Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE HST2004

 
TITLE Russia from Kievan Rus to Cold War

 
UM LEVEL 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL Not Applicable

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT History

 
DESCRIPTION Seeks to understand how the House of Muscovy came about and grew into an empire, the ‘revolutionary’ shifts from czarism to Bolshevism, and post-Stalinist Russia. Countries of Eastern Europe under Russian hegemony will also be discussed until the end of the Cold War with a focus on issues such as the tension between Westernizer and Slavophile, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, communism and after, the dynamics of nationalities and nationalism. The changing roles of Russia and Eastern European countries as a result of growing democratization may also be examined. (Includes the use of historical footage for discussions).

Aims

To invite students to investigate and make sense of the origins of nationhood and of statehood over a vast multi-ethnic terrain and the aftermath; to appreciate the difficulties of governance and of development, including the emancipation from serfdom and the rise of an intellectually critical ‘class’, the recourse to revolutionary means and the consequences, including civil war; industrialization and its repercussions on town-country relations; a command economy, dictatorship and parliamentary rule; ideology and tolerance or otherwise.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- realise how despotism and serfdom can cause resentment and opposition;
- appreciate social cohesion or otherwise and the dynamics of such situations.

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- treat differences and alterity in society with due comprehension depending on dialogue or otherwise.

Reading List

Suggested Reading:
• N.Riasasnovsky & M. Steinberg, A History of Russia (O.U.P., 8th ed., 2010)
• R. Service, The Penguin History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century (Penguin, 2009)
• E.Mawdsley, The Russian Civil War (Pegasus, 2007)
• R.Pipes, Russia under the Old Regime (Penguin, 2nd ed., 2003)
• R.Sawka, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union 1917-1991 (Routledge, 1999)
• G.Hosking, The First Socialist Society: A History of the Soviet Union from Within (2nd. ed., 1992)
• T.Szamuely, The Russian Tradition (Fontana Press ed., 1989)
• H.Bogdan, From Warsaw to Sofia: A History of Eastern Europe (Pro Libertate, 1989)

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES This study-unit is offered to History/European and Global History students only.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Seminar

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork No 10%
Presentation (15 Minutes) Yes 40%
Assignment Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S Henry J. Frendo

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit