Courses in English

Chair of History of Countries of Northern Europe

1) Friend or Foe? An Image of a Neighbour in Russian Historiography – the Case of Finland

Title: Friend or Foe? An Image of a Neighbour in Russian Historiography – the Case of Finland (2 (+2 for an optional essay) ECTS)
Responsible person: Ilya Solomeshch (PhD, Associate Professor, Docent)
Content description:
The course deals with the formation of the image of Finland in the Russian historiography from the 19th century up to the present. The course discusses the role of historical study in the ideology and politics of the Tsarist Russia, schools of historiography in different times, the use of historical study for political purposes, the significance of the so-called “white spots”, etc.
Evaluation: exam and/or essay
Other information: languages: English or Finnish

2) Centre and Periphery in Russian History – the Case of Karelia

Title: Centre and Periphery in Russian History – the Case of Karelia (2 (+2 for an optional essay) ECTS)
Responsible person: Ilya Solomeshch (PhD, Associate Professor, Docent)
Content description:
The course addresses the Centre-Periphery dimension as one of the key and scholarly innovative paradigms for understanding major turning points in Russian history and examines interrelation of internal and foreign policy practices in front of regional developments in the North-Western borderland of Russia.
Evaluation: exam and/or essay
Other information: languages: English or Finnish

3) Foreign Policy of the Nordic Countries (from the beginning of the 19th century till the present times)

Title: Foreign Policy of the Nordic Countries (from the beginning of the 19th century till the present times) (2-3 (+2 for an optional essay) ECTS)
Responsible person: Ilya Solomeshch (PhD, Associate Professor, Docent)
Content description:
The course contextualises the foreign policy of the Nordic countries in the gist of European and global international relations, starting from the Napoleonic era till the present times.
Evaluation: exam and/or essay
Other information: languages: English

4) The History of Nordic Countries, web-course in two parts

Title: The History of Nordic Countries, web-course in two parts (5 (+2 for an optional essay) ECTS)
part I: From the Vikings times till the end of the 18th century
part II: From the beginning of the 19th century till present times
Responsible persons:
Irina Takala (PhD, Associate Professor, Docent)
Ilya Solomeshch (PhD, Associate Professor, Docent)
Alexey Golubev (PhD, Associate Professor)
Content description:
The course aims at helping students acquire comprehensive knowledge of the Nordic history in the wide comparative perspective of the European history and is vastly equipped with auxiliary materials (glossaries, tables, illustrations, maps, schemes, etc.).
Evaluation: exam and/or essay
Other information: language: English

5) Introduction into Russian History

Title: Introduction into Russian History (2 ECTS)
Responsible person: Alexey Golubev (PhD, Associate Professor)
Content description: An introductory course for students without a background in the Russian history studies. The course addresses main tendencies, key figures and most important turning points of the Russian history from the 9th to the 20th century. The course originally prepared for the exchange students of Petrozavodsk State University will be useful for students engaged in Russian studies and related fields.
Evaluation: exam
Other information: language: English

6) British Studies

Title: British Studies (8 ECTS)
Responsible person: Alexey Golubev (PhD, Associate Professor)
Content description: A comprehensive course which consists of three modules dealing with the geography, history and contemporary realities of the United Kingdom. Originally prepared for students of Faculty of Philology majoring in the English language and literature, it provides necessary information for the understanding of British culture and history.
Evaluation: exam + 3 essays
Other information: language: English

7) US Studies

Title: US Studies (8 ECTS)
Responsible person: Alexey Golubev (PhD, Associate Professor)
Content description:
A comprehensive course which consists of three modules dealing with the geography, history and contemporary realities of the United States. Originally prepared for students of Faculty of Philology majoring in the English language and literature, it provides necessary information for the understanding of American culture and history.
Evaluation: exam + 3 essays
Other information: language: English

8) Semiotics of History

Title: Semiotics of History (2 (+2 for an optional essay) ECTS)
Responsible person: Alexey Golubev (PhD, Associate Professor)
Content description:
The course explains a semiotic approach to history which deals with historical sources as systems of signs and applies the theory of information to the historical processes. The course includes both structuralist and post-structuralist developments in semiotics. It will be mostly helpful for students of history.
Evaluation: exam/or essay
Other information: language: English

9) Early Soviet Economic History (1920s – 1930s)

