• Is there a ‘special path’ in Russian history?
• What are – according to Karamzin – the characteristic features of Russian history?
• What does Chaadaev criticise?
• How does Kireevski see the relation between European and Russian culture?

Essential Reading

Karamzin, N.M., ‘Love of Country and National Pride’ [1802], in Raeff, Marc (ed.), Russian Intellectual History: An Anthology (New York, 1966), pp. 107-112.

Chaadaev, Petr I., ‘Letters on the Philosophy of History: First Letter’ [1836], in ibid., pp. 160-173.

Kireevski, Ivan V., ‘On the Nature of European Culture and its Relations to the Culture of Russia’ [1852], in ibid. pp. 175-207.

Saunders, David B., ‘Historians and Concepts of Nationality in Early Nineteenth-Century Russia’, The Slavonic and East European Review, 60 (1982), pp. 44-62.

Lieven, Dominic, Empire. The Russian Empire and Its Rivals (London, 2000), pp. 201-261 [= Chapter 6: ‘The Russian Empire, Regions, Peoples, Geopolitics, Chapter 7: ‘The Tsarist State and the Russian People’].

Additional Reading

Hosking, Geoffrey, Russia. People and Empire, 1552-1917, (London 1998), pp. 3-285.