Week 3: Lecture 12: The Russian Civil War and the Socialist alternative

Why did the Bolsheviks win?

Which role did the nationality question play in the Russian Civil War?

Was the Polish-Soviet war an imperialist war, a state building war or a revolutionary war?

Essential Reading

Westwood, J.N., Endurance and Endeavour. Russian History 1812-1992, 4th ed. (Oxford, 1993), pp. 225-282 [= Chapter 10: ‘1917’, Chapter 11: ‘The Civil War’]. Focus on pp 252-282 (Civil War)

Suny, Ronald G., 'National Revolutions and Civil War in Russia', in Revolutionary Russia: New Approaches, ed. by Rex A. Wade (New York, 2004), pp. 119-140 (ebook library)

Adams, Arthur E., 'The Great Ukrainian Jacquerie', in The Ukraine, 1917-1921: A Study in Revolution, ed. by Taras Hunczak (Cambridge, Mass., 1977), pp. 247-270

And if you still have the stamina:

Eley, Geoff, ‘Remapping the Nation: War, Revolutionary Upheaval and State Formation in Eastern Europe, 1914-1923’, in H. Aster and P. J. Potichny (eds), Ukrainian-Jewish Relations in Historical Perspective (Edmonton, 1990), pp. 205-246.

Additional Reading

Service, Robert, The Russian Revolution 1900-1927 (London, 2009)

Smith, S.A., The Russian Revolution: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2002) (Electronic resource – University Library)

Murphy, A.B., The Russian Civil War: Primary Sources (London 2000) (Electronic resource – University Library)

Figes, Orlando, A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891-1924 (London, 1996)

Davies, Norman, White Eagle, Red Star: the Polish-Soviet War, 1919-20 (London 1972)