Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership ushered in an era of increased freedom, opportunity, and hope for Soviet citizens, even as it fostered economic uncertainty, political instability, and the threat of chaos. For your final blog post, please choose a topic that gives you some insight on the collapse of Soviet communism and the social transformation that accompanied it.
Category: Blog Post Guidelines
Tenth Blogpost Guidelines
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Despite it’s reputation for “stagnation,” the Soviet seventies were anything but boring! Science fiction, new modes of consumerism and expanding television and film offerings shaped the decade, as did the dissident movement, the campaign to clean-up the Aral Sea, and the invasion of Afghanistan.
9th Blog Post Guidelines
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Change was in the air as the sixties unfolded. Challenges in the sphere of foreign policy and changes in leadership marked the political sphere just as new forms of cultural expression and shifting social norms shaped Soviet society.
8th Blog Post Guidelines
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Fedor Maliaev, “Virgin Lands” (1958)
7th Blog Post Guidelines – The Great Patriotic War
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This week we turn our attention to The Great Patriotic War (aka World War II) and the immediate post-war period. Please use one of the modules from 1943 or 1947 in Seventeen Moments in Soviet History on-line archive. You may also use the module on Soviet Territorial Annexations from 1939. You should consult Ch. 12 in the Freeze text. If you are writing about something specific to the war, it would be worth considering William C. Fuller’s discussion on pp. 383-392 of Freeze about the reasons for Soviet victory.
6th Blog Post Guidelines: The Terrible, Terrific Thirties
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The thirties await our attention and as good Shockworkers we will bring our best, most enthusiastic and most astute energies to the task at hand. You have a great opportunity over spring break to level-up your posting prowess.
5th Blog Post Guidelines – The Great Turn
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The end of the twenties marked a dramatic shift in the tenor and substance of political, social and economic life in the Soviet Union. Indeed the “Great Turn” brought changes so profound and wide-reaching that this period is often seen as a “second” revolution. For this week’s post, please choose a topic in the “1929”…
Fourth Blogpost Guidelines
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“Beat the Whites with a Red Wedge.” By El Lissitzky – Public Domain
For your fourth blog post, use the resources in Seventeen Moments of Soviet History (1921 and 1924) to examine a significant aspect of the Russian Revolution. Make sure to check out and use the primary materials. You should also consult the Freeze text (the rest of Chapter 9 and Chapter 10).
Third Blogpost Guidelines
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It’s time for more war and revolution! This week we move into range of a fabulous digital archive that will inspire us for the rest of the term. The topic of your post this week is the end of the autocracy and the two revolutions of 1917.
Second Blogpost Guidelines
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“Manifesto of October 17,” by Ilya Repin [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Our second set of posts will focus on the development of a revolutionary movement in Russia and the revolution of 1905. You should start by reading Freeze (Chapter 8) and then develop one of the following topics:
1) Marxism / Leninism. Use the resources in the Marxist Internet Archive to examine the development of Marxism in Russia before the revolution of 1905.
