The magazine Socialist Revolutionary (1927-1932) as a historical source

The aim of the article is the analysis of the magazine "Socialist-revolutionary", published by the socialist-revolutionaries in exile from 1927 till 1932, as a historical source. The main methodological principle is external and internal source criticism to identify its reliability and informative value as cultural phenomena specific time. In this regard, the objectives of this article were: general characteristics of publication activity of the socialist-revolutionaries in exile, the study of the history of creation and activity of the magazine "Socialist-revolutionary", consideration of its contents. The party of socialists-revolutionaries led a fairly active publishing activities in exile. In Revel, Berlin, Paris, Prague various newspapers and magazines were issued - as a socio-political and literary-artistic content. First of all, these well-known magazines "Revolyucion-naya Rossiya", "Sovremennye zapiski", "Volya Rossii". An extensive literature is devoted to these ones. At the same time, a number of journals, including the "Socialist-revolutionary" is little known by researchers and is not involved as a historical source for the study of the activities of the Russian socialist emigration of the 1920-ies - 1930-ies. Data analysis on the establishment of the journal, its functioning, as well as the study of the content led to the following conclusions. Firstly, the magazine began its existence in October 1927 (the first issue), second number appeared in October 1929, exactly two years after, despite the fact that the editors announced a monthly magazine format. Persistent financial difficulties led to irregular publication of the journal and, eventually, to the cessation of its activities in 1932 (almost every issue had the calls for financial assistance through a special Fund). The editorial office was located in Paris (rue de Menillmontant, 32, which housed the Franco-Slavic printing house). In Prague there was a branch of the editorial Board of "Socialist-revolutionary" (the headquarters of the Foreign Delegation of the PSR). A regular author were V. Arkhangelskyi, E.E. Lazarev, V.S. Minahorjan, S.P. Postnikov, M.L. Slonim, E.A. Stalinsky, V. Sukhomlin. Secondly, the main topics of the magazine were reduced to coverage of events of inner life. Considerable attention was paid to division and conflict in the foreign delegation of the PSR and the subsequent attempts to establish party unity, the SR activities of local party organizations, the strategy and tactics of the foreign SR-s. The only in the emigrant press report about theoretical conference of the Prague group of the party of socialists-revolutionaries of 1931 was published. The events in the Soviet Union (several anonymous letters), the situation in the international socialist movement, current issues of international politics were covered. Little attention was paid to the problems of the history of the party. Thirdly, the magazine "Socialist-revolutionary" became a significant phenomenon of the emigrant press. Partisan themes, the irregularity of output, low mintage and only six issues in six years did not allow, of course, to compete with such revolutionary magazines like "Revolyucionnaya Rossiya" or "Volya Rossii". The magazine did not manage to become the central authority of the party abroad, failed to unite the various revolutionary groups. However, the information published in the journal serve to complement our understanding of various aspects of the activities of the party of socialist revolutionaries in exile.

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