http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Soviet_Union_Map.png Russian History An Overview
Jan 18, 2016
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.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Soviet_Union_Map.png
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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https://qed.princeton.edu/getfile.php?f=The_Break-up_of_the_Soviet_Union_since_1991.jpg
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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