The Moscow unit of the RAIMK and the project on the Museum of the History of Material Culture

In 1919-1921 the Russian Academy for the History of Material Culture (RAIMK) actively discussed a project of creating the Central Museum of the History of Material Culture. These discussions continued debates on the creation of an archaeological museum that had started before the October of 1917. The Moscow Unit of the RAIMK was actively involved in the discussions of the project intended to set up the Central Museum of the History of Material Culture. There was a fundamental difference in approaches used by the Petrograd RAIMK and its Moscow unit. The main point of disagreement dealt with relations between the academic community and the state authorities, with the RAIMK Moscow unit having closer relationship with the government agencies. This difference was one of the reasons why the project of creating the Central Museum of the History of Material Culture was never accomplished and remained just a record of museological thoughts of the first postrevolutionary years.