Http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Soviet_Union_Map.png Russian History An Overview.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Soviet_Union_Map.png

Russian HistoryAn Overview

•Russia is the largest country in the world.

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•It covers 1/7 of all of the land of our planet.

•Russia borders more other countries than any country on earth.

•Russia has longest borders in the world.

Because of its huge size, Russian has many different climates. But much

of Russia is just plain cold!

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Eighty percent of Russians live in western Russia.

World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.

Well, DUH!!!!!

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Russia is so big that it is divided into 11 time zones. The U.S. has 4.

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They use the Cyrillic alphabet, which was developed in the 9th Century

(Europe’s “Middle Ages”).

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Russia used to be the center of

the Soviet Union. But the

Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, and 14 of their

“republics” became

independent nations.

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Russia 1991-now

Soviet Union 1917-1991

The Soviet Union started with a

communist revolution

against the Russian Empire

in 1917.

Soviet Union 1917-1991

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http://rochesteriso.blogspot.com/2009/05/socialism-in-practice-russian.html

But even before the communist revolution of 1917, Russia was not a democracy. Russia had

czars beginning in the 1500s. A Czar was basically a king. The word “czar” comes from the

term for the ancient Roman leader: “Caesar.”

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Russian czars were basically kings or dictators, and their power was inherited.

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Street demonstration in Petrograd, 4 July 1917. Government troops of the Provisional Government have opened fire with machine

guns. http://www.nevsky88.com/SaintPetersburg/Revolution/

Street demonstration, Petrograd, 18 June 1917.

The revolution was a result of many things, including a desire for more democracy and

frustration about suffering caused by

World War I.

REMEMBER: Even BEFORE Russia became communist, the people were

not free.

Maybe this is why they were so willing to accept a communist

government. Life was unfair and hard under the Czars. Life under communism was unfree too, but

maybe it was a little better.

In 1917, Vladimir Lenin led a the communist revolution. The new

government called the country the United

Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR),

commonly called the Soviet Union.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Soviet_Union,_Lenin_(55).jpg

The communist government:

• took over all private businesses & farms.

• discouraged religions, closing most churches.

• outlawed political parties – except theirs.

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• controlled critics – put them in prison, threw them out of the country, or killed them.

The Soviet Union said all people should work as best they could

and all people should receive everything they needed. And at first, life was better under

the new government.

(1) people who worked hard and people who

worked not so hard still got what they needed.

(2) Everything was supposed to be equal, BUT people connected to powerful communist

leaders had better jobs, better education, better homes, and more privileges.

But people figured out that:

Since the government owned everything, companies didn’t have to compete against other companies. Factories could be inefficient and

produce low quality products – and still stay in business.

Government-run farms didn’t produce enough food. By 1960, the Soviet

Union couldn’t feed itself and had to import food.

On the world scene, after World War II, the Soviet Union gobbled up Eastern European countries, controlling them. This upset many countries.

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When China had a communist revolution after World War II, the U.S. and western Europe got very concerned that communists were trying to

take over the world. The U.S. ended up in a “Cold War” with the Soviet Union.

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As communist governments spread, the U.S. became more fearful. The Cold War developed as a struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet

Union: communism vs. democracy.

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In a “Cold War,” it’s a war of words and threats. We never had a direct war with

the Soviet Union. But we were pulled into smaller wars because of the Cold War.

The U.S. led United Nations forces in Korea (1950-1953) trying to stop a

communist takeover.

The U.S. fought in Vietnam (1960s-70s) trying to stop communism.

The U.S. helped overthrow the legally elected president of Guatemala (1952)

because of fears he might be a communist.

The U.S. military helped Cuban refugees plan their invasion of Cuba as

they tried to overthrow Castro (1961).

When the Soviet Union put missiles in Cuba and aimed them at the U.S. (1962) we came very close to nuclear war with

the Soviets.

The U.S. also provided money and soldiers to wars in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua (1980s) to prevent communist-linked governments from keeping power.

The U.S. was afraid of the Soviet Union’s expanding control, and the Soviets were

afraid the U.S. was trying to destroy them. Both had many spies in each other’s

countries.

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Both started stockpiling nuclear missiles – and aimed them at each other. This was a nuclear “arms race” and lasted until 1991.

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The philosophy of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) developed. Supposedly it was good if

both countries could destroy each other. Then neither country would try to start a nuclear war.

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The cost of always building new and better nuclear missiles was expensive for both

countries. The Soviet economy was in trouble, and spending so much money on the arms race was preventing them from spending money to

build their economy.

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Some leaders in the Soviet Union thought it was time to focus on building their own economy

instead of preparing for a war no one could win.

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In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became

the new Soviet leader. He pushed for economic and

political reform in his country – including

competition between businesses (free

enterprise) and more freedom of speech and of the press.

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This was the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. By 1991, they had lost

control of their empire and it had split into 15 independent republics.

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There are very few communist countries

left in the world. China is communist, but is experimenting

with free enterprise, and it is strengthening their economy.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/china/map.GIF

North Korea is very poor. But Kim says they will never abandon communism.

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We are waiting to see what happens in Cuba as Fidel Castro’s health declines and his brother is the official leader. Will Cuba

remain communist after his death?

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Vietnam is communist, and also very poor. But it is experimenting with free

enterprise like China is, and it is strengthening their economy.

http://www.state.gov/cms_images/vietnam_map.jpg

But in Russia, free enterprise is moving forward. People own their businesses and

succeed or fail on their own.

This actually scares some Russians, who felt safer when the government controlled everything. But free enterprise is making

Russia’s economy stronger.

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Russia is open to tourism, and there’s

lots to see.

beaches

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amazing church architecture

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Church of the Ascension in Kolomensk, Russia

St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow

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Church of the Nativity of

Christ & Saint Nicholas, Florence

http://www.florence-on-line.com/churches-cathedrals/

Church of the Transfiguration of the

Savior, Kizhi Island

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Built of wood in the 1700s, no nails were

used. It is under constant restoration.

Zyuratkul National Park

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St. Petersburg canals

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Russia is still learning to be an open society and a democracy. We never

know how much power their government will take from the people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

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And there are groups in Russia who still want to return to communism and more

government control.

In your lifetime, Russia will develop into a strong democracy or they will fall back

into some type of dictatorship. Keep watching. . . .

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