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[Meerkat]

Russian History: the Beginning

By 500 BC, some of the people living in Russia were called the Scythians. Russian people had some hard times between about 300 and 600 AD, when they were invaded by the Ostrogoths, the Avars, and the Huns. But the first time that those people united into one country was about 800 AD. About this time, Vikings from Scandinavia (modern Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) discovered that they could trade with the Byzantine Empire on the Black Sea and - even most importantly - with Central Asian Silk Road traders on the Caspian Sea, by sailing down the Volga and Dnieper rivers, through Russia. They could trade their furs and slaves for excellent steel for swords. When the Vikings did this in the 800s AD, they met the Slavs, who were also moving into Russia, and together the Vikings and the Slavs united Russia into a kingdom with its capital at Novgorod. The medieval kingdom of Russia included only the westernmost part of what is now Russia, but it also included most of modern Ukraine.

[Meerkat]

The Ever Shortest History of Russia 

The earliest human settlements in Russia arose around A.D. 500, as Scandinavians moved south to areas around the upper Volga River. These settlers mixed with Slavs from the west and built a fortress that would eventually become the Ukrainian city of Kiev.
Kiev evolved into an empire that ruled most of European Russia for 200 years, then broke up into Ukraine, Belarus, and Muscovy. Muscovy's capital, Moscow, remained a small trading post until the 13th century, when Mongol invasions in the south drove people to settle in Moscow.

In the 1550s, Muscovite ruler Ivan IV became Russia's first tsar after driving the Mongols out of Kiev and unifying the region. In 1682, Peter the Great became tsar at the age of ten and for 42 years worked to make Russia more modern and more European.

In 1917, Russians unhappy with their government overthrew the tsar and formed an elected government. Just a few months later though, a communist group called the Bolsheviks seized power. Their leader, Vladimir Lenin, created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) from Russia and 11 other countries.

The U.S.S.R. fought on the side of the United States in World War II, but relations between the two powers and their allies became strained soon after the war ended in 1945. These tensions led to the Cold War, which ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union broke up.

[Meerkat]

The "Norman Problem" of the Origin of the Russian State

The Norman theory was formulated by German scholars who worked at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in the second quarter of the 18th century. Evidence for the Norman origin of the ancient Russian state was provided by The Tale of Bygone Years (The Primary Chronicle), which contains an account of the summoning of the Varangian princes Riurik, Sineus, and Truvor to Rus’ in A.D. 862.
Simply put, the “Norman problem” is the debate over whether Scandinavians founded and ruled the first Russian state. Supporters of the “Norman theory” have used their research to argue that Russia would never have developed “civilization” without influences from the West. Opponents say the Slavs developed civilization independently. Others have argued that the first Russian state was a melding of Scandinavian and Slavic influences.
In the middle of the 18th century, the theory was criticized by M. V. Lomonosov, who pointed out that it was unsound from the standpoint of scholarship, and that it was politically biased against Russia.
The Norman theory still has supporters, and opponents. Its opponents say that the calling of Varangians is merely a legend. The question who were the first Russian princes and where did they come from is still unsolved. The versions about the foreign origin of this or that dynasty are quite typical of Antiquity and Middle Ages. Russian chronicles on the basis of which we form our view on the first centuries of the Russian history were written much later than the events themselves, so they were likely to put good portion of mystery over the Russian statehood creation. Archeological excavations confirm that Varangians indeed lived among Slavs that testifies to their deep mutual relations. But Slavs and Varangians were at the same stage of social development, that is why Varangians could not and did not fundamentally influence the economy, social relations and culture of eastern Slavs. Though they started the first ruling dynasty in Russia, the first Varangians princes (Rurick, Oleg, Igor, Olga) had Scandinavian names, but the son of Igor and Olga and their grandson were called by Slavic names -Svyatoslav and Vladimir respectively. Some generations after the calling of Rurick from Varangians passed and all that was left from these times - were only a number of legends about the origin of the most noble Slavic kings.
So, although it is clear that the Russian origin problem has not yet been resolved, it can be researched further, particularly with the numerous new primary sources.
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[Meerkat]

Yaroslav the Wise as Statesman

Yaroslav the Wise ruled as the grand prince of Kiev from 1019 to 1054. A son of the grand prince Vladimir, he was vice-regent of Novgorod at the time of his father’s death in 1015. Then his eldest surviving brother, Svyatopolk the Accursed, killed three of his other brothers and seized power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian (Viking) mercenaries, defeated Svyatopolk and became the grand prince of Kiev in 1019.

Yaroslav began consolidating the Kievan state through both cultural and administrative improvements and through military campaigns. He promoted the spread of Christianity in the Kievan state, gathered a large collection of books, and employed many scribes to translate Greek religious texts into the Slavic language. He founded churches and monasteries and issued statutes regulating the legal position of the Christian Church and the rights of the clergy. With the help of Byzantine architects and craftsmen, Yaroslav fortified and beautified Kiev. He built the majestic Cathedral of St. Sophia and the famous Golden Gate of the Kievan fortress. Under Yaroslav the codification of legal customs was begun, and this work served as the basis for a law code called the Russkaya Pravda ("Russian Justice").

Yaroslav pursued an active foreign policy, and his forces won several notable military victories. He regained Galicia from the Poles, decisively defeated the nomadic Pechenegs on the Kievan state's southern frontier, and expanded Kievan possessions in the Baltic region, suppressing the Lithuanians, Estonians, and Finnish tribes.

But Yaroslav was not a prince only in the meaning of a leader of the druzhina who aspired to conquests, glory, and booty in far countries; Yaroslav, it is evident, was a prince who brought order to the country. The Russkaia Pravda, the oldest Russian code of laws adopted by Yaroslav, created for all lands of the empire a single legal field which strengthened Kievan Rus in the face of external threats and made stable development possible.
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[Meerkat]

The Christianization of Kievan Rus

In 1988 the Christian world celebrated the thousand-year anniversary of Christianity in Russia. Although 988 was indeed a pivotal year for Russian Christians, it isn’t quite accurate to describe it as the birth year of Christianity there.
Christianity had, in fact, penetrated “Russia” by the early 900s, when at least one church had been built in the ancient city of Kiev. In the 950s, Olga, the grandmother of Vladimir, was baptized. She asked German king Otto I to send missionaries to her country, but apparently they met little success.
Olga’s grandson Vladimir practiced the old religion. He built a number of pagan temples. He hardly seemed the person to spread Christianity.
Nevertheless, Vladimir apparently wanted to unite the people under one religion, so around 988 he sent envoys to examine the major religions. The options?  Islam, Judaism, the Catholic Christianity of Western Europe, and the Orthodox Christianity of Eastern Europe (though as yet, there was no official break between the Orthodox and Catholic Christians).
The story of Vladimir’s choosing Orthodox Christianity is part legend, part fact. According to the tradition, Vladimir didn’t like the dietary restrictions of Islam and Judaism. Catholic Christianity was all right, but what impressed the grand prince was the dazzling worship his ambassadors described seeing in the great Cathedral of Sophia in Constantinople.
So Vladimir opted for Orthodoxy because of its beautiful worship. The name of Vladimir’s chosen religion was, in fact, Pravoslavie, a word which meant “true worship” or “right glory.” Orthodoxy was also the religion of the most powerful, wealthy, and civilized of Russia’s border nations, the Byzantine Empire. And if Vladimir was impressed by Orthodoxy’s beauty, he also was impressed by another beauty: Anna, sister of Byzantine emperors Basil II and Constantine, who offered her to Vladimir as a bride with the condition that he be baptized.
In 988 Vladimir was baptized. In 989 he married Anna. Neither act was a sign that he was submitting to the authority—religious or political—of the Byzantine Empire. Though it adopted the Byzantine religion, the “Russian” church has always been independent.

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[Meerkat]

What was Kievan Rus?

An answer to this simple question, as to most questions about medieval East Slavic history, is not readily available. Currently, “Kievan Rus” is used mainly to define the state established in the tenth century by princes of the Rurikid dynasty that disintegrated into a number of polities after the Mongol invasion of the mid-thirteenth century. As the first known Kievan princes had non-Slavic or, more precisely, Scandinavian names – Rorik (Rurik), from whom the Rurikid dynasty took its name, Helgi (Oleg), Ingvar (Igor), Helga (Olga), and so on – there is good reason to believe that the polity known today as Kievan Rus was one of the many “nation-building” enterprises undertaken by the Norsemen in medieval Europe.
The Russian chronicle supposes that the Slavs, Finns and other natives agreed jointly to call in a ruler from overseas. Turning to “the Varangians, to the Rus” they said “our land is vast and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come and reign as princes and have authority over us!”
It is likely that the Scandinavian rulers appeared in Kiev sometime in the late ninth or early tenth century and very soon found themselves at the head of a growing empire. Kiev reached the height of its power in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, when it was ruled by three of its most famous princes, Sviatoslav the Brave, St. Vladimir the Great, and Yaroslav the Wise. Prince Sviatoslav ruled between 945 and 972 (prior to 957 under the regency of his mother, Olga, who was the first Christian member of the dynasty). He became known for his victories over the neighbors of Rus, including Byzantium, but despite his Slavic name (Sviatoslav was the first in his dynasty to have a non-Scandinavian name), he had little attachment to the Rus realm, and, judging by the chronicler’s account, planned to move his capital to the Danube. His son Vladimir, who ruled between 980 and 1015, felt much more attached to Kiev. He considerably extended the boundaries of the realm and cemented it ideologically by introducing Byzantine Christianity as the official religion of the land in 988.
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[Meerkat]

