HIST374-24S1 (C) Semester One 2024

The Soviet Experiment and Its Aftermath

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 19 February 2024
End Date: Sunday, 23 June 2024
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 3 March 2024
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 12 May 2024

Description

The emphasis is on Russia's 20th century Communist experience and its many legacies in the fast-changing post-Soviet society. Together we will examine the causes of the Bolshevik Revolution and the greatest social experiment in the history of humankind that followed it. The course will explore the roots of Stalinism, the causes and consequences of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, the space race and other Cold War competitions between the superpowers, Gorbachev's reforms and the collapse of the USSR. Was the end of the Communist rule in the Soviet Union predetermined?

This is a course about Soviet Communism, the greatest social experiment in the history of humankind—from its utopian origins in Marxist ideology and violent beginning in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 through to its collapse in 1991 and the legacies that it left behind. Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks pursued a lofty goal: they wanted to push Russia and the world onto what Marx and Engels said was to be the next stage of historical development: a society in which there will be no social injustice, no rich and no poor, where everyone will have equal rights and prosper by working freely and happily for the benefit of all. Was this goal ever achievable? Why did the road to Communist paradise have to go through the hell of totalitarianism and the Gulags? Could the experiment be saved after Stalin? Why did the Soviet colossus crumble so swiftly under Gorbachev? Was the end of the Communist rule in the Soviet Union predetermined? Together we will look for answers to these crucial questions.

The first part of the course will examine the beginnings of Soviet Communism, its roots in the ideology of Marxism and the causes of Bolshevik victory in the revolution 1917 and the Civil War that followed. We will also investigate the experimental nature of Bolshevik transformation of the Soviet society in the 1920s.

The second part of the course will focus on the roots of Stalinism and what many historians regard as a second revolution orchestrated by Stalin in 1929-1934 in which Soviet Russia was industrialized at an enormous human cost. We will examine Russia’s darkest hour of terror in 1936-38 and consider why and how Stalin’s economic and political machine was vindicated by Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and what this victory meant for the Soviet Union and the rest of the world.

The third part will cover the period from 1953 to 1991 during which a succession of Soviet rulers attempted to rescue and relaunch the experiment compromised by totalitarian terror. We will examine Khrushchev’s de-Stalinisation and policy of peaceful coexistence with the capitalist West. Among other things, we will look at the space race and other Cold War competitions between the superpowers. This section will conclude with an examination of how Gorbachev attempted to breathe life into the stagnating regime in the late 1980s and why instead of reviving the USSR, his reforms ended with the collapse of the Soviet empire and of the entire Soviet experiment.

Part four will trace the years of post-Soviet transition in which Russia has been trying to recover from 74 years of Communist rule. How do Soviet legacies continue to haunt Russia to this day?

Learning Outcomes

  • Upon successful completion of the course, students in RUSS218/HIST274/EURA214
    will:

  • acquire a broad knowledge of 20th-century Russian history and thus enhance their awareness of influences and trends in global history and the political and cultural development of a number of Eurasian nations that made up the Soviet;
  • be able to understand the ideological foundation of the Soviet project, as well as causes of Bolshevik success and of the ultimate failure of the Communist system;
  • gain insights into the dynamics of the post-Communist developments in Russia and other former Soviet republics;
  • be able to critically review, and engage in, historiographical debate in the field;

    The course contributes to the development of the following skills:

  • research: locating information and using the Library, electronic and other resources; handling and interpreting primary sources;
  • comprehension; essay writing;
  • analysis: critical engagement in understanding underlying assumptions, assessing the adequacy of evidence;
  • evaluation of historical arguments: understanding concepts and theories used in historical writing;
  • basic scholarly conventions: referencing, compiling bibliographies, use of quotations, avoiding plagiarism;
  • oral presentations: introduction to seminars; developing confidence in small group discussion;

Prerequisites

Any 30 points at 200 level from EURA, HIST, or
RUSS, or
any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

Restrictions

Equivalent Courses

Recommended Preparation

Timetable 2024

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 10:00 - 11:00 A4 Lecture Theatre
19 Feb - 31 Mar
22 Apr - 2 Jun
Lecture B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 10:00 - 11:00 A6 Lecture Theatre
19 Feb - 24 Mar
22 Apr - 2 Jun
Tutorial A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 11:00 - 12:00 Elsie Locke 104A
26 Feb - 31 Mar
29 Apr - 2 Jun

Course Coordinator

Evgeny Pavlov

Assessment

Please check the course LEARN page for further details and updates.

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Suny, Ronald Grigor; The Soviet experiment : Russia, the USSR, and the successor states ; 2nd ed;

Course links

Library portal
The full Course Outline is available on LEARN (only for students enrolled in this course).

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,687.00

International fee $7,900.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

Minimum enrolments

This course will not be offered if fewer than 10 people apply to enrol.

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .

All HIST374 Occurrences

  • HIST374-24S1 (C) Semester One 2024