92674 - History of Modern and Contemporary Russia (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will know and be able to apply the main methods of analysis to cultural and historical processes in Russia over the modern and contemporary eras, whether in the specific geo-historical context or through interaction with other complex cultural worlds. They will be able to place political, religious and cultural phenomena in historical context, critically examining the interconnections (including comparison with other cultural areas), and use specific cases to illustrate various aspects of the encounter among different cultures. They will be able to recognise and analyse the documentary and textual sources relevant to the areas in question. They will know how to listen, understand and debate respectfully with different cultures and viewpoints, spotting tie-ups among the different disciplines involved in interpreting cultural and historical phenomena.

Course contents

The course aims to provide the most up-to-date knowledge of the political and social history of Russia/USSR in the 20th century up to the beginning of the Putin period. Rather than a systematic presentation of 150 years of revolutions, wars and other political and social upheavals, the emphasis will be on periods considered key, such as 1905-1921, 1928-33, and on the main dynamics of the system. We strongly recommend reading the brief history of the Soviet Union listed in the bibliography (S. Fitzpatrick) for an overview of the 20th century.

//

Readings/Bibliography

Some readings are mandatory before specific lectures to enable critical study of sources and discussion; they are indicated in the space "Virtuale" del corso and are the basis of the final written exam of the attending students. Non-attending students will work on monographs indicated below (in the section "Assessment methods").

Non mandatory readings: To allow for classroom discussion, it is essential that students with no previous experience in Russian and Soviet history read at least an overview of 20th- and 21st-century Russian history before the start of the course, or at least the second week of the course. Sheila Fitzpatrick is recommended (her book was originally published in English The Shortest History of the Soviet Union, Columbia University Press, 2022), as well as Mark Edele, The Soviet Union. A Short History (Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2019). Note that the latter author recently published a historiographical study on Stalinism: Mark Edele, Debates on Stalinism (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020) and a concise story of his area of specialization Mark Edele, Stalinism at War: The Soviet Union in World War II (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021).

To delve into the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in particular, one can study Cigliano, Giovanna. La Russia contemporanea : un profilo storico, 1855-2005. Roma: Carocci, various prints (2005, 2013, 2023). But for an elaborate view of the entire chronological span 1850-1991, I shall rather recommend Graziosi, Andrea. L’Unione Sovietica, 1914-1991. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2011 (exists in ebook format obtainable through AlmaRe) This is the most comprehensive summary work on the Soviet period, and contains reflections on historiography up to 2010.

The more recent period is concisely studied in Benvenuti, Francesco. Russia oggi. Roma: Carocci, 2013 (fro 1985 to 2010) and in De Stefano, Carolina. Storia del potere russo. Dagli zar a Putin. Brescia: Morcelliana, 2022 (from 1985 to 2022).

//

Teaching methods

Classes are based on an active exchange among students and with the teacher.

Several classes are built around a primary source (textual or visual) that all students are expected to read and reflect on before class.

Through the study of texts and documents and the main concepts for academic knowledge of contemporary Russian and Soviet history, methods of critical analysis of primary sources will also be addressed. During the lectures, students are expected to acquire or improve their skills in historical methodology. All attending students should enrol, by week 2 of the course, in groups that will present brief analyses of a historical source in one of the dedicated lectures.

Group enrolment at this link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PlLylpW8CZGZhiuFOOfBt9OCLRjPyHn0DzR073sRtaM/edit?usp=sharing

*The first 3 lectures are devoted to explanations by the professor on the content and functioning of the course, including the methodology of critical analysis of primary sources (Russian/Soviet case) The critical analysis of the St. Petersburg Workers' Petition of January 9 (22), 1905 will be carried out, an opportunity also to present the situation of the Russian empire at the beginning of the 20th century, the concept of autocracy, and the first Russian revolution.

*Lectures 4-6 will consist of frontal lectures, but with the study of historiographical debates and recent theses on the period 1905-1932, and we will continue to study primary sources.

*Lectures 7-15 will alternate collective discussions (from very short group presentations) and lectures by the professor.

 

DETAILED CALENDAR

No class on Wednesday 18 Sept, and Mond. 23 Sept

!!! On Wednesday 16 Oct, the class will be held in AULA PASCOLI

Piano Terra, 32 via Zamboni - Bologna

Classes 1, 2, 3 (Mon. 16, Tues. 17, Tues. 24 Sept.). Presentation of course methods and study of (a) the St. Petersburg Workers' Petition of Jan. 9 (22), 1905; (b) the concept of autocracy

Class 4 (Wed. 25 Sept.) Russian imperialism: stages and dynamics, academic interpretations.
Class 5 (Mon. 30 Sept.). The Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, an episode in the "continuum of crisis" (Peter Holquist)
Class 6 (Tuesday 1 Oct.). From the dream of global revolution to the "revolution from above" (1918-1932).  

Class 7 (Wed. 2 Oct.). Collectivisation and State violence. Work on primary sources Graziosi, Andrea (a cura di), La grande guerra contadina in Urss. Bolscevichi e contadini (1918-1933), Roma, Officina Libraria, 2022, pp. e di Nicolas Werth, L’isola dei cannibali. Siberia, 1933: una storia di orrore all’interno dell’arcipelago gulag, tr it di Francesco Roncacci, Milano, Corbaccio, 2007. 

