Chapter 17-18 Russia and Northern Eurasia

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Chapter 17-18Russia and Northern Eurasia
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Natural Environments

• Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus cover 12 of the
  worlds land area.
• Russia is the worlds largest country.
• The Siberian rivers (Ob, Yenisey, and Lena) flow
  northward toward the Arctic circle.
• humid continental, sub artic, and tundra climates
• The south is the taiga, a forest of mainly
  evergreen trees that covers half of Russia.
• Siberian winters have reached -90 degrees F.

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Winter in Siberia
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History and Culture

• 800s AD Scandinavian traders called Rus (this
  is where Russia got its name)
• 1100s AD Russia became predominately Eastern
  or Orthodox Christian.
• 1240 AD Mongols invaded but life went on the
  same.
• 1400s AD the czars (kings) took control from
  the Mongols.
• Cossacks (ruthless group) played an important
  role in eastward expansion.
• 1800s AD Started to industrialize but remained
  largely a country of peasant farmers

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RussianCossack
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• 1917 Bolsheviks overthrew the government
  (Russian Revolution).
• Czar Nicolas II and his family were killed.
• Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin
• Wanted to remake Russia using the ideas of
  German philosopher Karl Marx (Marxism)
• Russian empire was renamed the Union of Soviet
  Socialist Republic (USSR).
• It became a communist state.
• Kremlin fortified complex in Moscow that became
  known as the government

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Czar Nicholas II
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Czar Nicolas and his Family

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Karl Marx
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Street demonstration just after troops of the
Provisional Government have opened fire with
machine guns. 1917
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The storming of the Czars Winter Palace
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The Kremlin, Moscow
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• The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state.
• After Lenins death, Joseph Stalin took over.
• His brutal rule lasted until 1953.
• The government ran large state farms, but
  millions of peasants died of starvation during
  the forced change.

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Vladimir Lenin Joseph Stalin
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• Personal freedoms restricted in communism
• Worship (Government believed it lessen state
  loyalty)
• Press (Government controlled what people read.)
• Speech (Government controlled what was said.)
• Assembly (Government controlled who got
  together.)
• Sent to jail or labor camp if disagreed with
  government
• Gulag network of labor camps millions were
  sent to

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Gulag
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• Cold War the arms race and competition that
  occurred between the United States and the Soviet
  Union after World War II.
• Iron Curtain boundary between East and West
  Europe after World War II

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• The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
• Life changed quickly for the people there.
  People could vote, worship more freely, and
  receive outside news more readily.

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Church of the Resurrection
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St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow
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The Region Today

• Russia 60 different Ethnic groups.
• 85 are Slavic and speak Slavic languages.
• 95 of Ukrainians and 98 of Belarusians are
  Slavic.
• 25 of Russia lies in Europe, but 85 of the
  population lives there.
• Moscow is the capital of Russia (9 million
  people)
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the predominant
  religion.

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• St. Petersburg, Russia represents the countrys
  desire for Western ideas.
• Heavy industry Volga and Ural Mountains
• Siberia has many natural resources, but accessing
  these resources is difficult.
• Siberia has the worlds longest railway (5,800
  miles).

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Trans-Siberian Railroad
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Trans-Siberian Railroad
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• Kiev capital of the Ukraine (10 of the Ukraine
  population lives there.)
• Minsk capital of Belarus The country has few
  mineral resources and generally poor soil. Much
  of the country is in need of repair since the
  fall of the USSR.

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Problems in the Region

• Pollution has become a huge problem from actions
  of USSR.
• Tensions exist between those who want to return
  to communism and those who want democracy.

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Chernobyl Disaster

• In 1986, a disastrous nuclear accident happened
  at the power plant in Chernobyl, north of Kiev.
  It spread as far away as Sweden and France.
• The city is still abandoned to this day, and
  people will not be able to return for many years
  to come.

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Arial photo of Chernobyl plant in 1986, after
explosion
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Children born since 1986 are affected by a 200
percent increase in birth defects and a 250
percent increase in congenital birth deformities.
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Central Asia

• The central Asian countries are
• Kazakhstan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Tajikistan
• Kyrgyzstan

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• All five countries are landlocked.
• Has all known landforms (below sea level to
  mountains)
• Arid and semiarid climates.
• Water is a precious resource
• Formerly part of the Silk Road (a trade route
  to China)
• Sometimes called Turkistan.
• Nomadic culture
• Former Soviet Union

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Central Asian Issues and Challenges

• poor with few opportunities to improve their
  lives
• Ethnic conflict threatens the region.

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Central Asian Environmental Issues

• Former soviet nuclear and biological testing
  contaminated many areas.
• 1.5 million people exposed to radiation in 1949
  which led to birth defects, cancer, and other
  health problems
• Uranium mining has also contaminated areas.

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Central Asias Future

• Kazakhstan is home to one of the largest oil
  fields in the world (13 billion barrels), but it
  is dependent on Russia for transport.

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Kazakhstan
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Nomads in Kazakhstan
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Uzbekistan cotton farm
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Bukhara, Uzbekistan