Lesson3– LifeinEasternEuropeandWesternRussia
Pg.410-417
EthnicitiesinEasternEurope&WesternRussia
• Ethnicgroups:mostlySlavic• Languages:Slaviclanguages,butvarybyregionoAlphabet:Cyrillicà
ReligioninEasternEurope&WesternRussia• EasternOrthodoxinthecentral&eastà• Catholicinthewest• Lutheran&CatholicintheBaltics• IslaminAlbania&Bosnia
ß St.Basil’sCathedralinMoscow,Russia
TheSourceofmuchConflict…
AHistoryofEthnicTurmoil• Diversity:FewnaturalboundariesmeanthisregionhasbeeninvadedMANYtimesinhistoryoManydiverseethnicgroupslivehereandcomeintoconflict
• Weakgovernments:WhentheUSSRcollapsed,devolution (apowerfulcentralgovernmentgivesuppowertolocalgovernments)ledtotheriseofnationalisminEasternEurope.• RussianAggression:athreattoborderstates(Ukraine)andtogroupsinRussia(Chechnya)thatwanttobreakawayo Chechnya’soilreserves&goodlocationareimportanttoRussia’seconomy,sothegovernmentputsdownonprotestsharshly
EconomiesinEasternEurope&WesternRussia
• Agriculture&forestry• Someindustry,butoutdated• Mining
• Switchingfromcommunismtoafreemarketeconomyhasbeendifficulto Peopleownbusinessesinsteadofthegovernment,butoligarchs (afewpowerful,richpeople)tendtocontrolthebusinesses
o Notenoughgoodsproducedo Higherunemploymentandinflation (risingprices)forfood&clothing
EnvironmentalconcernsinEasternEurope&WesternRussia
• Forests&farmlandhavebeenruinedintherushtobuildupindustries
• Air&WaterPollutiono smogiscausinglungdisease&cancer
oDrinkingwaterisruinedduetochemicals,poorsewersystems,&oldchemicalweaponsindumps§ Lifeexpectancy(#ofyearsanaveragepersonlives)inRussiais71years(ranked#154intheworld)
RegionsofEasternEurope&WesternRussia
• WesternRussia• TheBalticStates(Estonia,Latvia,&Lithuania)• Poland,CzechRepublic,Slovakia,&Hungary• TheBalkans• TheBorderStates(Belarus,Ukraine,&Moldova)
RussiaToday
• Population:142.4million,mostlySlavs• Government:federalrepublic
oPowerfulPresident(andformerKGBintelligenceofficer)VladimirPutinৠHasimprovedRussia’seconomyandreasserteditselfasaworldpower
§ BUT,limitsfreedomofspeech&thepressanddealtharshlywithopponents.
TheArtsinRussia
• Enjoytheoutdoors,sports(hockey,skating,gymnastics),movies/TV,modernmusic• Famousforballet&opera
o PeterTchaikovsky’sTheNutcracker,SleepingBeauty
o IgorStravinsky’s FirebirdSuiteoMariinsky Theaterà
• FolkDancing• Literature:
oWar&Peace,LeoTolstoy• Fabergeeggs
RussianFood• Borscht– beetsoup• Shchi – cabbagesoup• Prioshki – meatturnovers• Caviar• Boiledpotatoes
TheBalticStates(Estonia,Latvia,&Lithuania)
• SmallpopulationsthatweretreatedharshlywhentheyweretakenoverbytheSovietUnionoUsednonviolentresistancetobreakaway
Poland,CzechRepublic,Slovakia,&Hungary• CountriesthatlostalotofterritoryduringWWI&WWIIo3millionPolishJewswerekilledduringtheHolocaust,causingalackofethnicdiversityinPoland
CultureinPoland,CzechRepublic,Slovakia,&Hungary
• MajorCities:oBudapest,HungaryàoWarsaw,PolandoPrague,CzechRepublic
• FamousPoles:o FredericChopin,musicianoMarieCurie,physicistoNicolaus Copernicus
TheBalkans:(Romania,Bulgaria,Albania,Serbia,Bosnia&Herzegovina,Kosovo,Montenegro,Macedonia,Croatia,Slovenia)
• ControlledbytheOttomanTurksfor500years,thentheSovietUnion,1948-1980s• ContinuingconflictintheregionofformerYugoslaviaasnationalistgroupstrytocontroleachcountryo “Balkanization”- tosplitupintosmallcountriesthatareinconflictwitheachother
o Resultedinethniccleansing(genocide) removingormurderingotherethnicgroups
TheBorderStates(Belarus,Ukraine,&Moldova)
• 1932-33Ukrainian“Famine”• SovietleaderJosefStalinstarved7millionUkrainianfarmerswhorefusedtogiveuptheirgoodfarmlandtothecommunistsystem(genocide!)
• 1986ChernobylNuclearMeltdown• Causedpollution,cancer,&birthdefectsinUkraine&Belarus
• Since2014,RussiantroopshaveoccupiedeasternUkraine(22%ofUkraine’s48millionpeopleareethnicRussians)• Folkmusic– bandura,hopakdancing