The process of redistribution between the active and passive vocabulary of modern Yakut language is being examined. The reasons for the archaization of vocabulary are identified, outdated words are classified by type and lexical-semantic groups, and a layer of lexical innovations is also identified. The material for the study consisted of lexical units from literary works, periodicals, and Yakut language dictionaries. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the comprehensive examination and classification of layers of outdated vocabulary, neologisms, and de-archaized Yakut language vocabulary. The distribution of Yakut language archaisms into 14 lexical-semantic groups has been carried out. It has been proven that neologisms arise in the Yakut language through changes in the meaning of existing words, through the infusion of other language stocks, and through the activation of derivation processes based on their own means. It has been revealed that the process of de-archaization in the Yakut language is associated with the revival of traditional foundations of material and spiritual culture of the Yakuts. The results of the study confirm the systemic nature of changes in the lexical composition of the language, as well as their interrelation between phenomena of archaization, de-archaization, and neologization. 

The functional-semantic features of purpose clauses introduced by conjunctions so that, lest, in order that, for fear that, in the hope that, and to the end that are examined in this study. These conjunctions differ in their frequency and expressiveness. The material for the study was taken from the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the British National Corpus. The novelty of the research lies in specifying the list of differential features of the categorical grammatical value of complex sentences of purpose. It is demonstrated that complex sentences with purpose conjunctions are used in literary, journalistic, scientific, and conversational texts, but their frequency differs not only depending on the type of discourse but also on the language variant. Based on statistical data, it is confirmed that Present Subjunctive forms are the most commonly used in purpose clauses regardless of the language variant. Types of purpose clauses are analyzed: proper-purpose, argumentative-purpose, syncretic, and anti-purpose clauses. It is established that the first ones, which are not complicated by additional shades of meaning, are most frequent in American texts, while the third ones, containing indications of circumstances for achieving the goal, are most commonly used in British texts.

The authors of this article identify distinctive features in texts written by humans and texts generated by the GPT-3 neural network. Texts generated by GPT-3 have not yet been subject to systematic in-depth study. In total, 160 texts were analyzed in the article, distributed across four topics (“Higher Education in My Eyes,” “How to Remain Human in Inhuman Conditions,” “How I Spent the Summer,” “Teacher of the Year”), with 80 texts generated by the neural network and 80 texts written by humans. The texts were analyzed using quantitative linguistic methods. A concordance was compiled for each text using the AntConc program, from which quantitative values were obtained for further analysis. The authors reached the following conclusions: (1) in the generated texts, words included in the title occur with the highest frequency; (2) the relative frequency of words included in the title is unreasonably inflated; (3) the list of the 20 most frequent words in all generated texts includes the highest number of full-fledged words; (4) the lexical diversity coefficient in the examined natural texts is significantly higher than that of the generated texts. The findings of this research can be useful for both educators and machine learning specialists. 

The article is dedicated to the linguocultural analysis of the phenomenon of everyday life, which refers to the segment of ordinary culture that encompasses the present time. The sources of the study were V. V. Veresaev’s “Memories”, G. I. Uspensky’s essays “Customs of Rasteryaev Street”, S. A. Tolstoy’s diaries, Tula newspapers, and toponyms. The study was conducted using discourse, conceptual analysis, and linguocultural interpretation methods. Culturally marked signs of everyday life were identified, including determination by the present, orientation towards the usual and standard, and precedent character. It was found that everyday life is segmented depending on the interpreter’s qualities and properties. It reflects norms and prohibitions. It is shown that everyday life is ordinary, stable, and at the same time transient, reflects naive consciousness, and is filled with a large array of cultural attitudes, stereotypes, and scenarios. Everyday life forms the basis for evaluating which people follow based on the principles of “this is how it is done” and “this is how it should be”. The semiotic aspect is considered, represented by various human practices and sign sets that are familiar to them. Typical verbal texts expressing everyday life were identified, including memoirs, diaries, travel notes, and newspapers. It is concluded that everyday life is related to identity since it is perceived by the cultural subject as their own, understandable space. 

