OVERVIEW

Peter the Great: the entry of Russia into Europe

The course aims to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of Russian history and culture. It will be focused on the first quarter of the Eighteenth century: the age of Peter the Great who ushered in a new era in Russian history, a period also known as the "imperial age" - because of the new designation of the sovereign and the country - in which the state came to include a gradually increasing number of groups differing from the great Russians

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to equip students with a thorough knowledge of the history of Russia from the 9th century to the present day. The attention will be focused on the history of the different cultures and religions of the Russian world in modern and contemporary times. A position of prominence will be occupied by the acquisition of a method leading to the critical interpretation of historiographic literature.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The objective of the course is to provide students with a detailed picture of the historical, political, economic and social situation of Russia at the time of Peter the Great and the Northern War. On the one hand, the course will examine the progressive emergence of  Russian power in Europe since the beginning of the Eighteenth century, while on the other hand, it will analyse the problems which arose from this rapid ascension: a fact that influences, perhaps even today, many aspects of European policy.

The students will acquire a thorough knowledge of the period of Russian history which was characterized by the reform process of Peter the Great and by the formation of the Russian Empire. They will be able to use the specific technical language of the discipline and will be familiar with the events, the political, social and cultural dynamics of the Russian Empire in the first quarter of the Eighteenth century.

 In addition,  students will be able to demonstrate the acquisition of a general comprehension of the analytical and interpretative methods related to the great processes of Eighteenth-century Russian history, seen both from an internal political point of view and from the perspective of international politics.

PREREQUISITES

Students will gain an adequate knowledge of the main historiographical debates related  to the basic topics of the course, in order to be able to evaluate the principal problems of 18th century Russia.

TEACHING METHODS

University lectures given by the professor, in-class presentations. During the lectures considerable use will be made of the blackboard, in order to better memorize the dates, the concepts and the phases of Eighteenth-century Russian history. Historical and geographical films and maps will also be used.

Students will be supported in their learning by teaching materials and resources related to the lectures and made available on  a website (Aulaweb).

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course aims to provide the knowledge which is necessary for being able to  address the issues and problems of Russian history during the first quarter of the eighteenth century. This was also the era of the reign of Peter the Great, which coincided with the greatest transformation experienced by Russia until the 1917 Revolution.

The course programme  includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:

- Russian history from 1682 to 1694

- Childhood and youth of a tsar

- The companions of Peter

- The first years of government

- The great war of the North

- Russia and Europe

- Reform or revolution?

- Army reform and creation of navy

- Administrative reforms: central institutions, local administration.

- Nobles, citizens and peasants

- The church

- Financial and social reforms

- The development of the economy

- Education and culture

- The problem of succession

- Peter the Great’s legacy

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reading list for students for whom this course is worth 6 ECTS

P. Bushkovitch, Breve storia della Russia. Dalle origini a Putin, Torino, Einaudi, 2013.

M. Natalizi, Pietro il Grande, Edises, Napoli, 2014

Reading list for students for whom this course is worth 9 ECTS

P. Bushkovitch, Breve storia della Russia. Dalle origini a Putin, Torino, Einaudi, 2013.

L. Hughes, Pietro il Grande, Einaudi, Torino, 1° ed. 2003 (ristampa 2013)

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARCO NATALIZI (President)

LUCA LO BASSO

ROBERTO SINIGAGLIA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

18th September 2018

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral Exams:

The required knowledge will be verified through a final oral exam. The student will have to answer four / five open questions on the topics examined during the course.

In addition, the most important topics will be debated during some of the lectures with the aim of preparing the students for the oral exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The actual achievement of the expected learning outcomes will be verified through an oral exam that will ascertain:

- the effective acquisition of knowledge related to the history of Russia of the Eighteenth century, the ability to place single historical events within the broader international context (15/30)

- the ability to make causal connections between historical events in the political, social and cultural sphere; the knowledge of the historiographical debates (10/30)

- the quality of the presentation, the speaking ability, the acquisition of the correct lexical terms related to the discipline (5/30)

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Curriculum of the Lecturer

Marco Natalizi (1963) is Associated Professor in History of Eastern Europe. After graduating at the University of Pisa he was trained at the Universities of Florence and Siena. His most significant publications are: Il burattinaio dell’ultimo Zar. Grigorij Rasputin (Salerno, 2016); Pietro il Grande. Uno zar in Europa (EDISES, 2014); L’ingresso della Russia in Europa, in Storia d’Europa e del Mediterraneo. Dal Medioevo all’età della globalizzazione, Sezione V. L’Età moderna (secoli XVI-XVIII), Vol. XII. Popoli, stati, equilibri del potere (Salerno, 2013); La rivolta degli orfani. La vicenda del ribelle Pugačëv (Donzelli, 2011); Il caso Černyševskij (Bruno Mondatori, 2006); All’ombra della legge. L’amministrazione delle comunità urbane in Russia nella metà del XVIII secolo(Bruno Mondatori, 2003); Nikolaj Gavrilovič Černyševskij, Scritti politico-filosofici, traduzione, introduzione e note a cura di Marco Natalizi (Maria Pacini Fazzi, 2001). He is member of Società Italiana per la Storia dell'Età Moderna (SISEM) and of  Società Italiana di Studi sul Secolo Diciottesimo (SISSD).