Russia

1
Russia

• The Worlds Largest Country

2
Geography

• Worlds largest country.
• Covers a third of Europe and nearly half of Asia.
• European section ends at the Ural Mountains.

3
Kievan Rus

• In AD 800, Russia was a sparsely populated area.
• The people in the city of Kiev, known as the
  Kievan Rus, were the original Russians.
• Their relations with the Vikings in Scandinavia
  would bring them wealth, power, and culture.

4
Mongols

• In AD 1238, Russia was conquered by the Mongol
  Empire.
• The Mongols would rule Russia until 1480, when
  the Muscovites fought for their independence.

5
Rise of Moscow

• From 1238, when Russia was ruled by the Mongols,
  Moscow was a simple trading post.
• Over the years, its leaders would build an empire
  from Moscow that would become the worlds
  largest, and Moscow would be its capital.
• In 1480, the Muscovites won their independence
  from the Mongols.

6
CZARS (TSARS)

• Rulers of Russia with complete power.
• Name comes from Roman Empire (Caesar means
  Emperor)
• Used power to enslave everyone in Russia, making
  two very different classes of filthy rich and
  miserably poor.

7
Feudal System
Czar
Nobles
Merchants and Craftspeople
Serfs (peasants)
8
Russian Feudalism

• Russia had the longest lasting and most brutal
  form of Feudalism among European countries.
• As Russias empire expanded, this feudal system
  spread to the lands of Kazakhstan, Outer
  Mongolia, and Southwest Asia.
• Though only about half of the people of the
  Russian Empire were actually Russian, everyone
  had to obey the czar.

9
Russian Revolution of 1917

• Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin (right) want
  Russia to embrace Communism
• Czar Nikolaus II (left)wanted to stay in power
  and maintain the monarchy.
• After the Czar was defeated by Germany in WWI,
  the people revolted.
• The Bolsheviks won the Russian Revolution in 1917
  and the first communist government was created in
  Russia.

10
Communism

• Invented by Karl Marx, a historian from Germany.
• He wrote a book called the Communist Manifesto,
  which predicted a worldwide communist government.
• A form of government in which everything is
  owned, controlled, and distributed by government
  departments.

11
World War II

• Russia originally sided with Hitlers Germany to
  conquer Eastern Europe.
• When Hitler attacked Russia, the Russians joined
  the Allies (America and Britain) against Germany.
• The Russians defeated the Germans with our help.
• Between 20 and 30 million Russians would die in
  World War II, though most were killed by the
  Russian government or disease as by German
  soldiers.

12
Cold War

• Russia determined to spread communism throughout
  the world so that they could dominate everyone.
• America wanted to spread democracy throughout the
  world so that free trade and elections will make
  everyone wealthy and peaceful.

13
Cold War

• Though we never fought Russia directly, we both
  tried to build the biggest bombs, best athletes,
  and largest economic and political spheres of
  influence (above).

14
End of Cold War

• In 1985, Russian Leader Mikhail Gorbachev
  introduced two reforms
• Glasnost- openness or freedom of speech.
• Perestroika- restructuring or capitalism
• These effectively ended communism in Russia.

15
Democracy

• Russia held its first democratic elections in
  1991.
• The people elected Boris Yeltsin, who ruled in a
  very un-democratic way.
• Though he introduced reforms, Russia became a
  very corrupt place with terrible economic
  troubles.
• Yeltsin was very popular in America and other
  democratic countries, but was hated at home.

16
Russia Today

• Vladimir Putin, Yeltsins appointed successor in
  2000, was Russias democratically elected
  president until 2008.
• Putin passed the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev,
  though he made himself Prime Minister, with the
  power to impeach the president.
• Russia remains a corrupt place with major social
  ills. The future of American relations with
  Russia is dim as Russia slides back toward
  authoritarianism.

17
Dmitry Medvedev
Vladimir Putin
18
Oil Power

• Russia has recently become the worlds largest
  oil exporter
• Russias oil money has given corrupt politicians
  and businessmen access to millions of dollars
• This has made Russia even more corrupt and
  powerful.
• Russia threatens to shut off oil and gas supplies
  to countries that dont obey their government.