Hist 435
"Communist Movements in Eastern Europe Since 1900"
Prof. Eagle Glassheim
Office: 1203 Buchanan Tower
E-mail: eagle.g@ubc.ca
Course Description:
In the first half of the twentieth century, communism offered a seductive vision of modernity and
a society free of want. This attraction reached its height after 1945, as Stalin’s Red Army
liberated East Central Europe from Nazi occupation, and Soviet-supported regimes took power
throughout the region. This course will consider the tremendous appeal of communism and the
subsequent disillusionment among intellectuals and common people in Poland, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Yugoslavia, and East Germany. We will look at the impact of Stalinism and State
Socialism on economies, the environment, and everyday life. In the face of Communist
repression, East European dissidents developed a powerful critique of politics and the state. We
will focus on the emergence and influence of this self-styled “anti-politics,” a movement that
helped topple Communism in 1989 and has had a profound influence on the post-Communist
reconstruction of East Central Europe.
Ordered Books:
Timothy Garton Ash, The Polish Revolution (Yale, 2002)
Ivan T. Berend, Central and Eastern Europe 1944-1993 (Cambridge, 1999).
Heda Margolius Kovaly, Under a Cruel Star [aka: Prague Farewell] (Holmes & Meier, 1997).
Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999)
Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century (Vintage, 2000).
James Scott, Seeing Like a State (Yale, 1999).
Gale Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism (2nd edition) (Oxford, 1996).
Many of the shorter readings below (marked with an asterisk) will be available in a course pack
available for purchase at the bookstore. You can download the following dissertation for free at
Proquest (dissertation abstracts online in the library list of databases):
http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/search
Katherine Lebow, “Nowa Huta, 1949-1957: Stalinism and the Transformation of Everyday Life
in Poland's 'First Socialist City'” (Ph.D., Columbia University, 2002).
Course Mechanics and Assignments:
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Group divided into 2 discussion sections, normally meeting either Wed. or Fri.
Weekly discussion responses (3 graded per semester)
One short paper (4-5 pgs) each semester
Take-home exam at end of each semester
Term 1
I. Models of Socialism
Week 1
Introduction: What is Eastern Europe? What is Communism? (Sept. 7)
Lecture: Marxism-Leninism (Sept. 9)
Readings: Berend, Preface
Week 2
Lecture: The Russian Revolution (Sept. 12)
Discussion: Communism in Theory and Practice (Sept. 14, 16)
Readings: Marx, Communist Manifesto; Scott 147-168
Week 3
Lecture: Soviet Stalinism, Collectivization, and Terror (Sept. 19)
Discussion: Who/What Was Stalin? (Sept. 21, 23)
Readings: *Fitzpatrick; *Suny; Scott, 193-222
Week 4
Lecture: Interwar Eastern Europe and the Three Roads to Modernity (Sept. 26)
Debate: Communism, Fascism, Liberal Democracy (Sept. 28, 30)
Readings: Mazower 3-40, 104-137
II. War and Transformation
Week 5
Lecture: The War of Ideologies (Oct. 3)
Discussion: Resistance and Civil War (Oct. 5, 7)
Readings: Mazower 138-181; *Tito
Week 6
Lecture: National and Social Revolution (Oct. 12)
Discussion: The End of the Old Regime (Oct. 14—whole group)
Readings: Berend, 1-6; Mazower 212-236; *Abrams
