Content Objective: SWBAT investigate & examine the history of Europe and its effects on current development. Language Objective: SWBAT demonstrate their.

Content Objective:

SWBAT investigate & examine the history of Europe and its effects on current development.

Language Objective:

SWBAT demonstrate their knowledge of European society by writing a paper and class discussion.

Eastern EuropePhysical

1. Territorially it is Europe's largest region, with a total of 18 countries. 

2. Extends from the Baltic Sea in the north, to the Black and Adriatic Seas to the south. 

3. It has little coastal access, though – significant?

4. Lowlands to the north which are good for agriculture; hills and mountains in the south

Population1. 190 million people.2. Most live in urban-industrial areas near Czech and Slovak

Republics and southern Poland.  3. The population growth is zero to negative – problems?4. The second-largest religion in Europe is Islam, followed by

Judaism. 5. Europe has the largest number of nonreligious and atheists in

the Western world.

Other1. Geographers call this region a shatter belt – a zone of persistent

splintering and fracturing.  2. Balkanization – the process of fragmentation or division of a region

into smaller regions that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other. a. Refers to many small ethnic groups found in the Balkan Peninsula. 

3. Movement – Poland and the Czech Republic have large amounts of coal and iron

a. Grain production – wheat

Countries1. Romania is the ultimate tragedy of

Soviet-dominated Eastern Europea. A communist dictator squandered Romania's wealth, b. Destroyed much of the countries architecturec. The dictator encouraged all women to have five childrend. Home of Count Dracula?

Countries, cont.2. Czech Republic is the most Westernized country;

about the size of New York3. Serbia is an example of Balkanization

a. Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia were Yugoslavia

4. Bosnia – 49% Muslim, 31% Serbs and 17% Croats – conflict?

5. Slovenia was the first to secede from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991

Soviet Control1. After WWII, the Soviet Union came to dominate E. Europe - buffer

zone.2. The boundary became known as the Iron Curtain. 3. Natural resources of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, etc. were drained

for Soviet benefit.4. In 1989, E. Europe was successful in establishing their own ind.

government.

Czechoslovakia1. Gains independence from Soviet control in 1989

2. In 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully divided into the Czech Rep. & Slovakia – Velvet Revolution

Break Up of Yugoslavia1. Yugoslavia was created after WWI mainly by the US, GB, and

French.

2. It combines lands populated by several Slavic groups.

3. The main Slavic groups are Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, and Slovenians.

4. Serbs and Croats think of themselves as separate peoples.

5. Croats and Slovenians are Roman Catholic.

6. Serbs and Macedonians are Eastern Orthodox.

7. Most people in Bosnia are Muslim.

Break Up of Yugoslavia, cont.8. Civil war broke out in Bosnia between Serbs (Orthodox),

Croats (Catholic), and Bosnians (Muslim).

9. Serbs began “ethnic cleansing”, 300K people died

10. Peace treaty is signed in 1995 by Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia (Yugoslavia)

11. 1998 - Serbs attack Kosovo led by Slobodan Milosevic

12. 1999 - US/NATO air strikes finally end conflict

Srebrenica Massacre 1. July 1995 – 8,000 Bosnian men & boys killed2. 25,000 refugees killed by Serbian Army3. Considered U.N. safe zone – 400 Dutch peacekeepers4. Radovan Karadžić – most wanted man in the world

captured July 2008

Issues• Conflict in Northern Ireland

• Ethnic Cleansing in the former Yugoslavia

• The Basque region of Spain

• The velvet revolution of Czechoslovakia

• Fleming’s vs. Walloon’s in Belgium

• Pollution situation in Eastern Europe

• Writing a constitution for the European Union

• Zero or negative population growth and its effects in Europe

Content Objective:

SWBAT investigate & examine the history of Europe and its effects on current development.

Language Objective:

SWBAT demonstrate their knowledge of European society by writing a paper and class discussion.