history of russia & the post-soviet states chapter 5
TRANSCRIPT
History of Russia & the Post-Soviet
StatesChapter 5
Early History• First people in Central Asian region were
Nomadic Pastoralists (people whose way of life and economy centered on tending animals, moved seasonally to graze on best grasses)
• Towns popped up along Silk Road (between China and Mediterranean)
• Slav farmers (known as Rus, maybe Scandinavian origin)– emerged in Poland/Ukraine/Belarus area– moved east settled cities of Kiev and Moscow– trade on Volga River
• 1200s-1500s: Mongols (Genghis Khan) invaded Ukraine and Russia
Early Russian Empire• 1552: Slavic ruler Ivan IV (Ivan the
Terrible) – conquered Mongols – beginning of Russian Empire
• St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow – built to commemorate the victory
• Siberia was the first area added – took resources and exploited people
• Russian empire ruled by CZARS– Latin “Caesar”– Means Emperor
Czars• 1500s-1900s – Czars conquered other lands,
built and empire, and added to territory of Russia (most of Northern Eurasia)
Peter I (The Great)Catherine IPeter IIAnnaIvan VIElizabethPeter IIICatherine II (The Great)
Paul IAlexander I (The Blessed)Constantine INicholas IAlexander II (The Liberator)Alexander III (The Peace Maker)Nicholas II
Armenian Genocide
• WWI – Turks attempted to deport the entire Armenian population of 1,750,000.
• 1/3 died during transportation or were massacred by the Turks
• Intentional destruction of these people.
• Many fled to Russia to escape persecution.
Bolshevik Revolution• 1917: Bolshevik Revolution (led by Vladimir Lenin)
overthrew Czar Nicholas during WWI (remember Anastasia?!)
• Inspired by Karl Marx (German philosopher) and set up a Communist Party
• Land and businesses taken from wealthy then owned by the government to achieve social equality for the poor people
• Goal – egalitarian society without government or currency
• People would work out of a commitment to the common good, sharing what they produced
• Never achieved this…• Lenin had several strokes in 1922
Stalin Era – Creation of USSR
• Joseph Stalin stepped in to reorganize society• Known for brutality and revolutionary change• Rapid industrialization• Paid little attention to environment – massive
pollution• Command Economy (Socialist): government owned all
real estate and decided what goods were produced (led to no competition, lower productivity, poor quality)
• New name: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)• Limited personal freedoms (if you spoke out against
government, you would be sent to gulags (work camps) in Siberia or executed)
• Banned religion, destroyed places of worship• 34-60 million killed as a result of Stalin’s policies
WWII• Nazis failed attempt to conquer Soviet
Union exhausted them on Eastern Front• 23 million Soviets died defeating Nazi
Germany• After WWII, Western Europe reconstructed
and ceded control of Central Europe to USSR
• USSR erected “Iron Curtain” • US and allies organized to stop
Soviets from extending their power• Result was Cold War
Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAyXXepUgrE
Focus on Berlin• Berlin along with the rest of eastern Germany
was behind Soviet lines when the fighting stopped in May 1945
• Stalin agreed to give western part of Berlin to wartime allies, US/Britain/France
• Soviets installed Communist regimes in most Eastern European nations it occupied at the end of WWII
• U.S. Prez Truman concluded that without help from U.S., W. Europe would collapse economically and fall into Communist hands
• 1947: Set up Marshall Plan – provided millions in aid for Western European economies
Focus on Berlin (continued)
• June 1948- May 1949: Stalin tried to starve Allies out of West Berlin with a blockade so Truman ordered daily airlift of food and supplies to keep city alive
• U.S./Canada/Western Europe formed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – a Soviet attack on one would be an attack on all…
• Soviet Union created Warsaw Pact – an organization of Eastern European states
• East and West Germany became separate countries with West Berlin as an island 110 miles inside Communist German Democratic Republic
Berlin Wall• 1961: Soviets and East Germans built a
concrete wall through Berlin• 130 people killed over 30 years trying to escape
East Berlin into West Berlin to freedom (in addition to 1,200 who died trying to escape to the West from elsewhere in East Germany)…
• Western side – graffiti covered tribute to free speech
• Eastern side – authorities tore down buildings to create an open area known as “death strip” where soldiers in guard towers could shoot anyone trying to escape
Cold War
• 50 year geopolitical rivalry between Soviet Union and U.S.
• Soviets tried to match military power of the U.S., so they diverted their resources to military and away from economic and social development
• Promoted communism to China, Mongolia, North Korea, Afghanistan, Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua, and various African nations…
Major Global Cold War Dates/Events
• 1950-1953: Communist North Korea (backed by China) invades South Korea (backed by U.S.) – Korean War ends in stalemate
• 1956: Uprising in Hungary – Soviet troops killed thousands who were revolting against Soviet imposed Communist government
• 1957: Soviets send first satellite into orbit, catching U.S. off guard and launching space race
• 1962: U.S. spy planes discover nuclear sites being built by the Soviets in Cuba (in striking distance of FL) – U.S. President Kennedy orders naval blockade of Cuba – 13 day standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union that takes the world to the brink of nuclear war – the Soviets remove the missiles
• 1965-1975: U.S. sends troops to aid South Vietnam in its war against Communist North Vietnam (supported by Soviets/Chinese) – 58,000 U.S. soldiers died and war ended with North overrunning South
• 1968: Leaders of Czechoslovakia’s Communist Party attempted reforms, Soviet troops invaded and halted reforms
• 1979: Soviet troops invade Afghanistan – with help from U.S./Pakistan, the mujahedeen wage a 10 year guerilla war against the Soviets (who withdraw in 1989)
Major U.S. Homefront Cold War Dates/Events
• 1947: President Truman calls for “loyalty investigations” of all federal employees in the executive branch – several hundred are dismissed as security risks
• 1947: Congress investigates alleged ties to Communism in Hollywood, prompting studios to pledge to rid the industry of any Community influence – hundreds of directors, writers, actors are “blacklisted” and denied work during 1950s
• 1950s – Red Scare as U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin says the State Department is “infested” with Communists – a decade of investigations into Communist infiltration in government and Hollywood follows
• 1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to share U.S. atomic secrets with the Soviet Union – sentenced to death and executed by electric chair 2 years later (left 2 young sons orphaned)
• 1953: McCarthy at height of his power, becomes chairman of a Senate committee that begins high profile investigations into Communists in government agencies, including Army and Voice of America (media)
• 1954: Nationally televised Senate hearing leaves viewers with impression that McCarthy is a bully who doesn’t check his facts (it’s his downfall…)
Break Up of the Soviet Union
• 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev began reforms– glasnost (openness) which allowed citizens to say
what they wanted without fear of government.– Perestroika – economic restructuring which called
for a gradual change from command system to private ownership of goods and services.
• 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall• 1991: Soviet Union dissolved and major republics
became independent nations.• Russians voted for Boris Yeltsin as first democratic
president served from 1992 to 2000• 2000-2008 – Vladimir Putin elected President• 2008-2012 – Dmitri Medvedev Prez (Putin Prime
Minister) • 2012-Present – Vladimir Putin Prez (Medvedev PM)