Samuel D. Rosen

              1933
Emil G. Hirsch Center
S. D. Schwartz, Executive Director
4622 South Parkway


SEASON 1933
LECTURES
by
Samuel D. Rosen
on
RUSSIA A NEW WORLD
Every Friday Evening
at 8:15 o'clock

Admission 35 cents per lecture



February 3—Pre-Revolutionary Russia

1.
Early uprisings—the peasants' unrest.
2.
Attempt to wrest a constitution from Nicholas I—reactions.
3.
Nicholas' sudden death and the beginning of the reign of Alexader II.
4.
Freeing of the serfs—effect on peasantry.
5.
Emergence of social revolutionary party.
6.
The Czar's repression and the revolutionists' violence and retaliation—assassination of Alexander II.
7.
Alexander III and autocracy.
8.
Mediocrity of Nicholas II.



February 10—The Social Revolutionary Party

1.
Factions—tactics and militant practices.
2.
Father Gapon and the workers.
3.
Strikes—granting of the Duma and the peasants' demand for land.
4.
Dissolution of the Duma.



February 17—The Great Collapse

1.
Effect of the World War on Russia.
2.
Russian armies driven from East Prussia and Galicia.
3.
Glaring corruption and inflexibility of the government proved inadequate to stem desertion of soldiers and anarchy.
4.
The Czar compelled to abdicate.
5.
The Provisional Governments and their shifting answers to the peasants' demand for land.



February 24—Lenin's Rise to Power

1.
Antecedents of Lenin and his early influences.
2.
Return of Lenin to Russia from exile in a sealed German car.
3.
Scheming through and with the Soviets.
4.
Kerensky's meteoric rise and fall.
5.
The revolution of the proletariat and the conclusion of the Brest Litovsk Treaty with Germany.



March 3—Lenin's Success With the Peasants

1.
Confiscated lands of nobility and clergy (Monastic and Secular).
2.
The peasants' thrill in acquiring land.
3.
They beat back the Counter Revolutionaries on all fronts.
4.
Bolshevism entrenched—the great famine—America's help.
5.
The Nep plan—Lenin's step backward—private trading revived.
6.
Attempt to assassinate Lenin—lingering illness—death.



March 10—The Communist Party

1.
Organization—requirements for membership.
2.
Subscription to three rigid rules—Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.
3.
Opposition—press, speech and assembly—not tolerated.
4.
Major party split — principles — Trotsky and Stalin.
5.
Trotsky's exile and Stalin's triumph.
6.
Youth Movement—propaganda.
7.
What is the G P U?



March 17—Collectivization and the Five-Year Plan

1.
The peasant prior to 1861.
2.
The peasant during the period from 1861 to Lenin's assumption of power.
3.
The thrilled peasant—forced into collectives.
4.
The let-up in collectivization in 1930.
5.
The Five-Year Plan—purposes.
6.
Has the Five-Year Plan met with defeat or victory?
7.
How has the world depression affected the Five-Year Plan?



March 24—Family Life and Religion

1.
Status of woman in Pre-Revolution days and now.
2.
Family life then and now—the new sex morality.
3.
The future of the family—is it in peril?
4.
The Dominant Greek Catholic Church and the tolerated denominations.
5.
The collapse of autocracy brought about an open discredit of religion.
6.
Militant atheism and liquidation of churches, mosques and synagogues.
7.
Substitute for religion.



March 31—Literature

1.
Russia's Pre-Revolutionary literature — who were the Great Masters?
2.
Contributions to the Revolutionary trend.
3.
Gorki—the last Mohican of the illustrious masters.
4.
Who are the Bolshevik writers and what have they contributed?
5.
The literary old and the vehement new.
6.
What effect will Russia's censorship have on its future literature?



April 7—What Is Happening—Observations and Comparisons 1930–1931–1932

1.
Why are the large cities overcrowded?
2.
Unemployment—are the people well fed, clothed, housed, on the road to learning and culture?
3.
Is enthusiasm still gripping the young and heartening the adult?
4.
Dangers to Soviet regime—is a war imminent?
5.
Will religion survive?—is there any possibility that the intelligentzia will assert itself?
6.
Will Russia let up in her Bolshevist fervor, permit free criticism and tolerate opposition?




RUSSIA
Why are people everywhere so interested in the Russian experiment?  Why is Russian life so minutely analyzed and reported by noted correspondents, economists and statesmen the world over?  Why is Russia feared, ridiculed or praised here, there and elsewhere?  Is it not because of the intense drama so defiantly and so skillfully played by Russia's adroit leadership?  It was played and it is still being played on a scale unequalled anywhere in the range of human history.  For in the huge experiment now going on, a population, comprising 170 millions of lives, on a territory consisting of one-sixth of the globe, is involved body and soul.  There the fundamentals underlying the dominant economic structure were demolished and in demolition, the spiritual, social and familial attributes of human existence were swept away.  Is it any wonder that the great masses of Russia find themselves floundering?  The Russian was torn from his ancient moorings and has not, as yet, found himself.  Will Russia succeed in her planning; in her socialization of industry and in her collectivization of agriculture?  What effect, if any, will its centralization have on the world markets?  Can a one party system long endure without a major split, and if a split comes what may be the outcome?  These and similar questions concern the average man and woman the world over; for in these problems and their dominancy over existing conditions is involved the very structure of our lives.  A close study of Russia's troubles for the last 150 years may enable us to see what is happening there today in a different light and with a setting unlike our own.


Samuel D. Rosen was born in a peasant village of southeastern European Russia.  Cradled in Russia, living the life of the peasant, sharing his joys and woes, his hopes and aspirations, he attended the schools of his native land and then enrolled in the University of Odessa, graduating from that institution.  Then, about twenty-five years ago, he came to this country.  Here he studied at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.  He has had the creditable career of thousands of immigrant Americans who have successfully made their adjustment and who have achieved success.  For many years Mr. Rosen occupied responsible positions with one of our great railroad systems.  He has visited his native land numerous times.  Equipped as he is to speak the Russian language, he has traveled hither and yon from Leningrad to Moscow, down into the heart of Russia in the south, and for months observed, judged, and absorbed the impressions and the understanding that during the last season he has been bringing to many American audiences.  He returned to the United States from his last visit to Russia in October, 1932, and he thus had full opportunity to learn what the very latest developments in the land of the Soviets are.  He has the ability to speak clearly, interestingly and effectively.  His audiences are impressed not only by the fascinating and intriguing subject matter of his discussions, but also by his personal magnetism and convincing learning and sincerity.

While the lectures are intended to be consecutive in development, EACH LECTURE IS COMPLETE IN ITSELF.  This course should prove to be enlightening with regard to the interesting Russian experiment.