MVZb2029 The Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc and political trials

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2022
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Vladimír Černý, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Ing. Mgr. Adriana Ilavská, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Vladimír Černý, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 10:00–11:40 exP52
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 19/50, only registered: 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The main goal of the course is to acquaint students with the mechanism of political trials taking place in the Soviet Union and its satellite states.
Learning outcomes
Students will overview the political trials taking place in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc from the 1930s to the 1980s. Next to it, they will be able to evaluate both Czech and foreign literature on the subject of the course and to utilize their analytical skills in a seminar essay.
Syllabus
  • 1. An introduction to the topic; primary and secondary sources.
  • 2. The political trial is not an invention of the 20th century or from Socrates to van der Lubbe.
  • 3. Establishment of the Bolshevik regime in Russia, Stalin's power struggle and the first trials in the 1920s.
  • 4. Moscow trials 1936–1938 and their international response.
  • 5. Formation of the Soviet bloc, the origin of Cominform and its functioning.
  • 6. Stalin's rift with Yugoslavia and its consequences: trials of "Tito agents" in the Eastern bloc, persecution of actual or alleged Stalinists in Yugoslavia.
  • 7. The fall of prominent communists: Koçi Xoxe in Albania, László Rajk in Hungary, Traicho Kostov in Bulgaria and their trials.
  • 8. Political terror in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s (Píka, Horáková, Slánský, etc.).
  • 9. Media and tribunals. Reporting on political trials in the Soviet Union and its satellites and Western countries.
  • 10. The role of Soviet advisers in preparing and implementing political trials in the Eastern bloc.
  • 11. The USA in the 1950s (McCarthyism, the Rosenbergs, etc.). Comparison with the situation in the USSR.
  • 12. Rehabilitation only for the chosen ones. Attempts to rehabilitate victims of political trials in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • 13. Political trials in the Eastern bloc of the 70s and 80s.
Literature
    required literature
  • CONQUEST, Robert. Velký teror : nové zhodnocení. Edited by Lukáš Babka, Translated by Milan Dvořák. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2012, 811 s. ISBN 9788020020789. info
  • COURTOIS, Stéphane. Černá kniha komunismu : zločiny, teror, represe. Vyd. 1. Praha: Paseka, 1999, 407 s. ISBN 8071851965. info
  • KAPLAN, Karel and Pavel PALEČEK. Komunistický režim a politické procesy v Československu. 1. vyd. Brno: Barrister & Principal, 2001, 253 s. ISBN 8085947757. info
  • Stalin's soviet justice : "show" trials, war crimes trials, and Nuremberg. Edited by David Crowe. First published. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019, ix, 245. ISBN 9781350083349. info
  • Za obzor totalitarismu : srovnání stalinismu a nacismu. Edited by Michael Geyer - Sheila Fitzpatrick, Translated by Jan Mervart - Jakub. Vydání první. Praha: Academia, 2012, 686 stran. info
    recommended literature
  • ARJOMAND, Minou. Staged : show trials, political theater, and the aesthetics of judgment. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018, xv, 232. ISBN 9780231184885. info
  • CABADA, Ladislav and Markéta KOLARČÍKOVÁ. Balkánské komunismy. První vydání. Praha: Libri, 2016, 234 stran. ISBN 9788087956410. info
  • KAPLAN, Karel. Sovětští poradci v Československu 1949-1956. Praha: ÚSD AC ČR, 1993, 146 s. ISBN 80-85270-26-9. info
  • NAIMARK, Norman M. Stalin and the fate of Europe : the postwar struggle for sovereignty. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap press of Harvard University Press, 2019, 361 stran. ISBN 9780674238770. info
  • Politické procesy v Československu po roce 1945 a "Případ Slánský" : sborník příspěvků ze stejnomenné konference pořádané ve dnech 14.-16. dubna 2003 v Praze. Edited by Jiří Pernes - Jan Foitzik. Brno: Prius, 2005, 391 s. ISBN 8072850539. info
  • Stalinism revisited : the establishment of communist regimes in East-Central Europe. Edited by Vladimir Tismăneanu. Budapest: CEU Press, 2009, vii, 444. ISBN 9789639776555. info
Teaching methods
The course is carried out by the combination of lectures and seminars. Regular attendance is required. During the semester, students will compose a seminar essay that will examine their ability to utilize analytical skills and to work with relevant literature.
Assessment methods
The classification will evaluate attendance which will be proved by signatures on the attendance lists. The students will also have to write an seminar essay on one of the given topics (at least 18 000 characters). The final exam will be in the form of a written test examining the student's elementary knowledge of the subject. Overall assessment is composed of the final examination (30 points), midterm written examination (10 points) and seminar essay (20 points. To succesfully complete the course, students have to achieve at least 40 points.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2021, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2022, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2022/MVZb2029