48
History of Western Europe
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The primary objective of the course is to provide a critical and multidisciplinary overview of the continuities and discontinuities in major historical and political developments during the Soviet period and contemporary Russia, with a specific focus on foreign policy and institution-building. Therefore, the course aims to provide students with tools of historical, analytical, and methodological knowledge, enabling them to critically analyze the key moments and specific features of Russia's and Eastern Europe's history during the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will learn the basic elements and long-term trends of Russian history and be able to orient themselves deeply and critically in the primary debates of Russian politics.
The knowledge and methodology acquired should enable the student to consolidate their learning and processing skills, thereby enabling them to undertake subsequent specialized studies or a professional activity with critical thinking skills in Russian history and politics.
Autonomy of judgment:
Students will be required, in addition to a good knowledge of the textbook, to write an individual paper (max 14,000 characters including spaces and bibliography per student) on an essay (recommended for PR entrants) or literary work (recommended for MC and CP entrants) from among those proposed and to present the work to the class. The criteria for choosing the book, the ability to contextualize it appropriately within the historical period, selecting the bibliography, and processing it critically, will be a test of the ability to approach and explore the subject with autonomous judgment.
Communication skills:
Discussion of the papers will be conducted in a seminar-like manner. Students will be required to present the results of their research, as well as to critically evaluate the results of their course colleagues' work, demonstrating their willingness and ability to interact in a working environment and master complex interpretive categories.
Ability to learn:
It will involve verifying knowledge of the textbook and assessing the ability to explore new topics within a short timeframe.
Course Prerequisites
Attendance in the course presupposes a good knowledge of 20th-century contemporary history and preferably a basic knowledge of European and Russian political history of the last century, the Cold War, and international relations.
There are no prerequisites, but it is advisable to take this course after completing an exam in Contemporary History or the History of International Relations.
Teaching Methods
Lectures, followed in the second half of the course by thematic seminars, presentations, and discussion of papers by students to promote a caring atmosphere; encourage active participation; use questions to stimulate discussion; create a working group environment. Students will be recommended readings on specific topics and relevant issues to stimulate debate and participation. Class attendance is strongly recommended. Students unable to attend are required to contact the lecturer before the start of the course for guidance on the non-attendance program.
Assessment Methods
The assessment of acquired knowledge will be as follows:
- Elaboration of a short paper (max 14,000 characters including spaces and bibliography for each student) on one essay/literary work among those recommended - 25%
- In-class presentation of the paper through PowerPoint - 25%.
- Oral examination on the history program - 50%.
The final oral exam is conducted in Italian, as well as the compilation of the PowerPoint presentation and the paper.
Critical, analytical and argumentative skills, coherence, completeness of information, correct use of terminology, and complex categories will be assessed.
Non-attending students are required to contact the lecturer before the start of the course and should supplement their study of the textbook with a supplementary reading from among those suggested (Guida, Bottoni, Kotkin or Cucciolla)
Texts
HANDBOOK:
- Andrea Graziosi, L’Unione Sovietica. 1914-1991, Bologna, il Mulino, 2011.
SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:
- Francesco Guida, La Russia e l'Europa centro-orientale: 1815-1914, Roma, Carrocci, 2003
- Stefano Bottoni, Un altro Novecento. L’Europa orientale dal 1919 a oggi, Roma, Carocci Editore, 2011
- Stephen Kotkin, A un passo dall'Apocalisse: Il collasso sovietico, 1970-2000, Roma, Viella, 2015
- Riccardo Mario Cucciolla, La repubblica del cotone. Le evoluzioni dell’Uzbekistan sovietico tra inclusione e crisi imperiale, Viella, Roma, 2024
Additional in-depth bibliographic guidance will be provided during the lectures.
Contents
The course consists of four parts. The first part will introduce the key concepts and terms of the discipline, reconstruct the events leading to Russia's expansion in imperial times, the crisis of empire and the revolutions of 1917, and the formation of a new system of states in Eastern and Central Europe after World War I. The second part will focus on the Russian Civil War, the birth of the Soviet Union, top-down revolutions introduced by Stalin, internal transformations in Soviet society, and the system of international relations up to World War II. Part Three focuses on the origins of the Cold War, destalinization, the years of détente, and developed socialism. The fourth part focuses on the crisis and reform of the Soviet system, up to the “revolutions” of 1989 and the demise of the Soviet Union, and will provide some key insights and lines of interpretation on the transformations following these events.
