2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST2301 The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 1921-1993

20 creditsClass Size: 45

Module manager: Professor James Harris
Email: j.r.harris@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This course will study the new economic policy and the debate over the Soviet Union's future in the 1920s, the rise of Stalin, the nature of his 'revolution from above', the war against Hitler, destalinisation and Khrushchev's reforms, the Brezhnev 'years of stagnation' and Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost, and the demise of the Soviet Union and fall of the communist regime. The course will analyse the ideology and nature of communist rule, its policies towards the nationalities, and social issues.

Objectives

To enable students to:
- show knowledge and understanding of the social, political and economic history of the Soviet Union from 1917-1991;
- aquire an imaginative and analytical capacity to understand an alien political system and country;
- aquire the ability to search out information from a wide range of sources and to subject it to critical analysis and interpretation.

Skills outcomes
Enhances Common Skills listed below:

- High-level skills in oral and written communication of complex ideas.
- Independence of mind and self-discipline and self-direction to work effectively under own initiative.
- Ability to locate, handle and synthesize large amounts of information.
- Capacity to employ analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- Ability to engage constructively with the ideas of their peers, tutors and published sources.
- Empathy and active engagement with alternative cultural contexts.

Syllabus

This module will study the Bolshevik seizure and consolidation of power in the civil war years, the new economic policy and the debate over the Soviet Union's future in the 1920s, the rise of Stalin to power, the nature of his 'revolution from above' and the human sacrifices which it exacted, the war against Hitler, destalinisation and Khrushchev's reforms, the Brezhnev 's years of stagnation' and Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost. It will end with an analysis of the reasons for the demise of the Soviet Union and the fall of the communist regime.

The module will analyse the ideology of the regime, the nature of communist rule, its policies towards the nationalities and social issues as they affected the population.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Tutorial	9	1.00	9.00
Private study hours			180.00
Total Contact hours			20.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

- Exam preparation
- Researching, preparing, and writing assignments
- Undertaking set reading
- Self-directed reading around the topic

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Contributions to class discussions
- An assessed exercise or exercises worth 10% of module marks
- An assessed essay.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	5x400 word VLE postings to be submitted to the relevant seminar	40.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		40.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Online Time-Limited assessment	48 hr 00 mins	60.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		60.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 18/10/2024

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