HIST 147b
TWENTIETH-CENTURY RUSSIA
Spring 2018
Instructor: Marlyn Miller
Email:
Office Hours: M, W, 4:50–6 and by appointment
By October 1917 the Russian empire had dissolved into chaos because of decades of economic inequality, failure to modernize, revolutionary agitation, and minority discontent, capped by a costly and bloody World War. A group of visionaries, intent upon transforming Russia into a socialist society, stepped into the breach and instituted one of the greatest social, political and cultural experiments of all time, which ended in failure in 1991. Using primary sources including film and other media, supplemented by secondary sources, this course presents an intensive analysis of twentieth-century Russia, and the events and personalities that shaped this turbulent period. Please be sure to read the relevant chapters of the Oxford History of Russia (Freeze) before the lecture in question, which will help you follow the flow of events. In addition to providing a systematic introduction to modern Eurasia, this course also seeks to develop your capacity to research, write, analyze, and communicate your ideas—important skills in any field. This is a writing intensive class and we will focus on issues of writing throughout. The assigned major research paper fulfills the research paper requirement for the history major.
Assigned Books (Available at Brandeis bookstore and online)
Bulgakov, M. Master and Margarita
Djilas, Milovan. Conversations with Stalin
Freeze, Gregory L. ed. Russia, a History, 2nd edition
Freeze, Gregory L. ed. From Supplication to Revolution
Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Assignments
1. Discussion Responses – 10% of final grade (due by morning of discussion – approximately a page in length)
2. Hour Exam – 20% of final grade
3. Final Exam – 35% of final grade
4. Research Paper – 35% of final grade (see below for instructions and suggestions)
Schedule
Wednesday, January 10 – Crisis of Autocracy
READ: Freeze, Russia, chapter 8
Monday, January 15 – No Class
Wednesday, January 17 – Liberation Movement
READ: Supplication to Revolution, part 3—read intro pages and two documents from each section (nobility, bureaucracy, etc.)
SUBMIT: First Comments
Thursday, January 18 (Brandeis Monday) – Revolutions of 1905-7
DISCUSS: Supplication to Revolution
Monday, January 22 – Inter-revolution 1907–1914
READ: Freeze, Russia, chapter 9
WATCH: (On Latte) 1002nd Ruse, Father Sergius
SUBMIT: Second Comments
Wednesday, January 24 – World War I
DISCUSS: 1002nd Ruse, Father Sergius
Monday, January 29 – February Revolution
READ: Documents 1 (Revolution); Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago (first half)
WATCH: The Revolutionary
SUBMIT: Third Comments
Wednesday, January 31 – Bolsheviks Take Power
DISCUSS: The Revolutionary and Documents 1
Monday, February 5 – Civil War
READ: Freeze, History, chapter 10; Doctor Zhivago (2nd half), Documents 2 Civil War)
SUBMIT: Fourth Comments
Wednesday, February 7 – Society, Economy, Culture, 1914–1921
DISCUSS: Doctor Zhivago and Documents 3
Monday, February 12 – NEP and Soviet Power
READ: Documents 3 (NEP and 20s)
WATCH: Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks
SUBMIT: Fifth Comments
Wednesday, February 14 – Society, Economy, Culture in the 20s
DISCUSS: Mr. West and Documents 3
Monday, February 19 to Friday, February 23 – SPRING RECESS
Monday, February 26 – Politics of the 20s
RESEARCH PAPER PROSPECTUS DUE
Wednesday, February 28 – HOUR EXAM
Monday, March 5 – The Great Turn
READ: Freeze, History, chapter 11; Documents 4 (Great Turn); Bulgakov, Master and Margarita, first half
Wednesday, March 7 – Stalin and Power
WATCH: General Line
SUBMIT: Sixth Comments
Monday, March 12 – Industrialization and Collectivization
DISCUSS: General Line, Documents 4
Wednesday, March 14 – Society and Culture in 30s
READ: Master and Margarita, second half; Documents 5 (Terror and Purge)
SUBMIT: Seventh Comments
Monday, March 19 – Great Terror
DISCUSS: Master and Margarita, Documents 5
Wednesday, March 21 – World War II
READ: Freeze, History, chapter 12; Djilas, Conversations with Stalin; Documents 6 (Late Stalinism)
SUBMIT: Eighth Comments
Monday, March 26 – Postwar Stalinism
DISCUSS: Djilas, Conversations; Documents 6 (Wartime and Postwar Stalinism)
