Russia after Stalin: from Krushchev to Putin

Josef Stalin’s death in 1953 saw the Communist Party under Nikita Khrushchev move to de-Stalinise the system. An intellectual thaw allowed limited freedoms to emerge and reforms to the secret police, welfare and housing helped to improve people’s lives. But the central elements of Stalinism remained, and a Stalin-shaped hole remained and proved difficult to completely fil. Even today, the legacy of the longest-serving leader of the Soviet Union continues to play a part in the life of Russia.

This course explores the changes and continuities in Russia after 1953. It examines the social, economic and political life of the country and considers how Russians lived and survived. It assesses why the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and looks at the problems that defined Russia as it worked through its transition from dictatorship to an incomplete democracy. And it concludes by focusing on the central elements of Putin’s Russia.

Learning outcomes

1. An appreciation of the changes and continuities in post-Stalinist Russia
2. An understanding of the development of Russian politics and society after Stalin;
3. An ability to compare and contrast the Soviet and post-Soviet systems.