The discussion on the «western sector of the historical front» and the development of the soviet historiography in the 1920s-1930s

The aim of the presented article is to consider the discussions about the situation at "the western sector of the historical front". The source base of research consists of the published and unpublished works of soviet historians and members of Communist party: the articles in politics and scientific reviews and the archival materials of discussion (the funds of Archive of Russian Academy of Science and Russian State Archive of Social and Political History). The author analyzed these materials in a broad scientific and political context. This discussion was the last of three others. There were the discussion about German Social-Democracy and the discussion about the bourgeois historians of the West in USSR. The initiators of the discussion at "the western sector of the historical front" were the members of the Leninist international school. The members of the Comintern played a huge role in this discussion, they demanded from the Soviet historians of the West to study the topics necessary for the international revolutionary movement. At the same time, the participants of this discussion criticized the basic ideas of N. M. Lukin, G. S. Fridliand, V. P. Volgin and other Soviet specialists in the history of the West. The goal of this critics was affirmation of authority of the Communist politics in the historical research. The result of the discussion was the resolution of the Presidium of the Communist Academy about the situation at "the front of the history of the West". The authors of this resolution also criticized the Soviet Marxist historians and wanted to make the main subject of research for Soviet scientists the problem of imperialism. The author of the article came to the following conclusions. The discussion on "the western sector of the historic front" was a form of mobilization of soviet historians. This discussion led to the politicization of Soviet historical science. Now the political power dictated to scientists research topics and methods of its study.

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