Topics:
- The Origins of the Russian State
- An Empire in Expansion and Crisis
- War and Revolution
- The Origins of the Soviet System
- Stalin and the Revolution from Above
- The USSR during World War II
- The Cold War and the Consolidation of the Eastern Bloc
- De-Stalinization and Détente
- Developed Socialism, Stagnation and Confrontation
- The USSR between Crisis and Reform
- The Fall of Nations and the Birth of the New Europe
- The End of the Cold War and the Collapse of the “Soviet Empire”
Course Language
Italian
More information
TEXTS FOR PAPER AND PRESENTATION (optional-one per student):
Essays (recommended for PR students):
- Sergej Abasin, Qishloq. Il secolo sovietico in una valle dell'Asia centrale
- Fabio Bettanin, Stalin e l'Europa. La formazione dell'impero esterno sovietico (1941-1953)
- Marco Buttino, Samarcanda. Storie in una città dal 1945 a oggi
- Giovanni Cadioli, Il pianificatore. Economia, politica e potere in URSS
- Arkadij Dubnov, Perché è crollata l'Unione Sovietica. I dirigenti delle Repubbliche raccontano
- Maria Ferretti, L’eredità difficile. La Russia, la rivoluzione e la memoria (1917-2017)
- Andrea Graziosi, La grande guerra contadina in Urss. Bolscevichi e contadini (1918-1933)
- Simona Merlo, Russia e Georgia. Ortodossia, dinamiche imperiali e identità nazionale (1801-1991)
- Elena Osokina, Dietro l’uguaglianza. Consumi e strategie di sopravvivenza nella Russia di Stalin, 1927-1941
- Niccolò Pianciola, Stalinismo di frontiera. Colonizzazione agricola, sterminio dei nomadi e costruzione statale in Asia centrale
- Silvio Pons, La rivoluzione globale: Storia del comunismo internazionale 1917-1991
- Adriano Roccucci, Stalin e il patriarca. La Chiesa ortodossa e il potere sovietico
- Antonella Salomoni, L'Unione Sovietica e la Shoah. Genocidio, resistenza, rimozione
- Nicolas Werth, Nemici del popolo. Autopsia di un assassinio di massa. Urss, 1937-38
- Odd Westad, La guerra fredda globale. Gli Stati Uniti, L'Unione Sovietica e il mondo. Le relazioni internazionali del XX secolo
- Elena Zubkova, Quando c'era Stalin. I russi dalla guerra al disgelo
LITERARY WORKS (recommended for MC students):
- Fedor Abramov, «Fratelli e sorelle»
- Anna Achmatova, «Poema senza eroe»
- Cingiz Ajtmatov, «Il giorno che durò più di un secolo»
- Svetlana Aleksievic, «Tempo di seconda mano»
- Svetlana Alliluieva, «Venti lettere a un amico»
- Georgy Arbatov, «The System: An Insider’s Life in Soviet Politics»
- Isaak Babel', «L'armata a cavallo»
- Aleksandr Bek, «La nuova nomina»
- Iosif Brodskij, «Conversazioni»
- Michail Bulgakov, «Il maestro e Margherita»
- Michail Bulgakov, «La Guardia Bianca»
- Ivan Bunin, «Giorni maledetti»
- Anatoly Chernyaev, «My Six Years with Gorbachev»
- Lidija Čukovskaja, «Sof'ja Petrovna»
- Marina Cvetaeva, «Deserti luoghi: lettere, 1925-1941»
- Jurij Dombrovskij, «La facoltà delle cose inutili»
- Sergej Dovlatov, «La straniera»
- Vladimir Dudincev, «Non di solo pane»
- Il'ja Erenburg, «Il secondo giorno della creazione»
- Il'ja Erenburg, «Il disgelo»
- Maksim Gor'kij, «L'affare degli Artamonov»
- Vasilij Grossman, «Vita e destino»
- Vasilij Grossman, «Tutto scorre»
- Anna Szyszko-Grzywacz, «La mia vita nel gulag. Memorie da Vorkuta 1945-1956»
- Il'ja Il'f ed Evgenij Petrov, «Le dodici Sedie»
- Lev Kopelev, «L'educazione di un vero credente»
- Leonid Leonov, «La foresta russa»
- Nadežda Mandel'štam, «L’epoca e i lupi»
- Vladimir Nabokov, «Invito a una decapitazione»
- Viktor Nekrasov, «Nelle trincee di Stalingrado»
- Boris Pasternak, «Il dottor Živago»
- Andrej Platonov, «Ricerca di una terra felice»
- Anna Politkovskaja, «Diario russo, 2003-2005»
- Anatolij Rybakov, «I figli dell'Arbat»
- Andrej Sacharov, «Progresso, coesistenza e libertà intellettuale»
- Andrej Sacharov, «Memorie»
- Varlam Šalamov, «I racconti di Kolyma»
- Victor Serge, «Memorie di un rivoluzionario (1901-1941)»
- Konstantin Simonov, «I giorni e le notti»
- Konstantin Simonov, «I vivi e i morti»
- Andrej Sinjavskij, «Passeggiate con Puškin»
- Viktor Sklovskij, «Viaggio sentimentale. Memorie 1917-1922»
- Michail Šolochov, «Il placido Don»
- Aleksandr Solženicyn, «Una giornata di Ivan Denisovič»
- Aleksandr Solženicyn, «Padiglione cancro»
- Arkadij e Boris Strugackij, «I sei fiammiferi»
- Pavel Sudoplatov, «Incarichi speciali. Le memorie di una spia del KGB»
- Aleksey Tolstoy, «Pietro il Grande»
- Jurij Trifonov, «Un'altra vita»
- Georgij Vladimov, «Il fedele Ruslan»
- Evgenij Zamjatin, «Noi»