Spring, 2001 Mr. Wagner
Upon becoming General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev initiated a series of increasingly radical reforms intended to revitalize and strengthen the Soviet Union and to restructure the Soviet system. The outcome of these efforts, however, was the stunning, unexpected, yet relatively peaceful disintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Soviet communist experiment in 1991. The purpose of this seminar is to enable students to explore this process of reform, collapse, and renewal through both common readings and a substantial independent research project. Class meetings, therefore, will be devoted to the discussion of common readings intended to familiarize students with the main aspects and interpretations of the Gorbachev era and the process of Soviet collapse, while individual conferences will be held to help students with their research. Topics for general discussion include the motives and prospects for reform of the Soviet system; the interrelationship between economic and political reform and between domestic and international pressures for reform; the relative importance of contingency, personality, context, ideology, and systemic weaknesses in causing the collapse of the Soviet system; the character and demands of nationalist movements and their role in the disintegration of the Soviet empire; cultural change and the position of women; and the development and nature of oppositional political groups and alternative political cultures.
Each student will choose a research topic in consultation with the instructor and is expected to pursue this topic over the course of the semester. This research will culminate in a substantial paper, which will constitute the principal written work for the semester.
The following books can be purchased at the Williams College Bookstore:
J. Keep, Last of the Empires
A. Brown, The Gorbachev Factor
V. Bunce, Subversive Institutions
R. Suny, Revenge of the Past
S. Kotkin, Steeltown, USSR
R. Daniels, Soviet Communism from Reform to Collapse
In addition, a packet of photocopies should be obtained from the History Department Secretary, Mrs. Swift (310 Stetson), for a charge that partially covers reproduction costs.
Course requirements include thoughtful participation in each class (30% of the final grade), a final research paper (approximately 25-30 pp.) due by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, 19 May (70% of the final grade), and an annotated bibliography and an interim statement in preparation for the research paper (due on Friday, 9 March, and Friday, 4 May, respectively, in the instructor’s box in Stetson; the grades for these exercises will be included in that for the research paper).
The research paper may be on any topic related to the late Soviet period, but the topic must be approved by the instructor. The paper should define a clear thesis and support it using appropriate evidence, which should include a significant body of primary sources. The paper also should discuss the historiography of the topic chosen and state the significance of the findings for our understanding of the Soviet system and the reasons for its collapse.
In addition, each student will be responsible for presenting an initial response to the readings for one or two classes. This response should be a 10-15 minute oral presentation assessing the readings. The student making the presentation should summarize briefly what he or she considers to be the main points at issue, note the relative strengths and weaknesses of the arguments being made by different authors, and present his or her own conclusions from the readings. With regard to primary source readings, the student making the presentation should explain how they can be used by historians to understand the particular issues being examined. The response does not need to be written out, but the student should at least have a comprehensive outline, which will be handed in at the end of the class.
Wednesdays, 1:10-3:50 p.m.
Five films will be shown in connection with the class. Students are required to view these films, all of which will be placed on reserve in either Sawyer Library or the language lab in Weston. In addition, there will be a common screening of the two feature films, “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” and “Little Vera,” at 7:30 p.m. in Weston 10 on Thursday, 5 April, and Sunday, 8 April, respectively [refreshments will be served].
For class no. 6 (these films should be viewed in time to discuss them in class on 7 March):
“Stalin is With Us?” (1989) (on reserve in Weston language lab)
“Defense Counsel Sedov” (1989) (on reserve in Weston language lab)
For class no. 9 (these films should be viewed in time to discuss them in class on 11 April):
“Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” (1981) (on reserve in Sawyer Library); common showing: Thursday, 5 April, Weston 10, 7:30 p.m.
“Little Vera” (1988) (on reserve in Weston language lab); common showing: Sunday, 8 April, Weston 10, 7:30 p.m.
