History 3351W
IMPERIAL RUSSIA
Fall 2005
Thursdays: 3:30–6:00 pm
Dr. Elaine MacKinnon
Office: TLC 3222
Phone: 678-839-6048
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the history, geography, and society of Imperial Russia from the reign of Peter the Great to the Revolutions of 1917, and to the methodology of studying Russian history. Our focus is on the political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions of Russia's historical development after 1682, particularly its imperial expansion and entry into European affairs. Students will examine themes of change and continuity over time and learn to differentiate between fact and interpretation in the analysis of Russian history. Topics will include the evolution of Russian culture, Westernization, the evolution and functioning of the autocratic Russian state, the development of Russia's social classes, Russia's cultural awakening, the pursuit of empire (self-colonization), emancipation of the serfs, the rise of the intelligentsia and the revolutionary movement, economic modernization, imperial expansion, and the role of individual rulers (entitled "czars" or "tsars") in promoting both reform and reaction in Russian history.
The "W" designation for this course means it is a "Writing Across the Curriculum" course. This means that writing is an important part of the learning and communication process for this course. Several writing assignments will help you learn the material and communicate what you have learned.
Required Texts: John Thompson, Russia and the Soviet Union. An Historical Introduction, Fifth Edition (Westview Press, ) (abbreviated in syllabus as Text).
Isabel de Madariaga, Catherine the Great: A Short History (Yale University Press, 1990)
Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls (Vintage Press,1961)
Victoria E. Bonnell, ed., The Russian Worker: Life and Labor under the Tsarist Regime (University of California Press, 1983)
Additional required readings have been placed on reserve at the Ingram Library or will be given to you as handouts. Reserve readings are marked in the syllabus by an asterisk (*). I advise you to make copies of the reserve materials, preferably in advance.
Format:
Each class will consist of lecture and discussion of the assigned readings. You are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings, ask questions, and provide commentary. Lecture will be necessary to provide background in Russian history, but I want class to be more of a seminar discussion than a one-person monologue.
Grading:
Grades will be determined on the basis of the following components: two examinations--an in-class mid-term and a take-home final; a research project; analysis/response papers and in-class writing assignments based on the supplemental readings and/or films; participation in class debates or roundtables, quizzes and other various oral and written assignments.
Midterm 20%
Final 30%
Research Project 25%
Readings Analysis and Response Assignments 15%
Debate/Class Participation, Quizzes, Assignments 10%
1). The exams may include identification (define and give the significance of concepts, figures, events, etc., one to two paragraphs), short answer, map location, and essay questions and will be drawn from the lectures, textbook, assigned readings, films, video documentaries, and other presentations. The midterm will be an in-class exam. The final will be a take-home exam.
2). Each student will carry out a research project which will result in a 6 to 8 page analytical essay. See the last pages of the syllabus for guidelines. The final draft of the project is due December 1. You will be asked to periodically submit progress reports and notes.
3). For two of the three assigned supplemental readings, there will be an in-class writing assignment that will ask you to respond to and analyze the significance of the work as an historical source. You will answer a series of questions designed to check your reading comprehension and to test your ability to relate the work to larger questions in Russian history. For the biography of Catherine the Great, by de Madariaga, you are to write a two-to three page response paper outside of class. You will be given guidelines for this later.
4). During the semester there will be two formal class debates as well as other class activities. Each student must take part in at least one of the debates, and will be expected to write a two to three page position paper outlining the views he or she will be expressing in class. The debates are noted in the syllabus. A sign-up sheet will be circulated on the first day of class.
5). Class participation is important! Take part in class discussions and keep up with your readings--you may expect quizzes and writing assignments, particularly on the assigned reserve readings. This component of your grade can make the difference in borderline grading situations.
Assignments:
Students are expected to have completed the assigned readings prior to each session and to be able to discuss them. Remember--Class participation not only enhances your learning experience but it counts as part of your final grade. Some of the readings are lengthy, so plan ahead and budget your time accordingly. Try not to fall behind! All written assignments are due on the specified date; unexcused late work will lower the grade by one grade level for each late weekday.
Cheating Policy and Plagiarism:
Anyone caught cheating or helping someone to cheat will be asked to leave the class and will receive a course grade of "F." Plagiarism, or claiming someone else's work as your own, will result in failure. This rule is in effect for all assignments, examinations, quizzes, and extra credit work.
