The first historiographical discussion in the USSR: problem of the soviet historical science periodization in the interior of communicative space

In the late 1950s, the historiographical renaissance process began in the Soviet historical science. The creation of the Academic Council on the Problem of the History of Historical Science in the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences was a reflection of the phenomenon. The Council was preparing to publish the first multivolume work on the history of the Soviet historical science. As the work was not only an organizational attribute, the Council initiated a discussion on important theoretical problems, in particular, on the periodization of the Soviet historical science. The discussion was developed on the pages of "The History of the USSR" in 1960-1962.The academician Militsa Nechkina, who headed the Council, was an initiator of the discussion. The discussion was attended by the leading experts of academic and university science, who represented different subject fields. The article describes the stages and structure of the discussion in the context of the development of the Soviet historical science and the communicative practices of historians.