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RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION, 1905-1934 MWF, 9:20-10:10, RYH 213 David Brandenberger   “Russia in Revolution” explores the social, cultural and political turmoil that gripped Imperial Russia and the early Soviet Union between 1905 and 1934. This course focuses not only on the events themselves, but how various groups--workers, peasants, ethnic minorities, women, the intelligentsia and the so-called “bourgeoisie”--interpreted them. To understand 1917, it is necessary to examine the origins of the Russian revolutionary movement, 1905 and its consequences, and the catastrophic effect that the Great War had on Imperial Russian society. Also of interest are the dynamics surrounding the collapse of the old regime and empire, the radicalization of society, and the Bolshevik coup d’etat. The course concludes with a consideration of some of the most controversial moments associated with the revolutionary tradition: the question of Bolshevik legitimacy, the nature of “revolutionary culture,” the popular “reception” of the revolution and the connection between Lenin and Stalin. Monday and Wednesday meetings typically consist of lectures with time allocated for specific questions. Fridays are devoted to in-depth work on the primary sources that accompany each unit. Discussion participation accounts for a quarter of the final grade. Six 500-word essays are due before the end of classes, to be based on questions drawn from the fifteen weekly study guides distributed during the term. Essays should be written for the current week’s reading and only one essay per week should be submitted. Otherwise, the timing of the six essay submissions is a matter of personal choice. Essays should be deposited in the instructor’s box on Thursday before 2pm to allow for grading before Friday’s discussion. These essays account for a quarter of the final grade. An in-class midterm exam is scheduled for Friday, February 27. This exam covers all of the preceding lectures, as well as assigned readings. An in-class final covers the material presented after the midterm. Each exam counts for a fourth of the course’s grade. Missed exams can only be made up with a note from the appropriate authorities. Unexcused absences during the term may only be made-up via the submission of an extra essay per absence. Students are encouraged to make appointments with the instructor in order to meet during office hours. Email communication is strongly encouraged as a means of clarifying issues associated with the readings and assignments. Unless otherwise specified, however, all written work is to be handed-in in paper form.   SCHEDULE OF READINGS (e) indicates e-reserves * indicates optional WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION Monday, Jan. 12: the empire in 1900 and the concept of revolution Wednesday, Jan. 14: autocrats and bureaucrats, castes and classes Friday discussion, Jan. 16 Orlando Figes, A People’s Tragedy, xv-xvii, 3-121 K. Pobedonostsev, “The Great Falsehood of Our Time,” in Reflections of a Russian Statesman, 32-58 (e) WEEK 2: FERMENT Monday, Jan. 19: the intelligentsia Wednesday, Jan. 21: political movements and parties Friday discussion, Jan. 22 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 102-154 Richard Pipes, “The Intelligentsia,” in The Russian Revolution, 121-152 (e) Lenin’s theory of the party (and Marxist reactions to Lenin by Luxemburg and Trotskii), in A Documentary History of Communism, 1: 7-13. 18-22 (e) *The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 1917-1991, ed. Richard Sakwa, 1-12 WEEK 3: FIRST REVOLUTION Monday, Jan. 26: the Revolution of 1905 Wednesday, Jan. 28: constitutional experiment Friday discussion, Jan. 30 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 157-252 “The Manifesto of October,” in A Source Book for Russian History from Early Times to 1917, vol. 3, ed. George Vernadsky, 702-705 (e) “Nicholas’ Deliberations concerning the Fundamental Laws” (and the First Duma), in Vernadsky, A Source Book for Russian History from Early Times to 1917, 3: 770-775 (e) WEEK 4: TOTAL WAR Monday, Feb. 2: on the eve Wednesday, Feb. 4: the Great War Friday discussion, Feb. 6 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 221-278 The Russian Revolution, ed. Ronald Kowalski, 17-24 (a better excerpt from a secret police document on the social scene in 1916 is in The Russian Revolution, ed. R. Daniels, 8-12) “Letters from the Tsaritsa to Tsar” (and from the Tsar to the Tsaritsa), in Vernadsky, A Source Book for Russian History from Early Times to the Present Day, 3: 847-856 (e) M. V. Rodzianko, “Rasputin,” in Imperial Russia: a Source Book, ed. Basil Dmytryshyn, 439-449 (e) WEEK 5: SECOND REVOLUTION Monday, Feb. 9: erosion of imperial authority Wednesday, Feb. 11: February 1917 Friday discussion, Feb. 13 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 278-353 Kowalski, The Russian Revolution, 25-48 “Purishkevich’s Speech in the Duma” (and the Plot to Kill of Rasputin), in