HR619-6-FY-CO:
The Russian Revolution 1905-1932
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 6
Inactive
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 28 June 2024
30
23 March 2021
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
The module aims to give students a deeper understanding of the Russian Revolution as a larger process that started long before 1917 and did not end in 1917 or even in 1921. It thereby will delve into the questions of periodization and conceptualization of historical events or processes in general, and discuss this problem in the context of the Russian Revolution.
The module will also put emphasis on different methodological approaches to history and to the Russian Revolution in particular. It will give an overview of different interpretations of the Russian Revolution, and of former and current scholarly debates. The students shall be enabled to discuss different historical positions and to interpret primary sources of the Russian Revolution.
The Russian Revolution was one of the most important events in the 20th Century. It brought an end to Tsarist rule and gave birth to the first socialist state. Very often, the Russian Revolution is identified with the events of 1917, when the Tsar abdicated in February and the Bolsheviks seized power in October.
As a matter of fact there had been several Russian Revolutions or stages of a larger revolutionary process. This process has its roots in the second half of the 19th Century and resulted in the first Russian Revolution of 1905. Eventually Tsarist rule was restored, but only in the framework of a semi-constitutional government. It collapsed under the burdens of World War I, leading to the abdication of Emperor Nicolas II in February 1917.
In October 1917, the Bolsheviks were finally able to seize power, but it took them more than three years to consolidate their rule and to build the Soviet state. Bolshevik power was challenged by counter-revolutionary forces (the "Whites") and several other parties (Allied and Central powers, Poland, Ukrainian nationalists, "green" Warlord armies) in the Russian Civil War, which had a deep impact on the Bolshevik party, on the Soviet state and society.
1921 is often accepted as the end of the Russian Revolution, but now the Bolsheviks had to find answers to the problems of multi-ethnicity and diversity of the former Tsarist territories they had conquered in the course of Civil War. They also had to transform an imperial structure into a revolutionary form of Statehood. Much more, the revolutionary process had been restricted to the urban centres. The Bolsheviks had not succeeded in "revolutionising" the village. Thus the overwhelming majority of the Russian population lived outside of the new revolutionary order.
Soviet state-building, the creation of the Soviet multi-national state during the 1920s and the Sovietization of the village during collectivization (1928-1932) can be considered as the final stages of a revolutionary process that completed the political, social and cultural transformation of the former Tsarist Empire, leading to the emergence of the Soviet Union.
1. Close reading and discussion of secondary literature and various types of primary sources.
2. Acquisition of substantial historical knowledge about the period of the Russian Revolution.
3. Achieving an overview of different interpretations of the Russian Revolution and its periodization.
4. Fostering the awareness of the constructivist nature of history.
1. Profound knowledge about the period of the revolutionary process in Russia in the first three decades of the 20th Century.
2. Acquaintance with different theoretical approaches to history and their application in scholarly practice.
3. Learning to read and to produce scholarly texts.
4. Learning to put sources into their context and to interpret them.
5. Presenting information and theses on historical topics individually.
6. Working in groups and present result of group work.
For introductory reading, see:
Stephen A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: an empire in crisis, Oxford 2017.
Laura Engelstein, Russia in Flames: war, revolution, civil war 1914-1921, Oxford 2018.
Mark D. Steinberg, The Russian revolution, 1905-1921, Oxford 2017.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Felix Schnell, email: fschnell@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Felix Schnell
Belinda Waterman, Department of History, 01206 872313
Yes
Yes
No
Dr Miriam Dobson
University of Sheffield
Reader
Available via Moodle
Of 61 hours, 61 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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