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Academic Year 2005/2006

Russian and Soviet History 1881 to the Present
HIST 219 FA
Crosslistings:
REES 219

We will focus on the following: the dynamics of a revolutionary movement leading to Bolshevik victory; the international and internal processes that transformed an international socialist project into a Soviet imperial one; and the endurance of nationalism within the Soviet imperial framework. We will also explore in some depth the role of personalities in politics. In terms of coverage, we begin with the crises of the Romanov regime and study the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, the Civil War, the Soviet period, Stalinism, the Second World War, and the Cold War. We move to the arms races and nuclear perils of the Cold War and study the failed efforts to reform the Soviet system. Finally, we will examine the struggles of both Gorbachev and the post-Soviet leadership to integrate their state into a world order dominated by democratic values and capitalist markets while sustaining or reviving the Russian and Soviet empires' traditional great-power status.

MAJOR READINGS

R. Conquest, THE HARVEST OF SORROW
J. Dunlop, THE RISE OF RUSSIA AND THE FALL OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE
S. Fitzpatrick, STALIN'S PEASANTS
E. Ginzburg, JOURNEY INTO THE WHIRLWIND
R. Medvedev, KHRUSHCHEV: THE YEARS IN POWER
J. Scott, BEHIND THE URALS
H. Smith, THE RUSSIANS
J. Thompson, A VISION UNFULFILLED

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Examinations: A three-hour final. Papers: Three 6-8 page essays.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This course ordinarily is given as a lecture course. However, there are usually ten minutes of discussion at the end of the lecture and several scheduled discussions.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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