The Activities of the Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) Historical Party Commission in the Early Years of Existence (1923–1928)

Introduction. The rise to power of the Bolsheviks during the October Revolution required a rethinking of the entire course of national history, especially the history of revolutionary movements. The new government needed to reformat all the humanities from the point of view of Marxist-Leninist doctrine. Already at the earliest stage of the formation of Soviet power in the country, special centers in the field of social sciences began to be created, so began the history of the activities of historical party commissions – special organizations that were engaged in collecting, systematizing, studying, and publishing materials on the history of the party of the October Revolution and revolutionary movements. The Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) historical party commission was formed in 1923. Due to the fact that the legacy of the Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) historical party commission has been inaccessible to researchers for a long time, there are very few scientific papers devoted to this problem. Methods and materials. General scientific methods, as well as historical-genetic and historical-comparative methods, were used in the study of this topic. The article is based on extensive historical sources that are in the collections of the State Archive of the Volgograd Region, the Center for Documentation of the Modern History of the Volgograd Region, and the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, as well as in the Panorama Museum “Battle of Stalingrad.” Analysis. The article examines the results of the work of the Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) historical party commission to collect materials on the history of the revolutionary movement and the Civil War in the period from 1923 to 1928. Results. Based on the analysis of the sources of the periodical press, the structure of the Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) historical party commission was revealed, as well as the directions of its activities; materials on the history of the revolutionary movement were identified and listed, with which the staff of the Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) historical party commission worked; their value as historical sources was indicated; and the peculiarity of the activity of the Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) historical party commission was clarified under different managers.