RUSSIA: Human Patterns Over Time

The Land of the Czars

Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

Vocabulary Terms

• Cold War• Czar• Permafrost• Glasnost• Perestroika• Russification• Nomadic pastoralists• Serf• Mujahedeen

Major Geographic Qualities

• IMMENSE TERRITORIAL STATE• NORTHERNMOST LARGE AND POPULOUS

COUNTRY IN THE WORLD• A FORMER WORLD COLONIAL POWER• A COMPARITIVELY SMALL (<150 MILLION) AND

CONCENTRATED POPULATION• CONCENTRATED DEVELOPMENT• MULTICULTURAL STATE• MINIMAL PORTS

Dimensions

• SPANS 9 TIME ZONES• GULF OF FINLAND TO ALASKA (WEST TO EAST)• ABOVE THE ARCTIC CIRCLE TO SALT LAKE CITY

(NORTH TO SOUTH)• TWICE THE SIZE OF THE US OR CHINA• SIBERIA: “SLEEPING LAND”

Other Facts• Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth

of the Earth's inhabited land area. • Russia is also the world's ninth most populous nation with 143 million

people as of 2012.Extending across the whole of northern Asia, Russia spans nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms.

• Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally.

• Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.

• The Russian economy is the world's ninth largest by nominal GDP• The 3rd largest nominal military budget. • It is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the

largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction

Size Comparison

Climate as a Restrictive Element

• AGRICULTURE– Short growing seasons– Drought prone– Erosion (accelerated via snow melt)

• SETTLEMENT PATTERNS & TRANSPORTATION• INDUSTRY

– High energy consumption– Specialized equipment and facilities– Extractive

*permafrost*spring and fall mud*special equipment and facilities - $$$

Vegetation

Rise of the Russian Empire• Nomadic pastoralists- lived off the land, moved with the seasons• Central Asia, Ukraine and Russia- first settlements due to irrigated

crops and enriched trade (Silk Roads)• Kiev and Moscow- early Russian settlements founded by the Slavs

(a group of farmers)• Greek Missionaries- introduced Christianity and the Cyrillic

alphabet• Genghis Khan- Mongol army leader who conquered Ukraine,

Russia, Central and East Asia• Siberia was the first non Russian area to be annexed at beginning

of Russian empire• Czars and serfs- Czars were powerful leaders (king). Serfs

(laborers/slaves) were legally bound to live and work on the land owned by an aristocrat. If the land was sold, the serfs were also transferred

Cyrillic Alphabet

The Beginnings

• Slavic ruler, Ivan the Terrible conquered the Mongols in 1552, marking the beginning of the Russian empire

• Called “terrible” because he would fall into rages, paranoia, suffered mental illness and had people killed

Communist Revolution & its Aftermath

• Overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in 1917– Romanov dynasty comes to an end– Overthrown by the Bolsheviks (inspired by

communism)– Story of Anastasia

Communist Leaders• Bolsheviks

– Vladimir Lenin• Formed the Communist Party centered in Moscow• Inspired by the writings of Karl Marx• Believed the people of Russia needed a transition period and to overthrow

the government

• Karl Marx– German revolutionary philosopher inspiring the Bolsheviks – Criticized Europe because of a “domination” by capitalists– Establishment of a egalitarian society- no gov’t, no currency, everyone

works for the common good, sharing what was produced

• Joseph Stalin– Union of Socialist Republics (USSR)– Assumed power after Lenin’s death– Development of “Central Planning”- the state owned all real estate and means

of production; gov’t directed economic activity

LENIN

MARX

STALIN

Political Framework

• SOVIET LEGACY– Revolution (1905-1917)– Bolsheviks versus Mensheviks – V.I. Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov)– Capital: Petrograd to Moscow (1918)

• FEDERATION/FEDERAL STRUCTURE– USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) 1924

• RUSSIFICATION SOVIET- is a form of cultural assimilation process during which non-Russian communities give up (whether voluntarily or not) their culture and language in favor of the Russian one. The major areas of Russification are politics and culture

Former Soviet Union

Economics

Command Economy• An economy in which the means

of production are owned and controlled by the state

• Features of the Soviet Economy: *Production of particular manufactured *goods to particular places *Economic interdependence of the republics

Free Market• Capitalism is an economic

system that is based on the private ownership of capital goods, or the means of production, and the creation of goods and services for profit

Successes and Failures of Communism

Successes• Increased industrial

production• Massive government

investments• Farmers now factory

workers= higher wages• Higher standards of living

for the time and better schools

Failures• Production only towards

heavy industry (machines, transport equipment)

• Less attention for consumer goods and services

• Formation of the secret police, starvation and executions for anyone who opposed Stalin

Cold War and Arms Race

• The US and its allies worried that the Soviets would try to extend their power (communism) further into Europe…this led to the Cold War– 50 year geopolitical rivalry (not an actual war)– Build up of strong armies– Weapons (nuclear)

• Sputnik, race to moon, emphasis on math/science

• Communism spread to places such as Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea

Arms Race and Afghanistan

• 1979 War – Afghan Freedom fighters (Mujahedeen) trained by Pakistan

and the US, defeated invading Soviets – US and Pakistan as allies (financing, weapons, military)

• Mikhail Gorbachev (President, 1985)– Glasnost (discussion of change socially/economically)– Perestroika (revitalization of economy through

reconstructuring)• 1991 collapse of the USSR– Military and officials against change tried to seize power, it

failed, thus prompting the collapse. – 12 new, independent countries/republics arise

Decline of the Soviet Union

• A sharp decline in agricultural & industrial production

– Economic output down by 4% in 1990 & 10-15% in first half of 1991

• Intensification of ethno-cultural (nationalism & separatism)

– Unity of the Soviet Union (macro) & unity of republics (micro) threatened

• Pluralization of Soviet politics & steady erosion of Communist Party monopoly or power

Matryoshka A popular toy in Russia

is a nesting doll called Matryoshka.

The grandfathers carved them out of wood for the grandmothers or babushkas to use to tell stories to their grandchildren.