HIST-3717-FA801: Russia from 1917-1991

We invite community members to join our Community Engagement Courses. As you immerse yourself in the course content of your choosing, you will have the opportunity to connect with both the course instructor and Nipissing students. There is no requirement to submit coursework, nor will you receive a grade for participating in the course. This course examines the Russian experience that emerged out of the violence and chaos of the Great War and witnessed two revolutions and an extended civil war. It examines the Soviet experience from its early revolutionary stages, through to the consolidation of a Leninist and then Stalinist regime that dramatically transformed social, economic, political and cultural structure of the Russian empire in the 1930s and made the USSR an important state until its demise in 1991. The role of the USSR both as a great power and a global anti-colonial power is a major theme explored here, particularly as Soviet power emerged following its victory in 1945 and was used throughout the history of the Cold War. The role of social, economic and political factors played during the period when Khrushchev, the Brezhnev generation and the Gorbachev generation held power will be closely examined and an effort will be made to examine how current Russian challenges have been shaped by these past experiences.