HIS 250: History of Russia, 860-1991 |
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| Lectures: 11-12 MW | Sidney Smith Hall 2118 |
| Prof. Alison K. Smith | Sidney Smith Hall, 2055 |
| Office Hours: MW 1-2 | Office phone: 416-946-0968 (but email’s better) |
| TAs: | Michael Kogan (email) |
| Seth Bernstein (email) | |
| Tutorials: | Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10, 1, 2, 3 |
FINAL EXAM 9:00 AM MAY 1, AUDITORIUM, ST. VLADIMIR INSTITUTE, 620 SPADINA AVE.
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Course description: |
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| This course surveys the broad span of Russian history, from the formation of the first “Russian” state to the resurrection of Russia as the Soviet Union fell apart. The first term moves from the earliest Kievan state, through the rise of Moscow first locally, then on the world stage, and culminates with the Russian victory over Napoleon. The second term traces the difficulties facing autocratic Imperial Russia in the changing world of the nineteenth century, moves on to the Revolution that brought that state to an end, and finally focuses on the history of the Soviet Union. Throughout the class, interactions between individuals and the political, cultural, and social structures that surround them will be particularly important. Many of the readings for the course are tales of individual lives, fictional and real, and they will be discussed in the context of larger political or social changes. | |
Marking and course policies: |
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| Tutorial participation is an integral part of this course. It means coming to tutorials, having done the assigned reading for that day, and ready to talk about that reading. It can also mean asking questions prompted by the lectures. To help ensure that students have completed assigned readings, reading quizzes may be given at any time, without warning, and will factor into the tutorial participation grade. Plagiarism is a serious offense. Read the university’s policies on academic dishonesty, located here. Plagiarism (ask if you’re confused about what that means) can lead to failure, not on a single paper, but for the class as a whole. Furthermore, students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com website. Unexcused late papers or missed exams are also not acceptable. If you find yourself in dire straits, or anticipate a conflict, discuss the matter with me ahead of time. The night before something is due is not ahead of time. Do not simply miss an exam or fail to turn in a paper and assume I’ll accept something late. Penalties for tardiness are—at a minimum—three percentage points per day late. |
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Required Texts (available at University of Toronto Bookstore): |
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Schedule of assignments/topics: |
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Weeks 1-2: Introduction and Kievan Rus |
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| September 8: | Introduction |
| September 10: | Power |
| Textbook: | Chapters 1-3 |
| September 15: | Religion |
| September 17: | War |
| Textbook: | Chapters 4-6 |
Week 3: The Mongols (and tutorials begin) |
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| September 22: | The Coming of the Mongols |
| September 24: | The Appanage Period |
| Textbook: | Chapters 7-8, 12-13 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Vladimir Monomakh, “Instruction to His Children” and ‘Ala-ad-Din ‘Ata-Malik Juvaini, Genghis Khan: The History of the World Conqueror, excerpts (course reader) |
Weeks 4-6: Muscovy |
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| September 29: | The Rise of Moscow |
| October 1: | Consolidating Power |
| Textbook: | Chapters 9-11 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Sofony of Riazan, “Zadonshchina” (course reader) |
| October 6: | Ivan the Terrible |
| October 8: | The Time of Troubles |
| Tutorial Readings: | Sigmund von Herberstein, Description of Moscow and Muscovy, “The People” and “The State” (course reader) |
| October 13: | Thanksgiving: no class |
| October 15: | Muscovite Society |
| Textbook: | Chapters 15-17 |
| Tutorial Readings: | A. S. Pushkin, “Boris Godunov” (bookstore) |
Week 7: The Seventeenth Century |
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| October 20: | Russia and the World |
| October 22: | The Schism |
| Textbook: | Chapters 18-19 |
| Tutorial Readings: | “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum by Himself” (course reader) |
Weeks 8-11: The Eighteenth Century |
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| October 27: | Peter the Great: Military Leader AND first paper due |
| October 29: | Peter the Great: Lawgiver |
| Textbook: | Chapter 20 |
| Tutorial Readings: | John Perry, The State of Russia, Under the Present Czar, excerpt (blackboard) |
| November 3: | Empresses |
| November 5: | The Era of Palace Revolts |
| Textbook: | Chapter 21 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Catherine II, Memoirs, excerpts (course reader) |
| November 10: | Catherine the Great |
| November 12: | The Idea of Reform |
| Textbook: | Chapter 22 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Catherine II, “Prince Khlor,” and G. I. Derzhavin, “Felitsa” (blackboard) |
| November 17: | Eighteenth Century Society |
| November 19: | Eighteenth Century Culture |
| Textbook: | Chapter 23 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Radishchev, A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, excerpt (course reader) |
Weeks 12-13: Alexander I and Napoleon |
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| November 24: | Paul and Alexander |
| November 26: | The Napoleonic Wars |
| Textbook: | Chapters 25 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Denis Davidov, In the Service of the Tsar against Napoleon, excerpt “The Year 1812” (course reader) |
| December 1: | Russia Triumphant |
| December 3: | First term exam (in class) (REVIEW) |
Winter Break |
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Second Term Course Schedule |
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Weeks 1-2: Nicholas I |
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| January 5: | The Decembrist Revolt |
| January 7: | Nicholas I |
| Textbook: | Chapter 26 |
(Week 2: Tutorials begin again) |
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| January 12: | The Rise of the Intelligentsia |
| January 14: | Crimea |
| Textbook: | Chapter 27 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Peter Chaadaev, “Apology of a Madman” (course reader) |
Weeks 3-6: Reform, Reaction and Revolution: The end of the old regime |
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| January 19: | Alexander II and the Great Reforms |
| January 21: | Emancipation |
| Textbook: | Chapter 29 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Ivan Turgenev, “Bezhin Meadow” and Bernard Guilbert Guerney, “Afterword” (course reader) |
| January 26: | The Radical Intelligentsia |
| January 28: | Alexander III and Reaction |
| Textbook: | Chapter 30 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Chernyshevskii, What Is to Be Done?, “An Extraordinary Man” (course reader) |
| February 2: | Industrialization and Social Change |
| February 4: | Revolutionaries |
| Textbook: | Chapter 32 |
| Tutorial Readings: | A. S. Chekhov, The Russian Master and other Stories (PARTICULARLY “Peasants”) (bookstore) |
| February 9: | Nicholas II |
| February 11: | War |
| Textbook: | Chapter 31 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Florence Farmborough, With the Armies of the Tsar: A Nurse at the Russian Front, 1914-1918, excerpt (course reader) |
Reading Week |
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Week 7: Revolution and Civil War |
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| February 23: | 1917 |
| February 25: | the Civil War |
| Textbook: | Chapter 34 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Anna Litveiko, “In 1917,” and Zinaida Zhemchuzhnaia, “The Road to Exile” (course reader) |
Weeks 8-9: Creating Soviet State and Society |
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| March 2: | NEP AND second paper due (ASSIGNMENT) |
| March 4: | The Rise of Stalin |
| Textbook: | Chapter 36 |
| Tutorial Readings: | IN CLASS PROJECT |
| March 9: | The 30s |
| March 11: | Repression |
| Textbook: | Chapter 37 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Eugenia Semyonovna Ginzburg, Journey into the Whirlwind, excerpt (course reader) |
Weeks 10-11: The War and Reconstruction |
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| March 16: | Foreign Policy |
| March 18: | The War |
| Textbook: | Chapter 38 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Vasily Grossman, A Writer at War, excerpt (course reader) |
| March 23: | Out of the War |
| March 25: | Post-War Stalinism |
| Textbook: | Chapter 39 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Andrei Sakharov, Memoirs, excerpt (course reader) |
Weeks 12: the Soviet Union after Stalin |
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| March 30: | Khrushchev and the Thaw |
| April 1: | Brezhnev and Stagnation |
| Textbook: | Chapter 40 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev Remembers, excerpt (course reader) |
Week 13: Gorbachev and the end of the Soviet Union |
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| April 6: | Gorbachev and Perestroika |
| April 8: | Yeltsin and Russia |
| Textbook: | Chapter 42 |
| Tutorial Readings: | Riordan and Bridger, Dear Comrade Editor, excerpt (course reader) |
FINAL EXAM 9:00 AM MAY 1, AUDITORIUM, ST. VLADIMIR INSTITUTE, 620 SPADINA AVE. |
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