The aim of the article is to analyze the verbal and visual means in advertising COVID-19 vaccination. The task is to examine the peculiarities of semiotics in vaccination advertising based on campaigns from different countries around the world, identify successful advertising strategies, and discover the reasons for communicative failures. The study analyzes the techniques of combining visual and verbal narratives in creolized advertising texts. It emphasizes that it is the visual narrative that appeals to the subconscious, which often contributes to the recipient’s necessary post-communicative action. The article examines the tactics of argumentation used in vaccination advertising (including appeals to authority, values such as health, love, freedom, etc.), studies the semiotics of the visual elements involved in argumentation. The article also analyzes the semiotics of color signals in advertising discourse, revealing their influence on the recipient’s subconscious. Examples of using semantic signs taken from other semantic domains, such as election campaigns and road sign systems, are separately considered in vaccination campaigns. The creativity of these techniques is noted, but the danger of visual disconnect with slogans and communicative failure is also indicated. The conclusion is drawn that advertising appealing to positive feelings of social responsibility, comfort, and well-being is more effective than advertising using threat-based argumentation. 

The article discusses the media education potential of regional journalism. The relevance of the study is due to the need for mass media education as a necessary response to the challenges of the constantly saturated information and communication environment in which people live in the digital age, and the increased role of the media in this process. It is noted that media education activities of journalism are determined as a strategically important direction for the development of modern society. An overview of the state of print and online media, which are part of the Lipetsk newspaper publishing house, is presented from the point of view of their use of convergence achievements at the technological level of information presentation. The novelty of the study is seen in the proposed approach to assessing the media education potential of the regional publishing house as a whole, rather than its individual components. The authors note the problems of regional publications in mastering the possibilities of the internet space, which hinder the development of media education potential. It is proven that it is precisely the integration of new media into traditional formats of information presentation that significantly increases consumer interest in such sources, promotes the establishment of interactive relationships, and increases the media culture of the population. It is emphasized that a combination of classical work forms with multimedia capabilities creates a strong media education base for the media.

A study was conducted on the language code used in medical popular science texts in German journal discourse. Interviews, brief news texts, and articles on medical topics are used as empirical material. It is shown that the arsenal of modern German language resources is aimed at implementing communicative-pragmatic functions of popular science discourse texts as a whole. It is noted that the leading functions among them are informing, influencing, and persuading the target audience. It is established that verbal means of different linguistic levels, as well as a  number of stylistic devices (inversion, parceling, allusion, metaphor, metonymy, personification), not only convey medical knowledge to wide segments of the population but also transmit information about the national-cultural specifics of Germany and its achievements in medicine, taking into account the age characteristics of the addressees, also performing an educational function and seeking to achieve emotional involvement of the reader in complex content. The relevance of the study is due to the growing interest of non-professional participants in media-medical communication in the processes of self-diagnosis and self-treatment, which require mastering various medical knowledge. The novelty of the research lies in determining the pragmatic potential of structural-compositional features, including clickable headlines, and linguistic means, thanks to which a special media-medical picture of the world is formed. 

The novels ‘Notes from the Dead House’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky and ‘Wer einmal aus dem Blechnapf frißt…’ (‘Who Once Drinks from the Prison Chalice’) by Hans Fallada are analyzed in terms of literary connections. The relevance of the study is due to the need for a comprehensive and multifaceted examination of Hans Fallada’s literary dialogue with Fyodor Dostoevsky. A number of similar motifs are identified, as well as the fact that there are allusive “cross-references” between the characters of the novels. It is noted that both authors show the destructive influence of imprisonment on the criminal’s personality. It is emphasized that in both novels, the criminal is deprived of the ability for spiritual revival, and the writers criticize the unjust social system that pushes the “little” person to break the law. Drawing on the traditions of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hans Fallada shows in his novel that life for prisoners, both in prison and after release, is akin to being in a “dead house”, as it deprives the “humiliated and insulted” heroes of the opportunity to change their fate. It is concluded that comparing the novels “Notes from the Dead House” and “Who Once Drinks from the Prison Chalice” allows for identifying similarities in their ideas and outlining perspectives for further research on the reception of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s artistic experience in Hans Fallada’s work. 

