HIS 2212 - The Soviet Experiment

Credits: 4
During the 20th century Russian Communists embarked on a radical political experiment. This course will consider both the successes and failures of this utopian project. Topics will include the Revolutions of 1917 and creation of the Soviet state, the rule of Joseph Stalin, and the resulting economic and social changes. The course will encompass the ordeal of World War II, post-Stalin attempts at revitalization, and the problems of Soviet modernity. We will address Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms of the 1980s and reasons for the USSR’s collapse. Throughout the course attention will be paid to the role of ideology in Soviet politics and society, to ethnic diversity and the national question, and to relations with the outside world.
McDaniel Plan: International; Social, Cultural, and Historical Understanding