Title: Early Soviet Economic History (1920s – 1930s) (2 ECTS)
Responsible person: Alexey Golubev (PhD, Associate Professor)
Content description:
The course will provide a deep insight into the mechanics of Soviet economy from the first experiments with the ‘military communism’ to a radical reformation in form of forced collectivisation and accelerated industrialisation, as well as on the links between economy, politics and ideology in the early Soviet state.
Evaluation: essay
Other information: language: English

10) Russo-Swedish Relations, 11th-17th centuries

Title: Russo-Swedish Relations, 11th-17th centuries (2 (+2 for an optional essay) ECTS)
Responsible person: Alexander Tolstikov (PhD, Associate Professor)
Content description:
The course traces main trends of the Russo-Swedish relations since the period of the close trade and dynastic ties of the Viking age until the end of the Great Northern War (1700-1721) which marked the fundamental change in Sweden’s political status and transformed the whole context of the relations between the two states. Special attention is paid to the problem of the images of Russia and the Russians in Sweden.
Evaluation: exam and/or essay
Other information: language: English or Swedish

11) Borderlands: Cultural and Historical Aspects

Title: Borderlands: Cultural and Historical Aspects (2 ECTS)
Responsible person: Anastasia Rogova (Lecturer)
Content description:
The course deals with cultural and historical aspects of living on the boundary, particularly in Northern Europe and North-West Russia. The course addresses such questions as the meaning of the borders for those living close to them, their functions and influence on the local cultures and identities, etc. Both introduction of theoretical concepts and discussions of specific borderlands are included in the course.
Evaluation: essay
Other information: language: English

12) Language Politics in the Russian Empire and the USSR

Title: Language Politics in the Russian Empire and the USSR (2 ECTS)
Responsible person: Anastasia Rogova (Lecturer)
Content description:
The course discusses the concepts of language politics and language planning and their place in the interior politics of the Russian Empire and the USSR, with the major focus made on the Soviet period.
The course discusses both general tendencies in language policy and specific examples of language planning measures, such as the creation of written languages, teaching minority languages at school, etc.
Evaluation: essay
Other information: language: English

13) Globalisation

Title: Globalisation (4 ECTS);
Responsible person: Oleg REUT (PhD, Lecturer)
Content description: Globalisation is a term used in many different ways. Some students would say that it is a difficult concept to agree upon. Some practitioners might add, or note, that although globalisation is a concept which has a very unclear denotation, but which still has important connotations. In the course, globalisation will be understood as the formation or strengthening of social systems which essentially are beyond the control of individual states and/or regions. Thus, in a broad sense, globalisation might be taken to refer to processes which undermine the picture of a world system consisting of states (and regions) with their corresponding societies and political(-economic) systems. The future role of international alliances is examined in the light of such ideas as multi-culturalism and othering.

The objectives of the course are to introduce various theoretical concepts, approaches and frameworks for analysing glob alisation as over- and inter-national political and economic phenomena, and to supply a basic (or an advanced) understanding of contemporary international events. The course deals with modern international co-operation and development, its contextual background, questions of globalisation versus regionalisation, and examines the institutional component of integration models. More specifically, it introduces students to the developments of European integration. It discusses the role of Internet and e/m-commerce and their consequences for New Economy. This course is a revised version of the one introduced at Petrozavodsk State University, Republic of Karelia, Russian Federation, in September 2001 [in a week after the Twin Towers]. The course itself was partly re-designed at the Department of International Relations and European Studies, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, within the framework of the Curriculum Resource Centre’s session on Economic Globalisation and Financial Crisis, in November 2001. In January 2002, this course was taught at the European Integration Institute, Riga Stradina University, Latvia. A special lecture based primarily on the course was given at the St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK, in October 2002.
Evaluation: Exam or essay.
Addition information: 24 (12*2) h., language: English.

