Download Work Session IRussia and the Western Republics

Russia and the Western Republics
Terms: USSR – Russian and the Republics from 1917 to 1991
Russia or Czarist Russia – Russia prior to 1917
Russian Federation – Russia after 1991
Caucasus and Transcaucasia are used interchangeable in this reading
A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE Early in the 1500s, the Russian leader Ivan
the Great put an end to two centuries of foreign rule in his homeland.
Russia then entered a period of explosive growth. From its center in
Moscow, Russia expanded at a rate of about 55 square miles a day for
the next four centuries. During the expansion, Russians made so much
progress toward the east that they swallowed up a future U.S. state,
Alaska. Russia had taken control of the territory by the late 18th century
but did not sell it to the United States until 1867.
1. How would you compute the amount of land Russia acquired in four centuries (400
years)
A 55 sq miles x 365 days x 400 years =
B 55 sq miles x 365 days =
C 365 days X 400 years =
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnBIs5cxMG8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra3wYlU36qo
A History of Expansion
Russia’s growth had lasting effects on nearby lands and peoples. You
can see these effects even today in the republics to its west: Belarus,
Moldova, Ukraine and the Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania. But Russian expansion not only affected its neighbors.
It also had an impact on the entire world’s political geography.
BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE The Russian state began in the region
between the Baltic and Black seas. Soon the settlement
began to expand. Expansion was halted in the 13th century with
the arrival of invaders from Mongolia, called
Tatars. The ferocity of those Mongol warriors is
legendary. It is said that “like molten lava, they
destroyed everything in their path.” The Tatars sacked
Kiev between 1237 and 1240.
2. The following phrase used what grammatical term, “…like molten lava, they
destroyed everything in their path.”…
A Simile
B Metaphor
C Analogy
D All
E None
The Mongols controlled the region until the 1500s,
when Ivan the Great, the powerful prince of Moscow,
put an end to their rule.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Ii9vrAU7o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVh_eZkiTAI
Russia continued once again
to expand to the east. By the end of the 17th century,
it had built an empire that extended to the Pacific
Ocean. As the leaders of Russia added more territory
to their empire, they also added more people.
Many of these people belonged to different ethnic
groups, spoke different languages, and
practiced different religions.
3. Do you think Russia adding more territory with different ethnic groups, different
languages, and religions would promote unity or conflict?
A Unity
B Conflict
C Do not know
RUSSIA LAGS BEHIND WESTERN EUROPE Russia’s territorial growth
was rapid, but its progress in other ways was less impressive. Russian
science and technology lagged behind that of its European rivals. Peter
the Great, who was czar—or emperor—of Russia from 1682 to 1725,
tried to change this. For example, he moved Russia’s capital from
Moscow to a city on the Baltic Sea. The new capital, named St.
Petersburg, provided direct access by sea to Western Europe. Russians
called St. Petersburg their “window to the West.”
4. What phrase best describes the word “lagged”?
A Move ahead
B Fall behind
C Stay even
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZih6QERIeg
Peter the Great made impressive strides toward modernizing Russia,
but the empire continued to trail behind the West. While the Industrial
Revolution swept over many Western European countries in the first
half of the 1800s, Russia did not even begin to industrialize until the end
of the century. When industry did come to Russia, it resulted in harsh
working conditions, low wages, and other hardships. These problems
contributed to the people’s anger at the czars who ruled Russia.
5. Put these Russian leaders in order from oldest to newest
Vladimir Putin, Peter the Great, the Romanovs, Joseph Stalin, Czar Alexander
A Vladimir Putin, Peter the Great, the Romanovs, Joseph Stalin, Czar Alexander
B. Peter the Great, the Romanovs, Joseph Stalin, Czar Alexander, Vladimir Putin,
C the Romanovs, Peter the Great, Czar Alexander Joseph Stalin, , Vladimir Putin,
D Peter the Great, the Romanovs, , Czar Alexander, Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin
E None
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAjDAU2RhmE
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION During World War I
(1914–1918), the Russian people’s anger exploded into revolt. In 1917, the
Russian Revolution occurred, ending the rule of the czars. The Russian
Communist Party, led by V. I. Lenin, took control of the government. The
Party also took charge of the region’s economy and gave Communist
leaders control over all important economic decisions.
By 1922, the Communist Party had organized the different peoples
absorbed during the centuries of Russia’s imperial expansion. This new
nation was called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or the
Soviet Union for short. The leaders of the Soviet Union ruled the nation
from its new capital in Moscow.
6. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 who controlled the government, economy and
made all important economic decisions?
A The people of Russia
B The communist party
C The citizens of Moscow
D All
E None
By the time World War II broke out in 1939, Joseph Stalin had taken
over the leadership of the USSR. In 1941, he led the Soviet Union in the
fight against Nazi Germany. However, as the war dragged on, relations
between the Soviet Union and its allies—including the United States—
began to worsen.
After the war, Stalin installed pro-Soviet governments in the Eastern
European countries that his armies had liberated from Germany. U.S.
leaders feared that a new stage of Russian expansion was beginning
and that Stalin would spread communism all over the globe. By the late
1940s, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union led to
conflict. Diplomats called this conflict the Cold War because it never
grew into open warfare between the two nations.
