HIS250: History of Russia, 860-1991

Course description:

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.  It begins with the earliest Kievan state and quickly moves through the rise of Moscow first locally, then on the world stage. It then moves to the development of and 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.

Marking Scheme:

1. two 4-5 page essay papers (15% each)
2. two in-class quizzes (10 % each)
3. one final exam (30%)
4. tutorial participation (20 %)

Tutorial participation is an integral part of this course.  It means coming to tutorials ready to talk about lectures and assigned readings.  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.

You must receive permission from the professor to turn in a paper late.  Even with permission, the penalty for late papers is 3 points per day.

Plagiarism and Academic Integrity:

Plagiarism is a serious offense.  Read the university’s policies on academic dishonesty, located at http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/behaveac.htm. Plagiarism 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.

Accessibility:

The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations for a disability, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom or course materials, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible: http://www.accessibility.utoronto.ca/

Course Outline:

***readings may require login through the University of Toronto libraries; you should be able to access them directly from an on-campus computer, or via the U of T wifi service; from home, you may need to go in through the library website***

War and the Coming of the Mongols

The Rise of Moscow

• The Lay of Igor’s Raid (or On Igor’s Campaign): http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/rus/texts/igortxt2.htm
• Zadonshchina: http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Zadon.html

Ivan the Terrible and the Time of Troubles

• Correspondence between Prince Andrei Kurbsky and Ivan IV: http://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/classes/kurbskyivan.html
• Excerpts from the Domostroi at http://www.dur.ac.uk/a.k.harrington/domstroi.html

Russia and the World

Peter the Great Transforms Russia

Quiz #1

• John Perry, The State of Russia under the Present Czar, excerpts (Blackboard)

The Era of Palace Revolts

• Peter III, "Manifesto Freeing Nobles from Obligatory Service," at http://academic.shu.edu/russianhistory/index.php/Peter_III%27s_Manifesto_Freeing_Nobles_from_Obligatory_Service,_1762
• Catherine II, "Prince Khlor" on Blackboard
• Gavril Derzhavin, "Felitsa" on Blackboard

• Article for essay assignment

The Rise of the Intelligentsia

• Ivan Turgenev, A Hunter’s Sketches, “Khor and Kalinich,” “Yermolai and the Miller’s Wife,” “Bezhin Meadow,” and “The Steward” at http://www.eldritchpress.org/ist/hunt.htm

• V. I. Lenin, “What Is To Be Done?” Chapters II-III at http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/index.htm

The Rise of Stalin

Quiz #2

• Readings from Seventeen Moments in Soviet History at www.soviethistory.org:
  • 1921: On the Unity of the Party
  • 1921: Report on the Work of the Council of People's Commissars
  • 1921: The Right of Private Property in Commerce and Industry
  • 1921: Law on Land Tenure and Use
  • 1924: October Revolution and the Tactics of the Russian Communists
  • 1929: A Year of Great Change. On the Occasion of the Twelfth Anniversary of the October Revolution

Building Socialism

• Watch Sergei Eisenstein's The General Line (also known as Old and New) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MISm-KQuwE

• read at least two of the memoirs recorded at the I Remember website: http://english.iremember.ru/

• the Novikov Telegram: http://legacy.wilsoncenter.org/va2/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=home.document&identifier=952E8C7F-423B-763D-D5662C42501C9BEA&sort=collection&item=Cold%20War%20Origins

• the Kennan “Long” Telegram: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/documents/episode-1/kennan.htm