Class 8 (Mon. 7 Oct.). Stalinism in the 1930s

Class 9 (Tues. 8 Oct.). World War II in the USSR. Work on primary sources: excerpts from Vassily Grossman, A Writer at War, 1941-1945, Milan, Adelphi, 2015.

Class 10 (Wednesday. 9 Oct.). The Khrushchevian Thaw. Work on primary sources: excerpts from Nikita Khrushchëv's "secret report."

Class 11 (Mon. 14 Oct.). The Brezhnev years 1. Dissent and repression. Work on primary sources

Class 12 (Tues.15 Oct). The Brezhnev years 2. Work on primary sources: excerpt of S. Alexeevich, Second hand time.

!!! On Wednesday 16 Oct, the class will be held in AULA PASCOLI, Piano Terra, 32 via Zamboni - Bologna

Class 13 (Wedn. 16 Oct.). Gorbachev's perestrojka. Work on primary sources: two documents.

Class 14 (Mon. 21 Oct. ): From hope to crisis, 1991 and 1993. Work on primary sources (to be defined).

Class 15 (Tues. 22 Oct.): The Putin era. Work on primary sources: Text by A. Polikovskaya

//

Assessment methods

• ATTENDING STUDENTS

To be evaluated as attending, students must attend at least 11 out of 15 lectures and participate in the work of one group. Enrol here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PlLylpW8CZGZhiuFOOfBt9OCLRjPyHn0DzR073sRtaM/edit?usp=sharing

Those enrolled should contact each other to discuss their presentation together.

Each student's grade is based on general class attendance and a a 2-hour written exam after the end of the 15 lectures. The test will consist of answering 5-6 questions about the content seen in classrooms (including the texts listed below): the primary sources studied together, reports of the content seen in each class (prof.sa's powerpoint), and any academic texts given to read on virtual for the exam. Questions will be open questions, wanting redacted answers. The evaluation criteria will be: accuracy and precision of the answer, choice of appropriate vocabulary, ability to link concrete aspects and facts with broader notions that have been studied in the classroom.

 

• NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

Students who cannot attend class regularly are anyway welcome to come when they can. The course grade will result from a 4-hour written exam after the end of the 15 lectures. The test will consist of answering 10-12 open-ended questions on the content of the 2 books chosen (see below)

READINGS FOR THE EXAM (NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS)

2 parts:

1/A general and concise overview of the contemporary age in Russia/Urss.

Fitzpatrick, Sheila. Breve Storia Dell’Unione Sovietica. Milano: Bompani, 2023. (the book exists in English)

2/ a monograph to be chosen between these 2:

• Liudmila G. Novikova, La controrivoluzione in provincia : movimento bianco e guerra civile nella Russia del Nord, 1917-1920, Roma, Viella, 2015 (the book exists in English)

This is a thorough monograph, based on a broad archival base and fueled by the latest historiographical insights into civil wars, war cultures and extreme violence. It offers an original look at the nexus of "1917 revolutions and the Russian Civil War," from the vantage point of a little-studied area in which counterrevolution exhibited special characteristics (General Miller).

• Silvio Pons, La rivoluzione globale : storia del comunismo internazionale, 1917-1991. Torino: G. Einaudi, 2012. (the book exists in English)

Dense and wide-ranging monograph examining the intertwining of the Bolsheviks' early goals of world revolution and the development of an atomic great power with more traditional strategic interests. The author examines theoretical debates among Bolshevik leaders, then between the Communist Party of the USSR and new poles of communism such as China. He incorporates recent research on the political culture of communist movements. Equally important, however, are the specifically Soviet developments that influenced the country's foreign policy.

****

For attending and non-attending students, there are 6 exam calls.

Call 1 : mid-November,

call 2 : mid-Dec  

call 3 : around Jan 20,  

call 4 : second half of March,

call 5 : mid-July,

call 6 : early/mid-September.

The syllabus to be studied changes every year; non-attending students in debt should study the year's syllabus given in the exam call.

 

ASSESMENT POLICY

Each answer in the written examination may be awarded a maximum of points indicated for each question. The total for all answers corresponds to a maximum of 30 points (if the clarity and richness of the answers are particularly high, it may receive 30L) If the student has demonstrated active participation in classrooms, the overall total for the examination may be increased by 1 to 4 points

The following will then be assessed:

- The mastery of the content

- The ability to synthesize and analyze themes and concepts

- The ability to express oneself adequately and in language appropriate to the subject matter

The highest mark will be awarded to the student who shows a general understanding of the topics discussed in the literature to be studied, an assimilation of the most important knowledge, a critical approach to the material and sources and a confident and effective use of appropriate terminology.

An average mark will be awarded to the student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarize them satisfactorily and provide critical and effective responses, although failing to show complete mastery of the appropriate terminology.

The student will fail the examination if he/she shows significant errors in his/her understanding and inability to grasp the general contours of the question, together with a poor command of appropriate terminology.

If there are any questions or doubts about the content of this oral examination, students are invited to contact the professor during office hours or by e-mail.

//

Teaching tools

During the lectures, the professor will make extensive use of power point presentations.

After the lectures, powerpoint files and other texts will be uploaded to the teaching materials section of the site for students to download and learn.

Other tools will be made available in the teaching materials section of the site, such as lists of original terms and abbreviations with their translation.

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students.

Office hours

See the website of Vanessa Voisin