history soviet union

After 1917, how did the intelligentsia change, and what was its role during the USSR? You can bring in other sources but be sure to cite them. No particular form is required for citation. Choose one and be consistent. Speaking broadly, what can the lessons of Russian and Soviet history tell us about the present crisis in the US? What can the present crisis tell us about Russian and Soviet history? Some possible themes might be the treatment of underclasses, police terror, the role of race and ethnicity, the dangers of reform, the dangers of failing to reform, the breakdown of law and order in moments of revolution, the role of conscience. War could be the fundamental test of a political regime. Why was this so vital a matter during the course of the late imperial period and that of Soviet power? Tsarism lost World War I. That led to revolution. How did that transpire? The Soviet government was victorious in World War II, but did the impact of the war lay the groundwork for the ultimate collapse? What was the role of the intelligentsia under tsarism and under Communism? How did definitions of its composition change, or did they? Before 1917 what were the main approaches to changing society? After 1917, how did the intelligentsia change, and what was its role during the USSR? Did they become professionals of various sorts? How did both systems deal with matters of gender among the intelligentsia?How did each regime deal with the agrarian question? Were peasant serfs similar or different to slaves? What kinds of conditions did each regime try to create in order to improve the rural world and connect peasants with the growing urban sector? What roles did peasants play? What role did the landed nobility play? Did the peasant communes determine their political and economic choices? How successful was Soviet agriculture and how successfully or unsuccessfully were peasants integrated into the Soviet system? Compare the ways the Russian Empire came apart with the ways the Soviet “Empire” came apart. Do you agree nationalism/race/ethnicity were central reasons for the collapse of both states? Do you believe nationalism is a timeless, even genetic concept, or is it historically constructed?