HIST246

The Russian Empire from the reign of Peter the Great (1689-1725) through the fall of the Romanov dynasty in the February Revolution. Recurring themes may include the strengths and weaknesses of autocracy as a political system; the role of serfdom in Russia's development and underdevelopment; the polarization of Russian elite society into revolutionaries and conservatives; the role of the cities and urban populations in Russian culture, politics, and the economy; Russia's complex relationship with the West; and the formation of Russia as a multinational empire. Offering to be determined