Soviet Civilisation
Course code
AIG6110.HT
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Nõukogude tsivilisatsioon
Course title in English
Soviet Civilisation
ECTS credits
6.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2026/2027 Autumn semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
lecturer of 2026/2027 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Brief description of the course
The course focuses on the twentieth-century communist experiment and the Soviet Union’s planned-economy-based illiberal modernity, which left abundant primary sources and a substantial legacy in Estonia. Rather than providing a chronological overview, the course concentrates on the principal problems of Soviet society, culture and political order and their historiographical interpretations. It introduces different schools of Soviet historiography, including totalitarian theory, revisionism and post-revisionism. Topics include the birth of the revolution, the Civil War, Stalinism, the Second World War and post-war society, nationality policy and empire, the economy and technological modernity, everyday life and consumption, and relations between the Party, ideology and society. We ask why the Soviet order endured for so long—and continues in different forms in some parts of the world—and how it functioned beyond direct coercion and shaped a distinctive society and way of life. Particular emphasis is placed on the Soviet Union’s multi-ethnic and global dimensions, whose dynamics remain visible today. The course is based on seminars, engagement with international historiography and critical analysis of diverse primary sources. It is best taken after Russian History.
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- understands the relationship of the communist experiment to imperial and nation-state developments, its historical specificity, and its social and cultural dynamics;
- participates actively in academic discussion in English, formulates questions and a thesis, and distinguishes facts from opinions;
- prepares a preliminary essay proposal and research questions and plans its completion;
- writes an academic essay based on scholarly literature that engages with relevant historiographical debates;
- is familiar with the principal facts and periods of Soviet history;
- analyses different types of primary sources, taking account of their distinctive characteristics.
- understands the relationship of the communist experiment to imperial and nation-state developments, its historical specificity, and its social and cultural dynamics;
- participates actively in academic discussion in English, formulates questions and a thesis, and distinguishes facts from opinions;
- prepares a preliminary essay proposal and research questions and plans its completion;
- writes an academic essay based on scholarly literature that engages with relevant historiographical debates;
- is familiar with the principal facts and periods of Soviet history;
- analyses different types of primary sources, taking account of their distinctive characteristics.
Teacher
Karsten Brüggemann
Study programmes containing that course