HIS4428 – Living the Revolution: The History of the Soviet Union, 1917-1991

This course covers the tumultuous history of the Soviet Union, as seen through the eyes of those who experienced it first-hand. Through English-language translations of primary sources, the course introduces students to the perspectives of the visionary actors who called for the creation of a revolutionary new society, following them into their participation in projects of vision and of violence, the perspectives of the many victims of revolutionary upheaval and their forms of opposition, and the ambivalent voices of the many who were caught in between. Our discussions will address many of the prominent themes in the historiography of the Soviet Union: the relationship between state and society and center and periphery; forces of change and continuity in political, intellectual, scientific, social and cultural life; the development of Soviet nationalities policy; revolutionary politics and the cultural revolution; Stalinism; mass mobilization during World War II; the development of Soviet influence in East-Central Europe and of the ‘Communist’ world; the ‘re-launch’ of the Soviet project under Khrushchev; stagnation and the rise of Russian nationalism in the late Soviet period, and the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

When you have completed this course you will be able to:

• Understand major trends and debates in the historiography of the Soviet Union
• Be able to differentiate between political, social and cultural approaches to Soviet history and what those differences of approach imply in terms of understanding the causes of historical continuity and change.
• Understand the contested nature of history and how this is reflected in historiographical debates
• Critically analyse primary sources
• Use newspapers as primary sources a record of historical events and as a chronicle of contemporary opinions, aspirations, and debates
• Relate primary sources to historiographical debates
• Develop critical and comparative thinking to construct and develop a coherent argument about an issue, using primary sources as evidence.

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

The course is available to students admitted to Historie (master).

Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

A background of at least 30 credits in humanities or social sciences.

A good ability to read, write and understand English is required for this course.

The course offers 12 one-hour lectures and 12 one-hour group teaching sessions. Group teaching sessions focus on developing research skills such as developing a research question, interpreting primary sources, and relating primary sources to historiographical debates. They also focus on presentation and discussion skills. Participants are asked to prepare the texts from the syllabus for discussion in each seminar session.

Compulsory assignment:

To qualify for the take-home exam, students are expected to give a presentation in the seminar on a set seminar question or questions for the week. The presentation is assessed as either pass or fail.

Three-day take-home final exam. This will be based on a set packet of primary sources distributed with the final exam question, which will be used in combination with secondary literature from the course to answer the exam question.

Digital home examination

The home examination is conducted in the digital examination system Inspera.You will need to familiarize yourself with the digital examination arrangements in Inspera.

Read more about home examinations using Inspera.

The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.