The collapse of the Soviet State in 1991 was followed by Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev's declaration of the Chechen Republic's independence from Moscow. Concerned over the loss of its territorial integrity, Russian troops invaded the breakaway republic and a civil war ensued. In l996, Chechen rebels regained control of the capital, Grozny, from Russian forces, almost destroying the city in the process. Fighting in Chechnya continues to this day, although on a relatively smaller scale. The WIDE ANGLE video 'Greetings From Grozny' (2002) examines the conflict from the perspectives of Russian soldiers, Chechen separatist militants, radical Chechen Islamists, and civilians living in Grozny.In this lesson, students will explore the multiple perspectives surrounding the conflict, examine the conflict's regional and international implications, and understand the mindsets of Chechens who have managed to maintain their identity and self-esteem in the face of untold human suffering. This lesson can be used during or after a lesson on the breakup of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Russian Federation (1991- present). A basic knowledge of post- Soviet history and basic geographical facts of Eurasia are required for the successful completion of the lesson.

This course centers on mechanisms of civilian control of the military. Relying on the influential texts of Lasswell, Huntington, and Finer, the first classes clarify the basic tensions between the military and civilians. A wide-ranging series of case studies follows. These cases are chosen to create a field of variation that includes states with stable civilian rule, states with stable military influence, and states exhibiting fluctuations between military and civilian control. The final three weeks of the course are devoted to the broader relationship between military and society.

 This unit leads students to create an overview of the Cold War, from 1945-1991. Students will work in groups of four, reading and researching the texts and web address provided. They will develop a timeline of the unit followed by generating Quizlet flashcards. The teacher will include Quizlet Live as a formative assessment by using links to each groups’ Quizlets for Quizlet live games. 

This seminar examines the history and legacy of the Cold War on American science. It explores scientist’s new political roles after World War II, ranging from elite policy makers in the nuclear age to victims of domestic anti Communism. It also examines the changing institutions in which the physical sciences and social sciences were conducted during the postwar decades, investigating possible epistemic effects on forms of knowledge. The subject closes by considering the place of science in the post-Cold War era.

In this 1984 interview, attorney Paul Warnke joins U.C. Berkeley's Harry Kreisler and John Holdren for a discussion of the role of arms control in resolving the conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. (50 min)

UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler welcomes Natan Sharansky, a minister in the Israeli government and a leading figure in the human rights movement in the Soviet Union during the last stages of the Cold War. They discuss how he survived imprisonment in the Gulag, the role of human rights in bringing on the demise of communism, and the implications of the global human rights struggle for the search for peace in the Middle East. (51 min)

Host Harry Kreisler is joined by historian and former Politburo member Alexander Yakovlev who reflects on his role in the transformation of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism. (56 min)

In this edition, UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler talks with Ambassador Jack Matlock who served as the last U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union. Ambassador Matlock offers his reflections on the fall of the Soviet Union, the policies of the Reagan administration, and how students should prepare for the future. (50 min)

The materials presented in this book were developed for an advanced-level content-based Russian language course at Portland State University entitled “Russian Literature of the Twentieth Century: The 1920s.” Literature of this period is a major part of the Russian canon, but is notoriously difficult for learners of Russian to read in the original, due both to its stylistic complexity and the relative obscurity of its historical, political, and cultural references. And yet, this decade is crucial for understanding Russia – not only in the Soviet period, but also today. This was the period, when Mikhail Zoshchenko, Isaak Babel, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Andrei Platonov meticulously documented the birth of the “New Soviet Man,” his “newspeak” and Soviet bureaucratese; when Alexandra Kollontai, a Marxist revolutionary and a diplomat, wrote essays and fiction on the “New Soviet Woman”; when numerous satirical works were created; when Babel experimented with a literary representation of dialects (e.g.,Odessa Russian or Jewish Russian). These varieties of language have not disappeared. Bureaucrats still use some form of bureaucratese. Numerous contemporary TV shows imitate the dialects that Babel described. Moreover, Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog” gave rise, due largely to its film adaptation, to catch-phrases that still appear throughout contemporary Russian media, satirical contexts, and everyday conversation. Thus, the Russian literature of the 1920s does not belong exclusively to the past, but has relevance and interpretive power for the present, and language learners who wish to pursue a career in humanities, media analysis, analytical translation, journalism, or international relations must understand this period and the linguistic patterns it established.

The textbook is intended for adult learners, and contains language assignments that would, on the one hand, help students transition to ACTFL’s Advanced proficiency level (i.e., be able to create "narratives, descriptions, and summaries … using paraphrasing and elaboration” (ACTFL 2012: 12).), but at the same time promote meaningful engagement with literary texts. The assignments in this textbook are multilevel ones, and thus offer a solution for multilevel classes that include literate heritage Russian speakers, Intermediate High, Advanced, or even Superior-level readers.

