Story. The subject of history

Introduction

Topic 1. Prehistory of Europe

Question 1. Periodization of European history in accordance with the material of tools.

Question 2. The formation of primitive man and society in Europe.

Question 3. From primitive to civilization.

Test questions:

Topic 2. Ancient period. Ancient Greece

Question 1. Periodization of the history of Ancient Greece.

Question 2. Greece in the Crete-Mycenaean era (III-II millennium BC).

Question 3. Greece in the 1st millennium BC

Question 4. Hellenistic period(late IV-I centuries BC).

Test questions:

Assignments for independent work.

Topic 3. Ancient period. Ancient Rome

Question 1. The origins of Roman statehood. Periodization of the history of Ancient Rome.

Question 2. Features of the Roman state in the era of the reign of kings.

Question 3. Roman Republic.

Question 4. The Roman Empire and its capture by the barbarians (I century BC -V century AD).

Test questions.

Assignments for independent work.

Dear friends!

However, it was here that the ideas of colonialism were born, it was here that the most bloody wars XX century, it was here that totalitarian regimes arose, subjugating the lives of people completely and completely.

Overcoming the burden of the past, comprehending the present from the point of view of the value of a person, the uniqueness of his existence, the European Region has not left its leading position. The ideas of human rights, freedom and democracy, prosperity and progress, born in Europe, are still on the banners of those who see their future, the future of their fatherland among the most advanced forces in the world. The proposed manual will help you to understand the originality of European history, its unique features.

Good luck!

Introduction

The European region has long been regarded by scholars as the center of world history. Indeed, it was here that the conditions for the industrial revolution were formed, which allowed the countries located in this part of the world to make a powerful breakthrough and overtake everyone in their development. Now this approach does not seem right. Asian countries are showing impressive progress. However, the European region continues to play essential role in the world process, having a rich past. Studying the history of Europe helps to understand the origins of the formation of current states, to fully appreciate the path of development of European societies, their achievements in the field of economy, politics, culture, to understand the originality and to get an idea of ​​​​general phenomena in the world historical process.

Our ideas about the history of Europe are formed on the basis of historical sources. A historical source should be understood in general as the form in which specific historical facts have come down to us. These can be written, material, oral, folklore, ethnographic, linguistic, photographic and film documents, phono documents. AT recent times an electronic document began to be considered as a historical source.

A number of special and auxiliary historical disciplines also provide materials for the study of history. Among special disciplines- historiography (a set of studies on a particular topic or historical era), source studies (the science of theoretical and applied problems study and use of historical sources). to auxiliary historical disciplines include archeology, heraldry, historical geography, numismatics, onomastics, sphragistics and a number of other sciences.

Archeology studies the history of society on the basis of the material remains of the life and activities of people - material monuments. Heraldry draws attention to the study of emblems: public, private, emblems of institutions, societies, etc. Historical geography studies the physical, economic and political geography past of a particular country or territory. Numismatics explores coins and medals, onomastics - meaning, history of occurrence geographical names, names and surnames of people. Finally, the subject of study of sphragistics are seals.

Based on these data, you can get a complete picture of the history of the region, a separate country. Finds of archaeologists, information from ancient authors, household items, analysis of linguistic structures and much more allows you to write the history of Europe, summary which is presented in the proposed manual. The traditional version of the presentation of events is chosen: Antiquity, Middle Ages, Modern times, Modern times. The first part of the manual is devoted to the prehistory of Europe, antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Topic 1. Prehistory of Europe

Topic questions:

1. Periodization of European history in accordance with the material of tools.

2. The formation of primitive man and society in Europe.

3. From primitive to civilization.

After studying the topic, you will:

know:

How did man come to Europe?

What distinguished his life in the Paleolithic era;

How did primitive art appear and how was it expressed;

· what was new in the life of Europeans in the Mesolithic era;

What was the importance of the Neolithic Revolution?

How did people live in the Neolithic?

When did people start fighting?

Where did the Indo-European peoples come from in Europe?

How did society change during the Bronze Age?

when the Iron Age began in Europe.

Basic concepts:

Paleolithic

The Acheulean culture

Mousterian era;

· totemism;

· animism;

· primitive art;

Mesolithic

Neolithic

the neolithic revolution

uneven development;

Eneolithic;

· social differentiation;

· property differentiation;

hierarchical structure;

The Bronze Age

iron age.