14) The Baltic and Barents Regions in Changing Europe

Title: The Baltic and Barents Regions in Changing Europe: New Frameworks of Co-operation and Old Perceptions of Threat (3 ECTS);
Responsible person: Oleg REUT (PhD, Lecturer)
Content description: The course deals with international co-operation in the Baltic and Barents regions, its historical background, questions of (sub-)regionalisation and (sub-)regionalism, and examines the sub-regional component in security models. More specifically, it introduces the students to the developments of Baltic co-operation from the Copenhagen Declaration to 2010 and the Barents co-operation from the Kirkenes Declaration to 2010. It discusses the internationalisation of Russian regions and its consequences for Russian foreign and security policy. The future role of sub-regional alliances is examined in the light of ideas such as the Europe of Regions and the Europe of Dimensions. In March 2001, this course was taught at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Tampere, Finland.
Evaluation: Essay.
Addition information: 18 (9*2) h., language: English.

Chair of World History

1) Wars and Armed Conflicts of the XXth century
Other information: language: English and Finnish

2) Soviet-Finnish War 1941-1944
Other information: language: English and Finnish

3) Soviet-Finnish War 1939-1940
Other information: language: English and Finnish

4) Relationships between Russia and Finland in XX century
Other information: language: English and Finnish

Chair of History of Pre-Revolutionary Russia

1) The Russian Orthodox Church and its Role in the History and Culture of Russia

Title: The Russian Orthodox Church and its Role in the History and Culture of Russia (2 ECTS)
Responsible person: Alexandr Pashkov (Candidate of History, Docent)
Content description:
Pre-History of the Russian Christianity. Slavs paganism. The Baptist of the Rus. The Russain Orthodox church in the medieval period .The Russian Orthodox church and the Tzarist power in the 16th - 17th centuries. The Orthodoxy and the Russian culture in the 11th - 17th centuries The Russain Orthodox church in the 18th - 1st half of 19th centuries. The Russian Orthodox church in the 2nd half of 19th - early 20th centuries (2 hours).The Orthodoxy and the Russian culture in the 18th - early 20th centuries. The Russain Orthodox church and the Bolsheviks revolution (1917-1945). The Russain Orthodox church and the Soviet State after the Second World War. The Russain Orthodox church at the end of the 20th - early 21th centuries .The Orthodoxy and the Russian culture in 1917-2003
Learning outcome:
The learning of this course allows students to understand the role of Orthodoxy in the Russian History and impact of Orthodoxy on the economic, political and cultural development of Russia and Russian national mentality

2) The Main Outlines of Russian Karelian History from the Medieval Times up to 1917

Title: The Main Outlines of Russian Karelian History from the Medieval Times up to 1917 (2 ECTS)
Responsible person: Alexandr Pashkov (Candidate of History, Docent)
Content description:
The ethnic history of the Russian Karelia in medieval times (10th - 15 centuries). The Russian Karelia as part of the Moscovite state (16th - 17th centuries). The ethnic culture of the Russian Karelia in the 10th - 17th centuries. The Russian Karelia in the Peter the Great reforms period. The Russian Karelia in the middle and 2nd half of 18th century. The Russian Karelia in the 1st half of 19th century. The culture of the Russian Karelia in 18th - 1st half of 19th centuries .The Russian Karelia in the period of Alexandr II Great reforms (1855-1881) Lecture 9. The Russian Karelia at the end of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Revolutionary events of 1905-1907 in the Russian Karelia .The Russian Karelia before 1917. The Russian Karelia during World War I and the February revolution of 1917 .The ethnic history of Olonets Karelians and Vepsians in the 19th - early 20th centuries. The origin and development of Finno-Ugrian studies in Russian Karelia in the 19th - early 20th centuries .The culture of the Russian Karelia in the 2nd half of 19th - early 20 centuries.
Learning outcome:
The learning of this course allows students to understand characteristics of the history of Russian Karelia as multi-ethnic region of Russia neighbouring with Finland from the medieval times up to 1917.

3) Political History of Russia in the XX century – the beginning of the XXI century

Title: Political History of Russia in the XX century – the beginning of the XXI century (2 ECTS)
Responsible person: Sergey Verigin (PhD in History, Associate Professor)
Content description: Attempts of Social Reforms in the Pre-revolutionary Russia: Sergey Vitter, Peter Stolypin et at. Autocracy and Opposition Parties Struggle in Russia 1905-1917. Political
Parties and Political Struggle in the Turmoil of 1917. Social Turmoil in 1920s: Civil War, “War Communism”, New Economic Policy (NEP) etc. Stalinism as a Way of Government, 1930s. USSR (Russia) and Finland in the World War II. Kruchshev Reforms and their Failure. (Breznev period and Andropov Reforms (1970s – the beginning of 1980s). Perestroika. Post-Soviet Russia. Putin’s Reforms.
Evaluation: exam

