Charters Wynn

HIS 343R - Revolutionary Russia 343R
Spring 2020                                                                                                       Charters S Wynn, Associate Professor

Description: The Russian Revolution was one of the greatest events of the twentieth century.  Focusing on the breakdown of the Old Regime, the revolutionary turmoil of the 1917 Revolutions, the Civil War the Communists’ seizure of power triggered, and the establishment of Soviet Power allow us to examine in depth the political, social, economic, and cultural dynamics at work in early twentieth-century Russia.  Students should gain a sense of the meaning of revolution, the causes of the upheavals in Russia, the nature of the society and politics that resulted from those upheavals, and the implications of that experience for later Soviet history and for Russia today.

Written Assignments: During the course of the semester students will write three critical reviews of assigned reading, five-six pages in length each.  Be sure to heed my writing tips.  In addition, by 12:30 each Tuesday and Thursday (except for the three class days when essays are due) students will e-mail me three questions addressing the assigned reading for the day.


Textbooks: Some of the readings will analyze the revolutionary process and historiographic debates.  Others will convey the excitement and suffering in the streets.  In addition, short documents may be distributed in class.
    Lincoln, Bruce, In War’s Dark Shadow.
    Pipes, Richard, A Concise History of the Russian Revolution.
    Figes, Orlando, A People’s Tragedy.
    Read, Christopher, From Tsar to Soviets.
    *Course Packet: Available from Paradigm Books

Grading: The final grade is based on the essays (65%), weekly questions (10%), and classroom participation (25%).  Plus/minus grades will be assigned for the final grade.  Each student is expected to participate fully in class discussions and will be graded on the extent and quality of participation.

Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern.

Texts:

Norman Naimark, Stalin’s Genocides.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.

            Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Other Readings will be in the Course Packet or available online from the library.

Grading: This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write three critical analyses of assigned reading, five-six pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%).

Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” I hope you will find the country somewhat less perplexing after studying the political, social, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military developments that shaped Russian history during the 20th century. We will devote particular attention to four milestones of Soviet history: the Russian Revolution; Stalin’s “Revolution from Above”; World War II; and the Collapse of the Soviet System. We will also focus on the Cold War, why attempts at reform failed under Khrushchev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin, and the emergence of a dissident movement during the Brezhnev era. How state policies affected ordinary people will be examined throughout the course. You will gain an appreciation of the almost unimaginable suffering the Soviet people experienced. Many of the readings have been selected with an eye toward introducing you to primary documents and the major historiographic debates in Soviet history. We will also view film clips and documentary footage.

Textbooks:

John Thompson, Revolutionary Russia, 1917.

Martin Naimark, Stalin’s Genocides.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Martin McCauley, The Khrushchev Era.

William Tompson, The Soviet Union under Brezhnev.

David Marples, The Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991.

Course Packet: The Packet from Paradigm Books.

Grading: Three in-class examinations worth one-third each.

The purpose of this graduate reading course is to introduce students to the literature and historiographic debates in Russian history from the end of the imperial regime to the beginning of the Stalinist era. The readings, a mix of older and newer works, will focus on both the “high” politics of the period and the social and political pressure from “below.”

Texts:

Figes, Orlando. A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924.

Pipes, Richard. The Russian Revolution.

Read, Christopher. From Tsar to Soviets: The Russian People and Their Revolution, 1917-21.

Gatrell, Peter. A Whole Empire Walking: Refugees in Russia during World War I.

Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks Come to Power.

  Stephen Kotkin, Stalin, Vol. 1.

Deutscher, Isaac. The Prophet Unarmed: Trotsky, 1921-1929.

Cohen, Stephen. Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: A Political Biography, 1888-1938.

Stites, Richard. Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution.

Goldman, Wendy. Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917-1936.

Written Work/Grading: On alternate weeks you will be required to write book reviews of the readings, two pages in length each, or four questions and a peer review.  The final grade will be based on class participation (50%) as well as on the written work (50%

The revolutionary turmoil of the 1917 Revolutions, and the
Civil War the Communists' seizure of power triggered, allow us to examine
in depth the political, social, economic, and cultural dynamics at work in
early twentieth-century Russia. The Russian Revolution, which began in
1905, provides much of the prism through which we view processes of
revolutionary change. Moreover, the mass and variety of scholarly attention
lavished on it makes Revolutionary Russia an ideal subject for studying
different approaches to history. The issue of possible alternative outcomes,
which has always engaged Western historians of the Russian Revolution, is
now of considerable interest in the former Soviet Union, which once again
finds itself in a state of flux, facing an uncertain future.

Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern.

Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”  I hope you will find the country somewhat less perplexing after studying the political, social, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military developments that shaped Russian history during the 20th century.  We will devote particular attention to four milestones of Soviet history: the Russian Revolution; Stalin’s “Revolution from Above”; World War II; and the Collapse of the Soviet System.  We will also focus on the Cold War, why attempts at reform failed under Khrushchev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin, and the emergence of a dissident movement during the Brezhnev era.  How state policies affected ordinary people will be examined throughout the course.  You will gain an appreciation of the almost unimaginable suffering the Soviet people experienced.  Many of the readings have been selected with an eye toward introducing you to primary documents and the major historiographic debates in Soviet history.  We will also view film clips and documentary footage.

This graduate “reading” seminar will examine the history and historiography of the Soviet Union from World War II to the collapse of the Soviet system in 1991.  Much of the course will focus on the interaction between the party-state and society: both how government policies affected people's daily lives and how social and economic realities, as well as popular expectations and intelligentsia resistance, shaped and constrained state policy.  We also devote considerable attention to Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War.

Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern.

Texts:
Norman Naimark, Stalin’s Genocides.
John Scott, Behind the Urals.
Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.
    Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.
Richard Overy, Russia’s War.
Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.
Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.
Other Readings will be in the Course Packet or available online from the library.

Grading:
During the course of the semester students will write three critical analyses of assigned reading, five-six pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%).

Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”  I hope you will find the country somewhat less perplexing after studying the political, social, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military developments that shaped Russian history during the 20^th century.  We will devote particular attention to four milestones of Soviet history: the Russian Revolution; Stalin’s “Revolution from Above”; World War II; and the Collapse of the Soviet System.  We will also focus on the Cold War, why attempts at reform failed under Khrushchev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin, and the emergence of a dissident movement during the Brezhnev era.  How state policies affected ordinary people will be examined throughout the course.  You will gain an appreciation of the almost unimaginable suffering the Soviet people experienced.  Many of the readings have been selected with an eye toward introducing you to primary documents and the major historiographic debates in Soviet history.  We will also view film clips and documentary footage.

Grading: Three in-class examinations worth one-third each.  

Textbooks:

John Thompson, Revolutionary Russia, 1917.

Martin Naimark, Stalin’s Genocides.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Martin McCauley, The Khrushchev Era.

William Tompson, The Soviet Union under Brezhnev.

Robert Strayer,Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?

Course Packet: The Packet is available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24^th St., 472-7986.

Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern. 

Grading: This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write three critical analyses of assigned reading, five-six pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%). 

Texts:

Norman Naimark, Stalin’s Genocides.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Other Readings will be in the Course Packet or available online from the library.

This reading seminar will examine the history and historiography of the Stalinist period.  Much of the course will focus on the interaction between the party-state and society: both how government policies affected people's daily lives and how social and economic realities, as well as popular resistance, shaped and constrained state policy.  We will also focus on the brutal war on the Eastern Front, including its origins and legacy.

Texts:

Fitzpatrick, Sheila.  Stalin's Peasants: Resistance and Survival in the Russian Village

            after Collectivization.

Kotkin, Stephen.  Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization.

Fitzpatrick, Sheila.  Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times.

Getty, J. Arch.  The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the

            Bolsheviks, 1932-1939.

Viola, Lynne.  The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World of Special Settlements.

Figes, Orlando.  The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia.

Applebaum, Anne.  Gulag: A History.

Merridale, Catherine.  Ivan’s War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945.

Gorodetsky, Gabriel.  Grand Delusion: Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia.

Gorlizki, Oleg.  Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953.

Roberts, Geoffrey. Stalin’s Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953.

Kirschenbaum, Lisa.  The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941-1995: Myth,

            Memories, and Monuments.

Grading:

Weekly reviews of the readings, two pages in length each, constitute the written work for the course.  The final grade will be based on class participation as well as on the written work.

Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern.

Texts:

Kevin McDermott, Stalin.

S. A. Smith, The Russian Revolution.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Lee Baker, The Second World War on the Eastern Front.

Course Packet available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24th St.

Grading:

This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write four critical analyses of assigned reading, five pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%).

Please check back for updates.

Description: The purpose of this graduate reading course is to introduce students to the literature and historiographic debates in Russian history from the end of the imperial regime to the beginning of the Stalinist era.  The readings, a mix of older and newer works, will focus on both “high” politics and the social and political developments and pressures from “below.” 

Textbooks/Reading:  The books will all be available for purchase in paperback editions from the University Co-op, 2246 Guadalupe.

Figes, Orlando. A People’s Tragedy:The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924.

Pipes, Richard. The Russian Revolution.

Read, Christopher. From Tsar to Soviets: The Russian People and Their Revolution, 1917-21.

Badcock, Sarah. Politics and the People in Revolutionary Russia: A Provincial History

Gatrell, Peter. A Whole Empire Walking: Refugees in Russia during World War I.        

Cohen, Stephen. Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: A Political Biography, 1888-1938.

Stites, Richard. Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution.

Gorsuch, Anne. Youth in Revolutionary Russia: Enthusiasts, Bohemians, Delinquents

Goldman, Wendy. Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917-1936.

Work/Grading: Weekly reviews of the readings, two pages in length each, and a weekly peer review, constitute the written work for the course.  The final grade will be based on class participation as well as on the written work.

Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern.

Texts:

Kevin McDermott, Stalin.

S. A. Smith, The Russian Revolution.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Lee Baker, The Second World War on the Eastern Front.

Course Packet available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24th St.

Grading:

This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write four critical analyses of assigned reading, five pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%).

Please check back for updates.

This graduate “reading” seminar will examine the history and historiography of the Soviet Union from World War II to the collapse of the Soviet system in 1991.  Much of the course will focus on the interaction between the party-state and society: both how government policies affected people's daily lives and how social and economic realities, as well as popular expectations and intelligentsia resistance, shaped and constrained state policy.  We also devote considerable attention to Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War.

Work/Grading: Weekly reviews of the readings, two pages in length each, constitute the written work for the course.  The final grade will be based on class participation as well as on the written work.

Readings:

Richard Overy, Russia’s War: A History of the Soviet War Effort: 1941-1945.

Rebecca Manley, To the Tashkent Station: Evacuation and Survival in the Soviet Union

at War.

Amir Weiner, Making Sense of War: The Second World War and the Fate of the

Bolshevik Revolution.

Elena Zubkova, Russia after the War: Hope, Illusions, and Disappointment, 1945-1957.

William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era.

Miriam Dobson, Khrushchev’s Cold Summer: Gulag Returnees, Crime, and the Fate of

Reform after Stalin.

Aleksandr  Fursenko & Timothy Naftali, Khrushchev’s Cold War: The Inside Story of an

American Adversary.

Vladislav Zubok, Zhivago’s Children: The Last Russian Intelligentsia.

Donald Raleigh, Soviet Baby Boomers: An Oral History of Russia’s Cold War

Generation.

Vladislav Zubok, A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to

Gorbachev.

Stephen Kotkin, Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse 1970-2000.

Archie Brown, The Gorbachev Factor.

Alexei Yurchak, Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet

Generation.

Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern.

 Grading: This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write four critical analyses of assigned reading, five pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%).

 Texts:

Kevin McDermott, Stalin.

S. A. Smith, The Russian Revolution.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Lee Baker, The Second World War on the Eastern Front.

Course Packet available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24th St.

Please check back for updates.

This graduate seminar will examine the history and historiography of the Stalinist period.  Much of the course will focus on the interaction between the party-state and society: both how government policies affected people's daily lives and how social and economic realities, as well as popular resistance, shaped and constrained state policy.  We will also focus on the brutal war on the Eastern Front, including its origins and legacy.

Texts:

Fitzpatrick, Sheila.  Stalin's Peasants: Resistance and Survival in the Russian Village     after Collectivization.

Kotkin, Stephen.  Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization.

Fitzpatrick, Sheila.  Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times.

Getty, J. Arch.  The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the     Bolsheviks, 1932-1939.

Viola, Lynne.  The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World of Special Settlements.

Figes, Orlando.  The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia.

Applebaum, Anne.  Gulag: A History.

Merridale, Catherine.  Ivan’s War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945.

Gorodetsky, Gabriel.  Grand Delusion: Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia.

Gorlizki, Oleg.  Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953.

Roberts, Geoffrey. Stalin’s Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953.