Theoretical material

Question 1. Periodization of European history in accordance with the material of tools.

Man appeared in the expanses of Europe about 2 million years ago. According to written sources, you can find out the history of man in Europe only for the last 3 thousand years. The remaining pages of the foggy past are able to reveal the data of such sciences as archeology, linguistics, paleoanthropology, geology, paleontology, etc.

Archeology distinguishes three main periods in ancient history Europe: stone, bronze, iron. The Stone Age is the longest of them. At this time, people made the main tools and weapons from wood, stone, horn and bone. Only at the very end of the Stone Age did the ancient inhabitants of Europe first get acquainted with copper, but they used it mainly for making jewelry. Probably the most numerous ancient man there were tools and weapons made of wood, but organic matter are not preserved, therefore stone products are the main sources for studying the existence of man.

Scientists usually divide the Stone Age into three parts: the ancient stone Age, or Paleolithic; the Middle Stone Age, or Mesolithic, and the New Stone Age, or Neolithic.

In the Paleolithic era (distinguish between Upper, Middle, Lower Paleolithic), a person, existing in the European space, was engaged in hunting and gathering. His stone tools were made without polishing and drilling, using the upholstering method. The living conditions of that time were extremely harsh: the Paleolithic coincides with the Pleistocene - the early part of the ice (Quaternary) period of the Earth's history.

The Mesolithic differs from the Paleolithic extended in time by new natural conditions- the onset of the post-glacial period. Along with hunting and gathering, fishing began to develop, including sea fishing, hunting for marine mammals, and collecting marine mollusks. Man has learned to use smaller stone tools - microliths.

However, the main event in the development of the human community in Europe takes place in the Neolithic era. It is then that the appropriating type of economy is replaced by a producing one. Hunting, gathering, and fishing are being replaced by agriculture and cattle breeding. This most important milestone is called the Neolithic Revolution, as it lays the foundation for the emergence of a new stage in the development of human society - the stage of civilization.

After the Stone Age comes the Bronze Age. Between them, the Copper-Stone Age (Eneolithic, Chalcolithic) is distinguished, however, this period can be traced not throughout Europe, but mainly in the south of the continent. At that time, agricultural and pastoral societies emerged and flourished there, with large settlements, developed social relations, religion, and even proto-writing.

In the Eneolithic era, the first large copper tools appeared - for example, battle axes, as well as jewelry made of copper, gold and silver.

The Bronze Age in different parts of Europe lasted 1-2 thousand years. In the first half of the Bronze Age, bronze items (copper alloys) were rare, mainly axes, daggers, knives, spearheads, and jewelry. But in the second part of the Bronze Age, the first agricultural implements made of bronze, improved weapons (swords), defensive armor (helmets, armor, leggings), items made of sheet copper and bronze, highly artistic items made of gold and bronze appeared. The Bronze Age in the history of Europe ends at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e.

Since the end of the Paleolithic in ancient Europe, uneven economic and cultural development has been observed. So, the Neolithic era in the southeast, and then in Central Europe, exists in parallel with the Mesolithic in the north and east of Europe. The Eneolithic in southeastern Europe develops parallel to the Paleolithic in the west, north and east of this part of the world. The Early Bronze Age on the territory of the Aegean coast coincides with the Late Eneolithic in the Danube and Central Europe, the Eneolithic of the south of Eastern Europe and Late Neolithic of Northern and North-Eastern Europe.

There are several types of periodization of world history. There is a generally accepted division on which all the peoples of the world are based - this periodization is called classical. It distinguishes such periods: prehistoric, ancient, modern times, modern times and the latest.

The prehistoric period is called primitive times, the study of the history of which is difficult due to the lack of written sources. Any research is based on the found artifacts that archaeologists discover during excavations. They help to explore such related sciences as ethnology, biology, paleontology, geology, palynology, anthropology and archaeoastronomy. So they began to call this period in the nineteenth century, when interest in the study of history grew to a professional level and overcame historical amateurism. In principle, this term can be used for any period of time in which there was no written language. The inconvenience of introducing this particular principle of separation lies in the fact that writing appears in different peoples in different time, so there is no unified end to this period.

