OSHER 528 - The Soviet Union: An Insider's View

What was life in the Soviet Union like? This class combines history lectures with an insider's view of someone born and raised in the USSR. The Bolshevik Revolution, followed by several years of civil war and foreign intervention, changed not only the political structure of the country, but its economy, its social fabric and even the nature of the most personal relationships among its citizens. In this course, we will consider the Soviet planned economy, its repressive dictatorial political regime and its imperial nature. We will examine in what ways post-Soviet Russia continues with economic, political and social models that were established by the Soviet regime. We will explore why the majority of Russians today admire Putin despite a growing economic crisis, why they are so intolerant of homosexuality, why Russian women hate feminism, and other similar issues that perplex a Western observer. By evaluating the balance sheets of the last century of Russian history, we will ponder the future of Russia and its role in international affairs.