RUSSIAN HISTORY: TENTH CENTURY TO WORLD WAR II

Coordinators: Caroline Thompson, Steve Allen

Russian history is a study of fascinating contrasts: a country in close contact with Western Europe but maintaining a very separate set of traditions, including a history of serfdom and absolute authority exercised by the Tsar.

We begin with a quick summary of the three lectures that were given before the course was interrupted. We will then pick up with the legacy of Peter the Great and follow events from Catherine the Great through Napoleon’s invasion, the freeing of the serfs, the Russian Revolution, Lenin and Stalin.

We also discuss Russia’s enormous contributions to Western literature, music, dance, theater, and intellectual traditions. Hopefully, a study of Russian history can help us understand modern Russia of today.

B WEEK / TUESDAY / 2:00pm to 3:30pm

Date	Presenter	Topic
2/09	Steve Allen	Kievan Rus, The rise of Moscow, The Romonovs and Peter the Great (900 – 1725)
02/23	Caroline Thompson	Peter’s Successors and Catherine the Great (1725 – 1800)
03/09	Caroline Thompson Steve Allen	Alexander I and Nicholas I(1800 – 1855) Foreign Policy and the Military
03/23	Caroline Thompson Steve Allen	Alexander II (1855 – 1880) Literature, Science, and the Intelligensia
04/13	Caroline Thompson Steve Allen	Alexander III and Nicholas II (1880 – 1917) Music, Dance, the Arts
04/27	Caroline Thompson Steve Allen	Lenin and the Russian Revolution (1917 – 1925)
05/11	Caroline Thompson Steve Allen	Stalin and World War II (1925 – 1950) Conclusion

Other Classes: