University of the West of England

MODULE SPECIFICATION

(Revised November 2002)

Code: UPHPJY-30-3 Title: Stalin and Stalinism Version: 3

Level: 3 UWE credit rating: 30 ECTS credit rating: 15

Module type: Standard

Owning Faculty: Social Sciences and Humanities Field: History

Valid from: September 2008

Discontinued from:

Contributes towards: Awards up to BA (Hons)

Pre-requisites: None

Co-requisites: None

Excluded combinations: None

Learning outcomes:

Upon completing the module, the successful student should:

• be better prepared to understand Stalinism and important aspects of the politics, culture, and society of the Soviet Union under Stalin (assessment component A and B, elements 1, 2, and 3),

• have pondered new questions about aspects of the history of the Soviet Union 1924-53 (assessment component A and B, elements 1, 2 and 3),

• be aware of the historical debates surrounding the content of the module, have formed their own opinions, and have defended them in debate (assessment component A and B, elements 1, 2, and 3).

Syllabus outline:

This module aims to examine what Stalinism entailed in practice and theory. In order to achieve this aim, the most significant aspects of Soviet Political, Socio-Economic and Cultural History from the death of Lenin in 1924 to the death of Stalin in 1953 will be investigated. It will also discuss the historical debates surrounding the above. Areas covered include: Stalin's early years; Stalin and the October Revolution; the struggle for succession and NEP, collectivisation and industrialisation, the Cultural Revolution; retreat and consolidation during the 1930s; the cult of the personality; the Great Terror; the Great Patriotic Struggle; post-war reconstruction; the Zhdanovshchina; Stalin's last years; Stalinism in Eastern Europe; Stalinism in China.

Teaching and learning methods:

This module will be delivered through a series of weekly lectures and seminars.

Indicative sources:

Davies, S.	Popular Opinion in Stalin's Russia. Terror, Propaganda and Dissent, 1934-1941, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
Fitzpatrick, S et al (eds.)	Russia in the Era of NEP. Explorations in Soviet Society and Culture, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991).
Fitzpatrick, S.	Everyday Stalinism. Ordinary Life in Extraordinary times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
Fitzpatrick, S. (ed.)	Stalinism. New Directions, (London: Routledge, 2000).
Getty J. Arch. and Manning, R.T. (eds.)	Stalinist Terror. New Perspectives, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
McCauley, M.	Stalin and Stalinism (2nd ed.), (London: Longman, 1995).
Nove, A.	Stalinism (rev. ed.), (London: The Historical Association, 1989).
Thurston, R.W.	Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia, 1934-1941, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996).
Ward, C. (ed.)	The Stalinist Dictatorship, (London: Arnold, 1998).
Ward, C.	Stalin's Russia (2nd ed.), (London: Arnold, 1999).

Assessment

Weighting between components A and B (standard modules only) A :50% B: 50%

ATTEMPT 1

First Assessment Opportunity

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam (unseen, 3 hours, no reading time) 50%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Book review (1500 words written during teaching block 1) 15%

2. Seminar Presentation 10%

3. Essay (2500 words written during teaching block 2) 25%

Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is not required)

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam (unseen, 3 hours, no reading time) 50%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. 1. Essay (5000 words) 50%

SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT: Attendance at taught classes is required.

Specification confirmed by …………………………………………………Date ……………………………

(Associate Dean/Programme Director)