The processes of development of a new type of Siamese (Thai) literature are being considered, the gradual formation of which is attributed to the second half of the 19^th century. Special attention is paid to the changes in the principles of redistribution of literary microsystems (genres) and the main types of literary art (poetry and prose) in the literary system of Siam. The key events that influenced the simplification of the artistic language of the new type of literature compared to its representation in traditionalist (classical) texts are briefly highlighted. The relevance of the research, related to its objectives, is seen in updating and supplementing the accumulated initial data and knowledge about Siamese (Thai) literature during its transition from a medieval type to an individual-creative one by Soviet and Russian philological science. The novelty of the research is due to the inclusion of information on the development of new Siamese literature, previously not presented in domestic scientific literature. It is proven that changes in the principles of redistribution of fundamental categories of poetics in Siamese (Thai) literature occurred in connection with its renewal and enrichment with new “foreign” forms that came from European literatures and were filled with content relevant to the Siamese literature’s perception. 

The social phenomenon of “rumors and gossip” in a Kazakh village during the 1920s-1930s is analyzed in this study. It is emphasized that rumors are an integral part of traditional society. It is asserted that the massive surge of rumors in Soviet Russia was a reaction of traditional society to forceful modernization. The goal of the article is to demonstrate the dichotomy of the content and form of rumors during the collectivization period in relation to the Kazakh village (aul). It is noted that the analytical materials of the OGPU are the most important source for studying the mood of the population of the USSR in the 1920s — early 1930s, which found reflection in rumors. It is shown that accelerated Sovietization generated a high level of anxiety in Kazakh society, reflected in the rise of apocalyptic moods and the actualization of mythology. The authors conclude that the idea of kiyamat was a form of deep protest of the village (aul), not an ideology of resistance. The form of active resistance in the republic is presented as mass migrations to China, which was due to the desire to “wait out” unstable times, so rumors about migrations were widely circulated in the borderlands. It is emphasized that rumors were an alternative view of Soviet reality, they slowed down the destruction of the village (aul) as a rural community and ensured the stability of traditional society.

The article is dedicated to Russia’s European policy from the formation of the German Empire in 1871 to the beginning of World War I. It examines the historical conditions, reasons, and nature of the Russo-French military-political alliance of 1891-1893. The role of Emperor Alexander III in the political rapprochement between Russia and France on an anti-German and anti-Austrian basis is demonstrated. The existence of mutual interest between Russia and France in forming a military-political alliance is revealed. The Bierk Treaty of 1905 between Emperors Wilhelm II and Nicholas II is analyzed, showing that this treaty fundamentally contradicted the development of military-political cooperation between Russia and France and therefore was not implemented. The conclusion is drawn regarding the significance of the Russo-French alliance of the early 1890s for the foreign policy and historical destiny of the Russian Empire. Germany's interest in strengthening its influence on the foreign policy of the Russian Empire is shown. It is proven that Germany’s attempts to attract Russia to its side did not succeed, and Russia maintained its alliance with France, which was more significant for it during the period under consideration, despite the fact that ultimately this alliance led to the involvement of the Russian Empire in a world war. 

The study examines the historical experience of interaction between the gendarmerie railway police of the Russian Empire and covert informants in political organizations. It explores the establishment of intelligence work on railways, the monitoring of its effectiveness, the verification of the reliability of secret agents, and the identification of provocateurs and blackmailers among them. The materials for analysis are extracted from previously unpublished secret and top-secret case files of the gendarmerie police departments of the railways. The authors provide their own definition of intelligence work. It is emphasized that priority was given to recruiting informants who had a financial interest in collaborating with the police. The study demonstrates that the value of information obtained by secret agents was the main criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of financial resources allocated to intelligence work. The authors highlight the need for caution in establishing relationships between railway gendarmes and informants due to the possibility of assassination attempts against handlers or the provision of misinformation. The study concludes that assigning the duty of recruiting political agents and obtaining information through them was justified by the need to suppress revolutionary movements, but inertia in acquiring informants and the scale of crises in the empire prevented the achievement of the set goal. 

The article examines the reforms in power relations between the government and rural population in the Kuban-Black Sea region during the transition to the New Economic Policy (March 1921—1924). The study is based on materials from party and state authorities, as well as statistics. A systemic approach and diachronic comparative analysis are applied. The authors argue that until the fall of 1922, the system of power relations with the rural population in Kuban-Black Sea region maintained the predominance of the features of “war communism”: compulsory and arbitrary taxation, appointment of governing bodies, and repression. The specificity of the region was manifested in the combination of class and estate divisions of society, as well as Cossackization. It is shown that the transition to the NEP required a fundamental change in power relations with the peasantry, shifting towards the principles of material interest and civil peace, making the middle class and Cossacks loyal. It is emphasized that attitudes towards the NEP were contradictory, with local party and Soviet workers preferring to rely on military-communist methods. The authors conclude that a contradictory system of power and social relations was formed based on compromises and indirect coercion during food and land policies and during elections to the Soviets. By the fall of 1924, the RCP(b) was forced to concede to peasant demands on key aspects of reform.

The article discusses the development of international sister city relations in the 1990s — 2010s using the example of the Arkhangelsk region. The authors provide an overview of existing approaches in historiography to analyzing municipal-level international partnership relations in different regions of Russia and the world. Based on a wide range of sources, including international agreements, federal and regional regulatory acts, and reporting documentation over the past 30 years, the article pays particular attention to the region’s attempts in the 2000s — 2010s to move from exclusively social-humanitarian cooperation to developing economic ties with partner cities and regions. The real impact of sister city relations on the development of external economic ties in the region is analyzed in detail, as well as changes in the share of countries with which partner relations were established in the overall external trade turnover of the Arkhangelsk region. The authors conclude that there is currently no state regulation of the institution of sister city relations at the federal and regional levels. Such a situation creates serious difficulties for further development of this institution of public diplomacy, expanding the external economic activities of Russian regions, and spreading Russia’s “soft power” in the world.

The article discusses the brief history and current state of three early monasteries of the first Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu Zanabazar (1635—1723): Shankhyn-khiid, Tuvkhun-khiid, and Erdene-khambyn-khiid (Högnö-khan's-khiid), located in the Uvurkhangai and Bulgan aimags of Mongolia. The material for the article is based on the results of field research conducted by the authors in 2022. Documents and various published sources in Mongolian language, including interviews, were also used. The role of the traditional Buddhist monastery system, which played a significant role in the life of Mongolia and its people, is shown in historical retrospect. Modern processes of restoring social functions of monasteries in society are analyzed. Three monasteries belonging to the category of gegen or khutukhtu’s, founded by Undur-gegen, are studied. Methods of historical and topographical analysis of sacred objects of monasteries included observation, comparative historical, historical and biographical, as well as source studies methods. The authors conclude that the most complete history is that of the Barun-khure monastery since it was not only the residence of Undur-gegen and a religious object but also a large cultural, educational, and socio-economic center. It is claimed that partial reconstruction of monasteries is currently underway, and Buddhist traditions are being revived in accordance with modern realities. 

The article presents a reconstruction and analysis of the socio-psychological portrait of the radical generation of the “revolutionary turning point” of the early 20^th century. It is noted that the basis of this generation consisted of young people of peasant origin who experienced the historical dynamic destabilization of society. Based on archival sources, the characteristic features of the problem are determined in a generational aspect. Historical sources, including autobiographies and memoirs of political prisoners, allowed tracing the process of formation of left-radical sentiments among young people of peasant origin. At the same time, a large part of archival documents is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The social behavior of revolutionary radicals is considered in the context of accelerated modernization processes in the Russian Empire at the turn of the century. The authors conclude that it was precisely the peasant youth at the beginning of the 20^th century that was in the vanguard of the revolutionary movement. It is claimed that many of its representatives carried “anarchistic” sentiments from the village, since during this period the authority of monarchical power was being questioned. It is emphasized that acquaintance with revolutionary ideas had a significant influence on the motivation of their social action and the degree of its radicalization.