Attendance:
Make every effort to be in class and on time. You are responsible for all materials and announcements presented in class. If you must be absent, be sure to get the notes from a classmate. More than two unexcused absences will lower your final grade. More than four may lead to a W/F. Absences due to illness or school business will be excused only if you bring me a written note. Being late to class or leaving class early will also lower your grade. Two tardies will count as one unexcused absence, and the same for leaving early. If you are tardy, it is your responsibility to inform me of your presence at the end of class. Regular attendance and punctuality will enhance your learning experience and can work in your favor in borderline grading situations (or against you, if not maintained).
Note: Please show courtesy to your fellow students. Disruptive behavior (read: sleeping, eating and drinking, smoking, carrying on conversations, reading the newspaper, etc.) will not be tolerated and will count as an unexcused absence.
Office Hours:
My office is Room 3222 in the Technology Learning Center and the hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 am to 10:00 am and 12:30 - 2:30 pm, and by appointment. My office phone number is 678-839-6048; my e-mail address is emcclarn@westga.edu.
Tentative Course Outline and Readings Schedule:
August 25: Introduction to Russian History, Geography, and Society
Text: Chapters 1-4 (skim these background readings)
September 1: 17th Century Russia/Peter I
Text: Chapters 5-6
September 8: Peter the Great and the Turn to the West
Text: Chapter 6
*Reserve Reading: “Petrine Reform Legislation”
September 15: Class Debate: Legacy and Impact of Peter I/Russia after Peter
*Handout: Readings on Peter’s Legacy
Text, Chapter 7
***Thesis Statement for Research Project and Bibliography Due
September 22: Catherine the Great: Enlightened Autocrat or Sybaritic Hypocrite
de Madariaga, Catherine the Great, chapters 1-8
September 29: Russian Society and Culture in the 18th Century
de Madariaga, Catherine the Great, Chapters 9-16
***Response paper due
*Reserve Reading: Alexander Radishchev, "A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow," in Riha, Readings in Russian Civilization, Vol. II, pp. 261-279
October 6: Russia from Paul to Alexander II, 1796-1855
Text: Ch. 8
October 13: Russian Society and Culture, 1796-1855
Gogol, Dead Souls, all
***In-class writing assignment on Dead Souls
October 20: Midterm/Alexander II
October 27: The Pendulum Swings: The Reforms of Alexander II/Russia as Empire
Text, Ch. 9
*Reserve Reading: Thomas M. Barrett, “Crossing Boundaries: The Trading Frontiers of the Terek Cossacks”***Progress Report and Notes for Research Project Due
November 3: Reactions to Reform: The Russian Intelligentsia and the Revolutionary Movement–Nihilism, Populism, Marxism/Reactionary Politics of Alexander III and Nicholas II
Text, Ch. 9
*Reserve Reading: “Going to the People,” “From a Village Diary “; “Killing an Emperor”
November 10: Industrialization and its Social/Political Ramifications,1881-1904/Russia’s Golden Age of Culture
Text: Ch. 9
Victoria E. Bonnell, The Russian Worker, entire text
***In-class writing assignment on The Russian Worker
***First Draft of Research Project Due ( Optional)
November 17: The Revolution of 1905/World War I
Text: Ch. 10
*Reserve Reading: “Father George Gapon Describes Bloody Sunday, 1905"
November 24: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS–NO CLASS
December 1: Russian Society and Culture in the Late Imperial Period/The Road to Revolution
Text: Ch. 10
*Reserve Reading: Beth Holmgen, “Gendering the Icon: Marketing Women Writers in Fin-de-Siecle Russia”
RESEARCH PROJECT DUE BY 3:30 PM ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1
December 8: The Collapse of Tsarism/Debate on Inevitability of Revolution in 1917
Text: Ch. 10
Handout: Readings on the Revolution
FINAL EXAMINATION: DUE BY 6:00 PM ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
History 3351: Imperial Russia
Guidelines for Research Projects
For your project, you may choose from the following list of suggestions. If you have an idea not listed here, then consult with me. All projects must be presented in written form, no less than six pages, exclusive of endnotes and bibliography (works cited) page.
The projects must be typed and doublespaced, with one-inch margins and a font size of either ten or twelve points. For your sources, you must use at least four books and one article from a scholarly journal. Examples of scholarly journals carried by the Ingram Library at West Georgia include Russian Review, Slavic Review, Europe-Asia Studies, Journal of Modern History, and more are available through Galileo and the internet. The four books do not include the textbook or the supplemental readings.
The standard guide of the history department is Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 5th edition, available in the reference section of the bookstore and of the library, or The Chicago Manual of Style.
