The Fruits of a Bourgeois Education

I studied Russian history in school in the 1950s; my son studied it with my help in the 1970s, and my grandson in the 2000s. I attended St. Petersburg State University in the 1960s and have taught there since 1972. My experience tells me that the textbook under discussion is the best one so far.¹ It is part of an Educational-Methodological Set (EMS) that also includes a teacher's manual,² a handbook on teaching methods,³ a set of maps,⁴ a lesson plan for school courses,⁵ an electronic supplement,⁶ and a supporting website (history.standard.edu.ru). The Teacher's Manual was published first and, after discussion of its contents, the rest of the set appeared. More than 3,000 people throughout the country took part in the debate about the manual, and another 2,000 participated in direct meetings with the authors, who then seriously addressed many concerns that the public expressed before publishing the second edition of the Teacher's Manual and the Textbook.⁷ For example, they dropped the political evaluations of Soviet leaders and cut a chapter titled "Debates about the Role of Stalin in History," which argued that one of the causes of the repression was the "desire to achieve maximum efficiency of the management apparatus." The chapter also described the outcome of the purges as the "creation of a new managerial class adequate to the goals of modernization under conditions of a deficit of resources." Two new chapters were added to the Teacher's Manual: "Nationalities Policy: The Situation in the Republics of the USSR," and "Russia in 2007–Early 2008." The authors also re-edited the last chapter, "Russia's New Course." In my opinion, it makes more sense to evaluate the EMS as a whole instead of dwelling on its parts.

Conception and Methodology

The authors designed the EMS as a tool to educate citizens and patriots by reevaluating the key events of Russian history between 1945 and 2008 as well as redefining Russia's place and role in the world and the Russian leadership's new strategic course. The Textbook attempts to form positive values and a positive attitude toward the country and toward oneself. It also encourages civic values. The conceptualization of the EMS aims to fulfill these goals by offering a "Russocentric" analysis and evaluation wherein Russia's national and state interests are the point of reference.⁸

The EMS treats Russian history as continuous in terms of "path dependence" and "erases the artificial barrier between pre- and postrevolutionary Russian history, which demonstrates the continuity and stability of its historical path." Above all, the texts posit continuity in the nature of political institutions and in principles of domestic and foreign policy. "The most significant of these principles was the concentration of power in a single center and a firmly centralized system of state administration… . The formation of a firm, militarized political system acted as an instrument for solving extraordinary goals in extraordinary circumstances, while the system as a whole was a modification of that which existed during the Muscovite period and the Russian empire" (Teacher's Manual, 83–84, 88).

The EMS, however, also maintains that Russians have the freedom to choose an alternative form of development. "To maintain that the [Soviet] system was incapable of renewal and had to be destroyed is highly naïve, given the examples of China and Vietnam" (Teacher's Manual, 368). "Russia's fate, the determination of its unique historical path, is in the hands of its citizens" (Handbook on Teaching Methods, 3–4).

The Textbook maintains that democracy is the best political system. "In today's world, a democratic political regime ensures effective direction… . The separation of powers and a system of checks and balances prevent personalized and hasty decisions and involve society in decision-making. In contrast, power struggles within the Soviet system took on a destructive character; decisions were made by either single individuals or narrow groups; society was completely removed from participation in the articulation and execution of political decisions… . The gradual establishment of democracy in...