Dramatic conflicts and ideological changes occurred in Russia during the past decade. They inevitably influenced Russian education, particularly history teaching. A number of problems that have arisen in history education have been identified, including the emergence of new ideological symbols, and inequalities between schools for the rich and schools for the poor. In this essay, the author discusses two issues: the popularity of history among Russian high school students; and the problem of national identity and how it has played out in history teaching. (Contains 17 notes.)