What you must do in this unit
- Read the textbook chapters 37 and 41 and pages 557-60 of chapter 39.
- Read Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog
- Check the remarks by Professor Blois and Professor Evans on the Stalin and watch the short video on Stalin.
- Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the Unit.
- Submit the Bulgakov paper.
What you can do in this unit
- Listen to the series of exchanges between Christopher Hitchens and Robert Service as they discuss the legacy of Trotskii, or whether there ever really was a Trotskiite alternative to Stalinism. This was part of the Uncommon Knowledge TV program (You might need to check the archives).
- Andrew Lewsi, a former student in HIS 112, created this excellent online, narrated Prezi, Stalin's Journey to Power.
Some videos that you can watch for this unit
- Joseph Stalin: Biography of the Communist Soviet Dictator
- Stalin documentary - part 1
- Joseph Stalin In Private
- For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the URL and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.
Extra Credit Options
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, watch Pokayaniye (Repentance) and write a one-page paper about its portrayal of Stalinism.
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, watch Utomlyonnye Solntsem (Burnt by the Sun) and assess its depiction of the early Stalinist purges in a one-page paper.
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, read John Scott, Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel (1942) and write a one-page paper about this American's experiences in Stalinist Russia.
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, read Isaac Deutscher, Stalin, a Political Biography (1967) and write a one-page paper explaining Deutscher's understanding of Stalin's political "success."
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, read Amy Knight, Beria: Stalin's First Lieutenant (1993) and write a one-page paper explaining the basic processes of the Great Terror.
- For up to 10 points of extra credit, read Stalin's "On the Industrialization of Russia" (*.PDF) and explain the main rationale for Stalin's policies in a paragraph.
Unit Learning Objectives
- Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to (1) demonstrate knowledge of Stalin's life and his ability to consolidate his power, (2) explain the key characteristics of the Stalinist regime in Russia in the 1930s and (3) analyze a historical primary source.