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The Making of Underground Russia, 1825-1917

Module description

For almost a century before the revolutions of 1917, a succession of radical movements sought to overthrow Tsarism and remake Russia in their own image. In this module you will explore the history of Russia’s revolutionary tradition through a variety of sources (contemporary novels, memoirs, revolutionary letters and journalism) and from different disciplinary perspectives. Why did young Russians join revolutionary organisations and (in some cases) commit acts of violence? How did they understand Russia’s past and imagine its future? And to what extent did ‘Underground Russia’ help shape the later Soviet state?

No knowledge of Russian is required: all sources are in English.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will explore the cultural, intellectual and literary history of the Russian revolutionary movement from the early nineteenth century up to 1917. It will enable you to explore (and, in some cases, further develop your knowledge of) Russian history in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and will encourage you to think on an interdisciplinary level by raising questions of subjectivity, gender, space and cultural memory. You will consider a range of historiographical and critical approaches (both Russian and Western) to the topic, and will explore issues of vital importance to the study of the modern world: revolutions and how they are made, terrorism, extremism and violence, the historical role of the intelligentsia, and the relationship between state, society and the individual.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate knowledge of key events and issues in the history of the Russian revolutionary movement, 1825-1917
• 2. Relate the course content to wider issues in modern Russian history, literature and culture
• 3. Engage with a range of historiographical and critical approaches to the topic
• 4. Think about the course content in an interdisciplinary way

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Produce original, thesis-driven arguments in written work
• 6. Adhere to scholarly conventions in so doing

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Conduct independent research for the written work
• 8. Deploy skills of critical analysis in class discussions and written work

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• The first Russian revolution? The Decembrist revolt, 1825
• The Great Reforms and the Russian intelligentsia, 1856-1866
• Writing the revolution: the revolutionary novel
• Terrorism and modernity
• Angels and martyrs: representations of revolutionary women
• Revolutionary ideologies: Populism and Marxism
• Culture wars in late-imperial Russia
• Religion and revolution in the Silver Age
• From the other shore: revolutionary émigrés and exiles
• Remembering Underground Russia: 1917 and after

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Primary sources (in English):

• S. Stepniak, Underground Russia: Revolutionary Profiles and Sketches from Life (London, 1883).
• Alexander Herzen, My Past and Thoughts, trans. Constance Garnett (London, 1924-7; various later editions).
• N. G. Chernyshevskii, What Is To Be Done?, trans. Michael Katz (Ithaca, NY, 1989).
• Fedor Dostoevskii, Demons, trans. Robert Maguire (London, 2008).
• Vera Figner, Memoirs of a Revolutionist (DeKalb, IL, 1991).
• Signposts, trans. Marshall Shatz and Judith Zimmerman (New York, 1994).

 Secondary literature:

• Franco Venturi, Roots of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in Nineteenth-Century Russia (Boston, 1962).
• James H. Billington, The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretative History of Russian Culture (New York, 1970).
• Aileen M. Kelly, Towards Another Shore: Russian Thinkers Between Necessity & Chance (New Haven, CT, 1998).

• A History of Russian Thought, ed. William Leatherbarrow and Derek Offord (Cambridge, 2010).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=8419 
• http://www.marxists.org– works by Lenin, Trotsky, Plekhanov and many others are available in translation here.

Students who would like do more reading in Russian should consult the module convenor.

Key words search

Russia, Russian history, Soviet history, revolution, Tsars, Lenin