After the development of writing, the periodization of history singles out the most mysterious and one of the most fruitful periods - ancient. Usually it is identified with the history of Greece and Rome, but the beginning of the period is considered to be the beginning of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. It was at this time that the first states arose, economic and diplomatic contacts appeared, for example, with the Ancient East. There is writing. In the social sphere, one can note the advantage of tribal relations, the beginning of metal processing and, in connection with this, the rapid development of crafts. The same period is characterized as the period of construction of luxurious palaces and entire complexes. The periodization of the history of the ancient period ends with the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Middle Ages begin from the time of This period on initial stage characterized by a certain decline in social relations, economics. At this time, barbarian raids on the weakened states intensified, which led to the fall of Rome in 410. After that, such outstanding events can be noted as the formation of the state of the Franks, Scandinavia, Moravia and Kievan Rus, Portugal and Spain, Byzantine Empire. The period from the eleventh to the fourteenth century is characterized by a gradual crisis Frankish state, the subsequent formation of Germany and France. The emergence of Poland and

The Early Modern Age is the period from the end of the fifteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth. At this time, capitalism is emerging, although the feudal system still prevails. At the same time, there were many technical progress, the growth of trade and industry, changes in the worldview, the structure of society.

The periodization of history following the Middle Ages considers the new time, the end of which is considered to be the end of the First World War. At this time, fundamental changes took place, various sciences began to develop, a crisis of absolutism set in in some countries, and parliamentary democracy was established.

Modern times begin with the end of the First World War. Distinctive features of this stage - Second World War, technical inventions, the formation of peacekeeping organizations, world cooperation, the development of diplomatic relations at the world level.

At the same time, representatives of the Marxist doctrine developed a different periodization of history based on the methods of production. Historians significantly supplemented it, and therefore periodization began to be called Soviet. According to this periodization, there is primitive time, slavery, feudalism, capitalism and communism.

Another type of periodization, the so-called "planar", is based on the development of a particular country, for example, there is a periodization of the history of Russia, etc. In each specific period, those stages are distinguished that are important for the history of this particular country.

One of the most important problems of historical science is the problem of periodization of the development of human society. Periodization is the establishment of chronologically sequential stages in social development . The division of time into stages should be based on decisive factors that are the same for all countries or for most of the leading states.

Since the development of historical science, scientists have developed many different options for the periodization of the development of society. To date, the process of periodization of world history consists of two principles: for the initial periods of the formation of human society, the main parameter is the material from which ancient people made the main tools and technologies for their manufacture. So such concepts as "Stone Age", "Copper Stone Age", "Bronze Age" and "Iron Age" entered the history.

With the advent of writing (about 5,000 years ago), other grounds for periodization began to emerge. To do this, historians began to use the time of existence of various civilizations and states, which in turn kept their own account of time.

So for today world history divided into four main periods:

1. Ancient world (the period when man separated from the animal world about 2 million years ago and until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD).

2. Middle Ages(the period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance in the 16th century).

3. new time(from the Renaissance to 1918 - the end of the First World War).

4. Newest time(from 1919 to the present day).

historical sources. Historical sources are the basis of any historical research, without which it is impossible to scientific knowledge of the past.

Under historical source refers to any object that directly reflects the historical process and makes it possible to study the past of mankind. In other words, a historical source is everything created or modified in the process of human activity, which means that it is objectively capable of carrying information about it.
The identification of sources, their systematization and analysis constitute one of the main components of historical science.
The classification of historical sources is also a debatable problem. There are several typological approaches - sources can be classified by genre, by mass character, by time and place of origin, by awareness and intention of creation, etc.

In the most general form, sources are divided into written and non-written, with a more detailed typology, sources are distinguished written, material, pictorial, linguistic, oral, ethnographic, phono-documents and photo-cinema documents(recently, historical sources stored on the Internet have also been added to the listed types).

Written sources traditionally form the basis of historical science. They have their own species classification - for example, they can be divided into narrative sources, i.e. descriptive, narrative (these include chronicles and annals, biographies and lives, memoirs and diaries, journalism and private correspondence) and documentary or act sources (monuments of law, international treaties, business documentation, official correspondence, etc.).

2 question. The emergence of the state among the Eastern Slavs

The chronicle connects the emergence of the state among the Eastern Slavs with the calling of the Varangians. The "Varangian legend", set out in the annals, tells that the Slavs, Krivichi and Chud, trying to overcome civil strife, called for the reign of the Varangians (Normans) from across the sea. Three Varangian leaders: the brothers Rurik, Truvor and Sineus in 862 g . began to reign respectively in Novgorod, Izborsk, Beloozero.
This event was considered to be the moment of the formation of the Russian state.

