2016 - 2017

0621-2693-01
  Opposition in Tsarist Russia: Who Paved the Way to Revolution                                        
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
Vera KaplanGilman-humanities497Mon1400-1600 Sem  2
Gilman-humanities497Mon1400-1600 Sem  2
 
 
University credit hours:  4.0

Course description
In the early twentieth century Russia was generally perceived as one of the strongest European monarchies - until the revolutions of 1917 brought an end to the Russian monarchy and led to profound changes throughout the world. In order to answer the question: “Who paved the way to the revolution?” the seminar will focus on the history of the opposition movements in imperial Russia from the 1770s to the 1870s.
The course starts with the Cossack and peasant rebellion that shook the Russian empire in the 1770s, and proceeds to analyze the establishment and activity of the secret societies that appeared in Russia in the 1810s and which were later defined as the Decembrist movement. The main question is why and how these societies, made up of young privileged members of the Russian nobility, conceived of their plan of armed revolt against the Tsar and even tried to realize it. The seminar’s other heroes are the political thinker Alexander Hertsen, the author of fascinating memoirs depicting life in Russia in the 1830s-1840s, and members of the radical underground organizations of the 1860s-1870, who sought to fight the monarchy as a political regime and did not hesitate to use political terror for that purpose.
The seminar explores the patterns of opposition and protest in Russia, how the Tsarist regime responded to the movements’ activities, and the lives and fates of those who dared to struggle against the omnipotent Russian rulers.
The seminar is open to students of early modern and modern history.


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