4) Political History of Russia in the XX century – the beginning of the XXI century

Title: Political History of Russia in the XX century – the beginning of the XXI century
Responsible person: Sergey Verigin (PhD in History, Associate Professor)
Content description:
Attempts of Social Reforms in the Pre-revolutionary Russia. Sergey Witter, Peter Stolypin et at.
Russian empire on the verge of the XIX-XX-th centuries. The Russia’s place among other countries of the world at the end of the XIX century. The ethnic singularity of Russia. The religious singularity of Russia. The split of Russia on the social basis. The peasantry and the Cossaks. The station of the factory workers in Russia. The petty urban bourgeoisie. The ruling elite in Russia.
Autocracy and its institutions. The State’s rule in the Russian’s history. Nikolas II, his positive and negative features. The State Council and Senate.
S.Witter’s economical policy. Industry in Russia at the beginning of XX century. Main stages of Vitte’s biography. Vitte’s reforms. The strengthening of the capitalism position. The opposition of Vitte and V.Pleve.
P.Stolypin’s reforms. Incompleteness of the agricultural and industrial revolution in Russia.
P.Stolypin and his political activity. The Stolypins agrarian reform. The resettlement policy. The negative features of the agrarian reform. The positive results of the reform. Stolypin’s death – the reform’s stop.

Topic 2. Autocracy and opposition parties. Political struggle in the Russia in 1905-1907.
Social-political movements in Russia at the end of XIX century and at the beginning of the 20-th century.
A nobleman-conservative movement. Liberal-bourgeois movement. Peter Stroove. The creation of the “Liberal Union”. A revolutionary-democratic movement. The formation of the Russian Socialist-Democratic Worker’s Party (RSDRP). The formation of Socialist Revolutionary Party.
The first Russian revolution 1905-1907 and the formation of political parties.
The revolution of 1905. “The Manifesto of the 17th of October 1905”. Governmental parties. Liberal wing parties. Revolutionary wing parties. Social-democrats (Bolsheviks and Mensheviks). State Dumas.
The I State Duma. The II State Duma. III and IV State Dumas. The first Wiorld War. The formation of the Progressive Block in the IV Duma. The growth of the national crisis. The increasing of the national crises.
Topic 3. Political Parties and Political Struggle in the Turmoil of 1917.
The February Democratic revolution. The nature of diarchy.
February revolution and political parties. February strikes. State Duma and Provisional Government. Abdication of Nikolas II. Historical conceptions of revolutions in history. Diarchy of power. Lenin and February revolution.
Three political crises in Russia.
April crisis. June crisis. July crisis.
The defeat of Kornilov. The bolshevisation of Soviets.
Kornilov’s revolt. Bolshevisation of Soviets. Provisional government’s losing power. Democratic Conference. Bolsheviks and Congress of Soviets.
Victory of the armed revolt in Petrograd.
Preparations for the revolt. Kerensky’s counteractions. October revolt. New legislative acts. Soviet government. Spread of the Bolsheviks power. Bolsheviks and other parties. Left Socialist-Revolutionary’s Party (LeftSRs). Constituent Assembly. Formation of RSFSR. Soviet republic and World War I. Russia’s economy. Provision units. Rupture with left SRs.

Topic 4. Social turmoil in the 1920s.
Civil War. 1918-1920. “Red” and “White” terror.
Historical views of the Civil war. Bolsheviks measures against enemies. First steps of the Civil war. SRs and Mensheviks in the war. Anarchists. Nestor Makhno. White movement. Peasant riots. Terror as a method of war.
Policy of “War Communism”.
Economic views of Bolsheviks. War communism. Prodrazvyorstka. Bolshevik party and state system. Effects of the “war communism” policy.
New economic policy (NEP).
1920-1921 revolt. Declaration of NEP. Food tax. Financial reform. Industrial development. Mixed character of NEP. Effects of NEP.

