Activity of the Amur regional branch of the all-union society "Znanie" (“Knowledge”) at the formation stage (1948 - early 1950s)

The present study is the first one to examine the history of development of the Amur regional branch of the All-Union society “Znanie” (“Knowledge”) in the early period (1948 - early 1950s). There is described the significance of the society’s activity at the initial stage in promoting the state interests in regions. The study covers the issues related to organizational, methodological, financial and other difficulties of local (republican, regional, etc.) departments at the stage of development of educational activities. The emphasis is placed on specific issues which the Amur regional branch of the society “Znanie” (“Knowledge”) faced at that time, related to the territorial remoteness of regions from the center of the country, their border location and general economic backwardness. The conducted analysis of the archival records shows that despite the objective difficulties the considered Department coped with the set goals at the stage of its development. The quantitative and qualitative growth of its performance indicators was also observed.