HIB060bn Modern Russian History (1953-2024). From the Death of Stalin up till the End of Putin

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
prof. Andrey Zubov (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Tomáš Malý, Ph.D.
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Hana Ambrožová
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 46 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/46, only registered: 0/46, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/46
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The main task of the course is to examine common features and specificity of two periods of modern Russian history – late Soviet period (1953-1991) and a new Russian one (1992-2023). The course intends to observe this period of Russia in series of lectures in a sequence of main events in home and foreign politics, in society and culture.
I think that it is better not to divide Soviet and Post-Soviet periods as something principally different. On the contrary only if one studies this period as one consequent process, he can hope to understand the real essence of the today state of Putin. On the other hand some clear differences between these two periods show us better the inner unity of the Russian Soviet and Post-Soviet history.
When I speak about politics, I use the term “Soviet” to the realities took place before 1992, and “Russian” from 1992 up till now. When I speak on society and culture I prefer to use one term – “Russian”, i.e. “Russian society”, “Russian culture” taking into account neither ethnical nor linguistic, but civic sense of the term.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
compare two periods of modern Russian history, describe common and different features; define the term "Soviet society"; describe the political and social developments in the period under study
Syllabus
  • 1. The Thaw (Ottepel’). From the death of Stalin up till the consolidation of the Khrushchev’s autocracy: 1953-1956.
  • 2. The time of “Voluntarism” and anti-Stalinism: 1957-1964.
  • 3. The palace coup d’état of October 1964 and the first years of Brezhnev’s rule before the invasion to Czechoslovakia: 1964-1968.
  • 4. The ambivalence of the USSR in the years of “Brezhnev’s doctrine”: Politics in 1968-1982.
  • 5. The Stagnation (“Zastoj”) and Revival (Ozhivlenie) in the Russian society in 1968-1982. The Russians in the search of new horizons
  • . 6. The shift to a new society and politics. The false attempts to rebuild the Soviet life (“Perestroika”): 1982-1989.
  • 7. New Russia in the search of its future: 1990-1994. From the first competition parliamentary elections in March 1990 to “National Pact” in April 1994.
  • 8. Imitational Democracy and market economics of Yeltsin’s rule: 1994-1999.
  • 9. The consolidation of Putin’s autocracy: 2000-2008.
  • 10. Dictatorship and the nostalgia for the late Soviet Empire: 2008-2014.
  • 11. Putin’s Russia in the time aggression: 2014-2024.
  • 12. Continuity in the Soviet – New Russian politics and social life.
Teaching methods
Lectures
Assessment methods
For the evaluation of final results I plan to ask students to write a paper on a chosen topic.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/HIB060bn