Much of the second half of the 20th century passed in the shadow of the Cold War. Nuclear fears, arms race, global competition, stories of international spies were normal part of people’s lives. Although we hear a lot about the Cuban missile crisis or the blockade of West Berlin, we rarely get a chance to learn about what was happening in the US’ main adversary in the Cold War, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and how these processes shaped the world that we live in today. This class will focus on the history of the Soviet Union during the “greater Cold War,” that is, between WWII and the disintegration of the USSR. While we will touch on foreign policy developments, our main focus will be on the social, political and economic processes and cultural developments inside the USSR itself. To explore Soviet history in the second half of the 20th century, we will use historical works and a range of primary sources.