Topic 5. Stalinism as a state system.
Fight for power in the Bolshevik party after Lenin’s death. Stalin’s victory.
Historical views of Stalins’s times. Were there alternatives to Stalin? Heterogeneity of the Communist party. Preconditions for Stalinism. Lenin’s last days. Anti-Trotsky coalition. Stalin vs. Kamenev and Zinovyev. Anti-Stalin coalition. Stalin’s getting rid of Bukharin. NEP policy suspended.
Regime of Stalin’s personal power. 1930s.
First processes and formation of the camp system. Toughening of Stalin’s regime. Repressions. Regime of Stalin’s personal power. Holocausts of 1935-1938.
Topic 6. Russia and Finland in the World War II.
The Soviet-Finnish war (Winter War) 1939-1940s . Karelia in the Winter War. “Finnish People’s Government of Kuusinen”. The formation of Karel-Finnish Socialist Republic. Finnish occupation of the Eastern-Karelia during the Second World War.

Topic 7. Khrushchov’s reforms and their Failure.
Fighting for power after Stalin’s death. Khrushchev’s victory.
Dissatisfaction with Stalin’s regime. Countermeasures. New wave of repression. Anti-Semitic campaign. The starting point of the fight for power. Beria’s execution. Beginning of the “thaw” XX Congress of the CPSU – denouncement of Stalin’s cult.
XX Congress of the CPSU. Internal party struggle.
Krushchev’s political and economical reforms. Reasons of their failure.
Process of democratization. Economic reforms. Administrative changes. Results of the reforms.
Krushchev’s discharge.
Changes in social environment. Slide back. Anti-Khrushchev’opposition. Deschange of Khrushchev.

Topic 8. The USSR in the 1960s – early 1980s: Brezhnev’s stagnation and Andropov’s reforms.
N.Khrushchev’s dischange and L.Brezhnev’s coming to power.
Khrushchev dismissed. Brezhnev’s characteristic. Strengthening the role of CPSU. New constitution. Myths and cult of Brezhnev. Corruption of the upper level. Brezhnev’s state in the last period. Overview of Brezhnev’s period.
The development of the USSR in the 1970s – the first of 1980s. Stagnation in economy and policy.
Common economic problems of the USSR. “Brake mechanism”.
Dissident’s movement.
The dissident movement emergence. Reaction of authorities. Further spread of the movement. A.Sakharov. “Helsinki period” of the movement.
Andropov’s reformation attempts.
Andropov’s coming to power. Attempts to undermine bureaucracy. Economic activity of Andropov. Reforming plans. Andropov’s death. Chernenko as a new leader.

Topic 9. Perestroika.
Gorbachov’s coming to power.
April 1985 – the beginning of the perestroika. The necessity of Gorbachov’s leadership. The 12-th five-year plan and the program of development of the USSR. The appraisal of the policy of stagnation. The Law about state enterprises. Imperfection of the reform and it’s results. Gorbachov’s phenomenon.
The search for a new economic model.
The economic situation decline on the home and foreign market. The crisis aggravation in finance and cooperation movement. The economic crisis increasing. The appearance of market relations. The acceleration of transition to the market economy. Preconditions for the collapsing of the USSR.
Reform of the political system. Building multiparty system.
The first stage of Gorbachev’s period. (1985-1987s). The second stage of Gorbachev’s period (1987-1988s). The third stage of Gorbachev’s period (1989-1991s). The first Congress of people’s deputies of the USSR and the first Congress of peoples deputies of Russia. The transition to the presidential system of governing. The consolidation of opposition political movements. B.Yeltsin – the first president of Russia.
Disintegration of USSR and formation of CIS (Commonwealth of independent states).
The disintegration of USSR. Attempt of the coup d’etat. The collapse of USSR and formation of independence of Russia.

Topic 10. Post-soviet Russia. Putin’s reforms.
Political and Economic Development of Russia in 1990s.
The aggravation of the political crisis in Russia. Referendum of April 1993. The dissolution of the Supreme Soviet of Russia. The failure of overturn of 1993. The constitution of Russia of 1993. Elections to a new legislative body – the Federal Assembly. Results of elections. The State Duma and the Soviet of Federation’s. Defolt of 1998. Economical and political development of Russia at the end of 1990s.
Problems of federalism in Russia.
The principles of federalism. Features of Federation. Federative relation in Russia after the collapse of the USSR. The problems of units in Federation. New Russian Constitution of 1993 and federalism.
Putin’s reforms.
Creation of new Federal districts. New principles of formation of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Federal Assembly. Establishment of State Council.