USSR

RISE AND FALL OF THE USSR

HIST-22200-01

Zenon V. Wasyliw

Spring 2007

Muller 427

Office Hours: MWF 1:30-3:00 By appointment other times and days

274-1587 E-mail: wasyliw@ithaca.edu

http://faculty.ithaca.edu/wasyliw

Introduction

The rise and fall of the USSR heavily influenced world history in the twentieth century. The United States in particular reacted strongly to the Soviet Union’s alternative competitive model for the future. The fall of communist political leadership in 1991 calls for a reappraisal of this region’s Soviet past. Russia and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union are transitional societies developing varied new models for the future. This part of the world remains critical in the evolution of the twenty first century. Historical legacies from the Soviet period are prominent in shaping the face of contemporary Russia, the independent states of the former Soviet Union and western attitudes. This course is a survey of Soviet history. We begin with pre-revolutionary conditions at the turn of the century, appraise the 1917 revolutions and then proceed through the varied stages, policies, leaders and both their internal and global impact through 1991 and beyond as outlined in the topics section of this syllabus. An interdisciplinary approach is the foundation of analysis and critical appraisal. Political, intellectual, social, cultural, economic and other modes of evaluation are implemented. The study of Soviet history might be complex yet it is also extremely fascinating. We will engage in an interesting journey and evaluation of the Soviet past and its influence on the present and future.

Books

The following books are required for the course and may be purchased at the college bookstore.

Engel, Barbara Alpern and Anastasia Posadskaya-Vanderbeck. A Revolution of Their Own. The Voices of Women in Soviet History

Dolot, Miron. Execution by Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust

Husband, William B. The Human Tradition in Modern Russia

Marples, David. Motherland. Russia in the Twentieth Century

McCauley, Martin. Stalin and Stalinism

Scott, John. Behind the Urals. An American Worker in Russia’s City of Steel

“Seventeen Moments in Soviet History” – http://www.soviethistory.org

This impressive website contains a variety of valuable resources. Specific assignments from this site are listed in the “Topics and Reading Assignments” section of this syllabus under the heading soviethistory.org. Please register on the site’s homepage to gain full access.

Recommended: Benjamin, Jules. A Students’s Guide to History

http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/history/benjamin

Supplemental primary sources and handouts will also be distributed and additional relevant library holdings will be referenced.

General Internet Sites

Soviet History: http://www.soviethistory.org

Russian Web: http://www.websher.net

History Central: http://vlib.iue.it/history/index.html

Ukrainian: http://www.ukrainianstudies.org

Eastern Europe: http://www.omnibusol.com/easteurope.html

History

Romanov Dynasty Life: http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/mainpage.html

Rasputin: http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/rasputinreport.html

Marxism: http://marxists.org/glossary

Russian Revolution: http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/russ/rusrev.html

Guide to Russian Revolution: http://www.geocities.com/sheerin104

Lenin: http://www.stel.ru/museum also click on “mausoleum” at bottom

Stalin: http://www.stel.ru/stalin

Historical Documents: http://www.uea.ac.uk/his/webcours/russia/documents

Historical Documents: http://artsci.shu.edu/reesp/documents

Ukrainian Famine: http://www.infoukes.com/history/famine

Gulag: http://www.osa.ceu.hu/gulag

Stalinist Repression: http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/gulag.html

Cold War: http://cwihp.si.edu

Current Russian News: http://www.interfax.ru click on “English version”

Non-Russian Peoples

Central Asia: http://centasia.fas.harvard.edu

Armenia: http://www.armenian-genocide.org

Ukraine: http://www.brama.com

History of Jews in Russia: http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale

Ukrainian Jews: http://www.jewish.kiev.ua

Check respective national embassy pages - e.g. http://www.kyrgyzstan.org and/or

Country reports and history outlines found on http://bbcnews.com

Kazakhstan: http://www.kazakhstan.org.sg

Building a Civil Society

Civil Society International: http://www.civilsoc.org

East-West Women: http://www.neww.org

Soros Foundation: http://www.soros.org

Orange Revolution in Ukraine: http://www.orangerevolution.us/blog/OrangeforEquality

Peaceful Revolution: http://www.aeinstein.org

Requirements

1. “Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class…Students should notify their instructors as soon as possible of any anticipated absences.” (Ithaca College Undergraduate Catalog, 2006-2007, pp. 295-296). Absences will adversely affect the comprehension of course material and one’s grade. Students are expected to have read the assigned readings and participate in class discussion.

2. Each student will complete two interpretive essay examinations and a final comprehensive examination. The essays are conceptual in nature and test the students’ comprehension and analysis of material covered in class and assigned readings.

3. Each student will write a comparative book critique of the Dolot and Scott books. Additional assigned readings and internet sources must also be utilized in the historical background and concluding analysis.

The critique format:

I. Introduction

II. A brief historical background on Stalinist policies of the 1930s and their results.

III. Evaluate the implementation of farm collectivization and political centralization in Execution by Hunger and assess its legacy on everyday rural life, the agricultural sector of the economy and the status of Ukrainian national identity.

IV. Evaluate the optimistic promise of building an ideal communist society in Behind the Urals and its legacy on the realities of everyday urban industrial life and the creation of a Soviet identity.