Revealing the specific portrayal of information about the Battle of Stalingrad in the English press during the Great Patriotic War, this article analyzes publications in the newspaper ‘British Ally,’ which was published in Great Britain in the Russian language for Russian readers. The question arises about the necessity of applying a new direction in global science — imagology — for such research. The novelty of this study lies in being the first to examine material from a publication that has not attracted much attention from Russian scholars from the perspective of this field. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to uncover a new perspective in studying the British press during wartime. The contexts of mentions about the Battle of Stalingrad in the weekly ‘British Ally’ are presented. It is proven that although an admiring attitude towards the Soviet victories at Stalingrad slips through in some articles, the publication does not give special attention to the Battle of Volga. It is shown that the newspaper emphasizes the idea of the selfless resistance of the British army against Nazi Germany in Africa and Sicily, as well as their desire to open a second front. The authors conclude that the newspaper presents these events and desires as equivalent to the struggle of the Soviet people, which does not find approval or desired response among the newspaper’s readers (the Russian people). 

The article investigates the activities of Prince Matvey Petrovich Gagarin as the first governor of Siberia. The materials of his investigation case are examined in the context of the development of the state control system over the actions of government authorities during the reign of Peter I. The process of creating legislation and special controlling and judicial bodies aimed at regulating the limits of powers of civil servants, identifying and preventing their violations, is characterized. The study is based on the analysis of legislative sources regulating the organization of new administrative-territorial divisions. A number of documentary sources from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts are analyzed, including cases from the Siberian Office, orders from Governor M. P. Gagarin, reports from commanders of Siberian cities, petitions from various individuals, and other materials. It is shown that the organization of investigative measures and the criminal case process against Prince M. P. Gagarin were under the personal control of Peter I. The conclusion is drawn that Prince M. P. Gagarin was an active participant in many reforms initiated by the reformist tsar. At the same time, it is demonstrated that Prince Gagarin’s biography is a vivid example of the collision between the widespread practice of enrichment by aristocratic clans and Peter I’s principles and views on the essence and place of official service in his “regular” police state. 

The article examines the commemorative practices implemented by the Russian authorities in the Northwestern region at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, which were a key element of the integrative strategy of ‘soft power’. The formation of a memorial concept based on the idea of the ‘original Russian identity’ of the region and the ‘restoration’ of the lost unity with the core of Russia is analyzed. The article provides a detailed examination of the complex of memorial events associated with the commemoration of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Empress Catherine II, and Vilnius Governor-General M. N. Muravyov, whose activities were linked to the region’s integration into the Russian cultural and civilizational space. Special attention is given to the ideological foundations and intellectual support of anniversary celebrations aimed at asserting the dominant values of Russian political culture in the public sphere. It is concluded that these commemorative practices served as a significant element of symbolic politics by the authorities, aimed at affirming Russia’s moral right to govern and acculturate these territories based on Russian civilizational principles. It is noted that these events, which were part of the overall state memorial policy, were aimed at maintaining the official discourse in the Northwestern provinces, with the idea of ‘Russian cultural primacy’ as its foundation. 

