The History Faculty

Soviet and Western historiography has for long identified Lenin as the most influential figure in explaining how the October Revolution of 1917 took place. This follows a comment in Trotsky’s diary of 1935 that the October Revolution would have occurred without him but only on condition that Lenin was present. This talk outlines how recent scholarship has re-evaluated Lenin’s role: he failed to prevent the February Revolution, the April Theses joined an already existing debate rather than marked a completely new point of view, State and Revolution is no guide to how the Bolshevik government developed, and it is Trotsky not Lenin who organised the October Revolution. It is only be demolishing the Lenin myth that we move closer to understanding the Russian Revolution of 1917.

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Stalin is famous above all for a remarkable programme of economic development – the establishment of a ‘command-administrative system’ that set targets for the transformation of the USSR’s economy in the form of five-year plans. This economic revolution also carried profound consequences for Soviet society. This talk outlines how Stalin’s changes ripped social ties apart in both the urban and rural environments. The purpose of culture, it is argued, was to try and put society back together again, whether by building families, resorting to traditional schooling, by being more tolerant of religion, or by combining socialist realism with popular entertainment.

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Causes, Course, Consequences: In 1905 Russia became famous as a centre of Revolution. The eyes of Europe were focused upon modern forms of discontent, especially the mass strike, in an old political order. This talk covers the beginnings, development and end of this remarkable period in late imperial Russia history. Was this an opportunity for Tsarism to reform itself, or was 1905 simply a foretaste of what was to come in 1917?

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Survival and Consolidation: When the Bolsheviks declared a new government in October 1917 many a commentator, including many Bolsheviks, thought that it could not survive as a one-party regime. It would have either to give way to the Constituent Assembly or to transform itself into a broad coalition of socialists of all types. This talk examines why of all the attempted communist revolutions in Europe of this time (Germany, Hungary, Slovakia etc.) only the Bolshevik regime in Russia survived. It also asks whether the price paid for survival – the consolidation of a one-party dictatorship meant that the ideal of socialism was lost.

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In recent years historians of the civil rights movement have moved their focus away from the charismatic leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. to explore the role played by "ordinary people" in the struggle for racial equality. While not denying King's importance as a tactician, figurehead and orator historians have argued that, at root, the civil rights movement was a people's movement and that the countless inspiring contributions made by local blacks was a critical component of the movement's success. After setting out the problems that the civil rights movement sought to tackle, the presentation charts some of the civil rights movement's major tactics - litigation, boycotts and direct action, and voter registration drives - emphasizing the importance of ordinary African Americans and their allies to these efforts. The presentation ends with a re-consideration of King's role, highlighting his importance as a "bridge" between the local campaigns and national politics.

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