The Makhno Myth By JASON YANOWITZ (original) (raw)

HIST 4343: Russian Revolutions and Stalinism

2022

The Bolsheviks came to power in 1917 in the wake of two earlier revolutions. They then led Russia into a series of other revolutionary transformations, including the establishment of a one-party state, the nationalization of industry and agriculture, radical social reforms, and ruthless suppression of dissent. As a result, the revolutionary moment in Russian history stretched from 1905 through the late 1930s. Inspired by Marxist ideas of equality and historical progress, Bolsheviks were determined to build communism as an ideological, social, economic, and cultural alternative to capitalism with its wars and crises. Yet this attempt was inherently contradictory in its nature. In early Soviet Russia, emancipation was often followed by repression, equality was conflated with uniformity, and idealism could lead to the Gulag. This course provides a comprehensive review of the revolutionary transformation in Russia that began as a democratic uprising against the oppressive tsarist power and ended with an even harsher Stalinist regime. By combining recent scholarly research with important primary sources of the period, we will trace the historical transformation of the Russian Empire into the early Soviet state. Grading Weekly response papers 25% Participation in class discussion 20% Research paper (Nov 17) 35% Final exam (Dec 13) 20% Weekly response papers Analysis of primary sourcesthe backbone of historical scholarshipis the core component of this course. Beginning in the second week of the course, you will be submitting weekly response papers (except for Week 6 and 12, which are the due dates for the research paper, and the two last weeks). These papers should be ca. 500 words (±10%), and they should discuss one of the primary sources as

Hero as Pariah: Trotsky’s Struggle Against Stalinism

International Relations and Diplomacy, 2020

Leon Trotsky"s contribution to the Marxist position in philosophy and his role in the Russian Revolution of October 1917 had been politically maneuvered, tampered with, fabricated and covered by a muck heap of Stalinist slander. By Stalinism, I am referring to the narrative which was born from the bureaucratic degeneration of the Soviet Union, after the failure of working class to consolidate and capture state power in Hungary, Germany, Italy and other western countries which was materially in an advanced position than early 20 th Century Russia. It was also the political ideology which was born as a result of civil far, famine, pandemic and the invasion of the newly formed Russian worker"s state by more than fifteen foreign countries with colonial objectives. Trotsky"s role in creating the Red Army, which was a different to that of a standing army and supporters of Trotsky in the Left Opposition were not only vilified and charged with false accusations but violently purged. In this paper I have highlighted how Stalinism marked a revolution against the revolution of 1917 and how Trotsky continuously struggled against the bureaucratic despotism over the working class in post 1917 Russia.

A Revisionist History of Stalinist Russia.pdf

2017

An experimental paper written in an attempt to improve my academic writing. A disclaimer: The author of this paper claims neither to be unbiased towards or an expect on the subject. It should thus be taken with a grain of salt.

The Birth of a New Pseudo-Historical Myth in Modern Russia: How Two Revolutions Were Made into One

The Birth of a New Pseudo-Historical Myth in Modern Russia: How Two Revolutions Were Made into One, 2022

The branch of public knowledge that is designated as "historical science" has its own mythology. It is based not only on one-sided historical facts, but also on various theoretical concepts. Some historical and theoretical myths are peculiar to individual countries, while others are more widespread, for example, the myth of democracy as the power of the people. Now in Russia there is final approval for the concept of the "Great Russian Revolution of 1917," which is another pseudoscientific myth that quite happily coexists with the old myth of socialism in the USSR. The new myth enjoys full support from the authorities and is positively accepted by the vast majority of the Russian scholarly community, which is entirely dependent on the state and adapts to its policies quite consciously or by force of habit. This article attempts not only to critically analyze the concept of the "Great Russian Revolution" as another phenomenon of Russian historical mythology, but also to present a different explanation for the events of 1917 in Russia.