1 History 383 (16750) MW 1-2:15 in Stroud 417 East Stroudsburg University Spring 2017 Chris Dudley cdudley@esu.edu Stroud 409N 570-422-3284 Office Hours: MWF 9-10; MW 2:30-4 Modern European Revolutions This course compares two great European revolutions, the French Revolution that began in 1789 and the Russian Revolution that began in 1917, in order to explain the dynamics of modern revolutions in general. The course is based on three questions that will be considered in the specific cases of France and Russia as well as generally. Why do revolutions break out? Why do they become more violent, more radical, and eat their children? How and why do they end? Prerequisites: History 113 Objectives and Methods There are three main goals for this course. 1. You will know and understand the key events of the French and Russian revolutions. Because the course takes a long view of both revolutions, this will include significant portions of nineteenth and twentieth century European history. 2. You will practice comparative history by finding connections between events in France and Russia. 3. You will use this comparative perspective to critique or justify existing theories about revolutions. You will meet these objectives by reading and discussing primary sources, selected historical interpretations, and theories of revolution. You will also create your own comparative and theoretical arguments in writing. The structure of the course is also designed to meet these objectives. We will be discussing the two revolutions side-by-side, with a topic from the French Revolution on Mondays and a parallel topic from the Russian Revolution on Wednesdays. Note that these parallels are not set in stone: they represent one particular historical argument that you are encouraged to disagree with.
2 Course Requirements Your grade for this class will be determined by your performance on the following assignments. All grades are based on a standard ten-point scale: A 94-100, A- 90-93, B+ 87-89, B 84-86, etc. Class Participation (15%): The success of this course depends on your participation, therefore participation is a important part of your grade. This is not extra credit and your final grade will be lowered if your participation is unsatisfactory. To participate effectively you need to do the readings, bring them with you to class, and be prepared to discuss them with your classmates. Weekly Reflection Papers (5% each, 25% total): Each student must submit five reflection papers over the semester. They are due at 7 pm on Friday in the D2L dropbox provided. These papers should be short (no more than 3 double-spaced pages) and should compare the events discussed that week in France and Russia. They should be based on the primary sources from that week. They may also use Britton s revolutionary schema or other secondary sources, but neither is required. Midterm Paper (30%): Causes of Revolutions (about 7 pages). Due March 10. Final Paper (30%): Modern Revolutions (about 7-10 pages). Due May 4. I will distribute full assignments for both papers, but each will ask you to make an argument (about the causes of revolutions and revolutions in general, respectively) based on primary sources from France and Russia. Academic Honesty and Citations Academic honesty is the principle that the assignments you submit represent your own work. It is the most important principle in education, because it ensures that you are learning something and not just receiving a grade. I will be enforcing ESU s policies on academic misconduct (pp. 25-29 of the Student Handbook). Academic dishonesty will be severely punished, ranging from failure on the assignment to automatic failure for the course. I will also file a report with the Office of Student Conduct for possible administrative sanctions, which can include expulsion. Pay particular attention to the policy on plagiarism, which is the use of someone else s words or ideas without proper citation. It is possible to plagiarize without intending to cheat; in fact most cases of plagiarism are unintentional. Use footnotes to cite your sources. If you do not know how to use footnotes, it is your responsibility to see me and ask. The correct format for footnotes can be found in Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers and is summarized here: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html For documents I have provided and for the second and subsequent citations to any source, use the short form for footnotes, which consists of the author s last name, a shortened form of the title, and the page number. Here is an example of a short-form footnote. 1 1 Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution, 15.