Wednesday, March 28 – Post-Stalin Politics
READ: Freeze, History, chapter 13; Documents 7 (From Khrushchev to Gorbachev)
Friday, March 30 to Friday, April 6 – PASSOVER AND SPRING RECESS
Monday, April 9 – Economy and Society, 1953–1982
READ: Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
WATCH: Ballad of a Soldier
SUMBIT: Ninth Comments
RESEARCH PAPER DRAFT DUE
Wednesday, April 11 – Nationalities and Culture, 1953–1982
DISCUSS: Solzhenitsyn; Ballad of a Soldier; Documents 7
Monday, April 16 – Peretroika and Glasnost’
READ: Freeze, History, chapter 14–15; Documents 8 (Perestroika to “Katastroika”)
WATCH: Leviathan
SUBMIT: Tenth Comments
Wednesday, April 18 – Putin: Rebuilding
DISCUSS: Leviathan, Documents 8
Monday, April 23 - Final Thoughts
RESEARCH PAPER DUE MAY 6*
FINAL EXAM TBD
*If you’re graduating, please see me for revised deadlines.
Research Paper
Format, Structure
The text (excluding cover material and bibliography) paper should be approximately 12 double-spaced pages in length. It should consist of the following parts:
1. Cover page (title, name, and single-spaced abstract of 150 words)
2. Main text, consisting of:
o Introduction: a clear statement of problematica (questions addressed), historiography (evaluation of existing scholarship), and methodology (how you will answer the question—approach, source materials used).
o Main text: analyze the source to develop answers to the questions posed in the introduction. Use the footnote form appended to the Writing Guide. Use subheadings if appropriate.
o Conclusion: brief summary of the findings and how they confirm/modify existing scholarship
3. Bibliography (use the bibliography form appended to the Writing Guide)
The paper must observe conventions in footnoting and bibliography. It also should conform to the norms for “academic prose”; see the “Writing Guidelines” (Latte) for specifics.
Since this is a writing-intensive course, the paper preparation consists of three stages:
1. Title, outline (due Feb 26)
2. First, relatively polished draft (due April 9)
3. Final, revised paper due (due May 6)
Topic Options
Develop a paper topic from the following. Focus on the primary sources, but consult secondary sources.
1. Topic Using On-Line Primary Sources in English. You can do a paper on virtually any topic, using the online sources available through the library. Excellent choices:
· Current Digest of Soviet Press, 1949-91 (translations, abstracts). Link on Latte
· National Security Archives. Link on Latte.
· Cold War History Project. Link on Latte.
· Lenin, V.I. Internet archive. Link on Latte.
· Stalin, I.V. Internet archive. Link on Latte.
· Kremlin website (English). Link on Latte
2. Russian-language texts. If you can read Russian, you are encouraged to do so. The scale the project will depend on proficiency; a non-native-speaker may limit the text in scale, whereas a native speaker should read a much larger document. For some on-line documents, see:
· Moscow State University, Russian documents: to 1917. Link on Latte.
· Moscow State University, Russian documents: 20th century. Link on Latte.
· Krokodil (leading Soviet satirical weekly, 1922-2008). Link on Latte.
3. Other Foreign Languages. It is also possible to do a primary source in another foreign language.
4. Literary text. Read a literary work that is either a major cultural artifact or influential in Russian political and cultural history. Some possibilities:
· Bely, St. Petersburg
· Gladkov, Cement
· Ostrovsky, How Steel Was Tempered
· Mandelshtam’s poetry
· Sholokhov, And Quiet Flow the Dawn
· Solzhenitsyn, First Circle
5. Visual and auditory texts.
· Soviet posters (gender, nationality, and other themes)
· Soviet film
University Policy Statements
Documented Disability: If you are a student with a documented disability at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
Statement from the Committee on Academic Honesty: “You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The University policy on academic honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the “Rights and Responsibilities” handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from theUniversity.”
University Statement on Workload Expectations: Success in this four- credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, research, etc.)