Brief description
This option module examines the state of Russia's economy and the structure of society and authority from the mid-nineteenth century. It considers Russia's international standing, the Crimean War, the emancipation of the serfs, and the nature and extent of industrialisation under the influence of Witte. It identifies the causes and consequences of the 1905 uprising and the significance of Stolypin reforms. The revolutionary events of 1917 are examined in the context of Russia's involvement in the First World War. Inter-war topics include the creation of the USSR, War Communism, the New Economic Policy, the Great Industrilisation Debate, the Five-Year Plans, collectivisation of agriculture, central planning for industrial growth, and the influence of Stalin and Lenin. The module considers the USSR's involvement in the Second World War, the onset of the Cold War, and the emergence of the USA and USSR as two international superpowers. Further economic and political change is examined, to cover developments under Krushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin. The module concludes with various explanations which have been given for the disintegration of the USSR.