Prof. Julie Hessler Office: McKenzie 351 Office hours: M 3:00-5:00, F 10:00-11:00 Telephone: 346-4857 (o), 302-9032 (h) |
GTF: Julia Earnest Office: PLC 255 Office hours: M 3:00-5:00, F 10:00-11:00 Telephone: 346-4085 Russianjulia@cs.com |
HISTORY 347: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION
MWF 2:00 - 2:50, Pacific 30
Description: This is an introductory lecture survey course on the history of the Soviet Union. It is open to all interested undergraduates, without prerequisite. Grades will be based on a midterm (30%), a final exam (35%), and a final paper (approximately 9 pages) on a topic of your choice (30%, plus 5% for the paper proposal). Active, thoughtful participation may also raise your grade one notch. Failure to take one of the exams or to turn in a paper will mean an automatic F in the course.
Required readings:
Geoffrey Hosking, First Socialist Society
Ronald Grigor Suny, ed., The Structure of Soviet History
Fyodor Gladkov, Cement
Sheila Fitzpatrick, Stalin's Peasants
Course packet
Week 1. Revolution and civil war. Reading: First Socialist Society, pp. 15-92; Structure of Soviet History, 38-43, 45-77.
M Mar. 31 Origins of the revolution
W Apr. 1 The Bolsheviks come to power. Discuss Structure of Soviet History, pp. 38-43, 45-7, 62-73.
F Apr. 3 Reds and Whites in the civil war: armies, terror, public support. Discuss First Socialist Society, 57-92; Structure of Soviet History, 50-61, 73-77.
Week 2. The new regime. Reading: Cement.
M Apr. 7 Begin discussing Cement.
W Apr. 9 Continue Cement. Guest lecturer: Prof. Anindita Banerjee (Russian Studies and Comparative Literature).
F Apr. 11 Finish discussing Cement.
Week 3. From NEP to the "Stalin revolution." Reading: First Socialist Society, pp. 93-148; Structure of Soviet History, 93-102; Roger Pethybridge, "Kazakhstan" (course packet); Stalin's Peasants, 3-79.
M Apr. 14 Sovietization of the non-Russian regions. Discuss Pethybridge, "Kazakhstan," First Socialist Society, pp. 93-118, Structure of Soviet History, pp. 93-102.
W Apr. 16 Stalin's industrialization drive. Prepare First Socialist Society, pp. 118-48.
F Apr. 18 Russian rural life and the great upheaval. Discuss Stalin's Peasants, pp. 3-79.
Week 4. Changes in urban life. Reading: Stalin's Peasants, 80-285.
M Apr. 21 The collectivized village. Discuss Stalin's Peasants, 80-173.
W Apr. 23 Industrialization and Stalinist culture. In-class film: The Radiant Path.
F Apr. 25 Discuss film; also discuss Stalin's Peasants, 174-285.
Week 5. Stalinist terror. Reading: Stalin's Peasants (finish); First Socialist Society, 149-226; Structure of Soviet History, 240-50.
M Apr. 28 The Great Terror: purge, show trials. Discuss Stalin's Peasants, 286-312; Structure of Soviet History, 240-250. Also read First Socialist Society, pp. 149-226.
W Apr. 30 Mass operations and Soviet ethnic cleansing.
F May 2 Midterm exam.
Week 6. War. Reading: First Socialist Society, pp. 227-325, Structure of Soviet History, 298-314, Origins of the Cold War (Knight reserve), pp. 3-16 (the Novikov telegram).
M May 5 The tables turn: German terror and conquest in Ukraine, Belorussia, and Russia, 1941-4. Discuss Structure of Soviet History, 298-314.
W May 7 The Great Fatherland War. Guest lecturer: Julia Earnest (MA candidate, Russian Studies)
F May 9 Origins of the Cold War. Discuss Novikov telegram (in Origins of the Cold War, Knight Library reserves).
Week 7. Khrushchev's "Thaw" and the Cold War. Reading: First Socialist Society, pp. 326-402; Structure of Soviet History, 327-79.
M May 12 Destalinization and the politics of memory. Discuss Structure of Soviet History, 338-56. Topic proposal for final paper due in class.
W May 14 The limits of destalinization. Prepare First Socialist Society 326-63; Structure of Soviet History, 356-8.
F May 16 Russian society in the 1950s-70s. Discuss Structure of Soviet History, 330-37, 360-79; First Socialist Society, 363-402.
Week 8. The normalization of Soviet communism. Reading: First Socialist Society, pp. 402-445; Sakharov, "Manifesto II" (course packet).
M May 19 Kazakhstan revisited: Environmental degradation and cultural change. Prepare First Socialist Society, 402-45.
W May 21 Andrei Sakharov: Soviet science and the making of a dissident. Discuss Sakharov, "Manifesto II" (course packet)
F May 23 Guest lecturer: Prof. Sheila Fitzpatrick (University of Chicago). In preparation, you might read the afterward to Stalin's Peasants.
Week 9. Perestroika. Reading: First Socialist Society, 446-502; Structure of Soviet History, 438-52.
M May 26 Memorial Day - NO CLASS
W May 28 Economic stagnation, Afghanistan, and the roots of perestroika. Prepare First Socialist Society, pp. 446-502.
F May 30 Glasnost': towards freedom of speech. Discuss Structure of Soviet History, 438-52.
Week 10. After communism. Reading: Structure of Soviet History, 406-23, 455-504, 549-73.
M June 2 The collapse of the USSR. Discuss Structure of Soviet History, 406-23, 455-76, 549-63.
W June 4 Russia, the army, and Chechnya. Final research paper due in class.
F June 6 Russia since 1991. Discuss Structure of Soviet History, 478-504, 564-73.
10:15 Thursday, June 12 Final exam. Bring two exam booklets (green books or blue books) to the exam.