After the death of the brothers, Rurik ruled alone. Rurik's warriors Askold and Dir asked him to go "to the Greeks" and went south, but settled in Kyiv and began to rule there. After the death of Rurik, his warrior Oleg, with Rurik's young son Igor, went south, deceived him into a trap and killed Askold and Dir, and he himself began to rule in Kyiv, uniting Kyiv and Novgorod.

Based on the legend, it arose in the 18th century. Norman theory. She argued that the Scandinavian aliens, that is, the Germans, created the state among the Eastern Slavs (Scandinavian peoples belong to the Germanic language group). Russian scholars-monarchists, on the basis of the Norman theory, proved the impossibility of revolutionary upheavals in Russia. They argued as follows: in the West, the state arose as a result of conquest, and in Russia - as a result of a peaceful voluntary calling, therefore in the West the relationship between power and subjects was hostile from the very beginning, and in Russia - peaceful.

In Russian science, the reaction to Normanism was extreme anti-Normanism - the desire to prove that the Varangians in Russia either did not exist at all, or they did not play any significant role in the formation of the Old Russian state. Such views were held, in particular, by M.V. Lomonosov. In modern science, the extremes of the Norman theory are almost never encountered.

The moment of the unification of the East Slavic lands into one state is known for certain. In 882 prince of novgorod Oleg captured Kyiv and united the two most important groups of Russian lands; then he managed to annex the rest of the Russian lands, creating a huge state for those times.

Periodization of history

Periodization of history- a special kind of systematization, which consists in conditional division historical process for certain chronological periods. These periods have certain distinctive features, which are determined depending on the chosen basis (criterion) of periodization. A variety of reasons can be chosen for periodization: from a change in the type of thinking (O. Comte, K. Jaspers) to a change in communication methods (M. McLuhan) and environmental transformations (J. Goodsblom). Many scientists use economic and production criteria to create periodization: these are both socio-economic relations and means of production (the Marxist theory of formations), and the main sphere of production (the theory of industrial and post-industrial society; periodization according to the principles of production by L. E. Grinin).

The most famous approaches

Formative approach

In Soviet historical science, the scheme of five formations (the so-called "five-membered"), which was developed by Soviet scientists on the basis of the works of Marx and Engels, in particular the work "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State" by Friedrich Engels, was most widely used. The essence of the concept was that any human society goes through five successive stages in its development - the primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist formations. This scheme, as an indisputable dogma, was included in all educational and reference Marxist publications, and Soviet historians made considerable efforts to find a consistent change of formations in the history of any society.

The so-called "creative Marxists" perceived the five-term scheme as the main erroneous construct of Marxist theory, and it was against it that their main critical statements were directed. In very high degree the development of creative Marxism in the USSR should be associated with a discussion about the Asian mode of production - the sixth formation, the existence of which was postulated by Marx, but rejected by Soviet scientists.

Based on the new ideas voiced during the discussion, new formational schemes were formed, different from the scheme of the five formations. In some concepts, there are six formations - between primitiveness and slavery, researchers have an "Asian (politarian) mode of production" (Semenov; Koranashvili; Kapustin; Nureyev and others). In other formations, there are four - instead of slavery and feudalism, "a large feudal formation" (Kobishchanov) or a single pre-capitalist formation - "estate-class society" (Ilyushechkin). In addition to single-line formational schemes, multi-linear ones appeared, fixing the differences in the development of Western civilization and non-Western societies. The multilinear approach to world history was most consistently defended by L. S. Vasiliev.

At present (2011), one of the most consistent supporters of the formation theory remains Yu. I. Semyonov. He created a global formational (relay-formational) concept of world history, according to which, no society is obliged to go through all the formations, which was insisted on by the Soviet historical science. The last societies do not go through the stage at which the first ones were, they do not repeat their movement. Out on the highway human history, they immediately begin to move from the place where the once advanced societies stopped earlier.

Civilization approach

Unlike stage theories, including Marxist, civilizational approach considers the historical process in a different plane, not in the diachronic "vertical", but in the spatial "horizontal" dimension. Proponents of this approach believe that the allocation of equivalent civilizations allows you to avoid the question of progress in history, and hence avoid the gradation of developed, developing and undeveloped peoples.

