proved illusory, for they could not be backed by appropriate military and economic strength and ran counter to the clearly expressed will of the workers and toiling peasants. It is precisely this factor that determined the bankruptcy of the Provisional Government's foreign policy.

A. V. SMIRNOV. Changes in the Professional Composition of the Soviet Working Class

A. V. Smirnov draws attention to the quantitative and qualitative changes that have taken place in recent years in the composition of the main professions in Soviet industry under the impact of scientific and technological progress. The general tendency of these changes is manifested in the disappearance of most of the old professions, which were chiefly connected with the use of low-skilled and arduous physical labour. The old professions have been replaced by new and more progressive ones, based on more extensive application of machines. Needless to say, this process cannot be regarded in isolation from other changes in the composition of the working class. The growing scale of mechanization and automation of production has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number and proportion of skilled workers. The author makes an attempt to establish the objective factors and causes of the emergence of many complex and integrated professions. The article is based on extensive statistical data and other materials.

H. P. STROD. The Agrarian History of the Baltic States in the Period of Late Feudalism as Reflected in German Postwar Bourgeois Historiography

The article singles out the conservative and liberal trends in West-German postwar bourgeois historiography and analyzes the most important publications produced by the conservative trend and devoted to the agrarian history of the Baltic states in the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries. H. P. Strod comes to the conclusion that in some of these works Latvia's agrarian history is examined in divorcement from the country's geographical environment, while in others the analysis of geographical environment is substituted by geopolitical characteristics of the Baltic states.

West-German bourgeois historiography, in the author's opinion, gives a patently

incorrect treatment of problems concerning the development and consolidation of feudal landownership, which are examined exclusively from the viewpoint of German landowners. The role played in agrarian history by the development of the productive forces is clearly underestimated. The author shows that German bourgeois historians essentially deny the intensified exploitation of the peasants and the progressive deterioration of their conditions in the Baltic states in the period of disintegration of feudalism, or try to shift the whole responsibility for this to the Russian Empire. By falsifying the agrarian history of the Baltic states, German bourgeois historiography, in the author's opinion, tries to rehabilitate the unseemly role of the Ostsee barons in the Baltic states and provide an historical justification for the present policy of the German bourgeoisie.

F. P. PETROV. The Development of Friendly Relations Between Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia

Drawing on Soviet, Bulgarian and Czechoslovak sources, the author traces the roots of friendship between the Bulgarian, Czech and Slovak peoples. Historical documents clearly show that the process of rapprochement between these peoples intensified markedly in the 16th - 19th centuries, when the peoples of Central and Southeast Europe were forced to wage a tense struggle against foreign oppressors, for their national freedom and independence. The bonds of friendship between the peoples of Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia were forged and strengthened by proletarian class solidarity and mutual support in the struggle against capitalism. The author convincingly shows that the defeat of nazi Germany by the Soviet armed forces in World War II and the establishment of popular rule in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia created exceptionally favourable conditions for the further promotion of friendship and co-operation between the two countries. The article emphasizes that the close ties of friendship and co-operation maintained by Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia with the Soviet Union and other members of the world socialist community form the underlying basis of Bulgarian-Czechoslovak friendship.

V. B. KNYAZHINSKY. The Integration Policy and Its Role in the Social Development of Western Europe

Analyzing the activity carried on by the imperialist circles of the United States and West-European countries with the aim of uniting the European capitalist states in permanently functioning international organizations and thus forming a qualitatively new political force, the author graphically shows that the aggravation of contradictions between the imperialist powers in the process of implementing the integration policy is both natural and logical. The monopoly bourgeoisie's desire to use international state-monopoly associations in their own interests by altering the economic, social and political structure of the integrated countries inevitably leads to the aggravation of class contradictions and to the further rise of the revolutionary working-class and democratic movement. A close analysis of the latest developments in the sphere of international relations and the internal life of West-European countries enables the author to show the utter groundlessness of the assertions made by anti-Communist theoreticians concerning the ability of the imperialist states to determine social development by their foreign policy.

V. A. RUBIN. Two Sources of Chinese Political Thought

The article is devoted to an analysis of Confucianism and Legalism - the two principal political theories of ancient China, which subsequently formed the ideological basis of Imperial China. The founders of these theories proceeded from diametrically opposite views on the role of the head of state: Confucius and Mencius maintained that the attitude of the ruler to his subjects must be similar to the role played by the father of a family, whereas Shong Yang compared the ruler to an artisan measuring and processing his material. Hence the diametrically opposite approach to the aims of po-

litical action. The Confucianists favoured the establishment of a humane system of government and defended the people's right to overthrow a despotic ruler who had forsaken his paternal duties, while the Legalists, regarding people as a kind of material used for purposes totally unrelated to its well-being, believed that the chief aim of the ruler must be the attainment of personal power in his own country and the conquest of neighbouring lands. They evolved a theory of government based on punishment and reward, attaching prime importance to punishment. The Legalists asserted that the power of the state was inversely proportional to the power of the people and demanded "weakening of the people." The savage reprisals and wanton destruction of cultural values perpetrated by Chin Shih-huang-ti compromised Legalism so badly that in the subsequent period no one dared openly to proclaim himself a Legalist. Nevertheless, the Legalist trend factually gained the upper hand within imperial Confucianism, whose humanist ideals were gradually ousted by considerations of political expediency.

N. P. ANANCHENKO. From the Nation to the International Community of Men

The author of this article makes a critical analysis of the conceptions, including the views put forward by certain participants in the discussion on the national question, which reduce such a complex concept as "nation" to a few firmly established and generally accepted indications. He points to the limited character of such definitions which completely disregard the multiform and constantly developing essence of a nation and its manifestations. The author stresses the one-sidedness of these views which, in his opinion, gloss over the possibility of the inevitable future development of different nations into a community of people far broader than any nation. The author's attention is focused on substantiating the thesis that a nation's international ties, the international elements in its life should be regarded as an important aspect of the concept of nation.

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