For class no. 12 (this film will be shown in class, but it also is on reserve in Sawyer Library):
“A Very Russian Coup”
Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Fridays, 1:30-2:30 p.m., or by appointment, Stetson 310 (ext. 2394)
1. February 1 Introductory Meeting
2. February 7 Background: Understanding the Soviet Union
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 1-161
3. February 14 Prelude to Perestroika: Dissidents, Critics, and the Reemergence of Civil Society?
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 165-328
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 1-9, 17-25, 35-47
Solzhenitsyn, excerpts from The Mortal Danger, photocopy
Clements, “Later Developments,” photocopy
Mamonova, “Introduction: The Feminist Movement,” photocopy
4. February 21 Generational Change: Gorbachev and the Soviet Elite
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 25-35
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 331-7
Brown, Gorbachev Factor, pp. 1-129
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 69-82
Burlatsky, excerpts from Khrushchev, photocopy
(Meeting with Lee
Dalzell, head reference librarian, in Sawyer Library during
second part of class)
5. February 28 The Soviet Economy: From Plan to Market, From Reform to Collapse
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 337-342, 391-396, 399-400
Kotkin, Steeltown, pp. 1-38
Brown, Gorbachev Factor, pp. 130-154
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 82-95, 193-216, 284-295
***Note:
the videos “Stalin is With Us?” (1989) and “Defense
Counsel Sedov” (1989) should be viewed before class no. 6
(both videos are on reserve in Weston language lab) ***
6. March 7 Glasnost’ and the Process of Delegitimization
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 342-351
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 96-110
Kotkin, Steeltown, pp. 39-75
“Debates over History,” photocopy
Brown, Gorbachev Factor, pp. 172-174
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 121-128
Tsipko, “Do We Need Yet Another Experiment?,” photocopy
*** Note: Research proposal and bibilographic essay due by 4:00 p.m., Friday, 9 March, in instructor’s box in Stetson ***
7. March 14 The Politics of Perestroika, I
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 351-362, 387-391, 396-399
Brown, Gorbachev Factor, pp. 155-211
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 143-193, 243-253
Kotkin, Steeltown, pp. 76-117
SPRING BREAK
***Note: the films “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” (1981) and “Little Vera” (1988) should be viewed before class no. 9 (in addition to the common screenings noted below, both films are on reserve, in Sawyer Library and the Weston language lab respectively) ***
8. April 4 The Politics of Perestroika, II: Perestroika in the Provinces
Kotkin, Steeltown, pp. 118-286
FILM: “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” – Thursday, 5 April, 7:30 p.m., Weston 10
FILM: “Little Vera” – Sunday, 8 April, 7:30 p.m., Weston 10
9. April 11 The Culture of Perestroika: Images of Women and Femininity
Lissyutkina, “Soviet Women,” photocopy
Goscilo, “Domostroika or Perestroika?,” photocopy
10. April 18 Nationalities, Nationalism, and “Modernization”
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 363-387
Suny, Revenge, pp. 1-19, 84-160
Brown, Gorbachev Factor, pp. 252-293
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 111-121, 216-243, 299-319
Goble, “Ethnic Politics,” photocopy
Szporluk, “Dilemmas,” photocopy
“Letter from Russia’s Writers,” photocopy
11. April 25 International Pressures, Eastern Europe, and “Structural Weaknesses”
Brown, Gorbachev Factor, pp. 212-251
Bunce, Subversive Institutions, all
12. May 2 The August Coup: Politics, Personalities, and Imperial and Systemic Collapse
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 400-411
Brown, Gorbachev Factor, pp. 294-305
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 253-284
video, “A Very Russian Coup,” will be shown in class (also on reserve in Sawyer Library)
*** Note: Interim statement due by 4:00 p.m., Friday, 4 May, in instructor’s box in Stetson ***
13. May 11 Summation: Explaining and Understanding the End of the Soviet Union
Keep, Last of the Empires, pp. 412-419
Daniels, Soviet Communism, pp. 321-339
Brown, Gorbachev Factor, pp. 306-318
Zaslavsky, “The Soviet Union,” photocopy
Z./Malia, “To the Stalin Mausoleum,” photocopy
Dallin, “Causes,” photocopy
Arnason, “Communism and Modernity,” photocopy
** Note: Final research papers due by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, 19 May, in instructor’s box in Stetson **
Have a pleasant and relaxing summer!!