fatal campaign   роковая кампания
a battle between the good and the evil   битва между добром и злом
to compel Russia to the conclusion of peace    принудить Россию к заключению мира
Napoleon managed to save his reserves   Наполеон смог сохранить свои резервы
exhausted   истощенный
despite of heavy losses   не смотря на тяжелые потери
ordered to burn warehouses   приказал сжечь склады
reduced to a fraction of their initial might   букв.сократившаяся до части своей былой мощи (ставшая лишь тенью своей былой мощи)
the French army was expelled from Russia   французская армия была изгнана из России
Russian troops made a glorious entry to Paris   русские войска триумфально вошли в Париж

[Meerkat]

The Patriotic War of 1812

As Napoleonic wars echoed in Russia, Russian Tsar Alexander I, although initially admiring Napoleon, entered an anti-French coalition. On June 12, 1812 Napoleon began his fatal campaign, known in Russia as the Patriotic War. Opposing Napoleon, Alexander believed he was fulfilling a divine mission. For him it was far more than a war between two nations – it was a battle between the good and the evil.

The 12th of June 1812 Napoleon crossed Neman and entered the Russian territory. The plan of Napoleon was to crush Russian armies separately in frontier battles and to compel Russia to the conclusion of peace on his conditions, fell. Kutuzov (Commander-in-chief of the Russian army) started the preparation for the decisive battle, at the position near the village of Borodino, 110 versts from Moscow. There, on the 26th of August (the 7th of September) took place the battle that played a decisive role on the issue of the war.

After a fight proceeding all the day, Napoleon managed to save his reserves the reserves of the Russian army almost exhausted. Kutuzov could not crush the French army nor stop its approach; but despite of heavy losses, the Russian army was rescued and could continue its campaign.

The 1st of September, at the military council situated in a village near Moscow Fili, Kutuzov took up the responsibility for the heavy decision about the leaving of the ancient capital without fight for the sake of the army. Leaving the city, Kutuzov and the Moscow general-governor F. Rostopchin ordered to burn warehouses. Napoleon could not stay in the devastated city during the winter; that is why Napoleon and the French Army left Moscow on the 7th of October.

By December, reduced to a fraction of their initial might, the French army was expelled from Russia. Two years later, with Alexander I riding at their head, Russian troops made a glorious entry to Paris. This was the triumph of his reign – hailed as hero across Europe he turned into one of its most powerful monarchs. [/size]

[Mari]

Спасибо. Следующая новость будет ваша)

[Meerkat]

Картинка к новости по сборнику "The Romanovs".

[Meerkat]

Текст новости на сайт по итогам разговора с В.И.

Образование, которое современное государство предлагает современному человеку, раздроблено на отдельные учебные предметы. Успешно работавший в прошлом, в настоящем такой подход не отвечает требованиям действительности. В мире неопределенности, сложности и разнообразия человеку нужны целостная картина, разнообразный набор знаний, навыков, умений и компетентностей. Решить эту задачу призвана образовательная форма, которая называется метапредмет,  выстраиваемый поверх традиционных учебных предметов.
 
Результатом нашей последней методической разработки в области метапредметного подхода к образованию является учебный курс на английском языке под названием «A LOOK AT RUSSIAN HISTORY. THE ROMANOVS».
Подготовленный на основе исторической канвы жизни дома Романовых, настоящий учебный курс позволяет учащемуся овладеть компетенцией комплексного анализа массива информации, используя предварительные предметные знания (английский язык, история, обществознание и основы экономической теории) для создания новых понятий, выходящих за рамки традиционных учебных предметов, в конечном итоге конструируя целостную картину мира.

[Meerkat]

Уважаемые коллеги! Представляю проект текста новости по Английскому клубу на сайт школы без картинки.


Образование, которое современное государство предлагает современному человеку, раздроблено на отдельные учебные предметы. Успешно работавший в прошлом, в настоящем такой подход не отвечает требованиям действительности. В мире неопределенности, сложности и разнообразия человеку нужны целостная картина, разнообразный набор знаний, навыков, умений и компетентностей. Решить эту задачу призвана образовательная форма, которая называется метапредмет,  выстраиваемый поверх традиционных учебных предметов.
Результатом нашей последней методической разработки в области метапредметного подхода к образованию является учебный курс на английском языке под названием «A LOOK AT RUSSIAN HISTORY. THE ROMANOVS».