Kirschenbaum, Lisa.  The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941-1995: Myth,     Memories, and Monuments.

Grading:

Weekly reviews of the readings, two pages in length each, constitute the written work for the course.  The final grade will be based on class participation as well as on the written work.

Course Description: Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern. 

Grading: This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write four critical analyses of assigned reading, five pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%). 

Texts:

Kevin McDermott, Stalin.

S. A. Smith, The Russian Revolution.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Lee Baker, The Second World War on the Eastern Front.

Course Packet available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24th St.

Please check back for updates.

Description: The purpose of this graduate reading course is to introduce students to the literature and historiographic debates in Russian history from the end of the imperial regime to the beginning of the Stalinist era.  The readings, a mix of older and newer works, will focus on both the “high” politics of the period and the social and political pressure from “below.” 

Textbooks/Reading:  The books will all be available for purchase in paperback editions from the University Co-op, 2246 Guadalupe.

Figes, Orlando. A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891- 1924.

Pipes, Richard. The Russian Revolution.

Read, Christopher. From Tsar to Soviets: The Russian People and Their Revolution, 1917-21.

Stone, Norman. The Eastern Front, 1914-1917.

Gatrell, Peter. A Whole Empire Walking: Refugees in Russia during World War I.

Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks Come to Power.

Lincoln, W. Bruce. Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War.

Deutscher, Isaac. The Prophet Unarmed: Trotsky, 1921-1929.

Cohen, Stephen. Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: A Political Biography, 1888-1938.

Stites, Richard. Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution.

Goldman, Wendy. Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917-1936.

Work/Grading: Weekly reviews of the readings, two pages in length each, constitute the written work for the course.  The final grade will be based on class participation as well as on the written work.

Course Description: Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”  I hope you will find the country somewhat less perplexing after studying the political, social, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military developments that shaped Russian history during the 20th century.  We will devote particular attention to four milestones of Soviet history: the Russian Revolution; Stalin’s “Revolution from Above”; World War II; and the Collapse of the Soviet System.  We will also focus on the Cold War, why attempts at reform failed under Khrushchev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin, and the emergence of a dissident movement during the Brezhnev era.  How state policies affected ordinary people will be examined throughout the course.  You will gain an appreciation of the almost unimaginable suffering the Soviet people experienced.  Many of the readings have been selected with an eye toward introducing you to primary documents and the major historiographic debates in Soviet history.  We will also read a memoir, a novel and view film clips and documentary footage.

Grading: Three in-class examinations worth one-third each. 

Textbooks:

John Thompson, Revolutionary Russia, 1917.

Martin McCauley, Stalin and Stalinism.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Martin McCauley, The Khrushchev Era.

Robert Strayer, Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?

Course Packet: The Packet is available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24th St., 472-7986.

Course Description: Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern. 

Grading: This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write four critical analyses of assigned reading, five pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%). 

Texts:

Kevin McDermott, Stalin.

S. A. Smith, The Russian Revolution.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Lee Baker, The Second World War on the Eastern Front.

Course Packet available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24th St.

“We will keep out the kulaks” – propaganda poster from 1930 

Description: This graduate seminar will examine the history and historiography of the Stalinist period.  The course will focus primarily on the interaction between the party-state and society: both how the policies of Stalin and his entourage affected people’s daily lives and how social and economic realities shaped and constrained state policy.  We will focus on forced collectivization and industrialization, mass terror, the “Great Patriotic War,” and post-war Stalinism.  We will end with a book on the intelligentsia after Stalin’s death.  Over the course of the semester you will gain an appreciation of the almost unimaginable suffering people experienced in Stalin’s Soviet Union. 

Work/Grading: Weekly reviews of the readings, two pages in length each, constitute the written work for the course.  The final grade will be based on class participation as well as on the written work.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE: 8/26  Introduction

WEEK TWO: 9/2  Naimark, Norman.  Stalin’s Genocides.

WEEK THREE: 9/9  Viola, Lynne.  The Unknown Gulag.

WEEK FOUR: 9/16  Kotkin, Stephen.  Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization.

WEEK FIVE: 9/23 Fitzpatrick, Sheila.  Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times.

WEEK SIX: 9/30 Getty, J. Arch.  The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939.

WEEK SEVEN: 10/7 Figes, Orlando.  The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia

WEEK EIGHT: 10/14 Applebaum, Anne.  Gulag: A History.

