Prof. Scott W. Palmer
Spring 2007
|
The Soviet Union, 1917-1991
|
|||
| Course Description: | |||
|
This course explores the history of the Soviet Union from its birth as a utopian experiment in October 1917 to its final collapse, under the weight of institutionalized corruption, bureaucratic inertia, and political repression, in December 1991. Through the extensive use of original documents, literary and artistic works, and artifacts of popular culture, the course examines the major political, cultural, and social events that contributed to the rise and fall of the Soviet Empire. While emphasis will be given to the fundamental issue of the nature and evolution of Soviet political culture, the course will also explore essential social and artistic transformations that helped to shape the Soviet experience. |
|||
| Course Requirements: | |||
| Take-Home Exam #1 | 20% | due 22 February | |
| Take-Home Exam #2 | 25% | due 5 April | |
| Book Review (5-7 pp.) | 10% | due 15 March | |
| Literary Response Paper (2-3 pp.) [x2] | 10% (5% each) | (see below) | |
| Take-Home Final Exam | 35% | due 10 May | |
| Optional Assignments: | |||
| Film #1 | +5% to Response Paper #1 | ||
| Film #2 | +5% to Response Paper #2 | ||
| Required Texts: | |||
|
Robert Daniels, ed. A Documentary History of Communism in Russia: From Lenin to Gorbachev Loren Graham, The Ghost of the Executed Engineer Peter Kenez, A History of the Soviet Union from Beginning to End Stephen Kotkin, Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000
Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog Vladimir Voinovich. The Fur Hat |
|||
| Recommended Texts: | |||
|
Students are strongly encouraged to purchase (and make use of) the following books on their own:
Mortimer J. Adler and Charles van Doren, How to Read a Book Diane Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style |
|||
|
|
|||
| Schedule: | |||
| 15 Jan |
No Class (MLK jr. Day) |
||
| 18 Jan | Introduction to the Course: The Imperial Contexts | ||
| 25 Jan |
War, Revolutions, Civil War |
||
|
Readings: Kenez, Chapters 1 & 2 From Daniels, Documentary History: "Lenin's Vision of the Revolutionary State," 47-52 "Trotsky on the Red Army," 72-73 "One-Party Dictatorship; Red Terror and War Communism," 80-82 "Trotsky on Terror and Militarization," 95-96
|
|||
| 1 Feb | The NEP Era | ||
|
Readings: Kenez, Chapter 3 From Daniels, Documentary History: "Trade Union Controversy," 104-107 "The Monolithic Party," 109-112
Literary Response Paper #1 due: Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog
OPTIONAL FILM #1: Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924) MONDAY -- FEBRUARY 5th at 6:30 pm in Morgan 109
|
|||
| 8 Feb | Intra-Party Politics | ||
|
Readings: Graham, Chapters 1 & 2 From Daniels: "Lenin's 'Testament'," 117-118 "Trotsky on Industrialization," 124-125 "The 'New Course' Controversy," 129-130 "Stalin on Socialism in One Country," 136-139 "Preobrazhensky on the Economics of Industrialization," 139-141 "The Zinoviev-Kamenev Opposition," 144-147 "Stalin on the Expulsion of the Left Opposition," 158-159
|
|||
| 15 Feb | The "Great Break:" Collectivization and Industrialization | ||
|
Readings: Kenez, Chapter 4 From Daniels: "Stalin on the Grain Crisis," 159-162 "Stalin on the Liquidation of the Kulaks," 177-179 "Stalin on the Ends and Means of Industrialization," 180-183 "Documents on the Famine," 188-190
|
|||
| 22 Feb | The Culture of the Stalin Era | ||
|
Readings: Kenez, Chapter 5 Graham, Chapters 3 and 4 From Daniels: "Socialist Realism," 195-197 "The Great Purge," 205-208 OR "Moscow Trials, 212-215"
TAKE HOME EXAM #1 DUE
|
|||
| 1 Mar | A Night at the Movies | ||
|
Viewing: Fliers (1933) In-class film followed by discussion
|
|||
| 8 Mar |
No Class Spring Break |
||
| 15 Mar | The Great Patriotic War | ||
|
Readings: Kenez, Chapter 6 From Daniels: "The Second World War," 223-227 "Stalin on the Great Russians," 232
Book Review due: Graham, The Ghost of the Executed Engineer |
|||
| 22 Mar | From Cold War to Thaw | ||
|
Readings: Kenez, Chapter 7
|
|||
| 29 Mar | Khrushchev | ||
|
Readings: Kenez, Chapter 8 Graham, Chapter 5 and Epilogue From Daniels: "Virgin Lands Program," 250-253 "The Promise of a Communist Future," 265-273 [skim]
|
|||
| 5 Apr | The Period of Stagnation | ||
|
Readings: Kenez, Chapter 9 Kotkin, Introduction and Chapter 1 From Daniels: "The Sinyavsky-Daniel Trial," 284-286 "The Theory of 'Developed Socialism'," 314-316 "Population and the Birthrate," 316-318 "Absorption of the National Minorities," 323-325 "The Gathering Crisis," 331-334
TAKE HOME EXAM #2 DUE |
|||
| 12 Apr | The Gorbachev Phenomenon | ||
|
Readings: Kenez, pp. 243-261 Kotkin, Chapters 2 and 3
OPTIONAL FILM #2: Little Vera (1988) TUESDAY -- APRIL 17th at 6:30 pm in Morgan 109
|
|||
| 19 Apr |
Dissolution |
||
|
Readings: Kenez, pp. 261-277 and "Afterthoughts" Kotkin, Chapters 4 and 5 From Daniels: "Cracks in the Union," 373-377 "The End of the Soviet Union," 389-392
Literary Response Paper #2 due: Voinovich, The Fur Hat
|
|||
| 26 Apr | Tsar Boris I | ||
|
Readings: Kotkin, Chapters 6 and 7
|
|||
| 3 May | Putin's Russia | ||
|
Readings: Paul Starobin, "The Accidental Autocrat"
|
|||
| 10 May | Final Exam due 10 May 4:00 pm | ||
