First semester: the formation of the Russian state; significant personalities such as Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great; and the rise of the revolutionary movement. Second semester: a study of the collapse of the monarchy; the causes of the Revolution; and the consolidation and growth of Soviet power under Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev. The Gorbachev era and reasons for the collapse of the Soviet system will be explored.