History of the Soviet Union since 1917
Syllabus
University of Illinois
M, W, F 10-11 am
223 DKH
Prof. Diane P. Koenker
History 328
Spring 2001
Books to Buy:
University of Illinois
M, W, F 10-11 am
223 DKH
Prof. Diane P. Koenker
History 328
Spring 2001
Books to Buy:
Peter Kenez, A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End, 1999, Cambridge, paper.
Eduard Dune, Notes of a Red Guard, ed. Diane Koenker and S. A. Smith, 1993, Illinois paper.
Sheila Fitzpatrick and Yuri Slezkine, eds., In the Shadow of Revolution: Life Stories of Russian Women from 1917 to the Second World War, 2000, Princeton paper. (FS)
Eugenia Ginzburg, Journey into the Whirlwind, 1967, Harbrace paper.
Natalya Baranskaya, A Week Like Any Other, 1989, Seal Press paper.
David Remnick, Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire, 1993, Vintage paper.
Course pack: available at Notes-n-Quotes, 502 E. John, Champaign
Web site readings: http://www.econ.uiuc.edu/~koenker/hist328.html
All the books are in paperback and should be available in local bookstores. They will also be available on reserve in the Undergraduate Library. There are a number of additional books recommended for extra reading, as well as films. Those on reserve in the Undergraduate Library are indicated in the syllabus.
Jan. 17 Introduction
Jan. 19 Society and Social Identities before the Revolution
Read: Nicholas II, "Speech from the Throne" (course pack)
Kenez, chap. 1
Jan. 22 The Revolutionary Movement
Read: "Reply from the Duma" (coursepack)
Recommended:
Bernard Pares, The Fall of the Russian Monarchy (1939), chaps. 1, 2, 6
Rosamund Bartlett and Linda Edmondson, "Collapse and Creation: Issues of Identity and the Russian Fin de Siècle," in Catriona Kelly and David Shepherd, eds., Constructing Russian Culture in the Age of Revolutions, 1881-1940 (1998)
Stephen P. Frank and Mark D. Steinberg, eds., Cultures in Flux: Lower-Class Values, Practices, and Resistance in Late Imperial Russia (1994)
Fiction: Andrey Bely, St. Petersburg (1916)
Memoir: Konstantin Paustovsky, Story of a Life (1967)
Film: Slave of Love (Mikhalkov, 1976)
Jan. 24 The February 1917 Revolution
Read: Kenez, pp. 14-24
Jan. 26 Experiencing the Revolution (discussion)
Read: Dune, part 1
Litveiko in FS, pp. 49-65
Jan. 29 Interpretations of the October Revolution
Read: Kenez, pp. 24-33
Jan. 31 Russian Civil War: Military Aspects
Read: Kenez, pp. 33-40
Zhemchuzhnaia in FS, pp. 82-110
Feb. 2 Eduard Dune's Civil War (discussion)
Read: Dune, part 2
William Chamberlin, The Russian Revolution (1935), vol. 2, ch. 21 (course pack)
History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (bolsheviks). Short Course (1939), pp. 236-240 (course pack/web)
John Erickson, The Soviet High Command (1962), ch. 2 (course pack)
Evan Mawdsley, The Russian Civil War (1987), pp. 178-85 (course pack)
Feb. 5 War Communism: The Civil War at Home
Read: Volkonskaia in FS, pp. 140-165
Recommended:
Rex Wade, The Russian Revolution, 1917 (2000)
R. Craig Nation, Black Earth, Red Star (1992), chap. 1 [on reserve]
Lewis Siegelbaum, Soviet State and Society between Revolutions (1992), chaps. 1-2 [on reserve]
William Chamberlin, The Russian Revolution (1935), vol. 1, chaps. 9, 11, 16; vol. 2, chaps. 25, 33
Diane P. Koenker, William G. Rosenberg, and Ronald Grigor Suny, eds., Party, State, and Society in the Russian Civil War (1989)