It is believed that the main ideas of the cyclic understanding of history were formulated in the works of Giambattista Vico. However, this approach was most clearly outlined for the first time in the book by N.I. Danilevsky "Russia and Europe". In foreign science, absolute priority belongs to the book of O. Spengler " The Decline of Europe". However, the most detailed civilizational theory was formulated in A. Toynbee's 12-volume work "Comprehension of History". Toynbee singled out about 30 civilizations that are distinguished by unique inimitable features. The causes of the emergence of civilizations were the "challenges" of the external environment. Each of the civilizations went through the stages of emergence, growth, breakdown and decay in its development. Internal structure civilizations was based on functional division into "creative minority", masses, "proletariat".

The weaknesses of the civilizational approach have long been revealed. First, it was not possible to identify objective criteria by which civilizations stand out. For this reason, their number varies greatly among different authors, and various speculations are possible (up to the reduction of any people to a special civilization). Secondly, the identification of civilizations with living organisms is not correct. The time of existence of civilizations is different, periods of rise and fall can happen repeatedly. Thirdly, the reasons for the genesis and decline of different civilizations are different.

The civilizational theory was popular in world science half a century ago, now it is in crisis. Foreign scientists prefer to turn to the study of local communities, the problems of historical anthropology, the history of everyday life. The theory of civilizations has been most actively developed in recent decades (as an alternative to Eurocentrism) in developing and post-socialist countries. During this period, the number of identified civilizations has increased dramatically - up to giving a civilizational status to almost any ethnic group. I. Wallerstein characterized the civilizational approach as "the ideology of the weak", as a form of protest of ethnic nationalism against the developed countries of the "core" of the modern world-system.

Modernization theories

neoevolutionism

world-system

World-systems analysis explores the social evolution of systems of societies, but not of individual societies, in contrast to previous sociological approaches, in which theories social evolution considered the development of individual societies, and not their systems. In this, the world-system approach is similar to the civilizational one, but goes a little further, exploring not only evolution social systems, covering one civilization, but also such systems that cover more than one civilization or even all civilizations of the world. This approach was developed in the 1970s. A. G. Frank, I. Wallerstein, S. Amin, J. Arrighi, and T. dos Santos. F. Braudel is usually regarded as the most important predecessor of the world-system approach, which laid its foundations. Therefore, it is no accident that the main world center for world-systems analysis (in Binghampton, at the University of New York) bears the name of Fernand Braudel.

Literature

• Grinin, L. E. 2006. Productive Forces and the Historical Process. Ed. 3rd. Moscow: KomKniga.
• Grinin, L. E. 2006. Periodization of history: theoretical and mathematical analysis // History and Mathematics: problems of periodization of historical macroprocesses. / Ed. Korotaev A. V., Malkov S. Yu., Grinin L. E. M.: KomKniga / URSS. pp. 53-79. ISBN 978-5-484-01009-7.
• Grinin, L. E. 2006b. Methodological foundations of the periodization of history. Philosophical Sciences 8: 117-123; 9:127-130.
• Grinchenko S. N. The history of mankind from cybernetic positions // History and Mathematics: Problems of periodization of historical macroprocesses. M.: KomKniga, 2006. S. 38-52.
• Sorokin, P. A. 1992. On the so-called factors of social evolution // Sorokin, P. A. Chelovek. Civilization. Society, p. 521-531. Moscow: Politizdat.
• Shoffman, A. S. 1984 (ed.). Periodization of world history. Kazan: Kazan University Press.
• Jaspers, K. 1994. The Meaning and Purpose of History. M.: Republic.

• Bell, D. 1973. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. New York: Basic Books.
• Comte, O. 1974. Cours de philosophie positive // ​​The essential Comte: selected from Cours de philosophie positive / Edited and with an introduction by Stanislav Andreski. London: Croom Helme.
• Goudsblom, J. 1996. Human History and Long-Term Social Processes: Toward a Synthesis of Chronology and Phaseology // The Course of Human History. Economic Growth, Social Process, and Civilization / Ed. by J. Goudsblom, E. L. Jones, and S. Mennel, p. 15-30. New York, NY: Sharpe.
• Green, W. A. ​​1992. Periodization in European and World History // Journal of World History 3(1): 13-53.
• Green, W. A. ​​1995. Periodizing World History // History and Theory 34: 99-111.
• Grinin, L. E., and A. V. Korotayev. 2006. Political Development of the World System: A Formal Quantitative Analysis // History & Mathematics. Historical Dynamics and Development of Complex Societies / Ed. by P. Turchin, L. Grinin, V. de Munck, and A. Korotayev. Moscow: URSS.
• Toffler, A. 1980. The Third Wave. new york.
• White, L. A. 1959. The Evolution of Culture; the development of civilization to the fall of Rome. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Links

