MODERN RUSSIAN HISTORY, 1861-1991 H222

MWF 11 - 11:50 e-mail: skeller

Professor: Shoshana Keller Office: K-J 236

Phone: x4358 Office hours: Monday 2 - 3:30

Thursday 10 - 11:30

An overview of the modern Russian empire, from the emancipation of the serfs to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The underlying theme of the course is how Russia confronted and dealt with its sense of "backwardness" vis-à-vis Europe: through Alexander II's Great Reforms, building and maintaining a colonial empire, and the Soviet attempt to plan a perfect society. There will be two mid-term exams and a final. In addition, students will write two short essays and a 10-page research paper due Friday, May 3.

Attendance policy: I do not take attendance. I assume you are responsible adults. It is in your best interests to attend class every day, or get notes from someone if you must miss a session. If you choose to skip classes, I will not track you down. Be warned, however, that you will pay for it on the exams and papers.

Grade basis: 2 short essays, 10% each

Mid-term exam I 15%

Mid-term exam II 15%

Research paper 25%

Final exam 25%

Required Texts:

Moss, Walter. A History of Russia. Vol. II, since 1855. Boston: McGrawHill, 1997.

Fitzpatrick, Sheila and Yuri Slezkine, eds. In the Shadow of Revolution: Life Stories of Russian Women from 1917 to the Second World War. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2000.

Remnick, David. Lenin’s Tomb: the last days of the Soviet empire. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

Rius. Marx for Beginners. New York: Pantheon, 1976.

Stites, Richard. Russian Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995.

January 21 - 25: The Great Reforms

M: Introduction to course; Great Reforms

W: Growth of political dissent

F: Marxism and Populism Essay assignment

Reading: Moss, Chpts. 1, 2 Rius, entire

Jan. 28 - February 1: Modernization

M: Expanding and ruling the empire

W: Industrial development

F: Fin de Siècle state and society Essay 1 due

Reading: Moss, Chpts. 3, 4, 5

February 4 - 8: Challenges to the tsarist system

M: Russo-Japanese War and 1905

W: Autocracy's response to 1905

F: Russia and World War I

Reading: Moss, Chpts. 6, 7 Stites, Chpt. 1

Feb. 11 - 15: War and revolution

M: Revolutions of 1917 Vol 1 of Red Empire

W: The Civil War

F: Building a government

Reading: Moss, Chpts. 8, 9 Fitzpatrick and Slezkine, 33-165

Feb. 18 - 22: Early Bolshevik rule

M: Breakup and reunion of the empire: the case of Turkestan

W: New Economic Policy

F: Lenin’s death and the struggle for succession First mid-term

Reading: Moss, Chpt. 10 Stites, Chpt. 2 Fitzpatrick and Slezkine, 167-218

Feb. 25 - March 1: Stalin and the Great Break

M: Economic crisis and the end of NEP Mid-term due

W: Collectivization

F: Industrialization

Reading: Moss, Chpt. 11 Fitzpatrick and Slezkine, 219-301

March 4 - 8: Terror and the purges

M: VIDEO: “Class Warriors,” Vol. 3 from Red Empire

W: Kirov’s murder and the purges

F: Foreign policy in the 1930s

Reading: Moss, Chpt. 12 Stites, Chpt. 3 Fitzpatrick and Slezkine, 305-330, 342-349

March 11 - 15: The Great Patriotic War

M: From Barbarossa to Stalingrad

W: Victory over Fascism

F: Dividing the Post-war world Essay 2

Reading: Moss, Chpt. 13 Fitzpatrick and Slezkine, 367-434

SPRING BREAK MARCH 18 - 29

April 1 - 5: High Stalinism

M: Recovery ESSAYS DUE

W: The cult of personality

F: Post-war foreign policy Second mid-term

*annotated bibliographies due*

Reading: Moss, Chpts. 14, 15 Stites, Chpt. 4

April 8 - 12: Khrushchev and the thaw

M: Collective rule Mid-term due

W: Hare-brained schemes

F: Foreign policy and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Reading: Moss, Chpts. 16, 17 Stites, Chpt. 5

April 15 - 19: The Era of Stagnation

M: Brezhnev and re-stalinization

W: Foreign policy and Cold War maneuvering

F: Interregnum

Reading: Moss, Chpt. 18 Remnick, Part 1. Stites, Chpt. 6

April 22 - 26 Glasnost’ and perestoika

M: Gorbachev launches perestroika

W: Glasnost’ and its difficulties

F: Can this party be saved?

Reading: Moss, Chpts. 19, 20 Remnick, Part 2.

April 29 - May 3: Collapse and a new era

M: 1989

W: The empire begins to crack

F: The Putsch and end of the USSR

RESEARCH PAPERS DUE

Reading: Moss, Chpt. 21 Remnick, Part 3 Stites, Chpt. 7.

May 6 - 10: USSR/CIS/FSU/Russian Federation and its neighbors

M: Comrade criminal

W: Public health and the Soviet legacy

F: Where now?

Reading: Moss, Chpt. 22 Remnick, finish

FINAL EXAM Friday, May 17 9 a.m.