The article examines the reform of the state system of the Russian Empire in 1905—1906, which culminated in the publication of the Fundamental State Laws on April 23, 1906, which summed up the previous reforms and became the first domestic constitution. It is noted that at the final stage of the preparation of the Fundamental Laws, there was a problem of integrating the Guardianship Council of the Empress Maria’s Institutions into the new political reality. It is emphasized that legislative measures related to this institution were passed through the Guardianship Council, while according to the new Fundamental Laws, all legislative measures were supposed to go through the State Duma and the State Council. For the first time in scientific historiography, based on previously unknown archival materials, the article examines how representatives of the highest imperial bureaucracy, directly involved in preparing the draft Fundamental Laws, solved this problem. Bureaucratic practices and strategies are analyzed. The author concludes that these representatives acted as defenders of the principles of separation of powers and unity of the legislative path, opposing the inclusion of the Guardianship Council’s legislative nature in the Fundamental Laws. It is shown that a similar position was taken by Nicholas II, which predetermined the exclusion of an article about the Guardianship Council from the final version of the Fundamental Laws.

Based on the analysis of the acts of the Irish Parliament, patent lists and charters of the English king, as well as petitions, the author identifies the main directions of interaction between the English and the Irish in the 14th-15th centuries, and examines the privileges of coastal towns in southern Ireland. Factors of migration are established. Attention is paid to the connections between landlords, established through client-patronage relationships and land grants. The relevance of the topic is due to the underestimation in historiography of the degree of connections between England and Ireland, which were a determining factor in choosing the country for migration, as well as the lack of works on the specific problem. Source analysis demonstrated that interaction was established not only in the sphere of trade and law, but also at a cultural and everyday level. The author concludes that the active development of trade in the Irish Sea, the spread of English legislation and language, helped the Irish adapt more quickly in coastal towns in England. The emigration of Irish people from four counties to England, in turn, stimulated internal migration of native Irish to Dublin, Meath, Louth, and Kildare. 

The article analyzes proposals for the activation of inventive and rationalizing activities in the mid-1950s to the 1960s, as well as measures to stimulate the implementation of inventions in production. The study examines archival documents of the Committee for Inventions and Discoveries of the All-Union Society of Inventors and Rationalizers. The main problems of mass inventiveness and rationalization development, as well as the characteristic features of the system of scientific and technical progress management in the USSR, are identified. The key role of the state in supporting various forms of inventive activity is emphasized. It is established that the centralized system of invention management corresponded to the idea of the need for a comprehensive approach to managing scientific and technical progress. However, it is noted that numerous restructuring of the state management system during the studied period, departmentalization, and the lack of a unified state scientific and technical policy reduced the effectiveness of the measures taken. The complex tasks aimed at increasing the efficiency of inventiveness and rationalization are described. The conclusion is drawn about the understanding by the officials of the leading bodies of the problems of innovative development in the USSR. This is confirmed by attempts to develop a comprehensive program to stimulate inventive activity and expedite the implementation of inventions in production. 

The article deals with the issue of the place of expenditures for the payment of pensions and benefits in the structure of public expenditures of the Russian Empire. It is shown that the amount of expenditures on pensions in absolute terms constantly increased (from 1741 to 1913 by more than 13 times). Since the amount of pensions paid, determined by the Pension statute of 1827, remained unchanged until 1917, this growth was determined by a constant increase in the number of pension recipients. This increase was due to an increase in the number of civil servants. At the same time, the share of expenditures on pensions and benefits in the expenditure part of the budget of the Russian Empire (“ordinary expenses”) fluctuated, reaching a maximum (5.1%) in 1871 and a minimum (2.3%) in 1903-1904. These fluctuations were determined by changes in the amount of the expenditure part of the empire’s budget, which increased noticeably by the beginning of the 20th century. On the whole, expenditures on pension provision accounted for a significant part of budget expenditures, exceeding such significant expenditure items as, for example, the expenditures of the Ministry of Public Education or the Ministry of State Property (Ministry of Agriculture and State Property, Main Directorate of Land Management and Agriculture), although they were inferior to the expenditures of the Military Department. The insufficiency of the size of pensions, due to their invariability, was combined with the burdensomeness of pension expenditures for the state, but a radical reform of the pension system did not take place.

