Early history. The inhabitants of the East European Plain ; The East Slavs and the Varangians ; The golden age of Kiev ; The rise of regional centers
Muscovy. The rise of Muscovy ; The evolution of the Russian aristocracy ; Ivan IV ; The time of troubles ; The Romanovs ; Expansion and Westernization
Early imperial Russia. Peter the Great and the Russian empire ; The era of palace revolutions ; Imperial expansion and maturation: Catherine II
Ruling the empire. War and peace, 1796-1825 ; Reaction under Nicholas I
Transformation of Russia in the nineteenth century. Economic developments ; Reforms and their limit, 1855-92 ; Foreign affairs after the Crimean War ; The rise of revolutionary movements ; Witte and accelerated industrialization ; Radical political parties develop ; Imperialism in Asia and the Russo-Japanese War
The last years of the autocracy. Revolution and counterrevolution, 1905-07 ; The Stolypin and Kokovtsov governments ; Active Balkan policy, 1906-13 ; Russia at war, 1914-16 ; The fatal weakening of tsarism
Revolutions and civil war. The February Revolution ; The period of dual power ; The Bolshevik revolution ; Civil war and war communism
The era of the new economic policy. Lenin's leadership ; Stalin's rise to power ; Foreign policy, 1921-28 ; Society and culture in the 1920s
Transformation and terror. Industrialization and collectivization ; The purges ; Mobilization of society ; Foreign policy, 1928-39
The war years. Prelude to war ; The Great Patriotic War
Reconstruction and Cold War. Reconstruction years ; Onset of the Cold War ; The death of Stalin
The Khrushchev era. Collective leadership and the rise of Khrushchev ; Foreign policy under Khrushchev ; Khrushchev's reforms and fall
The Brezhnev era. Collective leadership and the rise of Brezhnev ; Foreign policy of a superpower ; The economy under Brezhnev ; Culture and the arts in the 1960s and 1970s ; The death of Brezhnev
The leadership transition period. The Andropov interregnum ; The Chernenko interregnum
The Gorbachev era. Gorbachev's first year ; New thinking: foreign policy under Gorbachev ; Gorbachev's reform dilemma ; Nationality ferment ; The August coup and its aftermath
Physical environment. Global position and boundaries ; Administrative and territorial divisions ; Topography and drainage ; Climate
Environmental problems. Environmental conditions ; The response to environmental problems
Population. Demographic conditions ; Migration
Future prospects
Ethnic composition. The Russians ; Minority peoples and their territories ; Other ethnic groups ; Movements toward sovereignty
Religion. The Russian Orthodox Church ; Other religions ; Religion and foreign policy
The Russian language
Literature and the arts. Literature ; Music ; Ballet ; Architecture and painting
Outlook
Social structure. Social stratification ; Wages and work ; Rural life ; Social organizations ; The family ; The role of women ; Sexual attitudes
Education. The Soviet heritage ; The post-Soviet education structure ; Higher education ; Education and society
Health. Health conditions ; The health system
Housing. The Soviet era ; Post-Soviet conditions ; Land reform and private enterprise
Social welfare. Pensions ; Worker protection and benefits ; The homeless
Historical background. The eras of Lenin and Stalin ; The postwar growth period ; Reform and resistance ; The perestroika program ; Unforeseen results of reform
Economic reform in the 1990s. The Yeltsin economic program ; Monetary and fiscal policies ; Privatization ; Economic conditions in mid-1996
Natural resources
Agriculture. Crops ; Agricultural policy ; Agricultural production
Energy. Exploitation and consumption ; Oil ; Natural gas ; Coal ; Nuclear energy ; Conventional power generation ; Foreign investment in oil and gas
Banking and finance. The soviet financial system ; The financial sector in the 1990s ; Taxation
The labor force. Unemployment ; Wages
Manufacturing. Ferrous metallurgy ; Nonferrous metallurgy ; The automotive industry ; Machine building ; Light industry ; Chemicals
Transportation and telecommunications
Foreign economic relations. Foreign trade ; Foreign investment ; Foreign debt
The economic outlook
Historical background
The constitution and government structure. The executive branch ; The parliament ; The judiciary
Local and regional government. The federation treaty and regional power ; The separatist question
Political parties and legislative elections. The elections of 1993 ; The elections of 1995
Civil rights. General civil rights guarantees ; Criminal justice protection
The media. The print media ; The broadcast media
The political outlook
The emergence of Russian foreign policy. The search for objectives ; The state of the federation speeches
The foreign policy mechanism. The president ; The security council ; The parliament ; The government (cabinet)
Regional policies. The near abroad ; The United States ; Western Europe ; NATO ; Central Europe ; China ; Japan ; Other Asian states ; The third world ; The Middle East ; Latin America
Foreign policy prospects
Historical background
Military doctrine. Soviet doctrine ; The doctrine of 1993
The geopolitical context. Chechnya ; The Commonwealth of Independent States ; Kaliningrad ; The NATO issue ; Nuclear arms issues
The defense industry. Structure and conditions ; The defense budget ; New weaponry acquisition ; Foreign arms sales ; Prospects for the defense strategy
Force structure. Command structure ; Ground forces ; Naval forces ; Air forces ; Air defense forces ; Strategic rocket forces ; Airborne troops
Performance. Troop support programs ; Crime in the military ; Training ; Reform plans
Prospects for the military
Internal security before 1991
Successor agencies to the KGB. Ministry of Security (MB) ; Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK) ; Federal Security Service (FSB) ; Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information (FAPSI) ; Main Guard Directorate (GUO) ; Federal Border Service and border security
Security operations in Chechnya ; Crime. Crime in the Soviet era ; The crime wave of the 1990s
The criminal justice system. Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) ; The procuracy ; Criminal law reform in the 1990s ; Secrecy laws ; How the system works
Prisons
Outlook.