Russian History

RUSSIAN HISTORY

 HIST-22100-01

Zenon V. Wasyliw                              Fall 2007

Muller 427                                         Office Hours:

274-1587                                          MWF 12:30-2:00

E-mail:wasyliw@ithaca.edu                TTH 2:00-3:00

http://faculty.ithaca.edu/wasyliw         By appointment other times

Introduction

The disintegration of the USSR and the critical transitions in Russia and states of the former Soviet Union brings to light the lessons of history.  Political, cultural, social, religious, psychological, intellectual and economic events in today's Russia cannot be fully understood without examining historical developments, accomplishments, contradictions and tensions that spanned many centuries and form the basis of present-day interpretations as President Putin rebuilds a Russian state based upon a glorified historical memory.  This course offers an interpretive survey of Russia's fascinating development.  We shall commence our study with an examination of the medieval Kievan Rus, continue with the rise of Muscovy, concentrate on the development of Imperial Russia under the Romanov dynasty and conclude with the growing turmoil of the period just prior to the revolutions of 1917.  The course material follows a general chronological order; however, exhaustive detail is not the order of the day, for we emphasize an analysis of important historical transitions and themes through the study of both leading elites and the general population, assess intellectual developments, cultural trends, social conditions, policies, religious beliefs and the transformation of everyday life and values.

Books and Sources

The following books are required for this course and may be purchased at the Ithaca College bookstore or as in the case of the Gogol book, found online.

Gogol, Nikolai (Mykola). Taras Bulba and Other Tales

   http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/taras10.txt

Gorshkov, Boris, translator and editor. A Life under Russian

   Serfdom. The Memoirs of Savva Dmitrievich Purlevskii 1800-

   1868.

Longworth, Phillip. Russia. The Once and Future Empire from Pre

   -History to Putin.

Massie, Suzanne. The Land of the Firebird. The Beauty of Old

   Russia.

Turgenev, Ivan. Fathers and Sons.

Online primary sources and reference sites are found throughout the Topics and Reading Assignments section of this syllabus.  These are required readings in addition to the above-listed books.

Supplemental articles and handouts will be distributed throughout the semester.

Additional non-required survey histories -

Dmytryshyn, Basil, editor. Medieval Russia. A Sourcebook.

Dmytryshyn, Basil, editor. Imperial Russia. A Sourcebook.

Evtukhov, Catherine, David Goldfrank, Lindsey Hughes and Richard Stites. A History of Russia: Peoples, Legends, Events, Forces.

Magocsi, Paul. History of Ukraine.

Subtelny, Orest. Ukraine. A History

Riasanovsky, Nicholas. A History of Russia.

Requirements

1. “Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class… Students should notify their instructors as soon as possible of any anticipated absences.” (Ithaca College Undergraduate Catalog). Absences will adversely affect the comprehension of course material and one's grade.  Students are expected to have read the assigned readings and participate in class discussion.

2. Each student will complete two interpretive essay examinations and a final comprehensive examination.  The essays are conceptual in nature and test the students' comprehension and analysis of material covered in class and assigned readings. 

3. Each student will write a comparative book critique of the Gogol and Gorshkov books. The focus is on varied interpretations of rural life and the realities of everyday life for the vast majority of Imperial Russia’s population. Detailed critique guidelines will be distributed and reviewed.           

4. The writing of essays, critiques and papers follows specific criteria and all sources must be properly documented.  Carefully read the Ithaca College Standards of Academic Conduct found at the end of the syllabus and at the following Student Policies link –

http://www.ithaca.edu/attorney/policies/vol7/Volume_7-70104.htm

5.  The syllabus outline and assignments are subject to change.

 

Grades

Examination and critique dates are listed in the Topics and Readings section of this syllabus

All work must be completed to earn a passing grade!

