This paper is suspended in 2024-25.
The spectre of the Soviet Union has, in recent years, returned to haunt Western perceptions of Russia in sources as diverse as the news media鈥攚ith the perennial comparisons between Putin and Stalin鈥攖o Hollywood blockbusters, where Russian master-criminals sport hammer and sickle prison tattoos. The implicit claim is that the Soviet legacy, more than that of any other period, has shaped Russia as we know it today. This paper will explore the first part of this claim by leading you through the Soviet period, from the October Revolution in 1917 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. We will examine both the history and the historiography of the period, tracing how historians have interpreted and debated topics such as the Bolshevik Revolution, the rise of Stalin, the push to construct socialism, the Terror, the (inescapable?) legacy of Stalin, the Cold War, perestroika and glasnost', and the collapse of the USSR.
We will examine the 鈥楽oviet experiment鈥� to reshape political structures, economic relations, society and human nature itself. We will assess the achievements and costs of this epic undertaking from a variety of perspectives: from the central leadership who achieved a position of authority rivaling that of history鈥檚 most powerful dictators, to the 鈥榚nemies of the people鈥� who paid with their freedom and lives for Soviet Great Power status; from the Stalin-era peasants who were educated and promoted through the ranks of the nomenklatura, to the Brezhnev-era apparatchiki who got on with life thanks to access to black markets and deals on the side. By the end of the paper, students will be equipped to engage critically with the so-called new Cold War discourse that posits the Russia of today as simply the Soviet Union in disguise.
To download the course handbook please click here
- Revolutionary Period
- Socialist Construction, 1928-32
- Power in Stalin鈥檚 Russia, 1924-39
- Society & War, 1928-45
- Late Stalinism & the Cold War, 1945-91
- Destalinization & Stagnation, 1953-82
- Reform & Collapse, 1985-91
- Primary sources:
- 袟邪褋械写邪薪懈械 笑袣 袪小袛袪袩(斜) 褟薪胁邪褉褟 懈 褎械胁褉邪谢褟 1918 谐.
- 袠. 袙. 小褌邪谢懈薪, 袚芯谢芯胁芯泻褉褍卸械薪懈械 芯褌 褍褋锌械褏芯胁. 袣 胁芯锌褉芯褋邪屑 泻芯谢褏芯蟹薪芯谐芯 写胁懈卸械薪懈褟.
- 袧. 小. 啸褉褍褖械胁, 袛芯泻谢邪写 薪邪 蟹邪泻褉褘褌芯屑 蟹邪褋械写邪薪懈懈 XX 褋褗械蟹写邪 袣袩小小.
- 袦. 小. 袚芯褉斜邪褔械胁, 袪械褔褜 薪邪 褌褉懈薪邪写褑邪褌芯屑 蟹邪褋械写邪薪懈懈 XXVIII 褋褗械蟹写邪 袣袩小小.
1听听听听听听 You should familiarize yourself thoroughly with the course handbook.
2听听听听听听 Familiarise yourself also with the general progression of Soviet history by reading through one or more of the following:
- Applebaum, Anne, Red Famine. Stalin's War on Ukraine (2017)
- Figes, Orlando, Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991 (2014)
- Kenez, Peter, A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the听End (2006)
- Lovell, Stephen, The Soviet Union: A Very Short Introduction (2009)
- Suny, Ronald Grigor,The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States (2010)
3听听听听听听 There will be a briefing meeting at the beginning of Michaelmas term that everyone must attend.
4听听听听听听 Visit the for readings and other resources.
The course comprises four elements: lectures, seminars, supervisions and reading.
Lectures: there are sixteen lectures, eight in Michaelmas and eight in Lent.
Seminars: there are four seminars in Easter term.
Supervisions: there are ten supervisions: four in Michaelmas, four in Lent and two in Easter.
See course handbook for full details.
For the SL.12 Moodle site, please see . The password can be collected from the paper coordinator.
Three-hour unseen paper divided into three sections. All candidates answer three questions: two on historical topics, one on a primary source.
See course handbook for full details.
Suspended |