You will be graded for both content and style. Factual material should be clearly presented and relative to the theme of the paper. Do not pour out everything you have gathered; select the facts which best explain, illustrate, or substantiate your points. Credit direct quotations of ideas or data of others in endnotes at the back of the paper (or in footnotes at the bottom of the page). Errors in logic or fact, errors in mechanics (grammar, spelling, and punctuation) and general messiness will lower your grade. Avoid slang or sloppy constructions. Do not use contractions in formal writing, particularly in this paper. Learning how to express your thoughts in a clear and logical manner is an invaluable skill.
Do not fill up your essay with direct quotations. I am interested in your own thought and analysis. But be sure to identify your sources where appropriate; if your facts are not common knowledge, or your thoughts are not your own, then you must give credit to the scholar whose hard work produced them originally.
The final draft of the essay is due December 1. You must turn in a thesis statement and a list of sources no later than September 15. I will periodically collect note cards and progress reports.
Start Early! Be sure to keep a copy for your files.
PLEASE NOTE: Computer glitches do not excuse you from the established deadlines.
1). Research and write an analytical essay on one of the following themes. The essay should have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. You must have a concise thesis statement which you will explain and substantiate in the body. For every statement that you make, you must provide proof of its validity--refer to specific facts, examples, events, or historical sources. It is not enough to simply state, for example, that Peter the Great had a major impact on Russian history. You must show specific reasons why you can make this statement. What did Peter do which substantially altered Russian history? Which specific historians have argued that Peter had a major impact, and how do they back up their conclusions? Remember that part of the fun of being historians is digging up the evidence which enables us to say what a particular period of time was like or what a particular person did to shape historical development.
A. Evaluate the reforms of Peter the Great in light of subsequent developments in Russian history. What positive and/or negative consequences resulted from Peter’s military, economic, political, and social policies? Was Peter a reformer or a revolutionary? Did his reign mark a turning point in Russian history, and if so, why? How does Peter’s reign continue to influence Russian society and culture in the 19th century?
B. For the period 1700-1850, identify and analyze major social, economic, and cultural developments in Russian society. How does the relationship between state and society evolve? What are the main social groupings within society and by what criteria are they defined? What new social groups are emerging in the early 19th century? In your essay be sure to discuss such topics as serfdom, the role of Russian Orthodoxy, growth of the intelligentsia, rise of industry and manufacturing, and the impact of Westernization on Russian culture.
C. Discuss the expansion of the Russian empire and the growing involvement of Russia in the West during the period from 1700 to 1905. What are the major factors fueling Russia’s expansion? In what specific ways does Russia become involved in European issues and events? To what extent does Russia look eastward to Asia for its “manifest destiny”? What challenges are posed by Russia’s imperial expansion and how does the tsarist state handle them?
D. How does modernization affect Russia’s social, economic, and political development between 1861 and 1917? Analyze the impact of Alexander II’s reforms on Russia, and to what extent the ensuing processes of industrialization and social change contributed to the outbreak of revolution in the 20th century. For this essay, you must provide an explanation of what modernization is.
E. Identify and analyze the political, social, economic, and personal factors that contributed to the outbreak of revolution in February 1917. Did World War I bring about the collapse of tsarism, or was revolution inevitable? Explain fully the reasons for your answer and provide specific examples and facts to substantiate your argument. Include in your answer a discussion of the Russian revolutionary movement.
