Communism in Decline: From Sputnik to Gorbachev

Overview

Explore the unraveling of the Soviet experiment—from Cold War triumphs to systemic collapse—in this 12-lecture course on communism’s dramatic decline.

Course No. 30600

Professor Vejas Liulevicius reveals how internal contradictions, failed reforms, and popular dissent transformed the USSR from space race victor to a dissolved empire by 1991.

Course Content

Cold War Peak to Crisis

1. Sputnik’s False Dawn (31 min)
   • How 1957’s space victory masked systemic flaws

2. Expansion & Overreach (35 min)
   • Cuba, Prague Spring, and the Afghan quagmire

3. Gorbachev’s Gamble (35 min)
   • Perestroika and glasnost’s unintended consequences

Life Behind the Iron Curtain

4. Daily Contradictions (34 min)
   • Grocery queues vs. propaganda promises

5. Dissent Underground (35 min)
   • Samizdat literature to Solidarity protests

• Secret Police State (34 min)
  • KGB surveillance and societal control

Collapse & Legacy

7. 1989: Wall Falls, Empire Crumbles (31 min)
   • Chain reaction from Berlin to Moscow

8. China’s Different Path (33 min)
   • Tiananmen crackdown vs. economic reform

9. Communism’s Ghosts (32 min)
   • Nostalgia, memorials, and surviving regimes