WEEK NINE: 10/21 Overy, Richard.  Russia’s War: A History of the Soviet War Effort: 1941-1945.

WEEK TEN: 10/28 Merridale, Catherine.  Ivan’s War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945

WEEK ELEVEN: 11/4   Gorlizki, Yoram and Oleg Khlevniuk.  Cold Peace: Stalin and the SovieT Ruling Circle, 1945-1953 

WEEK TWELVE: 11/11 Zubkova, Elena, Russia after the War: Hopes, Illusions, and Disappointment, 1945-1957

WEEK THIRTEEN: 11/18 ASSOCIATION FOR SLAVIC, EAST EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN STUDIES CONVENTION – NO CLASS

WEEK FOURTEEN: 11/25 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY – NO CLASS

WEEK FIFTEEN: 12/2 Zubok, Vladislav, Zhivago’s Children: The Last Russian Intelligentsia

Course Description: Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”  I hope you will find the country somewhat less perplexing after studying the political, social, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military developments that shaped Russian history during the 20th century.  We will devote particular attention to four milestones of Soviet history: the Russian Revolution; Stalin’s “Revolution from Above”; World War II; and the Collapse of the Soviet System.  We will also focus on the Cold War, why attempts at reform failed under Khrushchev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin, and the emergence of a dissident movement during the Brezhnev era.  How state policies affected ordinary people will be examined throughout the course.  You will gain an appreciation of the almost unimaginable suffering the Soviet people experienced.  Many of the readings have been selected with an eye toward introducing you to primary documents and the major historiographic debates in Soviet history.  We will also read a memoir, a novel and view film clips and documentary footage.

Grading: Three in-class examinations worth one-third each. 

Textbooks:

John Thompson, Revolutionary Russia, 1917.

Martin McCauley, Stalin and Stalinism.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Martin McCauley, The Khrushchev Era.

Robert Strayer, Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?

Course Packet: The Packet is available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24th St., 472-7986.

Course Description: Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of its military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, popular and elite fears and beliefs during the Great Terror, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern. 

Grading: This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write four critical analyses of assigned reading, five pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and classroom participation (30%). 

Texts:

Kevin McDermott, Stalin.

S. A. Smith, The Russian Revolution.

John Scott, Behind the Urals.

Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.

Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.

Richard Overy, Russia’s War.

Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.

Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.

Lee Baker, The Second World War on the Eastern Front.

Course Packet available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24th St.

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The revolutionary turmoil of the 1917 Revolutions, and the Civil War the Communists' seizure of power triggered, allow us to examine in depth the political, social, economic, and cultural dynamics at work in early twentieth-century Russia.  The Russian Revolution, which began in 1905, provides much of the prism through which we view processes of revolutionary change.  Moreover, the mass and variety of scholarly attention lavished on it makes Revolutionary Russia an ideal subject for studying different approaches to history.  The issue of possible alternative outcomes, which has always engaged Western historians of the Russian Revolution, is now of considerable interest in the former Soviet Union, which once again finds itself in a state of flux, facing an uncertain future.

Texts

Some of the readings will analyze the revolutionary process.  Others will convey the excitement and suffering in the streets.  In addition, short documents may be distributed in class.

Read, Christopher, From Tsar to Soviets.

Pipes, Richard, A Concise History of the Russian Revolution.

Figes, Orlando, A People’s Tragedy.

*Course Packet: Selections from the Packet are noted by an asterisk in the Weekly Schedule.  The Packet is available from Pardigm,  407 W. 24^th St., 472-7986.

Requirements and Grading

The final grade is based on the essays (65%), weekly questions (10%), and classroom participation (25%).  Each student is expected to participate fully in class discussions and will be graded on the extent and quality of participation.  It is therefore mandatory that you complete the assigned readings before each class session and come to class prepared to discuss the readings.  The course will not work otherwise. 

Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”  I hope you will find the country somewhat less perplexing after studying the political, social, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military developments that shaped Russian history during the 20th century.  We will devote particular attention to four milestones of Soviet history: the Russian Revolutions; Stalin’s “Revolution from Above”; World War II; and the Collapse of the Soviet System.  We will also focus on the Cold War, why attempts at reform failed under Khrushchev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin, and the emergence of a dissident movement during the Brezhnev era.  How state policies affected ordinary people will be examined throughout the course.  Over the course of the session you will gain an appreciation of the almost unimaginable suffering the Soviet people experienced.  Many of the readings have been selected with an eye toward introducing you to primary documents and the major historiographic debates in Soviet history.  We will also read a memoir and view film clips and documentary footage.

