HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND SOVIET IDEOLOGY OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR (on the Materials of the “Historical Journal”)

The paper analyses the articles that were published during the Great Patriotic War on the pages of the “Historical Journal” and related in their subject matter to the period of the History of the Roman Empire. Predominantly A. V. Mishulin was the author of those articles — not only a scientist, but also a party worker. In wartime conditions, when historians were required to contribute to the general victory, he used his knowledge to refute the theory of fascist historians. In particular, the ideas about the superiority of the German people were particularly harshly criticised. In contrast, the scientist-historian proved the existence of the most ancient roots and the historical significance of the Slavs. Mishulin, along with other Soviet scientists, explained the collapse of the Roman Empire not by the invasion of the Germans, but drew attention to the role of the Slavs and actualised the theory of “slave revolution” popular in the Soviet science of the 1930s. The historian used the sources rather freely to prove the point of view according to which the Nazi regime should have fallen before the more progressive forces represented by the Slavs, just as Rome fell in the 5th century.