The economic demise of the Soviet Union is surely one of the great events of modern history, an upheaval that will continue to have monumental impact on global politics and trade. Soviet history is the vehicle for teaching fundamental skills and principles of economic reasoning, which are then used to analyze the complexities of the intertwined economic, political-legal and more-cultural components of Soviet society. The lessons not only explain why the Soviet economy collapsed, but also provide insights into our own economy.

Economic theory must distinguish between publicly owned and privately owned property if it is to account for the effect of institutions on the behavior of individuals. Careful study of the theories of Marxists and the real-world experience in the Soviet economy offer important lessons and insight for economic modeling and the ongoing development of theory. In this course, Marxist/Leninist theory and Soviet reality will be studied with an open mind, and with the goal of taking lessons from the case study.

This subject examines interactions across the Eurasian continent between Russians, Chinese, Mongolian nomads, and Turkic oasis dwellers during the last millennium and a half. As empires rose and fell, religions, trade, and war flowed back and forth continuously across this vast space. Today, the fall of the Soviet Union and China’s reforms have opened up new opportunities for cultural interaction.

This course will expose students to tools and methods of analysis for use in assessing the challenges and dangers associated with nuclear weapons in international politics. The first two weeks of the course will look at the technology and design of nuclear weapons and their means of production. The next five weeks will look at the role they played in the Cold War, the organizations that managed them, the technologies that were developed to deliver them, and the methods used to analyze nuclear force structures and model nuclear exchanges. The last six weeks of the course will look at theories and cases of nuclear decision making beyond the original five weapon states, and will look particularly at why states pursue or forego nuclear weapons, the role that individuals and institutions play, and the potential for both new sources of proliferation and new consequences.

These lessons focus on events surrounding the Cold War. The first is an inquiry into its causes, comparing Soviet and American perspectives. Opening Up the Textbook lessons ask students to question textbook accounts of the CIA's covert operations in Guatemala, and compare how North and South Korean textbooks cover the Korean War. Students analyze declassified government documents about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and try to determine whether the U.S. intended to escalate military operations in Vietnam before the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. In the lesson on Truman and MacArthur, students gauge public response to MacArthur's dismissal by analyzing memos and letters sent to President Truman.

his kit helps decode the messages of political posters created by Soviet regimes from Lenin and Stalin through Brezhnev and Gorbachev. Teachers lead students through the interactive process of applying their historical knowledge to the analysis of these documents using background and additional information and carefully selected probe questions. Students will learn core information and vocabulary about the history of the USSR, political and historical perspectives as communicated through visual media, visual literacy and media literacy skills, especially the ability to identify bias in art and propaganda.

This course explores the political and historical evolution of the Soviet state and society from the 1917 Revolution to the present. It covers the creation of a revolutionary regime, causes and nature of the Stalin revolution, post-Stalinist efforts to achieve political and social reform, and causes of the Soviet collapse. It also examines current developments in Russia in light of Soviet history.

Drawn from Wheelan's 2019 work published by Norton, this reading provides a brief and engaging introduction to economics for high school students and beyond.See bottom half of document for Spanish version. 

See the largest collection of Russian WWII propaganda posters outside the former Soviet Union in this video with Professor Cynthia Marsh

April 2009

Suitable for Undergraduate study and community education

Professor Cynthia Marsh, Professor of Russian Drama and Literature, Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies

Professor Cynthia Marsh began the study of Russian after leaving school, by taking an intensive course to A-level at the then Holborn College of Law, Languages and Commerce, in Central London. She then went on to gain BA hons Russian (first class) at the University of Nottingham and spent a year at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, completing an MA Area Studies: Russia, before going on to full time research there on the relationship between poetry and painting in the work of the Russian poet Max Voloshin. This research culminated in a PhD, entitled M.A.Voloshin: Artist-Poet: A investigation into the synaesthetic aspects of his poetry (awarded in 1979.)

In 1972, after teaching Russian literature part-time on the University of London External BA honours course at Holborn, Professor Cynthia Marsh was appointed as a lecturer at Nottingham, and subsequently appointed senior lecturer and then Professor of Russian Drama and Literature. She served as head of department of Russian and Slavonic Studies from 2005-2006, and then from 2007- 2009.

In 2002 she was awarded a Lord Dearing Award for Outstanding Teaching by the University and subsequently became a Member of the Higher Education Academy. She currently teaches modules on Russian theatre and Russian drama and her research interests continue to focus on Russian theatre, publishing mainly on Chekhov and Gorky.

In June 1941, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler violated a non-aggression pact with Josef Stalin and launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. This offensive, named “Operation Barbarossa,” was motivated by a desire to crush one of Europe’s last holdouts against Nazi domination as well as Hitler’s disdain for communism and the Slavic people. Additionally, Hitler sought to commandeer the Soviet Union’s natural resources, including natural oil and gas and vast agricultural areas of Ukraine that could serve as the Nazi “breadbasket.”