Calendar

World War I and the February Revolution

Discussion Topics

The main topic will be Professor Ruthchild's findings about women's activism in the February Revolution, as well as the state of the autocracy at this time. Why was WWI such a trial for Russia? What were some of the short and long-term causes of the collapse of the Romanov dynasty in February 1917? What do the documents tell us about the climate of opinion in different sectors of the Russian government and population in the fall and winter of 1916–1917? Why did women play a particularly large role in the February events?

The Deepening of the Revolution, February-October, 1917

Discussion Topics

What was the dual government between February and October? What were the problems facing the Provisional Government and the Soviet in the months between February and October? How united were the Bolsheviks? What were Lenin's views? Why do you think his views were increasingly holding sway? Why did others resist his views?

The New Government & its Critics

Discussion Topics

As the Bolsheviks took up the reins of power, what issues did they need to solve and how did they solve them? How "Marxist" do you think their solutions were? How consistent were they in their own principles?

The Shift to the New Economic Policy (NEP)

Discussion Topics

Why did War Communism end up in crisis? How were the NEP decrees intended to head off further crisis? How do these latter relate to the stated values of the Bolshevik Party? What kinds of organizations was the Party establishing at this time? What were some of Lenin's doubts towards the end of his life? What were some of the views of Kollontai and others on the family and changes in the law?

The Politics and Economics of the NEP Years

Guest speaker: Rochelle Goldberg Ruthchild, Norwich University.

Ruthchild, Rochelle Goldberg. Equality and Revolution: Women's Rights in the Russian Empire, 1905–1917. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780822960669.

Discussion Topics

How do you explain Stalin's rise to power? What can you say about Lenin's legacy? What was the industrialization debate and why was it so contentious? Why do you think NEP may have reached a dead end by the late 1920s? Why did the leaders of the Women's Section [Zhenotdel] feel so threatened by NEP? How did Soviet men feel about the new gender relations?

Life in the 1930s, Purge and Terror, the Gulag

Discussion Topics

The Terror is one of the most debated topics in Soviet history—why did it happen? Were there structural causes as well as Stalin's paranoia? If Stalin's paranoia was the principal driving force, why wasn't there resistance from other quarters in state and society? Why do you think Joseph Davies, the American Ambassador to the USSR, believed that the trials were real? What do you think? What was Trotsky's interpretation of what has gone wrong?

"Finding Russia on a Map: The Name and the Boundaries in Light of Historical Cartography"

Guest speaker: Dr. Denis Khotimsky

World War II, aka The Great Patriotic War

Discussion Topics

Why do you think the Soviet authorities signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in August 1939? Why were they caught unawares in June 1941 when the Nazis invaded? How did the tenor of Soviet propaganda and practice change (and not change) during the war years? Who won the war in Europe? Did the Red Army win the war for democracy? Why did Stalin order the deportation of the Chechens, Koreans, other national groups, towards the end of the War?

The War as Myth and Symbol, and the Origins of the Cold War

Discussion Topics

What do you see as the origins of the Cold War and when would you date them to? What kinds of factors contributed to the intensification of the Cold War over time? What were the effects of the post-war settlements for Eastern Europe? Why? Why do you think anti-Semitism was growing exponentially in the post-war years? What forms did the renewed political orthodoxy of the post-war years take? In what ways do you think the Cold War is still with us even after the fall of the Soviet Union? Or do you think it is over?

The Brezhnev Era

Discussion Topics

What were some of the causes and manifestations of the deep distrust between the US and the USSR in the Brezhnev years? Why did Brezhnev and his leaders seek to undo so many of Khrushchev's reforms? What was their "social contract" with the people?

The Yeltsin Years: Politics and Economics

Student Presentations

Each student will summarize their research (3 minutes), showing how their findings developed from the presentation they made during Session 16.

Discussion Topics

Economic reform in early post-Soviet Russia entailed quite a paradox: Should capitalism "evolve" or should it be imposed from above? What conditions did it require for takeoff? Why did the Yeltsin administration run up head long against Parliament in 1992–1993? What happened in the aftermath of that standoff? How did the oligarchs enrich themselves in these years?