HIST-3251H: The Soviet Experiment Part I

Instructor: Olga Andriewsky

Course Code: HIST 3251H

When Taken: Fall 2021

Class Notes: Class Notes (3)

Major Assignment: Power Through Coercions and Concessions_ How the Bolshevik Party Maintained Power.docx

The Russian Revolution is a period of history that prior to this class I had a lot of familiarity with, but very little knowledge. My understanding was limited by my quick readings of basic communist texts, and the slightly offensive memes shown to me by well meaning family friends when they learn I study politics, and have no other way to connect. As such, I went into this class ready to learn, and learn what I did. This class was fantastic in the way that it really investigated the motivating factors for different historical actors, and did not minimize the effects that violence had on this rapidly changing society. In this same semester, I was studying political utopias, and the similarities between the conversations I was having with my classmates, and the political ideas circulating around the Russian revolution were scarily similar.

My biggest takeaway from this class was the level of destructiveness that is associated with large political change, particularly when that change is done carelessly, by disorganized groups, and it is motivated by hatred of someone deemed to be the other or the oppressor. Regardless of your level of agreement with the political beliefs of the Bolsheviks, the methods they employed caused harm, and this I think should be a cautionary tale to the idealist political studies students who think that overthrowing a government is something that they should be a part of, or that is always better than living under the current system. History is a warning to look at what the effects of big actions are on regular civilians, and this class was a good reminder.