Module manager: Professor Robert Hornsby
Email: R.Hornsby@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
This module is not approved as an Elective
This module explores the collapse of communism and its aftermath in Eastern Europe and the former USSR during the 1980s and 1990s. The first part of the module examines the causes of collapse and the ways in which different revolutions played out during 1989-1991. The second part of the module looks at what came next as capitalist democracy was (almost everywhere) built on the ruins of communist dictatorship. This was a period not just of great change, but also one of high aspirations for the future, clashes of ideas and ideals, as well as a range of important continuities that spanned the ideological divide between the communist and post-communist eras. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The purpose of this module is to familiarise you with a crucial period in which Europe and the wider world were dramatically re-shaped as communist regimes declined, collapsed and were then replaced in the likes of Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. The module explores both causes and consequences of these revolutions, addressing subjects including national and ethnic struggles, political reforms, regime violence and public violence, legacies of communist rule, the creation of democratic institutions and economic and social change across the region.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Analsye effectively why and how communist regimes suddenly fell across the region, much to the surprise of almost all contemporary experts.
2. Critically evaluate approaches to the shifts from communism and dictatorship to capitalism and democracy and how they played out at both institutional and social levels.
3. Apply different historiographical approaches to the communist past and the fall of communist regimes, as well as different experiences of revolution and post-communism.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Analyse a range of primary source materials, including media coverage, video footage, images and regime-generated documents and integrated them into own work.
5. Draw meaningful comparisons and contrasts from the experiences of one country to another, and from communist to post-communist periods across the region.
6. Present, research, and discuss complex and sensitive issues still ‘live’ today.
7. Apply fundamental standards and practices of historical study for research, discussion, and assessed work.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Seminar | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Private study hours | 279.6 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20.4 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300 | ||
You will receive formative feedback both through in-class discussions and through one-to-one discussions with the module tutor. You will also receive tailored feedback (both in written form and in-person) on each piece of summative assessment.
You will each give one ten-minute presentation on your chosen primary source text ahead of the submission of the source commentary exercise. Written feedback on this presentation will feed into the summative primary source exercise. The source exercises will support the writing of the essay, which has a strong primary source element.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Source commentary | 30 |
| Essay | Essay | 70 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 20/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team