The History of Modern Russia and the Soviet Union Syllabus

|[pic] |Syllabus |
| |College of Humanities |
| |HIS/359 Version 1 |
| |The History of Modern Russia and the Soviet Union |

Copyright © 2010 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

Course Description

This course provides students with an overview of the history of modern Russia and the Soviet Union including the decline of Imperial Russia, the Revolution of 1917, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Policies

Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents:

• University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum.

University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality.

Course Materials

Dziewanowski, M. K. (2003). Russia in the twentieth century (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

All electronic materials are available on the student website.

|Week One: Collapse of a Dynasty |
| |Details |Due |Points |
|Objectives |Explain the social, political, and economic structure of Russian society in the 19th century.| | |
| |Describe the events that led to the collapse of the Romanov dynasty. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 2 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 3 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 4 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 5 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read MyHistoryLab: Emancipation Manifesto (1861). | | |
|Participation |Participate in class discussion. |4 days |3 |
|Discussion Questions |Respond to weekly discussion questions. |Wed & Fri |1 |
|Nongraded Activities and |Explore the Russian History Map for Week One. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Russian History Map | | | |
|Nongraded Activities and |Review maps and images from Ch. 2–5 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Map and Image Review | | | |
|Learning Team Instructions |Resource: Learning Team Toolkit | | |
|Learning Team Charter |Complete the Learning Team Charter. | | |
|Individual |Complete the University of Phoenix Material: Collapse of the Romanov Dynasty Table, detailing|Monday |10 |
|Collapse of the Romanov |each event in two or three sentences. | | |
|Dynasty Table | | | |
| |Create a timeline depicting notable events in the Romanov dynasty, from creation to collapse.| | |
| |Include all of the events from the table. | | |
| | | | |
| |Answer the following questions in 350 to 500 words each: | | |
| | | | |
| |What were the various political viewpoints during this time? | | |
| |What were the social and economic structures of Russia during the 19th century? | | |
| |What events led to the end of the Romanov dynasty? | | |
| | | | |
| |Submit the completed table, the timeline, and short answers to your facilitator. | | |

|Week Two: Revolution and Change |
| |Details |Due |Points |
|Objectives | | | |
| |Differentiate between the ideologies of the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. | | |
| |Describe the importance of Lenin’s leadership on the newly formed Soviet Union. | | |
| |Analyze the impact of the five-year plans on Russia. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 6 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 7 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 8 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 11 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 12 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 13 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read MyHistoryLab: Lenin Calls for Electrification of All Russia. | | |
|Reading |Read MyHistoryLab: Nadezhda K. Krupskaya on Communism. | | |
|Reading |Read this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings. | | |
|Participation |Participate in class discussion. |4 days |3 |
|Discussion Questions |Respond to weekly discussion questions. |Wed & Fri |1 |
|Nongraded Activities and |Explore the Russian History Map for Week Two. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Russian History Map | | | |
|Nongraded Activities and |Review maps and images from Ch. 6—8 & 11—13 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Map and Image Review | | | |
|Individual |Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper analyzing the Soviet five-year plans. Include the |Sunday |10 |
|Soviet Five-Year Plans |following in your analysis: | | |
| | | | |
| |The role of collectivization in the five-year plans | | |
| |The results of resistance to Soviet authority | | |
| |The effect of the five-year plans on the economic, social, and political structures of Russia| | |
| | | | |
| |Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. | | |
|Learning Team |Create a matrix that depicts the two factions in the Civil War: the Bolsheviks and the |Monday |10 |
|Bolsheviks and Mensheviks |Mensheviks. Include their various ideologies in the matrix. | | |
| | | | |
| |Answer the following questions in 350 to 700 words: | | |
| | | | |
| |To what group did Lenin belong? | | |
| |What effect did Lenin’s leadership have on the country? | | |
| | | | |
| |Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. | | |

|Week Three: The Great Patriotic War and Aftermath |
| |Details |Due |Points |
|Objectives | | | |
| |Describe Stalin’s relationships with other leaders during World War II. | | |
| |Explain how the hardships of World War II on the Soviet Union affected postwar attitudes. | | |
| |Analyze the effects of the Potsdam Conference on the postwar world. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 14 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 16 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 17 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 18 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 19 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. MyHistoryLab: excerpt from Hope Against Hope: A Memoir, by Nadezhda Mandelstam. | | |
|Reading |Read MyHistoryLab: Leningrad Diary by Anna Petrovna Ostroumova-Lebedeva. | | |
|Participation |Participate in class discussion. |4 days |3 |
|Discussion Questions |Respond to weekly discussion questions. |Wed & Fri |1 |
|Nongraded Activities and |Explore the Russian History Map for Week Three. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Russian History Map | | | |
|Nongraded Activities and |Review maps and images from Ch. 14 & 16—19 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Map and Image Review | | | |
|Individual |Complete The Wartime Strategies of the Soviet Union Matrix, available on your student |Sunday |5 |
|Wartime Strategies Matrix |website. | | |
|Learning Team |Write a 1,400- to 1,750- word paper describing five areas in which poor communications among |Monday |20 |
|World War II Paper |the wartime allies caused misunderstandings that led to the beginning of the Cold War. | | |
| | | | |
| |Include the following in your paper: | | |
| | | | |
| |The leadership at the Postdam and Yalta Conferences | | |
| |Stalin’s relationship with other world leaders during World War II | | |
| |The results of those relationships on the Soviet Union and the world | | |
| | | | |
| |Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. | | |

|Week Four: The Cold War |
| |Details |Due |Points |
|Objectives | | | |
| |Describe the political power struggle in the Soviet Union after Stalin’s death. | | |
| |Describe Nikita Khrushchev’s role in the Cold War with the United States. | | |
| |Explain the arms and space races from the Soviet perspective. | | |
| |Differentiate between the regimes of Khrushchev and Breznev. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 20 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 21 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 22 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 23 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read MyHistoryLab: Nikita Khrushchev Challenges the West to Disarm and Advance World | | |
| |Prosperity (1960). | | |
|Participation |Participate in class discussion. |4 days |3 |
|Discussion Questions |Respond to weekly discussion questions. |Wed & Fri |1 |
|Nongraded Activities and |Explore the Russian History Map for Week Four. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Russian History Map | | | |
|Nongraded Activities and |Review maps and images from Ch. 20 – 23 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Map and Image Review | | | |
|Individual |Imagine that you are a reporter covering Russia during the Cold War. You are being sent from |Monday |10 |
|Reporter: Russian History and |the United States to Russia to give the American people an idea of what is going on from a | | |
|Culture |Russian perspective. The Russian government is allowing you to work in the country but is | | |
| |requiring you to be well versed in Russian history and culture. You will have to give a | | |
| |report demonstrating your knowledge of Russian history. | | |
| | | | |
| |Write a script for your report. Your script may be set on location in Russia, if you desire. | | |
| |Address the following in your report: | | |
| | | | |
| |The Russian perspective on the arms race | | |
| |The Russian perspective on the space race | | |
| |Nikita Khrushchev’s role in the Cold War with the United States | | |
| |Leonid Brezhnev | | |
| |The politics surrounding Stalin’s death | | |
| | | | |
| |Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. | | |

|Week Five: Collapse and Transition |
| |Details |Due |Points |
|Objectives | | | |
| |Compare the leadership styles of Mikhail Gorbachev with the Old Guard leadership in the USSR.| | |
| |Differentiate between the Glasnost and Perestroika policies. | | |
| |Describe the social, political, and economic conditions that led to the collapse of the USSR | | |
| |and the birth of modern-day Russia. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 24 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 25 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read Ch. 26 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Reading |Read MyHistoryLab: The Preamble to the Soviet Constitution (1977). | | |
|Reading |Read MyHistoryLab: The Constitution of Russia (1993). | | |
|Participation |Participate in class discussion. |4 days |3 |
|Discussion Questions |Respond to weekly discussion questions. |Wed & Fri |1 |
|Nongraded Activities and |Explore the Russian History Map for Week Five. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Russian History Map | | | |
|Nongraded Activities and |Review maps and images from Ch. 24—26 of Russia in the Twentieth Century. | | |
|Preparation | | | |
|Map and Image Review | | | |
|Individual |Prepare a Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation of 15 to 20 slides that depicts the transition |Monday |15 |
|Modern Russia Presentation |of the Soviet Union into modern day Russia. Include the following in the presentation: | | |
| | | | |
| |Compare Mikhail Gorbachev to the old guard leadership. | | |
| | | | |
| |Describe Mikhail Gorbachev’s role in making the transition of Russia from a communist to a | | |
| |democratic society. Explicitly address the Glosnost and Perestroika policies. | | |
| | | | |
| |Describe the social, political, and economic events that let to the collapse of the Soviet | | |
| |Union. | | |
| | | | |
| |Present your Modern Russia Presentation. | | |
| | | | |
| |For Local Campus students, these are oral presentations accompanied by Microsoft® PowerPoint®| | |
| |presentations. | | |
| |For Online and Directed Study students, these are Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentations with | | |
| |notes. | | |
| | | | |
| |Format your presentation consistent with APA guidelines. | | |

Copyright

University of Phoenix® is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows NT® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Use of these marks is not intended to imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation.

Edited in accordance with University of Phoenix® editorial standards and practices.