1. Describe Poland’s geography. Why did the nation’s geography make it easy for invaders to conquer Poland?

In the south are the Carpathian Mountains. Poland’s lack of mountains on its eastern and western borders have made it an easy target for invading armies, including Germany and The Soviet Union during World War II.

In the north, east ,and west Poland is flat with farms, forests, lakes, and bogs (swamps).

2. Describe Poland’s economy. How and why did it begin to change in the late 1980’s?

When the Soviet Union crumbled and Poland was free from Soviet domination it moved toward a free market system. But the change has not been easy. Many people lost their jobs when communism ended. Fortunately today most Poles have adjusted to their new way of life. The situation is similar in all of Eastern Europe.

Like the rest of Eastern Europe Poland was a communist state (country) under the domination of the Soviet Union for much of the 20th century. The government decided everything for the people. Soviet tanks in Poland

3. What was the organization Solidarity? How did it help change Poland?

In the 1980s the Solidarity labor union under the leadership of Lech Walesa organized peaceful protests against communism. The government caved in & allowed the first free elections. Lech Walesa was elected president.

Lech

Walesa

4. What are Slavs? Can you name other countries with Slavic people?

The Slavs are a large family of ethnic groups that live in Eastern Europe. The Poles are Slavs. Other Slavic people are the Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Slovenians, Bulgarians, Russians, Belorussians, and Ukrainians.

Polish Parade

Traditional Slavic Dress

5. What is the religion of the Polish People? What brought these people great pride in recent years?

The Poles are Roman Catholic. They are proud that the last Pope, the poplar John Paul II, was Polish.

6. What 3 nations make up the Baltic Republics? How did they stand out in the region during the 1990s? Today?

The three small nations to the north-east of Poland are known as the Baltic Republics. They are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In 1991 they became the first republics to break away from the Soviet Union. Today they have the highest standards of living (wealthiest people) in Eastern Europe.

Talinn, Estonia

7. Describe the geography (land) of Hungary and it’s capital city.

Hungary is a flat country, bisected (cut in half) by the famous Danube River. Even it’s capital is divided by the Danube, with Buda on the west bank and Pest on the right.

Budapest

8. What is the term for the Hungarian People? Guess the real name of the country.

Hungarians call themselves the Magyars and their nation the Magyar Republic. Their language is not related to any neighboring languages. It is thought that the Hungarian people were nomadic (wandering) horsemen who came from Central Asia 1,000 years ago.

Budapest

9. When did Czechoslovakia join together and when did it split apart?

In 1918 the Czech people and their neighbors, the Slovaks, joined together to form one nation. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1993 the Czech and Slovak people split apart again.

Prague

10. What is the name of the land between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea How many nations are located in that region?

The land between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea is called the Balkan Peninsula. About ten nations fit on the peninsula.

11. Which is the largest nation on the Balkan Peninsula? What ancient empire once rule it?

As the name suggests Romania was once ruled by the Roman Empire. Romanian is the only Romance (Latin based) language in Eastern Europe, therefore Romanians are not Slavs like their neighbors.

Popularly known as "Dracula's Castle," Bran Castle is spectacularly situated in the Transylvanian Alps. However, Vlad Tepes (the Impaler), the brutal man who inspired for the Dracula legend, probably never stayed here.

Cyrillic is the alphabet used by most Slavic languages. It has different letters and sounds then the Latin alphabet.

12. What is Cyrillic?

13. What Balkan nation broke up into six small independent nations? Why did it split apart? When?

Yugoslavia – was created in 1918 by combining a number of tiny Slavic nations into one country. It broke up in 1992 after Tito died and fighting erupted between the various ethnic groups. Today the situation is more peaceful.

Josip Broz Tito

14. Name the seven new nations that formerly made up Yugoslavia.

Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Slovenia is known for its rugged Julian Alps. Croatia is famous for its beautiful Mediterranean coast.

Slovenia

Dubrovnik, - on the coast of Croatia

15. Which of the new Balkan nations is the most powerful, the most populated, contains the capital of the former Yugoslavia, and tried to keep the name Yugoslavia?

Serbia is the largest, most populated, and most powerful nation of the former Yugoslavia The photo shows Belgrade, the capital.

Belgrade

18. What is ethnic cleansing? How do you feel about this policy?

Ethnic cleansing is when one ethnic group tries to kill off or expel another ethnic group from its country.

In this photo, a young Bosnian Muslim man is doused with water by two Serb police after being thrown out a window

16. The former leader of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, was put on trial for ethnic cleansing.

Slobodan Milosevic was a leader of Serbia who wanted to conquer the parts of Croatia and Bosnia where, some fellow Serb people lived ,and expel or kill the non-Serbs. He was put on trial by an International Court in the Netherlands for genocide and ethnic cleansing.

International Court of Justice – The Hague

17. The most serious fighting in the former Yugoslavia occurred between three different ethnic groups in Bosnia. What are the three groups?

Serbs (Eastern Orthodox)

Croats (Roman Catholic)

Bosniaks (Muslim).

Croats & Serbs fighting

18. Which of the Balkan nations is the poorest and most isolated?

ALBANIA – is a very poor, isolated Muslim nation that has made little effort to interact with its neighbors.

Old, stone bridge in Albania

19. Describe Ukraine’s geography.

Ukraine is the second largest nation in Europe. A vast steppe (dry-grasslands) makes up most of the nation. Its Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea is almost sub tropical and is the site of popular beaches.

Oshkosh, Ukraine

The Steppe (grasslands)

20. Why is farming so productive in Ukraine?

Its rich, dark soil make Ukraine the “breadbasket of Europe.”

S o y b e a n s

C o r n

21. Which nation has maintained the closest ties to Russia? Describe its forests.

Belarus is mostly wooded lowlands of birch trees. Its communist government has maintained the closest ties with Russia of any of the former republics of the Soviet Union.

Planting candles for loved ones

Belarus forest