V. Conclusion - analyze the Stalinist policies of the 1930s - did “the end justify the means?”

4. The writing of essays, critiques and papers follows specific criteria and all sources must be properly documented. Carefully read the Ithaca College Standards of Academic Conduct found at the end of the syllabus and at the following Student Policies link –

http://www.ithaca.edu/attorney/policies/vol7/Volume_7-70104.htm

5. Dr. Lynne Viola, Professor of History at the University of Toronto will give a Mayrock Memorial Lecture on our campus Thursday, April 19 at 7:00. The title of her talk is “The Unknown Gulag: Stalin’s Special Settlements.”

6. The syllabus outline and assignments are subject to change.

Grades

All work must be completed to earn a passing grade!

First Examination 20%

Second Examination 20%

Comparative Book Critique 20%

Final Examination 30%

Qualitative Class Participation 10%

100%

TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

Week of:

22 Jan. 1. Introduction. A Thousand Years of History: Major Themes and Issues. Economic Background and Social Conditions in late Imperial Russia and Challenges to Tsarist Rule. The Role of the Revolutionary Intelligentsia. Legacies: the Burdens of Russian and Soviet History

Assignment: Marples, Motherland, Introduction and Chapter 1

Husband, The Human Tradition in Modern Russia, Chapters 1-3

29 Jan. 2. The Russo-Japanese War, Revolution of 1905, World War I and the Significance of Rasputin on the end of the Romanov Dynasty and the Rise of Revolutionary Russia in February of 1917. Dual Power in 1917: Constituent Assembly or “All Power to the Soviets!”

Assignment: Marples, Chapter 1 and 2

soviethistory.org - 1917

5 Feb. 3. Reds vs. Whites vs. Anarchists, et. al. - The Russian Civil War, 1918-1921. Non-Russian Nationalities and Nationalism. War Communism. Historiographical Debates on the Creation and Evolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the USSR

Assignment: Marples, Chapter 2

Husband, Chapters 4-7

soviethistory.org - 1921

12 Feb. 4. The Era of the New Economic Policy: Retreat and Rebuilding, 1921-1928.

Culture and Society during the NEP: the Transformation of Everyday Life and Values. Popular Culture and Cultural Revolution.

Assignment: Marples, Chapter 3

Begin reading Dolot and Scott

soviethistory.org - 1924

First Examination

19 Feb. 5. The Death of Lenin: “Long Live Lenin” and the Cult of Lenin. Socialism in One Country and the New Economic Policy. Leadership, Internal Power Struggles and the Struggle for Succession. The Stalin-Trotsky Controversy.

Assignment: Marples, Chapters 3 and 4

McCauley, Stalin and Stalinism, Chapters 1 and 2 and document 1

26 Feb. 6. The Stalin Revolution. Collectivization, Industrialization and the Five-Year Plan. State Sponsored Economic Modernization as a Tool for Eventual Victory over Capitalism.

Assignment: Marples, Chapters 4 and 5

Husband, Chapters 8-10

McCauley, Chapter 3, documents 2-15

soviethistory.org – 1929, 1934

5 March 7. Stalinism. Stalin in Power and the Cult of Stalin. The Great Purges and the Building of Socialism through Forced Labor in Siberia. The GULAG. The New Nationality Policy and the Soviet Cultural Revolution.

Assignment: Marples, Chapters 4, 5 and 6

Husband, Chapter 11

soviethistory.org – 1936, 1939

Second Examination

12 March 8. Spring Break - Finish Reading Dolot and Scott

Assignment: Work on the comparative book critique

19 March 9. Discussion and Analysis of the Dolot and Scott Books. Workers Paradise or Reconstituted Serfdom? Culture and Society in the Socialist Motherland.

Comparative book critique is due next week!

26 March 10. The Great Fatherland War - World War Two

Assignment: Marples, Chapter 6

McCauley, Chapter 4, documents 16-21

soviethistory.org - 1943

The comparative book critique is due!

2 April 11. The Cold War Begins. The Soviets in Eastern Europe and American Perceptions of the USSR. A Retrospective on Stalin and Stalinism and the Stalinist Legacy: Purge Trials, the Gulag and Global Power.

Assignment: Marples, Chapters 6 and 7

Husband, Chapter 12

Read Engel and Posadskaya, Revolution of Their Own

McCauley, Chapters 5 and 6, documents 22-28

soviethistory.org - 1947

9 April 12. Khrushchev and the Politics of Reform: De-Stalinization and Grand Schemes. Soviet Foreign Policy and Domestic Reforms.

Assignment: Marples, Chapters 7 and 8;

soviethistory.org – 1954, 1956, 1961

16 April 13. From Reform to Stagnation: Khrushchev’s Decline and Fall. Brezhnev and Beyond: Internal Stagnation and Superpower Dynamics.

Assignment: Marples, Chapters 7 and 9

Finish reading Engel and Posadskaya

soviethistory.org – 1968, 1973, 1980

Prof. Lynne Viola, Mayrock Memorial Speaker, “The Unknown Gulag: Stalin’s Special Settlements.”

23 April 14. Discussion of Engel and Posadskaya. An Appraisal of Stalin’s Successors and the Significance of Gorbachev’s Policy of Glasnost and Perestroika.

Assignment: Marples, Chapter 10

soviethistory.org – 1986, 1989

30 April 15. Why did the Soviet Union Collapse? A Historical Reflection. Russia and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union: New Identities and Resurgent Global Power – Developments in the Twenty-first Century.

Assignment: Marples, Chapter 11

Husband, Chapter 13

7 May 16. Examination Week!