7. During WW II the USA and the USSR were allies.
A True
B False
8. After WW II the USA and the USSR were allies.
A True
B False
9. The Cold War is best described as?
A War in a cold climate
B War fought under the oceans
C War where no open warfare occurred
D All
E None
The rivalry between the two superpowers continued into the mid1980s. At that time, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev started to give
more economic and political freedom to the Soviet people. This began
a process that led to the collapse of the Communist government and the
Soviet Union in 1991—and the end of the Cold War.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the region was divided into 15
independent republics. Of these, Russia, formally known as the Russian
Federation, is the largest and most powerful. Today, Russia has a popularly
elected president. Its legislature, the Federal Assembly, is divided
into two chambers—the Federation Council and the State Duma.
10. What do think contributed to the breakup of the Soviet Union?
A Different ethnic groups
B Different languages
C Different languages
D All
E none
Building a Command Economy
The communists who overthrew czarist Russia in 1917 had strong ideas
about the future. When they put their ideas into practice, they drastically
transformed the economic geography of the region.
11. Transformed is best described as?
A changed
B Static
C Composed
D All
E None
AN ECONOMIC DREAM The communists had been inspired by the
work of Karl Marx, a German philosopher who had examined the history
of economic systems. Marx believed that the capitalist system was
doomed because it concentrated wealth in the hands of a few and left
everyone else in poverty. He predicted that a communist system would
replace capitalism. In a communist society, he argued, citizens would
own property together, and everyone would share the wealth.
12. Why did Karl Marx feel that the capitalist system was “doomed”?
A Capitalist systems everyone shares the wealth
B Capitalist systems concentrate wealth in a few hands
C Capitalistic systems citizens own property together
D All
E None
A HARSH REALITY To move their society toward communism, Soviet
leaders adopted a command economy—one in which the central government
makes all important economic decisions. The government took control
of the major sources of the state’s wealth, including land, mines, factories,
banks, and transportation systems. Government planners decided
what products factories would manufacture, what crops farms would
grow, and even what prices merchants would charge for their goods.
Rapid industrialization became a major goal of Soviet planning.
13. What type of economy is associated with communism?
A Free Market
B Capitalism
C Command Economy
D All
E None
Even farming became an industry under Stalin. The Soviet government
created enormous collective farms on which large teams of laborers
were gathered to work together. People were moved to the farms by the
thousands. By 1939, nearly nine out of ten farms were collectives. The
Soviets had firmly established their power over the countryside.
Although industrial and agricultural production increased, the region’s
people had to make great sacrifices for this rapid transformation.
14. Who do you think owned the collective farms?
A Individual farmers
B The Russian government
C The laborers that woked the collective farm
D All
E None
Millions of citizens starved to death in famines caused, in part, by the creation
of collective farms. Those who survived soon realized that only a
small number of individuals had benefited from the economic changes.
Many people tried to do something about this betrayal, but at great
risk. Under Stalin’s rule, the police swiftly punished any form of
protest. Some historians estimate that Stalin was responsible for the
deaths of more than 14 million people.
15. Did Stalin kill more people than Hitler killed in the holocaust?
A Yes
B No
C Do not know
Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, leaders in Russia and the
Republics have tried to reduce the state’s monopoly on economic power
and return some control to private individuals and businesses. You will
learn more about these changes in Chapter 17
A Gateway of Migration
People have long used Transcaucasia as a migration route, especially
as a gateway between Europe and Asia. Trade routes near the Black Sea
led to the thriving commercial
regions of Mediterranean Europe.
And trade routes leading to the
Far East began on the shores of
the Caspian Sea.
16. How many languages are spoken in the Caucasus region above?
A2
B4
C6
D8
E 10
17. Do you think having many different languages in a region would promote unity?
A yes
B No
C Do not know
A VARIETY OF CULTURES
Because of the presence of so
many trade routes, Transcaucasia
has been affected by many different
peoples and cultures. Today,
more than 50 different peoples
live in the region.
Migrants brought a great variety
of languages to the region.
Arab geographers called the
region Jabal Al-Alsun, or the
“Mountain of Language.” The
Indo-European, Caucasian, and
Altaic language families are the
region’s most common.
18. What other things than trade goods might trades bring to a region?
A Diseases
B Ideas
C Religion
D All
E none
MIGRATION BRINGS RELIGIONS
The people of Transcaucasia follow
a number of different religions.
However, most of the
region’s people belong to either
the Christian or the Islamic faith.
CONFLICT The region’s diverse
population has not always lived
together in harmony. Tensions seldom
erupted into open hostility
under the rigid rule of the Soviets.
However, after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, tensions among different
groups have resulted in violence. Civil war broke out in Georgia,
and Armenia fought a bitter war with Azerbaijan over a disputed territory
called Nagorno-Karabakh. The story of conflict is not new to Transcaucasia. Its history of
conflict, as you will read below, can be explained, in part, by its location.
A History of Outside Control
Over the centuries, Transcaucasia has been a place where the borders of
rival empires have come together.(Russia, Persia (Iran), Ottomans (Turkey) Imperial armies
have repeatedly invaded the region to protect and extend those borders.
19. Why would Transcaucasia’s location contribute to a “history of conflict”?
A The location is currently and historically a buffer between regional powers.
B Many traders in the region
C A single language and religion in the region
D All
E None
In the decades following the Soviet takeover, the people of
Transcaucasia experienced the same painful economic and political
changes as the rest of the Soviet Union. Many people lost their lives in
famines triggered by the shift to collective farming or were killed
because of their political beliefs. The republics of Transcaucasia
regained their political independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet
Union. Since then, the region’s leaders have struggled to rebuild their
nations’ economies.
20. What were the effects of the Soviet takeover of the Transcaucasia?
A Painful economic and political changes
B Loss of lives
C Famines
D All
E None