1840s: Russia is impacted by two political factions: the "Slavophiles," who support Russian culture and advocate an isolationist view; and the "Westernizers," who view Russia's future in light of Western Europe.

1990s: With the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia and the surrounding republics that once made up the Soviet Union look to the United States and the European community. Yet some Russians advocate a return to Communism and isolationism as a result of economic failures and food shortages.

1840s: Gogol and other Russian authors struggle to develop a Russian school of literature.

1990s: Russian authors of the mid to latenineteenth centuries are highly regarded all over the world. Gogol, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and others have had a great influence over subsequent Russian authors and world literature.

1840s: Censorship of literary and journalistic work is commonplace under the Czarist regime.

1990s: Russia is an open...