Russia in the Era of Reforms, Revolutions, and World Wars

This course examines the rapid industrialization, modernization, and urbanization of Russia from the era of the "Great Reforms" (1860s) through the Second World War. We will examine both the growing discontentment among the population with autocracy's efforts to maintain power and the Bolshevik effort to recreate the economy, society, and everyday life. Topics will include Russian Marxism and socialism, terrorism, the Russian revolutions of 1917, the rise and consolidation of Soviet socialism, famine, the red terror, and World War II.