Перевести текст на язык. if you ask me why of all humanities i have chosen history, my answer will be: it interests me as a science because it helps one to understand and explain the processes going on in various aspects of human history. it also helps one to foresee the course of events in the future. but no one can really study any particular period of history unless he knows a lot about what preceded it, and what came after it. if one casts a retrospective look at the historical past, one can see that the entire history of human society is that of wars and struggle for power. wars, except just ones, were always waged for the purpose of conquering other lands and peoples. all the monarchs brutally oppressed their own people, and enslaved and plundered the conquered nations. but, in the course of time, some empires and monarchies gradually came to a downfall. as a result of democratic revolutions, some monarchs were overthrown and republics were proclaimed. i suppose we'll soon discuss all these points at our seminars. there are many historical subjects in our programme. when we are through with ancient history, we'll pass over to the study of the middle ages. as to russian history, i think, we'll start learning the pre-revolutionary period (the period of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century) next year, but not until we are through with the feudal period. when i am in my third year, i wish to devote myself to the special study of modern and contemporary history to which i am greatly attracted. it was shortly before leaving school that i made up my mind to enter this faculty and take up history seriously as my future speciality. whether i'll make a very good teacher or a research worker remains to be seen, but i'm sure that eventually i'll become quite knowledgeable in the field of history and perhaps social sciences.