The historical aspects of the development of pharmacy gardens and vegetable gardens, which were intended for growing medicinal plants, are considered. A review of literary sources on the history of creating pharmacy gardens, their joint organizational activities with pharmacies and medical institutions in Russia, was conducted. Archival documents, current scientific publications, materials from official websites dedicated to the history of creating pharmacy gardens in the 18^th to early 20^th centuries in the Tobolsk province were analyzed. The novelty of the research lies in identifying the reasons for the lack of information about the creator of the pharmacy garden in the city of Tobolsk, revealing facts about the different ownership of this object, its sale, subsequent transfer, donation of a share of the plot for the construction of a military hospital. The heyday of the Tobolsk pharmacy garden is marked as a stage in the functioning of an experimental agricultural institution in Western Siberia. The role of pharmacist A. I. Daudel and his widow in the subsequent development of the Tyumen pharmacy garden is determined. Memories of the scale of implementation of medicinal preparations made from raw materials from the local pharmacy garden and its subsequent fate as a territory for a homeless shelter and a city hospital are presented. The reasons for the decline in interest in pharmacy gardens are identified. 

The study analyzes the population, typology, and size of settlements in the Novosibirsk district, which was one of the administrative-territorial units of the Siberian region in 1925—1930. The peculiarities of the development of the settlement network in this district are determined in comparison with neighboring districts. Data on the quantitative ratio of settlements of different types, their household and population composition are presented for the first time, and continuity and transformation in the development of the settlement system in the district are traced. The relevance of the study lies not only in the poorly studied nature of the topic but also in the possibility of using historical experience from previous generations to build an effective agricultural policy and revive the Russian village in its modern stage of development. The novelty of the study lies in the analysis of the functioning of the settlement network in the early years of Soviet power, including the typical structure of its units, the average number of peasant households in settlements of different types, and the placement of mono-ethnic settlements in the Novosibirsk district. A new trend has been noted in transforming rural settlements into urban ones, expressed in a refusal to make purely administrative decisions on this issue in favor of taking into account the sequential evolution of a specific settlement. 

This article examines the activities of the Nizhny Novgorod City Public Widows’ Home named after Blinovy and Bugrovy at the end of the 19th — early 20th century. The relevance of the study is determined by the increasing entrepreneurial activity and private initiative in the field of charity in modern Russia, the emergence of numerous charitable organizations and foundations, and the need to familiarize oneself with historical experience. An overview of various directions of activity of the Nizhny Novgorod City Public Widows’ Home is provided, based on its charter and reports. The educational activities of primary and vocational schools opened at the Widows’ Home are examined, along with the quantitative, social, and age composition of students, as well as the sources of material assistance provided to them. The article extensively covers the allocation of funds for education, sources and forms of donations. The medical services provided to the residents are characterized, including the number of visits by paramedics and doctors, types of diseases, levels, and causes of child and adult mortality. The article highlights the universality of the institution’s work, which combines various areas of activity within its framework. The author concludes that the second half of the 19th — early 20th century was a period of private initiative in social security with significant support from local self-government bodies. 

The article is devoted to the analysis of laws about German colonies near St. Petersburg, published in the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. The documents from 1763 to 1803 are studied. The relevance of the work is determined by the state of historiography on Russian Germans in the Northwest. A review and analysis of the texts of laws are carried out, historical information contained in the texts is analyzed, missing documents that were used in practice are identified. The names of officials mentioned in the laws are revealed. It is stated that the corpus of laws for research is divided into acts related to all foreign colonists in Russia and acts regulating the life of St. Petersburg colonies. It is noted that laws related to suburban colonies are divided into two groups: documents of “northern” colonies founded in the 18^th century and “coastal” colonies that emerged in the first decade of the 19^th century. Laws about “northern” colonies are considered, which relate to the admission and placement of colonists, their internal structure, economic development, size of land grants, state debt, and its repayment. It is established that from the end of the 18^th century, the topic of colonists leaving for the city and forming a layer of craftsmen and merchants from among them arises. German colonies; St. Petersburg colonists; legislation; Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire; St. Petersburg; Tsarskoe Selo; Oranienbaum; patrimonial and state lands.