Grading

Three in-class examinations worth one-third each.

Readings

Ronald Grigor Suny, The Soviet Experiment.
John Thompson, Revolutionary Russia, 1917.
John Scott, Behind the Urals.
Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.
*Course Packet

Prof. Charters Wynn                                                      HIS 350L: 39710
Office: GAR 1.120                                                         Spring 2010       
Phone: 475-7234                                                          JES A215A: WF 2-3:30                                               
Office Hours: Tues. 11-12; Wed. 3:30-5 & by appointment                           
wynn@mail.utexas.edu        

                    STALIN’S RUSSIA AT WAR                                

Course Description: Violence, famine, and epidemic disease took more than fifty million Soviet lives between 1914 and 1953.  Over half of these deaths occurred between 1941 and 1945, when the Soviet Union fought the most savage and immense war in history.  No other nation ever endured anything like it.  The Soviets defeated the invading Axis powers despite the purge of the military leadership in 1937, horrible mistakes at the outset of the war, and widespread hostility within the country to the Stalinist regime.  We will focus on the impact of the Stalinist state’s brutal revolution from above, the death and destruction during the German occupation, as well as the courage and barbarism in the fight to the death on the Eastern Front, especially during the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.  Evaluating the role of Stalin (or “Uncle Joe” as the American and British public knew him) and his inner circle, as well as what the Stalinist Revolution and “Great Patriotic War” meant for ordinary Soviets, will be of particular concern. 

Grading:  This course contains a substantial writing component.  During the course of the semester students will write four critical analyses of assigned reading, five pages in length each.  In addition, by 11:00 a.m. on most class days, students will e-mail me three questions dealing with that day’s reading.  The final grade is based on both the written assignments (60% essays; 10% questions) and the extent and quality of classroom participation (30%).  Late papers/questions will be penalized.

Texts: Simon Sebag Montefiore, Stalin.
           Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution.
           John Scott, Behind the Urals.
           Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon.
           Lydia Chukovskaya, Sofia Petrovna.
           Richard Overy, Russia’s War.
           Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War.
           Geoffrey Roberts, Victory at Stalingrad.
           Grossman, Vasily, A Writer at War.
           Course Packet available from Paradigm, 407 W. 24^th St.

Writing Tips:

1. You are encouraged to discuss the topic with classmates, but the essay you write must be your own work.
2. State your argument in your opening paragraph.  Do so quickly and concisely, and as forcefully as possible. 
3. Support your argument by specific references to evidence from the readings.  Also confront the opposing argument and state your reasons for rejecting it.
4. The topic sentence of each of these supporting paragraphs should state the aspect of the topic you wish to discuss. 
5. Use the last paragraph to summarize your argument briefly.  Let it mirror your first paragraph.
6. Avoid excessive or unnecessary detail.  You are writing for anaudience (me) who knows what happened and has done the reading.
7. Quote to add punch.  Paraphrase otherwise.  Do not quote often oruse long quotations.
8. Avoid the passive voice.  Write about the past in the past tense.
9. Try to write as simply and directly as possible.  Omit needless words.
10. Your essay, due at the beginning of class, must be typed, double-spaced, spell-checked, and grammatically correct.  Pages must be numbered.

             WEEKLY SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE: Introduction
Wednesday, January 20
Film Clip: “Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia”

 Friday, January 22
Reading: Fitzpatrick, 1-67
             *Father Gapon’s Petition

WEEK TWO: Revolutionary Russia
Wednesday, January 27
Reading: Fitzpatrick, 68-129
             Overy 1-12

Friday, January 29
Reading: Montefiore, 25-43
              Overy, 13-16
Film: “The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin”        

WEEK THREE: Forced Collectivization & Famine
Wednesday, February 3
Reading: *Hindus, “Red Bread”
              Merridale, 29-33
              Overy, 16-17, 22-23
              Fitzpatrick, 135-141

Friday, February 5
Reading: Montefiore, 3-22, 58-70, 82-101
Film: “Harvest of Despair” 

WEEK FOUR: Breakneck Industrialization                   
Wednesday, February 10
Reading: Scott, ix-92            
              Overy, 18-20
              Merridale, 33-43
              Fitzpatrick, 129-135