2) Research and write an analytical essay comparing and contrasting the significance of two historical figures. This is not purely a biographical exercise. Your purpose is to analyze and explain the importance of these figures for Russian history, how each shaped and in turn were affected by the Russian historical context. The purpose in this assignment is to compare the lives and experiences of two individuals, and through this comparison shed light on key moments and factors in Russian history. You will need to briefly summarize the lives of the two figures and the experiences that link them together, but the main part of the essay should be a comparative analysis of their roles in Russian history. Consider whether one of the figures listed had a greater impact than the other, or if you consider the impact of each to be different or similar in nature. Choose from the pairs listed below or check with me if you wish to propose two individuals not included below:
Peter the Great and Catherine the Great Alexander III and Nicholas II
Nicholas I and Nicholas II Grigory Potemkin and Rasputin
Elizabeth and Catherine the Great Catherine the Great/Grigorii Potemkin
Sergei Witte and Peter Stolypin Alexander Pushkin/Nikolai Gogol
Leo Tolstoy and Feodor Dostoevsky Alexander Herzen/Nikolai Chernyshevsky
Peter the Great and Alexander II Alexander Kerensky and Vladimir Lenin
Stenka Razin and Emilian Pugachev Vera Figner and Sofia Perovskaia
Mikhail Kutuzov and Alexander Suvurov Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin
Alexander Radishchev and Peter Chaadaev Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky
Alexander Radishchev and Pavel Pestel Vera Figner and Vera Zasulich
Mikhail Speransky and Constantine Pobedonotsev Peter Tkachev and Sergei Nechaev
Mikhail Lomonotsev and Ivan Pavlov Peter Tkachev and Vladimir Lenin
Alexander Pushkin and Peter Tchaikovsky Alexander Herzen and Vissarion Belinsky
Vissarion Belinsky and Nikolai Chernyshevsky Leo Tolstoy and Ivan Turgenev
Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Lavrov
3). Research and write an autobiographical account of life in Imperial Russia. Engage in role playing. Assume the role of one of the following figures. Trace the life of this figure, with his or her birth taking place during the designated time period. You are to do this in the form of an autobiography. You are to write this as a personal account, but with the objective of illuminating the historical context in which the individual lived. You are to include references to at least three specific historical events during the time period chosen, and clearly relate your character to these events. Exercise your creative powers, but you must base your fictionalized depiction on solid historical research and facts, which you must cite in the paper just as for an analytical essay. Describe activities you would engage in, events you would have witnessed, personal reactions to developments in Russian society and government, etc. Provide through your autobiography a picture of what life in Russia was like during this momentous period in history, refer to specific facts and events, and evaluate Russian historical development through the eyes of this person. You must use at least four books and one scholarly journal article as sources.
A noble landowner during the Petrine Age, forced to move to St. Petersburg and adopt new ways
A peasant during the Petrine Period forced to help build St. Petersburg and endure many hardships
A peasant soldier in the army of Alexander I during the Napoleonic Wars and Invasion
A serf during the period 1825-1881
An officer who takes part in the Decembrist Movement
A student taking part in the “Going to the People” movement of the 1870s
A radical student who joins terrorist groups seeking the assassination of the tsar and other public officials, 1855-1905
A peasant during the period 1861-1905 who moves to the city to work in a factory for part of the year
A peasant who continues to work the land, 1861-1917
A worker (sailor, peasant, middle-class doctor or lawyer) who participates in the Revolution of 1905
A woman who seeks an education and gets involved in the revolutionary movement, 1855-1917
a worker in the Putilov machine factory in Petrograd (find out when this factory was built) during the Revolutions of 1917
an owner of a Moscow textile factory, 1881-1917
a landowner who works in the zemstvo and becomes a member of the Cadet Party, 1870-1917
a university student who joins a revolutionary party (Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks)
a Russian soldier during World War I
a Russian peasant who moves into Central Asia after 1860
a Russian official who goes to become a governor in Central Asia after 1860
a soldier who joins the Bolshevik Party and is active in 1917
a writer, poet, or artist who is working during Russia’s Silver Age, 1895-1917
4). A standard adage in the study of Russia is that you must read its literature in order to understand its history. Russian writers have always been considered the true historians of Russia. Explore this theme by reading at least three works of classical Russian literature of the 19th or 20th centuries. Write an analytical paper comparing/contrasting them as historical sources. The point of the paper would be to examine each of the three as windows into Russian society during particular periods of time, and evaluate their usefulness as sources. This is not meant to be a literary analysis, although some mention can be made of their intrinsic worth as works of art. But the purpose is to assess the three books as sources for understanding Russia’s history. You must get approval for the three works you choose, one of which may be Gogol’s Dead Souls. You can read no more than two works by the same author. You will need to consult at least three outside sources for background information on the authors, which must be included in the paper. You are required to find a journal article on one or more of your authors, and use this for background in the paper. All of these sources, plus the three books analyzed, must be included in your bibliography.
Possible books to consider include the works of Alexander Pushkin (Eugene Onegin); Mikhail Lermontov (A Hero of Our Time); Nikolai Gogol (Dead Souls, The Inspector General); Ivan Turgenev (Fathers and Sons, On the Eve, Virgin Soil, Smoke); Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Resurrection); Nikolai Chernyshevsky (What is to be Done?); Feodor Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed, The Brothers Karamazov); Maxim Gorky (Mother, My Childhood); Anton Chekhov (The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters, Uncle Vania); Karolina Pavlova (A Double Life); Evdokiia Nagrodskaia (Wrath of Dionysus); Anastasiia Verbitskaia (The Keys to Happiness); V.F. Odoevsky (Russian Nights); Andrei Beli (St. Petersburg).