HIB036b Chapters from the history of the USSR

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Tomáš Šmíd, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Tomáš Šmíd, Ph.D.
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 2/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 2/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
  • History (programme FF, B-HI_) (3)
Course objectives
This course aims to acquaint students with the key events or periods in the 70-year history of this state department, which changed during the 20th century from an isolated country to a world superpower, so that in the early 90s of the 20th century . fell apart. Individual lectures will focus on profile or turning points, periods or personalities of Soviet history.
Learning outcomes
Students will understand the context of the origin and collapse of the USSR, understand the basic processes affecting the development of the USSR and its position in world politics, they will be familiar with the events that shaped these processes.
Syllabus
  • 1) The October Revolution and the rise of the Bolsheviks to power
  • 2) War Communism and the New Economic Policy
  • 3) Stalin's second revolution and its manifestations
  • 4) Collectivization and famines in the years 1932-1933
  • 5) Stalin's Great Terror
  • 6) The Road to the Great Patriotic War
  • 7) Key milestones on the Eastern Front of World War II
  • 8) Late Stalinism and the struggle for   Stalin's legacy
  • 9) Khrushchev's melting and destalinization
  • 10) Brezhnev's foreign power policy and its consequences
  • 11) Gorbachev's reforms and their consequences
  • 12) Armed conflicts against the background of the collapse of the USSR
Literature
  • LITERA, Bohuslav. Cesta na výsluní : zahraniční politika Sovětského svazu 1917-1945. První vydání. Praha: Dokořán, 2015, 318 stran. ISBN 9788073637194. info
  • REIMAN, Michal. Zrod velmoci : dějiny Sovětského svazu 1917-1945. Edited by Bohuslav Litera - Karel Svoboda - Daniela Kolenovská. Vyd. 1. Praha: Karolinum, 2013, 583 s. ISBN 9788024622668. URL info
  • CONQUEST, Robert. Velký teror : nové zhodnocení. Edited by Lukáš Babka, Translated by Milan Dvořák. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 2012, 811 s. ISBN 9788020020789. info
  • MALIA, Martin E. Sovětská tragédie : dějiny socialismu v Rusku v letech 1917-1991. Translated by Pavel Vereš. Vyd. 1. Praha: Argo, 2004, 566 s. ISBN 8072035665. info
  • CROZIER, Brian. Vzestup a pád sovětské říše. Translated by Nina Vrbovcová. 1. vyd. v čes. jazyce. Praha: BB art, 2004, 679 s. ISBN 8073413493. info
  • FIGES, Orlando. Lidská tragédie : ruská revoluce, 1891-1924 : A people's tragedy (Orig.). Vyd. 1. Praha: BETA, 2000, 837 s., [6. ISBN 80-86278-74-3-. info
  • TUCKER, Robert C. Stalin na vrcholu moci : revoluce shora 1928-41. Translated by Zdeněk Hron. 1. vyd. v čes. jazyce. Praha: BB art, 2000, 751 s. ISBN 8072571486. info
  • COURTOIS, Stéphane. Černá kniha komunismu : zločiny, teror, represe. Vyd. 1. Praha: Paseka, 1999, 311 s. ISBN 8071851965. info
  • PIPES, Richard. Dějiny ruské revoluce. Translated by Hana Gopaulová. Vyd. 1. Praha: Argo, 1998, 396 s. ISBN 8072030817. info
Teaching methods
seminary
Assessment methods
credit
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/HIB036b