3 Miscellaneous Policies Late Papers: I do not accept late papers under ordinary circumstances. If there is a legitimate reason why you must turn a paper in late, please see me. If possible, see me before the assignment is due. Incompletes: Under exceptional circumstances, such as extended illness, I will issue a grade of incomplete for the course. Please contact me if you feel you may need an incomplete. Classroom Environment: While in class, demonstrate respect for your fellow students. Avoid disrupting class by arriving late or leaving early, but if you must do either do it quietly. Turn off or silence phones. If you are too tired to make it through class without falling asleep, it is better for everyone if you stay away. If you are disruptive or obviously oblivious to what is happening around you, I will ask you to leave. Special Needs: If you require any special accommodation, the University has resources available. Contact the Office of Accessible Services Individualized for Students (OASIS) at x3954 or visit them on the third floor of the Sci-Tech building. Please do not hesitate to see me about any accomodation I can provide. Title IX Statement: East Stroudsburg University and its faculty are committed to assuring a safe and productive educational environment for all students. In order to meet this commitment and to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and guidance from the Office for Civil Rights, the University requires faculty members to report incidents of sexual violence shared by students to the University s Title IX Coordinator. The only exceptions to the faculty member s reporting obligation are when incidents of sexual violence are communicated by a student during a classroom discussion, in a writing assignment for a class, or as part of a University-approved research project. Faculty members are obligated to report sexual violence or any other abuse of a student who was, or is, a child (a person under 18 years of age) when the abuse allegedly occurred to the person designated in the University protection of minors policy. Information regarding the reporting of sexual violence and the resources that are available to victims of sexual violence is set forth at: http://www4.esu.edu/titleix/ Meeting with the Instructor: I want everyone to do well in this class! Nothing would make me happier than for everyone to earn an A, because that will mean I did my job well. I m here to help you, but I can t help you if I don t know you have a problem. If you have a problem, a question, or just want to talk more about something that was said in class please talk to me. I especially encourage you to talk to me about your papers and write drafts of them. My office hours, listed at the top of the syllabus, are drop-in times. No appointment is necessary. If those times aren t convenient, send me an email or talk to me after class and we ll work out another time to meet. You can also email me with questions, although it s often easier if we can meet face to face.
4 Texts and Readings There are three required books for this class, which I have ordered at the University Store. All other readings are available on the D2L page. Crane Brinton, The Anatomy of Revolution, Revised Edition (Vintage, 1965) ISBN 978-0394700441 Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution, Third Edition (Oxford University Press, 2008) ISBN: 978-0199237678 François Furet, Revolutionary France, 1770-1880 (Wiley-Blackwell, 1995) ISBN: 978-0631198086 Week 1: Introduction (Brinton Ch. 1) 18 Jan: Revolutions in Theory Class Schedule Part I: Before the Revolution Week 2: Absolutism and Society (Brinton Ch. 2 sections I, IV) 23 Jan: France The Ancien Regime Charles Loyseau, A Treatise on Orders (1610) Furet, 3-14 25 Jan: Russia Autocracy Helmuth von Moltke, The Coronation of Tsar Alexander II (1855) Olga Semyonova, Sketches of Peasant Life (1898-1902) Fitzpatrick, 15-23 Week 3: Intellectual Ferment (Brinton Ch. 2 section III) 30 Jan: France The Enlightenment Voltaire, Letters Concerning the English Nation (1733) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (1763) Furet, 14-17 1 Feb: Russia Socialisms Vladimir Lenin, What is to be Done? (1902) Programme of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (1905) Fitzpatrick, 24-32
