131-083 The Decline & Fall of the Soviet Empire

Usually 25 points of first year history, see Prerequisites, or first year European studies, Prerequisites.

This subject considers several important aspects of Soviet history, from the death of Stalin in 1953 to the period of administrative reform and de-Stalinisation under Khrushchev; from the period of stagnation and de-Stalinisation under Brezhnev to the period of Glasnost under Gorbachev; and continuing to the August 1991 Coup and its aftermath. On completion of the subject students should have an improved appreciation and knowledge of the growth of the Soviet state and economy in the postwar period, the unsuccessful attempts at reform and the reasons for the fall of Soviet Communism in December 1991.

Class participation, and written work totalling 4000 words.

A subject reader will be available.

• R Service, A History of Twentieth Century Russia. Penguin, 1997.