http://neighbours.vsb.lv

1. What do we teach about our neighbours ?

2. What do we teach about the Baltic States ?

7. What do we teach about Denmark, Norway and Iceland?

9. What do we teach about Sweden?

14. What do we teach about Poland?

18. What do we teach about Russia ?

20. Lenin and communism Soviet Union in the 20´s and 30´s - Civil war - The NEP - Stalin era: 5-years plans, collectivization, industrialization, Stalin’s terror, Stalin cult, dictatorship Soviet Union after war - The Brezhnev era - Gorbatšov: perestroika, glasnost - The collapse of Soviet Union 1991 Russia after 1991

21. 2) Russia / Soviet Union and Finland Finland becomes part of Russia 1809 - The Treaty of Tilsit 1807 - The War between Russia and Sweden 1808-1809 - Aleksandr I in Finland 1809 Finland as a part of Russia 1809-1917 - Nikolai I and censorship - Reforms of Aleksandr II in Finland The period of russification 1899-1917 - The position of Finland in Russian empire - The administration of Finland: Finnish or Russian?

22. The civil war of Finland - Russian soldiers in Finland - Finnish emigrants to Soviet Russia Finnish – Soviet relationships in the 20’s and 30’s - The Peace treaty in Tartu 1920 - Distant relations Second World War - The Winter War - The Continuation War - The Peace Treaty: loss of territory, reparations… Finland and Soviet Union after war - Finland’s new policy: The Paasikivi Line - The Finno-Soviet Pact of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance 1948 - YYA treaty - Kekkonen’s policy: good relationship with Soviet union or “finlandization”? - The collapse of Soviet Union and Finland’s new policy

23. 3) Russia and the rest of the world USA in the 19th century - Russia sells Alaska to USA - Russian emigrants to USA Imperialism - Japan’s victory over Russia 1905 The First World War - Russia against Germany The Second World War - The Nazi-Soviet pact 1939 - The division of Poland - The operation Barbarossa - Stalingrad - The end of the war

24. The Cold War - The role of Soviet Union after 1945 - Eastern Europe after war - Arms race, competition of getting to the space - Warsaw Pact - Crisis in Cuba - Improvement in the climate of international relations in the 70’s - The war in Afghanistan Russia and the rest of the world after Soviet Union - The eras of Jeltsin and Putin - The challenges of Russia nowadays: economy, democracy, environment, social development

25. How do the textbooks see Russia / Soviet Union? - The textbooks are only a part of teaching. Teachers are very free to teach differently and use other material as well. - In the textbooks often the emphasis is on the relationships between Finland and Soviet Union. - There are two sides in those relationships: 1) Russia / Soviet Union as a threat and Finland’s struggle against Russia (especially during the wars) 2) Russia / Soviet Union as a good neighbor or a good ruler (especially during the era of the Grand Duchy of Finland (1809-1917) - There is much more political than cultural history. - The emperors and leaders are important in both Russian and Soviet era. - There are a lot of negative things: dictatorship, wars, oppression, economical and social problems. There are positive things, as well, in the new books.