Week 7
Lecture: Cold War and Revolution (Oct. 17)
Debate: Causes of the Cold War (Oct. 19, 21)
Readings: Berend, 7-38; Mazower 237-263; Stokes doc 1-6; *Mlynar
III. Stalinism
Week 8
Lecture: Visions of Utopia (Oct. 24)
Discussion: High Modernism (Oct. 26, 28)
Readings: Berend 39-55, 83-93; Mazower 263-273; Lebow dissertation, 1-73; Scott 87-102
Week 9
Lecture: Tito and Terror (Oct. 31)
Film: A Trial in Prague (Nov. 2—whole group—no class on Nov. 4)
Readings: Berend 55-74; Stokes doc 7-11; Kovaly first half
Week 10
Lecture: Heavy Industry and Collectivization (Nov. 7)
Discussion: Under a Cruel Star (Nov. 9, 11)
Readings: Berend 74-82; Kovaly second half
Week 11
Lecture: Death of Stalin and the Thaw (Nov. 14)
Discussion: Women under Stalinism (Nov. 16, 18)
Readings: Berend, 94-106; Mazower 273-285; Lebow, 128-191, 235-273
IV. Reform and Revolution
Week 12
Lecture: Hungary and Poland in 1956 (Nov. 21)
Discussion: Why 1956? (Nov. 23, 25)
Readings: Berend 106-126; Stokes doc 12-15; *Suny
Week 13
Lecture/Film: Czechoslovakia and the 1968 Prague Spring (Nov. 28)
Discussion: Prague Spring (Nov. 30, Dec. 2)
Readings: Berend, 136-146; Stokes doc 17-21, 24; online resources
Term 2
V. Auto-Totality
Week 1
Lecture: Normalization and Auto-Totality (Jan. 4)
Discussion: The New Class(es) (Jan 6—whole group)
Readings: Berend 146-200; Stokes doc 16, 22-23
Week 2
Lecture: Everyday Life in Normalized Eastern Europe (Jan. 9)
Discussion: Communist Consumer Society? (Jan. 11, 13)
Readings: Berend 201-221; *Bren; *Harsh; *Merkel
Week 3
Lecture: The Socialist Environment (Jan. 16)
Discussion: Communist and Capitalist Environments (Jan. 18, 20)
Readings: Berend 222-238; *Dominick; *Glassheim
VI. Dissent
Week 4
Lecture: The Intellectuals and the System (Jan. 23)
Discussion: Auto-Totality and Havel I (Jan. 25, 27)
Readings: Berend 238-253; Stokes doc 25-27; *Havel, 36-122
Week 5
Lecture: Polish Intellectuals, Polish Workers, the Church (Jan. 30)
Discussion: Manufacturing Civil Society (Feb. 1, 3)
Readings: Stokes doc 32-33; Ash, 3-37; *Michnik
Week 6
Lecture: Solidarity (Feb. 6)
Discussion: The Interrupted Revolution (Feb. 8, 10)
Readings: Berend 254-266; Stokes doc 34-36, 38; Ash, selections
Week 7
Lecture: Consumerism and the Economy of Dissent (Feb. 20)
Discussion: Anti-Politics (Feb. 22, 24)
Readings: *Konrad; *Havel, 136-157
Week 8
Lecture: Dissent and The Environment (Feb. 27)
Film: The Black Triangle (Mar. 1)
Readings: *Charter 77; Stokes doc 31; *Waller
VII. Dissolution
Week 9
Lecture: Economic Shock Waves and Soviet Retrenchment (Mar. 6)
Discussion: Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Perestroika (Mar. 8, 10)
Readings: Berend 267-277; Mazower 361-380; Stokes doc 30; *Suny
Week 10
Lecture: Velvet Revolution (Mar. 13)
Discussion: Revolution from Above or Below? (Mar. 15, 17)
Readings: Berend 277-292; Mazower 380-394; Stokes doc 39-43, 52-53
Week 11
Lecture: Post-Communist Slaughter in Yugoslavia (Mar. 20)
Film Selections: Yugoslavia, Death of a Nation (Mar. 22)
Readings: Berend 292-299, 371-378; Stokes doc 48-51; *Naimark
Week 12
Lecture: The Political Legacy (Mar. 27)
Discussion: Presidents and Philosophers (Mar. 29—whole group—no class on Mar. 31)
Readings: Berend 301-340; *Ash
Week 13
Lecture: Post-Communist Society and Transformation (Apr. 3)
Discussion: European Union, Here We Come! (Apr. 5, 7)
Readings: Berend 314-371, 378-381; Mazower 395-403; *Havel