Russia in the Twentieth Century: The Quest for Stability 140822822X, 9781408228227

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of illustrations
List of boxes
Acknowledgements
Publisher’s acknowledgements
Maps
Preface
Glossary
1 From tsarism to revolution, 1894–1917
Social and political conditions in tsarist Russia
The war with Japan
The 1905 Revolution
The time of the Dumas
Stolypin’s reforms
The alliance system
The First World War
The February Revolution
The return of Lenin
The July Days
The Kornilov revolt
2 The October Revolution, 1917–1921
The Constituent Assembly
Making peace with the Central Powers
The Cheka and the beginning of the Red Terror
The start of War Communism
The start of the civil war
Red victory
The war with the Poles
The end of the civil war
The Kronstadt rebellion
3 NEP and the rise of Stalin, 1921–1928
The formation of the USSR
The start of the New Economic Policy
The development of a Soviet bureaucracy
The rise of Stalin
The death of Lenin
The formation of the United Opposition
Propaganda, literacy, and education
Foreign policy in the 1920s
Summary: the 1920s
4 Collectivization, industrialization and the Great Purge, 1929–1940
Introduction
The decision to collectivize agriculture
Mass collectivization begins
The Great Famine in Ukraine
Completion of collectivization
The start of industrialization
The purges
Socialist Realism begins
Foreign policy in the 1930s
Popular Fronts
Toward the Nazi-Soviet Pact
5 The Great Patriotic War and aftermath, 1941–1953
Early stages
The assault on Leningrad and Kyiv
Operation Typhoon: the attack on Moscow
The Partisan movement
Stalingrad
Wartime culture: the peak of Socialist Realism
The Battle of Kursk Salient
Stalin and his allies
Victory in the West and in the East
The results of the Great Patriotic War
Economic recovery
Armed resistance
The period of High Stalinism
6 Khrushchev’s reforms, 1953–1964; and postwar foreign policy
The succession question
The Virgin Lands Program
The 20th Party Congress
The attack on the Russian Orthodox Church
Cultural thaw
Foreign policy during the early Cold War, 1945–1963
Another plot
7 The Brezhnev regime and its successors, 1964–1984
Introduction
Leonid Ilich Brezhnev
The economy
The Constitution of 1977
Language and political questions in the national republics
Foreign policy under Brezhnev
Culture under Brezhnev
The dissident movement
The last years of the Brezhnev regime
The interlude: Andropov and Chernenko
8 Gorbachev, Glasnost and Perestroika, 1985–1991
Introduction
The Chernobyl disaster
The development of Glasnost
Politics under Gorbachev
The perils of Perestroika
Foreign policy
The national question
1991 - the year of collapse
The Soviet legacy in retrospect
9 From Yeltsin to Putin: Russia’s decline and recovery, 1992–2008
Vladimir V. Putin
Political events, 2000–2008
The attack on the oligarchs
Presidential elections of 2004
Russia and its neighbors
Chechnya: terrorism and the resumption of war
Partnerships
The 2007 parliamentary elections
Gazprom and economic revival
Historical memory and the modern state
Bibliography of older works
Index

Citation preview

Russia experienced a violent and tumultuous twentieth century, punctuated by invasions, the rise and fall of a totalitarian regime and domestic turmoil. From Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin, Russia in the Twentieth Century provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to a century of upheaval within Russia and the wider world. Covering the period from 1894 to 2008, and incorporating biographies of major figures, David R. Marples uses new research and archival findings to paint a complete picture of Russia’s recent history, including:

• • • • • • • •

The October Revolution The New Economic Policy and the rise of Stalin The Great Purge and the Great Patriotic War Khrushchev’s reforms and foreign policy The Brezhnev regime Gorbachev, Glasnost and Perestroika The economic decline and recovery of post-Soviet Russia Cultural issues with special focus on Socialist Realism

Russia in the Twentieth Century is an up-to-date and complete guide for students seeking a path through the complexities of Russia’s fascinating past.

of History and Classics, University of Alberta, Canada. He is the author of twelve books on contemporary Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, including Lenin’s Revolution: Russia 1917– 1921 (2000) and The Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985–1991 (2004). Photograph: The Cathedral of the Resurrection on Blood reflects in the melting ice of the Griboedov Canal in central St.Petersburg, March 10, 2004. © Alexander Demianchuk/ Reuters/Corbis

David R. Marples

David R. Marples is Distinguished University Professor in the Department

RUSSIA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

RUSSIA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

David R. Marples David R. Marples

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RUSSIA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY The Quest for Stability

David R. Marples

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