HIS 242
Unit 4: Marxism
A picture of Iskra (The Spark), no. 93, 17 March 1905. (The name refers
to the Russian saying, "from the spark will come the flame," which came
from a letter of one of the Decembrist exiles to Aleksandr Pushkin.)
This
was the newspaper
published by the Russian Social-Democratic Party, i.e., the Russian
Marxist party. It was control over the editorial board of this
newspaper that
was one of the reasons leading to the split of the Russian Marxists
into Menshevik and Bolshevik
factions in 1903. I have this copy, framed and hanging on my
wall;
that's why you see the flash reflected on the glass of the frame. |
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What you must do in this unit
What you can do in this unit
- In 1963 Professor Samuel Baron
published his definitive biography of Georgii Plekhanov, one of the key
founders of the Marxist movement in Russia. Read some of Baron's
reflections on long, and continuing, study of Plekhanov in *.doc or *.pdf format.
Some videos that you can watch for this unit
Extra Credit Options
- For 50 points maximum extra credit, submit the Lenin paper assignment based on Lenin's, What
is to be Done? (1902).
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read excerpts from Lenin's “Our Programme” (1899) and explain the basic ideas of Lenin’s plan for a social-democratic uprising?
- For 50 points maximum extra credit, read
R. N. Carew-Hunt, The Theory and Practice of
Communism: An Introduction (1957) and
write a one-page paper explaining the main tenets of "Russian" communism.
- For 50 points maximum extra credit, read
Fedor Dan, The Origins of Bolshevism (1946) and
write a one-page paper in which you answer the question, "What were the origins of Bolshevism?"
- For 50 points maximum extra credit, read Trotskii, My Life (1930) and
write a one-page paper in which you explain why Trotskii became a revolutionary.
- For 50 points maximum extra credit, read
Philip Pomper, Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin (1990) and
write a one-page paper comparing the lives of these three revolutionaries.
- For 25 points maximum extra credit, watch Stachka (Strike) and write a long paragraph in which you explain some of the ideology behind the movie.
- For 25 points maximum extra credit, read Trotsky's remarks on the use of terror in his 1920 pamphlet, Dictatorship vs. Democracy (Terrorism and Communism), and
explain his justifications for the use of terror in a long paragraph.
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