The Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 promised Russia and the world a new society, free from class antagonisms and exploitation; a society where mankind would express its freedom and humanity in full. However, a quick survey of Soviet history reveals that at least in the first half of the 20th century the population of the Soviet Union experienced brutal wars, hunger, suppression and terror. Tens of millions of Soviet citizens perished in the process of “building socialism.” The course will explore central historic events which shaped Soviet society bringing lethal consequences. We will start with the Russia Civil War of 1918-1921, the Red and White Terror, and the forced Collectivization of the early 1930s. Examination of the Terror in the Communist Party and the Red Army in the mid-1930s will follow, as well as a study of the GuLag and its functioning during and after WWII, concluding with the terror in the late Stalinist period. As questions regarding the planned/intended character of these events and their target populations, still spurs much historic and political debates, the course will dwell on the influence of those questions on Soviet society, the Soviet regime, and on post-Soviet states.