Module Directory

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 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.

The module follows the events and processes after the civil war until the death of Lenin in 1924. Lenin's death was a caesura for the ruling party, but also the time when the last hopes of revolutions outside of Russia and the world revolution waned. The early 1920s also see the introduction of the New Economic Policy and the consolidation of socialist statehood and economy.

The aims of this module are:

• To provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Russian Revolution.


• To allow students to conduct close readings and discussions of key secondary literature and various types of primary sources relating to the topic.


• To gain an understanding of different interpretations of the Russian Revolution and its periodization.


• To foster an awareness of the constructivist nature of history with particular reference to this topic.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Have gained an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the revolutionary process in Russia in the first three decades of the 20th Century.


2. Explain different concepts and theoretical approaches in relation to this period of history.


3. Analyse and responded to key secondary texts on the topic.


4. Analyse and contextualised important primary sources.

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 will be delivered via:

• One lecture per week.
• One seminar per week.