russia the giant of eastern europe. objectives give a basic definition of communism. describe a...

Russia

The Giant of Eastern Europe

Objectives

• Give a basic definition of communism.

• Describe a buffer state. Why might a buffer state be useful?

• Name and describe the conflict that centered around Russia and the United States in the Twentieth Century.

• Describe the area, climate, and resources of Siberia.

• Understand the difference between European Russia and Siberian Russia.

Terms and PlacesSoviet Union or USSR was a single nation of many ethnic groups controlled by Russia.

Warsaw Pact was an alliance of nations controlled by Russia.

Russia

The Soviet Union

The Warsaw Pact

NATO

NATO

Russia

S O V I E T U N I O N

Cold War was a conflict between the Warsaw Pact and NATO.

Buffer state is a weaker nation that lies between unfriendly stronger nations.

The Soviet states create a buffer for Russia.

The Warsaw Pact nations create a buffer for Soviet Union.

W A R S A W P A C T

Volga is the name of the longest river in Europe.

Terms and PlacesSoviet Union or USSR was a single nation of many ethnic groups controlled by Russia.

Warsaw Pact was an alliance of nations controlled by Russia.

Cold War was a conflict between the Warsaw Pact and NATO.

Buffer state is a weaker nation that lies between unfriendly stronger nations.

Communism is an economic system which bans private property.

Baikal is the largest lake in the world by volume.

Physical Geography

Russia is larger than the United States, including Alaska.

Where are the borders of Russia?

It is bordered on the east by the Pacific Ocean.

Russia is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean

Mountains separate Russia from Mongolia and China.

Russia and Kazakhstan share vast plains called

steppes.

To the east lies eastern Europe.

Siberia includes a great lake, called

Baikal.

Lake Baikal has more water than any other lake.

Its fresh water is home to seals

and other wildlife usually found in

salt water.

crossed with rivers

The most important river in Russia is the Volga.

The Volga flows into the Caspian

Sea.

What are the physical features of European

Russia?

Ural M

ountains

Black Sea

Caspian Sea

Baltic Sea

It also has Great Seas in each corner.

White Sea

Ural M

ountains

The Volga is the longest river in Europe.

The Volga also drains a larger area than any other river in Europe.

The Russians love this river and often refer to it as “Mother Volga”.

Eleven of the twenty largest cities of Russia, including the capital, Moscow, lie in the Volga Drainage Basin.

“Mother Volga”

The Volga remains an important river for shipping.

Populations

Ura

l Mou

ntai

ns

Ura

l Mou

ntai

ns

Most of the population of Russia is west of the Ural

Mountains.

This region is called “European Russia.”

Many people living in Russia are not

Russians.

History

Growth of Russian Empire

Russia was ruled for centuries by emperors called czars, including Ivan the Terrible.

Criminals and those that disagreed with the czar were often sent to Siberia to live.

Another Czar, Peter the Great, tried to modernize Russia.

The Czars lasted until World War One.

By that time, Russia was an Empire, dominating countries like Finland, Poland, and Ukraine.

During the World War One, a revolution overthrew the Czar.

The new leaders called themselves Communists.

Lenin

They shot the Czar and his family.

The Soviet Union made great efforts to catch up with Western Europe and the United States, such as digging this canal between the White Sea and the Baltic Sea.

However, these gains were completed at a great cost. People were forced to work and were fed little. They often died doing this work. They called the work camps gulags.

Trans-Siberian Railway

Other slave-labor sites in the Soviet Union included mines in frozen Siberia

or building the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The labor force was almost entirely made up of "enemies of the people" - prisoners convicted of "political" offences.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18116112

After World War II, the

Soviet Union controlled

almost all of Eastern Europe.

Lenin

Stalin

Soviet Russia was controlled by dictators like

Lenin and Stalin.

Warsaw Pact

Soviet Union

Russia

Ukraine

Belarus

Baltics

Poland

Czechoslovakia

Hungary

Buffer States

After1989, Russia lost the Soviet Union countries, lost the Warsaw Pact, and now is in danger of losing Ukraine.

Poland Poland

Romania Romania

Bulgaria

Czech-Slovakia

Hungary Slovakia

Hungary

Czech

Bulgaria

Until 1989, Russia was the Soviet Union and controlled the Warsaw Pact.

Russian cotleta

Borscht – beet soup served cold

Pelmeni - small balls of minced meat covered with pastry

Golubci - minced meat covered with a cabbage leaf 

Berry Piroshky

Name the largest city in Eastern Europe.

Moscow

Name the longest river in Europe. The Volga

Which of the following most challenges Russia’s ability to defend itself?

Russia’s north is permanently frozen.

Russia’s south is blocked with mountains that are difficult to cross.

Russia’s west has no defensible barriers like seas and mountains.

The Pacific Coast is swampy and Russians cannot built rail there.

Name the economic system that dominated Russia for most of the Twentieth Century.

Communism

Briefly describe the system of communism.

Under communism, there is no private property; the government owns everything.

Please read “Imperial Russia to the Soviet Union.” World Studies: Europe and Russia. Pearson-Prentice-Hall, 2005. pgs. 62-69. About 6 ½ pages

And

“Russia: A Huge Country Takes a New Path.” World Studies: Europe and Russia. Pearson-Prentice-Hall, 2005. pgs. 198-204. corruption, post-communism, Chechnya, Siberia, Moscow. About 4 ½ - 5 pages

Unsorted

Extra Material

Moscow The VolgaThe Kremlin The Russian Great Lakes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8BJd--JfTQ

Russian Federation is an alliance of Eastern Europe controlled by Russia today.

Tsar or Czar is the name of the king or emperor of Russia.