Подготовленный на основе исторической канвы жизни дома Романовых, настоящий учебный курс позволяет учащемуся овладеть компетенцией комплексного анализа массива информации (английский язык, история, история искусств, основы права и экономики, политологии, прикладной психологии, истории науки и техники), используя предварительные предметные знания для создания новых понятий, выходящих за рамки традиционных учебных предметов, в конечном итоге конструируя целостную картину мира. Другими словами, задача настоящего пособия - выработать у учащегося необходимый набор умений и навыков, позволяющих ему  эффективно анализировать любую разнопредметную и иноязычную информацию, создавая целостный образ объекта, события, проблемы или явления и по итогам анализа принимать верное решение.

[Neta]

Edited. 2nd draft.

Уважаемый Вячеслав Алексеевич!

В течение нескольких десятилетий я профессионально работаю в сфере образования. Сначала в качестве профессора Военного Института переводчиков, а последние 25 лет – Генерального директора научно-методического учебного центра «Школа-ВУЗ «Современное образование».
Рада отметить, что последние инициативы возглавляемого Вами Комитета Государственной Думы Российской Федерации, а также инициативы Министерства Образования РФ (например, утвержденная Правительством России Концепция преподавания русского языка и литературы в Российской Федерации), соответствуют нашему взгляду на перспективы развития российского образования, который сформировался за долгие годы профессиональной деятельности в этой области.
   
Наш научно-методический учебный центр Школа-ВУЗ «Современное образование» был основан в 1990 году. В 1992 году приказом Министерства   образования   Российской   Федерации № 341 он получил статус центра, реализующего концепцию непрерывного образования человека, личностно-деятельностного подхода и комплексного метода образования.

Вот уже 25 лет мы работаем над освоением общеобразовательных программ, нацеленных на создание системной учебной среды  для воспитание человека-гражданина, не только социально-адаптированного в условия современного многонационального и поликультурного российского общества, но и способного на его творческое осмысление и совершенствование.

Уважаемый Вячеслав Алексеевич, учитывая наш многолетний опыт с одной стороны и внимание Государственной Думы РФ вопросам качества предметного преподавания в средней школе с другой стороны, пишу Вам, чтобы предложить наш научно-методический центр в качестве площадки реализации образовательных проектов и апробирования новых подходов в преподавании гуманитарных и естественно-научных дисциплин, а также для любой другой формы сотрудничества в сфере образования. 
 
С уважением,

В первом абзаце после круглой скобки запятая не нужна. В последнем абзаце выражения с одной стороны и с другой стороны выделяются запятыми (это вводные выражения).

[Mari]

[Meerkat]

Edited. 2nd draft.

Уважаемый Вячеслав Алексеевич!

В течение нескольких десятилетий я профессионально работаю в сфере образования. Сначала в качестве профессора Военного Института переводчиков, а последние 25 лет – Генерального директора научно-методического учебного центра «Школа-ВУЗ «Современное образование».
Рада отметить, что последние инициативы возглавляемого Вами Комитета Государственной Думы Российской Федерации, а также инициативы Министерства Образования РФ (например, утвержденная Правительством России Концепция преподавания русского языка и литературы в Российской Федерации), соответствуют нашему взгляду на перспективы развития российского образования, который сформировался за долгие годы профессиональной деятельности в этой области.
   
Наш научно-методический учебный центр Школа-ВУЗ «Современное образование» был основан в 1990 году. В 1992 году приказом Министерства   образования   Российской   Федерации № 341 он получил статус центра, реализующего концепцию непрерывного образования человека, личностно-деятельностного подхода и комплексного метода образования.

Вот уже 25 лет мы работаем над освоением общеобразовательных программ, нацеленных на создание системной учебной среды  для воспитание человека-гражданина, не только социально-адаптированного в условия современного многонационального и поликультурного российского общества, но и способного на его творческое осмысление и совершенствование.

Уважаемый Вячеслав Алексеевич, учитывая наш многолетний опыт с одной стороны и внимание Государственной Думы РФ вопросам качества предметного преподавания в средней школе с другой стороны, пишу Вам, чтобы предложить наш научно-методический центр в качестве площадки реализации образовательных проектов и апробирования новых подходов в преподавании гуманитарных и естественно-научных дисциплин, а также для любой другой формы сотрудничества в сфере образования. 
 
С уважением,