• Yuri Semyonov Periodization and the general picture of world history

Overview of world history
Historical periods
economic organization
History of regions

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See what "Periodization of history" is in other dictionaries:

Conditional division of c.l. ist. process chronologically. periods will distinguish them accordingly. features determined depending on the chosen criterion. P.'s object and. can serve not only the general, so-called. civil history in its various scales ... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

From the end of the 19th century in Japan, it is customary to divide the history of the country into large time periods of jidai. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age (40,000-13,000 BC). Jomon period, Japanese Neolithic (13 thousand years BC - III century BC). Named after ... ... All Japan

Periodization of the history of civilization in Russia- There are different points of view but about how many civilizations there were in that area, which is called Russia. Some historians believe that from the IX century. (education ancient Russian state) at the present time there is one civilization in ... ... Man and Society: Culturology. Dictionary-reference

PERIODIZATION OF THE HISTORY OF DOMESTIC CONFLICTOLOGY- - allocation in the history of the development of this science of periods, stages, other time intervals that differ in qualitative characteristics of the state of conflictology. Periodization is based on a meaningful analysis of conflictological ideas and theories, ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary in psychology and pedagogy

periodization- and, well. periodisation f. Division into periods. Periodization of the history of the peoples of the USSR. ALS 1. In the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century. many historians of our country were attracted by the problems of periodization of history. Very often, discussions on this issue were abstract and unnecessarily ... ... Historical dictionary gallicisms of the Russian language

periodization- PERIODIZATION, and, well The result of the study of which l. phenomena, most often related to public life, which is a sequence of time intervals that differ common features. Periodization of the history of Russian culture ... Dictionary Russian nouns

PERIODIZATION, periodization, pl. no, female (book scientific). Division into periods. Periodization of world history. Outline, establish, give a periodization of something The history of the CPSU (b), approved in 1938 by the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), is divided into 12 chapters, ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

PERIODIZATION AND CLASSIFICATION. The main problems are related to chronological and regional language features formation of patristics. Although the Roman world at the end of its existence corresponded just as little to the abstract norm ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

The subject of historical science. Chronology and periodization of history.

History is facts that happened at one time or another. The participants in these real events are people, that is, the creator of history is a person. Every person is a history maker.

The subject of history as a science is the need for knowledge of historical reality. The need to know the past, in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past. And here scientists - historians, who are trying to cognize historical reality, come to the fore. To know the history of few facts, you need information about them. The historical past is recreated by scientists on the basis of material culture, written sources, or some other reason.

History is a multifaceted science. Archeology was once auxiliary discipline, and now it has become a science that studies the objects of material culture, which is important for the reconstruction of real events. In addition to archeology, there are other auxiliary disciplines within the framework of historical science - numismatics (the study of coins and monetary systems), heraldry (the science of generic signs), linguistics (the study of languages) and a number of other disciplines. Historical science does not close in on itself, but it opens doors for cooperation with those scientists who help history.

Methods for studying the historical process.

1) Comparative-historical method, which allows to carry out the necessary comparisons of various historical concepts in order to identify their common features, features, originality and degree of borrowing.

2) The chronological method - orienting the analysis of the movement to scientific thoughts, changing the concept, views and ideas in chronological order, which allows you to reveal the patterns of accumulation and deepening of historiographic knowledge.

3) Problem-chronological method - allowing to divide a more or less broad topic into a number of narrow problems, each of which is considered in chronological order. A number of researchers (for example, A.I. Zevelev) consider the chronological and problem-chronological methods to be methods of presenting material, rather than studying the past of historical science.

4) The method of periodization, which is aimed at highlighting individual stages in the development of historical science in order to identify the leading directions of scientific thought, to identify new elements in its structure.

5) The method of retrospective (return) analysis, which makes it possible to study the process of the movement of the thought of historians from perfection to the past in order to identify elements that have been strictly preserved in our days, knowledge, to verify the conclusions of previous historical research with the data of modern science.

