HISTORY 2970

Fall 2009

MWF 12:20-1:10

Dr. Claudia Verhoeven

304 McGraw Hall

Office hours: MW 11-12

Phone: 607-255-1876

Email: cv89@cornell.edu

Imperial Russia:

Peter the Great to the Revolution of 1917

Course Syllabus

Course Description

This course surveys the history of Imperial Russia, with an emphasis on the empire’s recurrent experience of revolutionary change in the political, socio-economic, and cultural spheres. Topics include such remodeling projects as Peter the Great’s westernization and Alexander II’s “Great Reforms”; military upheavals like 1812, nineteenth century imperialist warfare, the Revolution of 1905, World War I, and the Revolution of 1917; late, and therefore very rapid industrialization and urbanization; and the attempts by successive generations of rebels and revolutionaries to put their political theory into practice. A good deal of class readings will be drawn from Russia’s rich literary heritage.

Texts

Nicholas V. Riasanovsky and Mark D. Steinberg, A History of Russia. Combined Volume. 7^th edition. Oxford, 2004.

James Cracraft, ed. Major Problems in the History of Imperial Russia. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1994.

Lev Tolstoy, Hadji Murat. Hesperus Press, 2003.

Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons. Oxford, 2008.

Four Great Russian Plays. Dover, 2004.

All other readings are available on the course Blackboard website.

Requirements

Attendance and Participation 10%

Map Quiz 5%

Midterm 25%

Paper 30%

Final Exam 30%

Attendance & Participation

This course is a lecture, but Friday’s session will be run as a section. It is expected that each student will read the week’s assigned texts and be prepared to discuss them during this session. More than two unexcused absences from Friday’s session will adversely affect your grade.

Map Quiz:

The quiz will be held on at the beginning of class on Friday September 11 and will include terms taken from a list that will be posted on the course Blackboard website.

Paper (Based on the Assigned Novels, Novellas, Plays):

The paper should be 10 pages in length and is due at the beginning of class on Monday November 23. Assignments will be posted on the course Blackboard website.

Midterm and Final:

These exams will include vocabulary identification, primary document analysis, and/or essay writing.

Late Policy: Late papers will not be accepted.

Academic Integrity: Students are expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity: http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Academic/AIC.html

Note on Reading Assignments:

Required reading breaks down to an average of 100 pages per week, but the schedule tends to alternate between lighter and heavier reading weeks. Readings are longer during weeks for which novels, novellas, and plays are assigned. Please plan ahead accordingly.

Note on Films:

The films are highly recommended, but not required.

Sept. 21 at 6:30 pm in MCG 125: Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark

Nov. 16 at 6:30 pm in MCG 125: Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin

Nov. 30 at 6:30 pm in MCG 125: Sergei Eisenstein’s October

I have also place on reserve in the Uris library the following films:

Sergei Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky

Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev

Sergei Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible (Part I)

Sergei Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible (Part II)

Class Schedule

Aug. 28: Introduction.

Aug. 31: Background

Sept. 2: Background

Sept. 4: Discussion

Cracraft, Major Problems, 3-58.

The Reign of Peter the Great

Sept 7: The Reforms of Peter the Great.

Sept. 9: The Legacy of Peter the Great.

Sept. 11: Map Quiz at the beginning of class & Discussion

Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, Ch. 20.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 81-125.

Korb, Scenes from the Court of Peter the Great, 28-33, 38-40, 53-67, 74-86.

From Peter the Great to Catherine the Great

Sept. 14: The Era of Palace Coups

Sept. 16: The Reign of Catherine the Great.

Sept. 18: Discussion

Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, Chs. 21 and 22.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 166-179 and 197-212.

Sept. 21: Society and Culture at the Turn of the 19^th century

Sept. 23: The Emergence of the Intelligentsia

Sept. 25: Discussion

Sept. 21 at 6:30 pm in MCG 125: Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark

Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, Chs. 23-24.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 179-197.

Pushkin, Captain’s Daughter.

Radishchev, A Journey from Petersburg to Moscow, 40, 46-49, 142-154, 219-221.

The Reign of Alexander I

Sept. 28: Reform, Patriotic War.

Sept. 30: Reaction, Decembrists.

October 2: Discussion

Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, Ch. 25.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 255-68, 283-291.

Tolstoy, War and Peace, 1173-1189.

Murav’ev, “A Project for a Constitution.”

The Reign of Nicholas I

Oct. 5: “Gendarme of Europe,” Autocracy, Orthodoxy, Nationality.

Oct. 7: Empire and Resistance.

Oct. 9: Discussion

Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, Chs. 26-27.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 268-282.

Tolstoy, Hadji Murat.

Oct. 12: NO CLASS

Oct. 14: Russians, Slavophiles, and Westernizers.

Oct. 16: Discussion

Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, Ch. 28.

Chaadaev, Philosophical Letters.

Pushkin, “Letter to P. Ia. Chaadaev.”

Gogol, The Inspector General.

Belinsky, “Letter to N. V. Gogol.”

Cracraft, Major Problems, 329-340.

Aksakov, “Memorandum to Alexander II on the Internal State of Russia.”

The Reign of Alexander II

Oct. 19: Midterm

Oct. 21: The Great Reforms

Oct. 23: Technology, Media, Culture

Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, Ch. 29.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 313-327 and 340-358.

Oct. 26: Nihilism

Oct. 28: Discussion

Oct. 30: Revolutionary Movement

Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, chs. 1-6, 9-10.

Chernyshevsky, “Extraordinary Man,” in What Is to Be Done? (1863)

Nechaev and Bakunin, “Catechism of a Revolutionary” (1869).

Lavrov, “The Price of Progress,” Historical Letters (1868-1869).

Cracraft, Major Problems, 383-388.

The Reign of Alexander III

Nov. 2: Empire-Building

Nov. 4: Modernization

Nov. 6: Discussion

Riasanovsky, A History of Russia, Chs. 30 and Ch. 32.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 398-437 and 441-468.

Nov. 9 NO CLASS

Nov. 11 Late Imperial Society

Nov. 13: Late Imperial Culture

Riasanovsky, History of Russia, Ch. 33.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 490-504 and 528-548.

Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard.

The Reign of Nicholas II

Nov. 16: Late Imperial Politics

Nov. 18: Revolution of 1905

Nov. 20: Discussion

Nov. 16 at 6:30 pm in MCG 125: Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin

Riasanovsky, History of Russia, Ch. 31.

Cracraft, Major Problems, 550-604.

Long Paper due at the beginning of class Monday Nov. 23

Nov. 23: From 1905 to 1917

Nov. 25: NO CLASS

Nov. 27: NO CLASS

Cracraft, Major Problems, 613-659.

Nov. 30: Revolution

Dec. 2 Conclusions

Dec. 4: Final Review