- UCAS course code
- RT71
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Course unit details:
100 Years of Revolution: from Lenin's Soviet Union to Putin's Russia
Unit code | RUSS20242 |
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Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 2 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This course unit explores the creation, evolution and subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union, as well as the emergence of a new Russia from the wreckage of the world’s first socialist state. Emphasis is placed on key political, social and cultural developments, seen within the context of Soviet, post-Soviet and, more broadly, European history.
Aims
- to help students develop a solid understanding of Soviet and post-Soviet Russian history;
- to provide students with the necessary analytical skills to achieve this understanding;
- to develop students’ skills at analysing and understanding primary sources;
- to develop students’ skills at presenting cogent arguments, both in writing and orally.
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- critically evaluate different approaches to and interpretations of events in Soviet and post-Soviet Russian history;
- make effective use of relevant resources;
- present their written work in a coherent, well-structured and well-articulated form;
- present and defend their views orally;
- manage their time effectively.
Syllabus
- Week 1: The Russian Empire on the Eve of Revolution
- Week 2: The Bolshevik Revolution and the Civil War
- Week 3: The New Economic Policy and the rise of Stalin
- Week 4: Stalin’s ‘second Revolution’
- Week 5: The ‘Great Patriotic War’ and its aftermath
- Week 6: The Khrushchev ‘Thaw’ and the dilemmas of de-Stalinisation
- Week 7: ‘Re-Stalinisation’ and the Reassertion of Control
- Week 8: The ‘Era of stagnation’ and its legacy
- Week 9: Gorbachev and perestroika
- Week 10: The collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of post-Soviet Russia
- Week 11: The Putin era
Teaching and learning methods
One 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour seminar per week.
The Blackboard site will contain an extensive range of materials including the course syllabus; lecture handouts and slides; seminar assignments; supplementary readings and audio-visual materials; and coursework assignments and guidance on how to complete them.
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- understand the historical development of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia;
- have a clear knowledge of the different periods of Soviet and post-Soviet Russian history;
- understand the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union;
- understand the form of political and societal systems which emergedin post- Soviet Russia.
Intellectual skills
By the end of this course students will be able to:
• explore a variety of texts on Soviet and post-Soviet history;
• differentiate between varying interpretations of historical events;
• understand the Marxist ideas that underpinned Soviet social and political attitudes and approaches;
• understand the concept of ideology and how it differs from one society to the next.
Practical skills
By the end of this course students will be able to:
• analyse and understand primary and secondary sources of various types;
• make effective use of primary and secondary sources to develop cogent arguments, both in writing and orally;
• present their written work in a coherent, well-structured and well-articulated form;
• work successfully in groups with others.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
• the ability to gather, synthesise and organise material from a variety of sources and to critically evaluate their significance;
• the ability to construct and defend arguments, both in writing and orally;
• the ability to work in a team, recognising different opinions and approaches and using them to best advantage;
• the ability to work to deadlines.
Employability skills
- Other
- The development of the skills outlined above can all be translated into in-demand employability skills.
Assessment methods
Assessment task | Formative or Summative | Weighting within unit (if summative) |
Primary Source Analysis (Semester 2, Week 7) | Summative | 40% |
Essay (Semester 2, Week 12) | Summative | 60% |
Resit Assessment:
Essay
Feedback methods
Feedback method | Formative or Summative |
Individual written feedback on the Primary Source Analysis | Summative |
Individual written feedback on the Essay | Summative |
Additional one-to-one feedback (during consultation hour or by making an appointment), on the understanding that this de-anonymises marking | Formative |
Recommended reading
- Peter Kenez, A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to its Legacy, 3rd edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016)
- Robert Service, The Penguin History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty First Century (London: Penguin, 2015)
- Ronald Grigor Suny, ed. The Cambridge History of Russia, Volume 3: The Twentieth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008)
- Seventeen Moments in Soviet History: An on-line archive of primary sources (2015) http://soviethistory.msu.edu
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Lectures | 22 |
Seminars | 11 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 167 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
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Rachel Platonov | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes