email: hessler@uoregon.edu
Office
hours: Fridays, 12:00-2:00, McKenzie 351
Mondays,
12:000-1:00, PLC 271
Telephone: 346-4857 (McKenzie office), 302-9032 (home)
MWF
11:00-11:50, Volcanology 307
Description: This is an
introductory lecture survey course on the history of Russia and the Soviet
Union since 1917. It is open to all
interested undergraduates, without prerequisite. Grades will be based on a midterm (25%), a
final exam (40%), and n 8-9 page paper on one of several assigned topics
(35%). Active, thoughtful participation
may raise your grade by a couple of percentage points (e.g. from 82 to
84). Failure to take one of the exams or
to turn in a paper, plagiarism on the paper, or a failing grade on the final
exam will mean an automatic F in the course.
Required
readings (available at the
bookstore):
Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian
Revolution
Fyodor V. Gladkov, Cement
Miron Dolot, Execution by
Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust
Richard Overy, Russia’s War: A History of the Soviet War Effort, 1941-1945
Stephen Kotkin, Armageddon
Averted
Week
1. Revolution. Reading: Russian Revolution, 1-68.
M
Apr. 3 Russia in 1914: an overview
W
Apr. 5 From World War I to
revolution
F
Apr. 7 The Bolsheviks: ideology, leadership, policies, methods
Week
2. The new regime. Reading: Russian Revolution, 68-92; Cement,
1-198.
M Apr. 10
Reds and Whites in the Civil War.
W Apr. 12
Begin discussing Cement.
(prepare pp. 1-75). Guest
lecturer: Prof. Jenifer Presto (Russian
and Comparative Literature).
F Apr. 14
The rough transition: famine,
inflation, and rebellion, 1921-22, and the institutions of Soviet power. Continue discussing Cement (prepare
pp. 76-198).
Week
3. NEP.
Reading: Cement, 199-311; Russian Revolution,
93-134.
M Apr. 17
Finish discussing Cement.
W Apr. 19
Politics and the economy in the 1920s
F Apr. 21
Sovietization of the non-Russian regions: the case of Uzbekistan
Week
4. The “Stalin revolution.” Reading: Execution by Hunger (all); Russian
Revolution, 135-47.
M Apr. 24
Collectivization: the triple
assault on peasant life. Begin
discussing Execution by Hunger.
W Apr. 26
Famine, social control, and the question of Stalin’s attitude toward
Ukraine. Finish discussing Execution
by Hunger.
F Apr. 28
Stalinist culture in the 1930s:
in-class film, The Radiant Path.
Week
5. Stalinist terror. Reading:
Russian Revolution, 148-72; Bukharin’s letter to Stalin
(e-reserves). Optional: Russia’s War, 1-33.
M May 1
Discuss film. Lecture and
discussion: from the Kirov murder to the
“Great Terror”: terror and the Soviet
elite. Prepare Russian Revolution,
148-72.
W May 3
The “Great Terror,” continued.
Discuss Bukharin’s letter to Stalin; lecture on mass operations and
Soviet ethnic cleansing.
F May 5 Midterm
exam.
Week
6.
The “Great Patriotic War.”
Reading: Russia’s War,
xiii-xxi and 34-222.
M May 8
The tables turn: Stalin’s foreign
policy and the German invasion (prepare Russia’s War, introduction and
34-98).
W May 10
Soldiers’ and civilians’ experience of total war (prepare pp. 99-153).
F May 12
Two battles: Stalingrad and Kursk
(prepare 154-222).
Week
7. The war and its aftermath. Reading: Russia’s War, 223-330.
M May 15
Victory and the legacy of the war (prepare Russia’s War, 223-320)
(slide show on Stalin’s cult).
W May 17
Guest lecturer: Prof. Barbara
Walker (University of Nevada, Reno)
F May 19
Discuss guest lecturer; lecture on Soviet society and destalinization.
Week
8. Khrushchev’s “Thaw” and the
normalization of Soviet communism. Reading:
Geoffrey Hosking, “Religion, Nationality, and Dissent,” (e-reserves);
Andrei Sakharov et al., “Manifesto II” (e-reserves).
M May 22
Andrei Sakharov and the dissident movement. Discuss Sakharov, “Manifesto II.”
W May 24
Central Asia revisited:
Environmental degradation and social change (lecture).
F May 26
Religion in the Soviet Union (prepare Hosking).
Week
9. Perestroika. Reading: Armageddon Averted, 1-85.
M May 29
No class: Memorial Day
W May 31
Economic stagnation, Afghanistan, and the roots of perestroika.
F June 2
Gorbachev’s reforms. Prepare Armageddon
Averted.
Week
10. After communism. Reading: Armageddon Averted, 85-196.
M June 5
The collapse of the USSR. Prepare
pp. 86-112.
W June 7
Russia, the army, and Chechnya. Final
research paper due in class
F June 9
Russia since 1991. Discuss Armageddon
Averted, 113-96.
Final
exam: 10:15 Friday, June 16.