First Examination                     20%

Second Examination                 20%

Comparative Book Critique        20%

Final Examination                     30%      

Qualitative Class Participation    10%

                                             100%

TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

Week of:

26 August (no class on Monday – Convocation) Introduction and Popular Images of the Russian Past.

Longworth, Chapters 1, 2

3 September (no class on Monday – Labor Day) The Slavic Peoples: Geography, Identity and Historical Legacies. The Historical Debate on the Origins of Rus and the national histories of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Longworth, Chapters 1, 2

Massie, Chapters 1, 2  

http://www.pbs.org/weta/faceofrussia

http://www.bucknell.edu/x983.xml

http://www.geographia.com/russia/rushis01.htm

http://encyclopediaofukraine.com

http://vlib.iue.it/history/europe/ukraine.html

http://www.belarusguide.com/as/history/history.html 

10 September A Political History and the Social and Economic Structure of Kievan Rus. The Acceptance of Christianity and the Role of the Eastern Orthodox Church                 

Longworth, Chapter 3

Massie, Chapter 3

http://www.dur.ac.uk/a.k.harrington/kimohist.html

17 September The Decline of Kievan Rus. Mongol Domination and Its Legacy. The Appanage Period. Novgorod and Galicia-Volynia.

The Rise of Muscovy. The Russian Church and the Concept of a Third Rome.

Longworth, Chapter 4

Massie, Chapters 4, 5

24 September Ivan the "Terrible" and the Time of Troubles. The Romanov Dynasty and Its Neighbors - Ukraine, Poland and Ottoman Turkey. The Rise and Influence of the Russian and Ukrainian Cossacks

Longworth, Chapter 5, 6, 7

Massie, Chapters 6

Examination 1

1 October Turmoil, Consolidation and Expansion in the Seventeenth Century. The Romanov Dynasty and the Growth of Imperial Russia.

Longworth, Chapters 7

Massie, Chapters 8-10

Begin Gogol, Taras Bulba and Other Tales

Gorshkov, A Life under Russian Serfdom

http://artsci.shu.edu/reesp/documents/collins.html

http://www.cossacks.kiev.ua

8 October The Reigns of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.               

Longworth, Chapter 8, 9

Massie, Chapters 8-10                    

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/petergreat.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/18catherine.html

                     

15 October (no class on Friday – Fall Break) The Intensification of Serfdom, Protest and Rebellion. Intellectual and Literary Developments

Longworth, Chapter 10

Massie, Chapters 11-15

Finish Reading Gogol and Gorshkov

                    

22 October The Rural World. A Discussion of Gogol's Village Evenings Near Dikanka and Gorshkov’s A Life under Russian Serfdom. Reform and Reaction - Alexander I, the Decembrists and Nicholas I

Massie, Chapters 17, 18

Begin Reading Turgenev, Fathers and Sons                    

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1832poland.html

Comparative Book Critique is due

29 October Emancipation and the Great Reforms. Russia Under Alexander II and III Discussion and Assessment of Primary Sources on "The Era of Great Reforms: Society in the 1860s"

Longworth, Chapter 10                    

http://artsci.shu.edu/reesp/documents/emancipation%20manifesto.htm

Finish Reading Turgenev.

Examination 2                    

5 November Decline of the Rural Gentry and the Rise of a Revolutionary Intelligentsia.

Discussion and Evaluation of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons       

http://www.uoregon.edu/~kimball/ntg.htm

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1896kropotkin.html

http://artsci.shu.edu/reesp/documents/Lenin--chto%20delat.htm

http://www.uea.ac.uk/his/webcours/russia/documents/plehve1.shtml

12 November Life and High Culture in Late Imperial Russia, Music, Ballet, Poetry and the Great Classics of Literature

Massie, Chapters 21-26

19 November Thanksgiving Break

26 November Populism, Revolutionary Developments and Tsarist Reaction – Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality

Longworth, Chapter 11

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1890antin.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1891ukhtomskii.html

http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/english/28.html

3 December The 1905 Revolution and Political Mobilization , 1905-1906" The Stolypin Reforms, World War and the Coming of Revolutions in 1917.

Longworth Chapter 11

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook39.html

http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/mainpage.html

10 December Return to the Past: Contemporary Russia’s Revival of a great Imperial Past or Reinventing Russia. 

Summary and Conclusions  

Longworth, Chapter 15 and Conclusion

17-21 December Examination Week

Final Examination is due Wednesday, 19 December.