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Stalin and Stalinism

When you'll study it
Semester 2
CATS points
30
ECTS points
15
Level
Level 5
Module lead
Claire Le Foll
Academic year
2025-26

Module overview

This module begins with an assessment of the legacy of Lenin and goes on to investigate Stalin's rise to power and his methods in modernising economy and society. We will engage with historical debates concerning his role in the purges of the 1930s and the impact of the Great Patriotic War on his rule. We go on to evaluate the first effort at reforming the Stalinist system under his successor Khrushchev, whether there was a (partial) return to Stalinism under Brezhnev, and why the attempts to reform eventually failed under Gorbachev. We conclude by addressing Stalin's continuing popularity as a historical figure in post-communist Russia.