Barbara Clements, Bolshevik Women (1997), chap. 4
Fiction: Fedor Gladkov, Cement (1925)
Memoir: Viktor Shklovsky, A Sentimental Journey (1923)
Film: Ten Days That Shook the World [October], (Eisenstein, 1927, silent) [LMC]
Feb. 7 The Tenth Communist Party Congress
Read: Lenin, "Resolution on party unity, 1921" (coursepack/web)
Kenez, pp. 41-53
Feb. 9 From Russia to USSR: the Making of Nations
Read: Joseph Stalin, "What Is a Nation?" (course pack/web)
Kenez, pp. 53-58
Feb. 12 The New Economic Policy: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Read: Lenin, "Introducing the New Economic Policy," coursepack (to discuss)
Kenez, pp. 58-64
Feb. 14 Creating a Socialist Culture
Read: Trotsky, "Vodka, the Church, and the Cinema," coursepack (to discuss)
Kenez, pp. 64-75
Feb. 16 Political Oppositions and the Triumph of Stalin
Read: Anecdotes in coursepack (to discuss)
Kenez, pp. 75-79
Recommended:
Nation, Black Earth, chap. 2 [on reserve]
Siegelbaum, Soviet State and Society , chaps. 3-5 [on reserve]
Katerina Clark, Petersburg: Crucible of Cultural Revolution (1995), chaps. 7-8 [on reserve]
Alexander Erlich, "Stalinism and Marxian Growth Models," in Robert Tucker, ed., Stalinism: Essays in Historical Interpretation (1977)
Diane P. Koenker, "Men against Women on the Shop Floor in Early Soviet Russia: Gender and Class in the Socialist Workplace," American Historical Review, vol. 100, no. 5 (December 1995), 1438-64.
Fiction: Iuri Olesha, Envy (1927)
Reportage: Eugene Lyons, Assignment in Utopia (1937).
Film: Bed and Sofa (Third Meshchanskaya) (A. Room, 1927, silent) [LMC]
Feb. 19 The Great Turn: Overview
Read: Kenez, chap. 4
Feb. 21 The Five-Year Plan for Industry
Read: Balashova, in FS, pp. 243-51
Feb. 23 Collectivization and the Elimination of Kulaks as a Class
Read: Belskaia, Solovieva, in FS, pp. 219-40
Feb. 26 Transforming Women's Place in Society
Read: Korevanova, Ivanova, in FS, pp. 169-206, 252-76
Feb. 28 The Autobiography as Historical Source (discussion)
Read: Fitzpatrick and Slezkine introductions, FS, pp. 3-30
Mar. 2 Cultural Revolution
Read: Bogdan, in FS, pp. 252-276
Mar. 5 The USSR and the "World Revolution"
Read: Krokodil cartoons (coursepack/web)
Recommended:
Robert V. Daniels, Conscience of the Revolution (1960), chaps. 10-13, 15
Lynne Viola, Peasant Rebels under Stalin: Collectivization and the Cultural of Peasant Resistance (1996), chaps. 2, 6.
R. W. Davies, The Soviet Economy in Turmoil, 1929-1930 (1989), introduction and chap. 1
Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Cultural Front (1992), chaps. 2, 4
Katerina Clark, Petersburg: Crucible of Cultural Revolution, chaps. 11-12 [on reserve]
Fiction: Valentin Katayev, Time, Forward! (1933)
Reportage: Maurice Hindus, Red Bread (1931)
Film: The General Line (The Old and the New) (Eisenstein, 1929, silent) [LMC] [view without sound, the soundtrack is awful]
Mar. 7 The 1930s as Historical Epoch: Overview
Read: Excerpt from diary of Leonid Alekseyevich Potyemkin, Intimacy and Terror, pp. 252-66 (coursepack)
Mar. 9 Stalin as Cult Figure
Read: Angelina in FS, pp. 305-21
March 10-18 SPRING BREAK
Mar. 19-21 "The Gods Are Athirst": What Explains the Purges?
Read: Kenez, pp. 103-126
Treivas, Ulianova, in FS, pp. 324-30, 342-49
Ginzburg, entire
Mar. 23 Class discussion of Ginzburg.
Mar. 26 In Another Part of the Thirties
Read: Vlasovskaia, in FS, pp. 359-66
Mar. 26 or 27: Evening film showing of Circus (G. Alexandrov, 1936)
Mar. 28 "Normal Life" in the Soviet Thirties (discussion)
Read: Shikheeva, Troib, in FS, pp. 367-90, 419-23
Recommended:
Nation, Black Earth, chap. 3 [on reserve]
Moshe Lewin, The Making of the Soviet System (1985), chaps. 9, 10
Roy Medvedev, Let History Judge (1973), chaps. 3, 4, 9
Lewis H. Siegelbaum, Stakhanovism and the Politics of Productivity (1988), chaps. 4, 6
Fitzpatrick, Cultural Front (1992), chaps. 6, 7, 9
Robert C. Tucker, Stalin in Power: The Revolution from Above, 1928-1941 (1990), chaps. 11, 15, 16, 18
Sheila Fitzpatrick, Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s (1999), ch. 7.
Jeffrey Brooks, Thank You, Comrade Stalin! Soviet Public Culture from the Revolution to Cold War (2000), ch. 3.
Fiction: Anatoly Rybakov, Children of the Arbat (1988)
Memoir: Anna Larina, This I Cannot Forget (1991)
Film: Volga, Volga (Alexandrov, 1937)
Mar. 30 Origins of World War II
Read: Secret texts of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (coursepack)
Kenez, pp. 126-31
Apr. 2 The War at Home
Read: "Report from Beria to Stalin, July 4, 1949" (coursepack)
Kenez, ch. 6
Apr. 4 The Myth of the Great Patriotic War (discussion)
Read: Ehrenburg, Justification of Hate; Lidov, "Tanya" (coursepack)
Apr. 6 Origins of the Cold War
Read: George Kennan's "Long Telegram" excerpts (course pack)
Kenez, ch. 7
April 9 Khrushchev: Reformer or Perfect Communist?
Read: Krokodil cartoons (coursepack/web)
Kenez, ch. 8
Apr. 11 20th Congress of the Communist Party: Show Trial of Stalin.
Volunteers needed. See below.
Read: Khrushchev's secret speech (coursepack/web)
Recommended:
Nation, Black Earth, chaps. 4-5 [on reserve]
John Barber and Mark Harrison, The Soviet Home Front, 1941-45 (1991), chaps. 4-6, 9
John Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad (1975), chaps. 2, 3, 6, 7
Amir Weiner, Making Sense of War: The Second World War and the Fate of the Bolshevik Revolution (2001)
Vojtech Mastny, Russia's Road to the Cold War (1979), chaps. 4, 7, 8
Alec Nove, "Was Stalin Really Necessary?" Encounter, 1962
Elena Zubkova, Russia after the War: Hopes, Illusions, and Disappointments (1998)
Roy and Zhores Medvedev, Khrushchev: The Years in Power (1978), chaps. 3, 6, 13, 15
Fiction: Vladimir Grossman, Life and Fate (1985)
Memoir: G. K. Zhukov, The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov (1971)
Film: Ballad of a Soldier (Chukrai, 1959) [LMC]
Apr. 13 The Developed Socialist Economy: They Pretend to Pay Us, We Pretend to Work
Read: Kenez, pp. 214-23
Apr. 16 A Week Like Any Other (discussion)
Read: Baranskaya, "A Week Like Any Other"
Apr. 18 Dissent and Resistance
Read: "Central Committee Report, February 2, 1979" (coursepack)
Kenez, pp. 223-29
Apr. 20 Hothouse or Prisonhouse of Nations
Read: Kenez, pp. 229-33
Recommended:
James Millar, The ABCs of Soviet Socialism (1981), chaps. 3-5
Helene Carrere-d'Encausse, Decline of an Empire (1979), chaps. 1, 7
Nation, Black Earth, chaps. 6-7 [on reserve]
Paul Josephson, New Atlantis Revisited: Akademgorodok, the Siberian City of Science (1997)
Kaiser, Robert J., The Geography of Nationalism in Russia and the USSR. (1994)
Douglas R. Weiner, A Little Corner of Freedom: Russian Nature Protection from Stalin to Gorbachev (1998).
Catriona Kelly, "The Retreat from Dogmatism: Populism under Khrushchev and Brezhnev," in Catriona Kelly and David Shepherd, eds., Russian Cultural Studies: An Introduction (1998)
.
Fiction: Vladimir Voinovich, The Ivankiad (1977)
Memoir: Ludmilla Alexeyeva and Paul Goldberg, The Thaw Generation: Coming of Age in the Post-Stalin Era (1990)
Film: Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (Menshov, 1979)
Apr. 23-25 Perestroika and the Ambiguities of Socialism
Read: Remnick, parts 1-2, 3-5
Kenez, pp. 233-42, ch. 10
Apr. 23 or 24: Evening film showing of Burnt by the Sun (Mikhalkov, 1995)
Apr. 27 The End of the USSR (discussion)
Apr. 30 USSR/CIS/Russia and the Near Abroad
May 2 Whither Russia? What Can Historians Say?
Read: Kenez, ch. 11
Recommended:
Moshe Lewin, The Gorbachev Phenomenon (1991), chaps. 1, 3, 6, 10
Francine du Plessix Gray, Soviet Women: Walking the Tightrope (1989), chaps. 3-5, 12
David Remnick, Resurrection: Struggle for a New Russia (1997)
David Marples, Ukraine under Perestroika, chaps. 2, 6 (1991)
Nation, Black Earth, chap. 8 [on reserve]
Hilary Pilkington, "'The Future Is Ours:' Youth Culture in Russia, 1953 to the Present," in Kelly and Shepherd, eds., Russian Cultural Studies: An Introduction (1998)
Fiction: Tatyana Tolstaya, Sleepwalker in a Fog (1992)
Memoir: Mikhail Gorbachev, Memoirs (1996)
Film: Sideburns (Mamin, 1990)
Television Series: "Second Russian Revolution" [LMC]
Course Requirements
You are expected to complete the required reading and demonstrate your comprehension of it in all your written work and in classroom participation. You are also encouraged to explore the recommended readings and other works in areas of special interest. A longer bibliography of works relevant to this course will be distributed shortly after the course begins. Take advantage of the university's excellent film resources and view some of the recommended films: films marked LMC are available in the Undergraduate Library's Media Center; others are available to borrow from the Russian and East European Center.
There will be several written assignments. (There are no in-class exams.)
(1) A midterm essay on an assigned topic, of 5-8 pages (1,250-2,000 words), due March 9. This essay will count for 30 percent of your grade.
(2) Three short papers (2-3 pages, 500-750 words) on three of the four collateral readings (Dune, Ginzburg, Baranskaya, Remnick), due on the day of discussion of these books. Each will count for 10 percent of your grade, to a total of 30 percent.
(3) A 12-15 page (3,000-3,750 words) paper analyzing a personal narrative (memoir) related to some aspect of the history of the Soviet Union. In addition to reading and commenting on the narrative in detail, you will be expected to corroborate some of its historical arguments with a small number (4-5) of scholarly historical works. An annotated list of suitable narratives will be distributed shortly after the term begins, along with a bibliography of relevant secondary works on Soviet history. Each student must choose a different narrative for the paper topic: you may claim your narrative by seeing me in my office (during office hours or at another arranged time). The deadline for choosing a book is March 7. Papers will be due May 2. The paper will count for 30 percent of the final grade.
Extensions for the written work are possible only with a doctor's or dean's affidavit. Plagiarism on any written work will be penalized by failure in the course. Please see the university policy on plagiarism for definitions and details (http://www.uiuc.edu/admin_manual/code/rule_33.html).
Classroom attendance and participation will also figure into your grade, and will count for 10 percent.
For extra credit, you may volunteer to conduct a show trial of Stalin. The trial will be held on April 11, as part of Khrushchev's destalinization campaign begun at the 20th Communist Party Congress in 1956. The entire class will participate, but 4-6 volunteers are needed to present the case for the prosecution and the defense. See me if you are interested in organizing the trial.
I encourage you to stop in my office to discuss problems or questions about the course, Russian history, the future of Russia, etc. I would especially like to consult with you as you work on your paper. During scheduled office hours in Gregory Hall, my door is open; feel free to drop in. Or you may make an appointment to see me at another time. You are welcome to e-mail me with questions and requests for appointments. My mailbox is always open.
OFFICE HOURS:
301 Gregory Hall
244-2083 (Slavic Review 333-3621)
Mondays 11-12, Wednesdays 9-10
Other times by appointment are readily available.
e-mail: dkoenker@uiuc.edu
http://www.history.uiuc.edu/fac_dir/koenker_dir/koenker.htm
