HR621-6-SP-CO:
Stalinism
2024/25
Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Monday 13 January 2025
Friday 21 March 2025
15
10 April 2024
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
HR620
(none)
Stalinism is usually considered to be the period from 1928 to 1953 when Stalin ruled the Soviet de facto as a dictator. It is the time of the rule of mass terror, of the Gulag, of the Great Famine, but also that of industrialisation that enabled the Soviet Union to defeat NS-Germany in the Second World War.
Whether Stalinism was still part of the Russian Revolution is debated until today, but it is undisputed that the period saw the perfection of the social revolution – the emergence of purely socialist functional elites. Contrary to the common periodisation the module will mainly cover the years from Lenin’s death in 1924 until the beginning of the Second World War, but it will discuss Stalin’s long shadow that falls into our present days.
The aims of this module are:
- That students understanding what Stalinism was and how Stalinism has been interpreted in the historiography.
- That students practise the work with primary sources.
- That students practise the work with secondary sources.
- That students learn to write essays on a scholarly level.
By the end of the module, students will be expected to:
- Form an informed opinion on the history of the processes of Stalinism.
- Have an awareness of the historiographical approaches to the topic and their application.
- Interpret primary sources within their context.
- Communicated argument effectively through written work.
Indicative syllabus
- Lenin’s testament & Stalin’s rise to power
- The Soviet Union in international politics
- NEP – Soviet domestic life in the 1920s
- Collectivisation & ‘Great Famine’
- The new NKVD & and rule by terror
- The Gulag
- The ‘Great Terror’
- Culture in Stalin’s Russia
- The end of the Russian Revolution
- Stalin’s long shadow
This module will be delivered via:
- Ten 1-hour lectures
- Ten 1-hour seminars
The seminars will discuss the content of the lecture and assigned secondary and primary sources.
-
Eklof, B., Bushnell, J. and Zakharova, L.G. (1994) Russia’s great reforms, 1855-1881. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
-
von Laue, T.H. (1958) ‘Count Witte and the Russian Revolution of 1905’,
American Slavic and East European Review, 17(1). Available at:
https://doi.org/10.2307/3004300.
-
Ascher, A. (2004b)
The Revolution of 1905: a short history. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=125438.
-
J.A. Sanborn (2005) ‘Unsettling the Empire: Violent Migrations and Social Disaster in Russia during World War I*’,
The Journal of Modern History, 77(2), pp. 290–324. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/431816.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Primary Source Analysis (1000 words) |
07/03/2025 |
36% |
| Coursework |
Essay (2000 words) |
25/04/2025 |
64% |
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.
History UG Administrators: hrugadmin@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
Yes
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
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