Friday, February 12
Reading: Scott, 117-170
              Fitzpatrick, 141-147

WEEK FIVE: The Great Terror

Wednesday, February 17: Essay #1 Due
Reading: Montefiore, 132-158
              Overy, 24-25
             *Conquest, “The Kirov Murder”
             *Knight, “1 December: The Murder”
             *Getty, “The Politics of Repression Revisited”
             *Getty, “Growing Tension in 1935”

Friday, February 19
Reading: Overy, 21-22, 24-33
              Montefiore, 159-227
              Merridale, 44-48
              Fitzpatrick, 148-172
Discussion of Film: “Burnt by the Sun”

WEEK SIX: Fear and Belief in the Terror
Wednesday, February 24
Reading: Chukovskaya, 1-120

Friday, February 26
Reading: Montefiore, 228-297
              Scott, 173-206

WEEK SEVEN: Why Confess?
Wednesday, March 3
Reading: Montefiore, 184-218
             *“Bukharin’s Letter to Stalin”
             Koestler, 1-96

Friday, March 5: Essay #2 Due
Reading: Koestler, 97-272

WEEK EIGHT: How War Came
Wednesday, March 10
Reading: Overy, 34-55
              Montefiore, 301-315, 326-353
              Roberts, 20-22
              Merridale, 39-48

Friday, March 12
Reading: Overy, 56-72
              Montefiore, 326-353
              Merridale, 39-81
              Roberts, 17-19, 23-26
Film Clip: “The Hour before Midnight”

           *** SPRING BREAK ***

WEEK NINE: Operation Barbarossa
Wednesday, March 24
              Overy, 73-98
              Montefiore, 363-383
              Merridale, 82-115
              Grossman, vii-64
Film Clip: “The Goths Ride East”

Friday, March 26
Reading: Overy, 99-112
              Montefiore, 384-393
              *Bidlack, “Survival Strategies” 

WEEK TEN: Battle of Moscow in War of Annihilation
Wednesday, March 31
Reading: Overy, 113-124
              Montefiore, 409-417
              Merridale, 116-124, 146-152
              Roberts, 39-45

Friday, April 2: Essay #3 Due
Reading: Overy, 125-153
              Roberts, 26-32
              Merridale, 125-126, 136-143, 187-225 
Film: “She Defends the Fatherland”

WEEK ELEVEN:  The Battle of Stalingrad
Wednesday, April 7
Reading: Overy, 154-170
              Roberts, 49-104
              Grossman, 67-131
              Merridale, 171-179
              Montefiore, 418-432

Friday, April 9
Reading: Overy, 171-189
              Roberts, 107-136
              Merridale, 179-186
              Montefiore, 435-444
              Grossman, 132-200

WEEK TWELVE: The Battle of Kursk and False Dawn
Wednesday, April 14
Reading: Overy, 190-222
              Montefiore, 445-478
              Merridale, 218-225
              Roberts, 139-142
              Grossman, 203-244
Film Clip: “The Citadel”

Friday, April 16
Reading: Overy, 223-244
              Merridale, 226-280
              Montefiore, 463-478
              Roberts, 143-145
              Grossman, 247-279
Discussion of film: “Come and See”

WEEK THIRTEEN: The Red Army in Germany
Wednesday, April 21
Reading: Overy, 251-254
              Grossman, 280-306
              Merridale, 281-298

Friday, April 23
Reading: Overy, 255-289
              Merridale, 299-335
              Roberts, 146-161
              Montefiore, 479-487
              Grossman, 309-343
              *Naimark, “The Problem of Rape”

WEEK FOURTEEN: Post-War Russia
Wednesday, April 28: Essay #4 Due             
Reading: Overy, 290-330         
              Montefiore, 491-501, 573-591, 612-625
              Merridale, 336-388
              Grossman, 344-350
Film clip: “The Fall of Berlin”

Friday, April 30
Reading: Montefiore, 638-657
Discussion of film: “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears”

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This is the introductory seminar to Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies.  It consists of a series of guest lectures by a   diverse cast of CREEES faculty in order to give the students as  broad an overview of the field as possible.

Prerequisites: graduate standing. 

Readings:  Distributed by visiting lecturers a week before each lecture

Grading:   Participation:             10%

              Oral presentation:       40%

               Final research paper:  50%

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