Documents of Russian History, ed. Frank Golder, 166-177 (e) “Letters of the Grand Duke et al.,” in Golder, Documents of Russian History, 244-253 (e) WEEK 6: INTERLUDE Monday, Feb. 16: dual power and Lenin’s return Wednesday, Feb. 18: April Crisis and July Days Friday discussion, Feb. 20 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 354-438 Kowalski, The Russian Revolution, 49-64 Excerpts from Tseritelli, Lenin and Kerensky at the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets (June 1917), in The Russian Provisional Government, 1917, ed. Robert Browder, Alexander Kerensky, 3:1301-1306 (e) *Sakwa, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 32-43 WEEK 7: ON THE EVE Monday, Feb. 23: political turmoil and the Kornilov affair Wednesday discussion and review, Feb. 25 Friday, Feb. 27: midterm Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 438-463 Kowalski, The Russian Revolution, 65-79 “Kornilov’s Response to Kerensky” (and Manifesto), in Browder and Kerensky, The Russian Provisional Government, 1917, 3:1573 (reprinted in Sakwa, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 44) (e) WEEK 8: THIRD REVOLUTION Monday, Mar. 1: October, 1917 Wednesday discussion, Mar. 3--putch or popular movement? Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 464-500 Kowalski, The Russian Revolution, 80-98 Friday discussion, Mar. 5--representing the revolution film clips from October (Eisenstein, 1927) S. Mstislavskii, “Fourth Day: October Revolution,” in Five Days which Transformed Russia, 108-131 (e) Time of Troubles: the Diary of Iurii Vladimirovich Got'e, ed. Terence Emmons, 70, 72, 80-81, 103 (e) L. Trotsky, “Conclusion,” in The History of the Russian Revolution, 1188-1193 (e) “S. Frank on the Russian revolution,” in Sakwa, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 72-73 (e) Alexander Blok, “The Twelve” (1918), in The Twelve and other Poems, 141-161 (e) WEEK 9: DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT? Monday, Mar. 15: Bolshevik consolidation of power, Brest Litovsk Wednesday, Mar. 17: war communism, pragmatism and “the masses” Friday discussion, Mar. 19 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 500-551, 589-627, 682-696 Kowalski, The Russian Revolution, 99-111, 131-165 *Sakwa, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 75-100 WEEK 10: REVOLUTIONARY TERROR, REVOLUTIONARY WAR Monday, Mar. 22: red terror & civil war Wednesday discussion, Mar. 24 Friday, Mar. 26: no class Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 627-682 Kowalski, The Russian Revolution, 111-127, 176-189 “Trotsky on the Red Army” in Daniels, A Documentary History of Communism, 1: 92-94 (e) “Trotsky on Terror and Militarization,” in Daniels, A Documentary History of Communism, 1: 121-123 (e) *Sakwa, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 100-101 WEEK 11: REVOLUTIONARY INTERNATIONALISM Monday, Mar. 29: revolutionary conquest Wednesday, Mar. 31: revolutionary reconquest Friday discussion, Ap. 2 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 696-720 Richard Pipes, “Communism for Export,” in Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, 166-201 (e) Kowalski, The Russian Revolution, 166-175 Terry Martin, “An Affirmative Action Empire,” in The Structure of Soviet History, ed. R. Suny, 93-102 (e) *Sakwa, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 100-107 WEEK 12: REVOLUTIONARY CULTURE Monday, Ap. 5: proletkult and the new literature Wednesday, Ap. 7: atheism and the militant godless Friday discussion, Ap. 9 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 732-751 V. Mayakovskii, “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” (1912), Utopias: Russian Modernist Texts, ed. Catriona Kelly, 120-122 (e) Mayakovskii, “Back Home!” (1925), in The Bedbug and Selected Poetry, 182-189 (e) Richard Stites, “Iconoclastic Currents in the Russian Revolution,” in Bolshevik Culture, ed. Abbot Gleason, 1-24 (e) Rene Fueloep-Miller, “The Revolutionizing of Everyday Life,” in The Mind and Face of Bolshevism, 185-222 (e) WEEK 13: REVOLUTIONARY REDUX? Monday, Ap. 12: NEP as Thermidor? Wednesday, Ap. 14: Stalin’s consolidation of power and the Lenin cult Friday discussion, Ap. 16 Figes, A People’s Tragedy, 682-696, 721-732, 751-807 V. Serge, “Vignettes of NEP,” in The Verdict of Three Decades, ed. Julian Steinberg, 124-152 (e) Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog, entire WEEK 14: FOURTH REVOLUTION Monday, Ap. 19: Stalin’s revolution from above Wednesday, Ap. 21: revolutionary struggle and the struggle for the revolution Friday discussion, Ap. 23 Richard Stites, “War on the Dreamers,” in Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution, 223-241 (e) Jeffrey J. Rossman, “Weaver of Rebellion and Poet of Resistance: Kapiton Klepikov and Shop Floor Opposition to Bolshevik Rule,” Jahrbuecher fuer Geschitche Osteuropas 44 (1996) 374-407 (e) “The Ryutin Group,” in Sakwa, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 199-200 (e) *Sakwa, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 176-227