5 Week 4: Crisis and Reform (Brinton Ch. 2 sections II, V) 6 Feb: France Financial Reform under Louis XVI Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Memorandum on Local Government (1775) Furet, 17-27, 33-45 8 Feb: Russia Reform and Revolution under Nicholas II Sergei Witte, A Report for Tsar Nicholas II (1899) Nicholas II, The October Manifesto (1905) Fitzpatrick, 32-39 Part II: Revolution Week 5: Overthrowing the Old Regime (Brinton Ch. 3) 13 Feb: France 1789 the National Assembly Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, What is the Third Estate? (1789) Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens (1789) Furet, 45-85 15 Feb: Russia 1917 the February Revolution Actions of the Duma, 27 February (1917) The Formation of the Provisional Government (1917) Petrograd Soviet, Order Number One (1917) Fitzpatrick, 40-49 Week 6: Divergent Revolutionary Objectives (Brinton Ch. 5; Ch. 4 is optional) 20 Feb: France Liberals, Peasants, and Sans Culottes Cahiers: Nobility of Blois, Third Estate of Carcassone, Third Estate of Versailles (1789) Reports of Popular Unrest (1789) Jean-Marie Roland, vicomte de la Platière, The State of the French Economy (1789) What is a Sans-Culotte? (1793) The Popular Programme (1793) Furet, 85-100 22 Feb: Russia Liberals, Peasants, and Socialists Paul Miliukov, The April Crisis (1917) Alexander Kerensky, The Offensive (1917) V. B. Stankevich, The Soldiers Revolution (1917) Victor Chernov, The Peasants Revolution (1917) Petrograd Telegraph Authority, Agrarian Unrest (1917) Vladimir Lenin, The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution (1917) Fitzpatrick, 49-61
6 Week 7: Radical Revolutions (Brinton Ch. 6) 27 Feb: France the Republic The King s Trial (1792) Jean Denis Lanjuinais and Pierre Guyomar, Discussion of Citizenship (1793) Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, Speech Celebrating the Abolition of Slavery (1794) Furet, 101-122 1 March: Russia the October Revolution Vladimir Lenin, State and Revolution (1917) Secret Session of the Petrograd Soviet, 15 October 1917 Revolutionary Proclamations (1917) Fitzpatrick, 61-67 Week 8: War and the Masses 6 March: France Levée en masse Declaration of War against Austria (1792) Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, Proclamation (1792) Decree Establishing the Levée en Masse (1793) Furet, 122-134 8 March: Russia the Red Army and the Civil War Leon Trotsky, The Peace Programme of the Revolution (1917) I. I. Vatsetis and Alexis Babine, The Red Terror (1918-1919) Peter Nikolaevich Wrangel, The Whites Hatred of Bolshevism (1927) Fitzpatrick, 68-83 Midterm Paper due 10 March Spring Break (March 13-17) Week 9: True Revolution and Breaking with the Past (Brinton Ch. 7) 20 March: France Terror Make Terror the Order of the Day: Proceedings of the National Convention (1793) Furet, 134-150 22 March: Russia Utopian Visions Nikolai Bukharin and Evgenii Preobrazhensky, The ABCs of Communism (1920) Fitzpatrick, 84-92
7 Part III: After the Revolution Week 10: Thermidor (Brinton Ch. 8 sections I-IV, VI) 27 March: France the Directory Manifesto of the Directors (1795) Trial of François-Noël Babeuf (1797) Furet, 151-168, 177-183 29 March: Russia Lenin and the NEP Proclamation of the Kronstadt Rebels (1921) Vladimir Lenin, Role and Functions of the Trade Unions under the New Economic Policy (1922) Fitzpatrick, 93-119 Week 11: Strongmen 3 April: France Napoleon Proclamation of the Consuls to the French People, 24 Frimaire, Year VIII (1799) Jean-François Curée, Motion to Institution Hereditary Government (1804) Napoleon Bonaparte, Speech to the Senate on the Creation of Imperial Duchies (1807) Napoleon Bonaparte, Letter to Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia (1807) Napoleon Bonaparte, Letter to Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples (1806) Furet, 183-266 (skim) 5 April: Russia Stalin Joseph Stalin, The Tasks of Business Executives (1931) Joseph Stalin, On the Draft Constitution of the USSR (1936) Joseph Stalin, Defects in Party Work and Measures for Liquidating Trotskyites (1937) Fitzpatrick, 120-148 Week 12: Back to Normal (Brinton Ch. 8 section V) 10 April: France Bourbon Restoration Constitutional Charter of 1814 Charles-Esprit Marie de la Bourdonnaye, Speech to the Legislature (1815) Joseph de Maistre, Essay on the Generative Principle of Political Constitutions (1810) Furet, 269-325 12 April: Russia Khrushchev Nikita Khurshchev, Speech to the Twentieth Party Conference (1956) Fitzpatrick, 149-172
8 Week 13: Refighting the Revolution 17 April: France the July Monarchy and the Revolution of 1848 The Trial of the Saint-Simonians (1832) Documents on 1848 in France Furet, 326-437 (skim) 19 April: Russia Gorbachev and 1989 Mikhail Gorbachev, Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World (1987) Václav Havel, Farce, Reformability, and the Future of the World (1987) Robert Paxton and Julie Hessler, Europe in the Twentieth Century, 643-652 (D2L) Week 14: Legacy of Revolution (Brinton Ch. 9) 24 April: France Napoleon III, the Third Republic, and Beyond Louis Napoleon, Speech to the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce (1852) Bernard-Adolphe Granier de Cassagnac, On Popular Bonapartism (1857) Camille Dreyfus and Charles Freycinet, Exchange in the Chamber of Deputies (1892) Maurice Barrès, Election Campaign Speech (1898) Furet, 438-537; focus on 438-459, 500-506, 528-537 26 April: Russia Yeltsin and Putin C. J. Chivers, Power: The Vladimir Putin Story (2008) Paxton and Hessler, 652-657 (D2L) 1 May: Rethinking Revolutions Final Paper due May 4