The year 2022 marks the 210th anniversary of a landmark event in the Russian history — the Patriotic War of 1812. The article analyses the contribution of militia regiments, assembled on the basis of the Manifesto of Alexander I of July 6, 1812 “On the gathering of militia within the state,” to the defeat of the French army. The Don Cossack Host gathered 26 regiments, consisting of retired, serving Cossacks, and “outgrowths.” Most documents on the formation of the Don militia stored in the Russian State Military History Archive (RGVIA) and in the State Archive of the Rostov Region (GARO) are well studied and known to the scholarship. However, regional archives contain unique documents awaiting their researcher. The State Archive of the Volgograd Region (GAVO) stores a file containing documents on the preparation of militia in the villages of the Khopersky district, and, in particular, stanitsa Mikhailovskaya. The purpose of the study is source analysis of the documents stored in file 141 (GAVO, fond 332, series 1) and determination of their information potential. The file "Decrees of the Khopersky detective authorities on re-registration of the Cossacks of the Mikhailovskaya Stanitsa ready for the campaign; certificates issued to the Cossacks; a letter for sale of the yard place; correspondence on investigation of cases of theft” includes 9 documents containing information related to the Patriotic War of 1812. Drawing on the analysis of paleographic features of the documents and their contents, the authors suggest and provide evidence that in formation of the file for 1812, the sheets with lists of Cossacks for May-July 1812 were mixed up. Presence of several variants of lists of the Cossacks ready to join the militia regiments demonstrate and personify the process of militia formation from the inside, permit to evaluate the actions of the village authorities. Of decrees of the Khopersky detective authorities, the authors underscore the “Decree of his Imperial Majesty, Autocrat of all Russia, to the Khopersky detective authorities of the Mikhailovskaya Stanitsa of the Don Cossack Host” dated July 25, 1812, which determined the dates for review of the Cossacks ready for the militia and of those sick, unable to serve. Attention is focused on the preparation of documentation for the review. Studying the documentary complex “Ataman of the Mikhailovskaya Stanitsa” on gathering of the Don Cossack Host militia expands historical knowledge of the Patriotic War of 1812 and permits to evaluate the processes which took place in the military organization and were aimed at repelling the enemy attack through the prism of microhistory.

The article is devoted to identification and analysis of documents of the executive committee of the Volgograd City Council of Workers’ Deputies containing decisions on naming and renaming of streets and squares of the city. As they reflect the historical process, the urbanonyms have great research potential. A comprehensive study of urbanonyms as a historical source involves disclosure of factors motivating to name and rename urban sites and consideration of decision-making process, which in its turn involves a wide range of documentary material. The source base of the study is minutes of meetings and decisions (with appendices) of the Executive Committee of the Volgograd City Council of Workers’ Deputies. In the course of the study, a representative sample collection has been formed, the object of which is the Battle of Stalingrad. Memory of the heroism of the defenders of Stalingrad is the brightest component of the social environment of modern Volgograd. The organizational and administrative documentation has allowed the authors to reconstruct the process of naming and renaming of streets and squares in Volgograd, to determine the mechanism of names selection, to point out specific features of the City Executive Committee’s work on this issue. Documents of Volgograd representative authority contain diverse historical information about the city toponymy: on causes and initiators of naming and renaming of streets and squares; on persons chosen for perpetuation in street names; on financial and technical issues of decisions implementation; on procedure for informing the executive authority bodies of names chosen for urban objects. The sources reveal the difficulties of this process, which are usually subjective in nature. Urbanonyms reflect substantive aspects of the history of city development (historical and military events), they take note of heroic guard units, role of outstanding personalities of the region and the country, population, administrative units, twin cities. In this regard, the attitude of representative authority bodies to preservation of historical memory in form of urbanonyms is important. Historical memory not only is one of the main channels for transmitting experience and information about the past, but also an important component of a person’s self-identification. The authors note that decision-making procedure for naming of streets and squares has changed under modern conditions; it now involves publicity, comprehensive discussion, and collegiality, thus eliminating errors in preparation of documents and implementation of decisions.

The article, which continues the series of authors' publications devoted to the topical problems of history education, examines the problem of actualizing the value potential of history education. The authors see the humanitarian and cultural paradigm as the leading methodological means of this process as the unity of the content, procedural and effective aspects of teaching history. The most important personal result of historical education within the framework of the paradigm under consideration is the formation of civic identity. The analysis of the components of this personal education is carried out.