6) The method of prospective analysis, which determines promising directions, topics for future research based on an analysis of what has been achieved modern science level and when using knowledge of the patterns of development of historiography.

Periodization of history

periodization- very effective method analysis and ordering of the material. Through periodization, one can more deeply show the relationship between the development of the historical process as a whole and its individual aspects. It has a great heuristic potential, is able to give harmony to the theory, structures it in many ways and - most importantly - gives it a measurement scale.

One of the important problems of historical science is the problem of periodization of the historical development of human society. Periodization is the establishment of chronologically sequential stages in social development. The allocation of stages should be based on decisive factors common to all countries or to leading countries.

Since the development of historical science, historians have developed many different options for the periodization of social development.

So, the ancient Greek poet Hesiod (VIII-VII centuries BC) divided the history of peoples into five periods - divine, golden, silver, copper and iron, arguing that people live worse from century to century. The ancient Greek thinker Pythagoras (VI century BC) in understanding history was guided by the theory of the circle, according to which development proceeds along the same track:

birth, flourishing, death. At the same time, the vector of history is practically absent. Such a view of history goes by analogy with human life, with the circles of civilization, which will be discussed further.

The German scientist Bruno Hildebrand (1812-1878) proposed his own version of periodization according to the type of economy, who divided history into three periods: subsistence economy, money economy, and credit economy.

During the Soviet period, especially in the 30-50s, historical science in our country was strongly influenced by communist ideology, which led to narrow views and a certain bias in assessments as historical events, and historical works, as well as the presence of many white spots, i.e. prohibited topics in the study of national history.

Russian scientist L.I. Mechnikov (1838-1888) established the periodization of history according to the degree of development of waterways: the river period (ancient civilizations), the Mediterranean (Middle Ages), oceanic (modern and modern times).

Marx, proceeding from the principle of a materialistic understanding of history, developed a variant of periodization, based on the method of production or formational concept. In accordance with this theory, the history of mankind appears as a successive change of socio-economic formations (primitive-communal, slave-owning, feudal, capitalist, communist).

Unlike Marx, Western scientists of the XX century. considered the historical process as an alternation of the same "cycles" of circulation of local civilizations. The largest representative of this theory is the Englishman A. Toynbee. Despite the fact that the 13 main civilizations he singled out develop independently of each other, they all go through the same stages in their development: birth, flourishing, death.

There are three main types of civilization.

Peoples without the idea of ​​development, i.e. outside of historical time. This type includes the primitive state of society, it is characterized by adaptation, the harmony of man and nature, the repetition of traditions and the prohibition to violate, expressed through taboos. This type of civilization is currently represented by individual tribes that have survived in various parts of the globe, for example, in Australia, Africa, America, Siberia

Eastern (cyclical nature of development). This type is characterized by the interweaving of past and present, the preservation of religious priorities. It is distinguished by the absence of pronounced class distinctions and developed private property, the presence of caste communities, which, not being connected with each other, rely on a highly centralized power. Progress in such a society goes in cycles, slowly,

European (progressive). It is based on the idea of ​​continuous development. This type becomes common for European countries with the spread of Christianity. It is characterized by rationalism, the prestige of productive work, developed private property, market relations, a class structure with active political parties, and the presence of civil society.

All types of civilization are equal before history, they have inherent disadvantages and advantages. In the first, the problem of harmony between man and nature is solved, but man does not realize himself. Eastern society is aimed at spirituality, but does not value the individual. European civilization gives a person a chance of self-realization, but the rapid pace of development leads to world wars, revolutions, acute social class struggle.

American scientist Walt Rostow (sociologist, political scientist, economist, historian) in the 60s of the XX century. developed the theory of stages of economic growth. Then he identified five stages of economic growth:

traditional society;

period of preconditions or transitional society;

period of "rise" or shift;

period of maturity;

era of high mass consumption.

Rostow believes that he gave a theory of history in general, which is a modern alternative to Marxism. Rostow opposes the socio-economic formations put forward by Marx to the stages of growth and recognizes the "English-American model" as the ideal type of the era of a high level of mass consumption. In the 70s, Rostow supplemented his scheme with the sixth stage - at this stage, society is busy looking for ways to improve the quality of human living conditions.

In the textbook The World History The following periodization is adopted:

Primitive era Ancient world Middle Ages New time Modern time.