Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the Battle of Stalingrad, why the Germans wanted to take the city, how the Soviets were able to defend it, how the Soviet counterattack led to the surrender of a large German army and why the battle was seen as the turning point in the Second World War (or as the Russians call it, the “Great Patriotic War”).

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the October Revolution of 1917, how Lenin and the Bolsheviks took control of Petrograd and what Lenin’s basic plan was for creating a socialist state in the early days of the Bolshevik revolution.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basics behind Russian involvement in the Ukraine, how the region was incorporated into the Russian Empire before the Great War, how it was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1922 and why the two countries continue to maintain an uneasy, yet symbiotic relationship since the fall of the USSR in 1991.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how Peter the Great came to power in Russia, how he modernized different segments of Russian society such as the military, the church and the government, and finally how and why he built St. Petersburg as his new capital.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how Panslavism developed in Eastern Europe, what role Panslavism played in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, and how it reached its zenith in the years leading up to the Great War, and how it ultimately led to Tsar Nicholas’s decision to mobilize his troops in defense of Serbia in late July 1914.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, including a full reading of Dostoevsky’s short story, The Little Orphan, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how Dostoevsky’s works focused on the moral depravity he saw as inherent in the emerging industrial society of mid-late 19th century urban Russia, and specifically how his stories used strong religious and moral overtones to send a message warning the emerging urban middle class of its responsibilities to society’s less fortunate members.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, including a full reading of the parable of the Grand Inquisitor from Dostoevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story and character development found in the parable, how Dostoevsky’s last work focuses on the moral contradictions he saw as inherent in organized Christianity, and yet how the ending passages also show the author’s undeniable hope he has for humanity through its reliance on faith and beliefs.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, including a full reading of Dostoevsky’s novella, Notes from Underground, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how Dostoevsky’s works focused on the moral depravity he saw as inherent in the emerging industrial society of mid-late 19th century urban Russia, how the major characters in Notes from Underground solicit both sympathy and disgust from readers, and finally how the novella fits into the genre of 19th century existential philosophy.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, including a full text reading of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918), students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the provisions of the treaty, how the Germans forced the Russians into signing the treaty, and why Lenin and most of the Soviet leadership believed that peace at any cost was necessary.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basics behind the Crimean War of 1853-56, how Russian expansionism helped precipitate the war, why the French and British empires decided to back the Ottoman Empire, and how the results of the war ultimately led to even more trouble for the “sick man of Europe” in Constantinople.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basics of the Cold War armed standoff between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Using this knowledge, students will then theorize and debate as to whether or not Putin’s latest moves in the Crimea signal his attempt to create another eastern bloc to oppose the modern incarnation of NATO, and what moves (if any) the members of the western alliance might be able to do to stop Russian advances in Eastern Europe.