Landforms and Resources
Russia is the largest country in the worldMajor landforms
Northern European Plain The West Siberian Plain The Central Siberian Plateau The Russian Far East
Landforms and Resources
The Northern European Plain Lowland area Stretches over 1,000 miles from the western border of
Russia and the Republics to the Ural Mountains Chernozem- black earth- this is one of the worlds most
fertile soils Many of the regions agricultural areas are located
here Three of the region’s largest cities are located here:
Moscow (capital of Russia), St. Petersburg, and Kiev (capital of Ukraine)
Landforms and Resources
West Siberian Plain The Ural Mountains- they separate the Northern
European and West Siberian plains The West Siberian Plain lies between the Urals and
the Yenisey River and between the shores of the Arctic Ocean and the foothills of the Altay Mountains
Landforms and Resources
Central Siberian Plateau and Russia Far East Uplands and mountains are the dominant landforms Far East- volcanic ranges The Sakhalin and Kuril islands lie towards the south Russia seized the islands from Japan after WWII, but
Japan still claims ownership of the Kuril Islands
Landforms and Resources
Southern Landforms The Caucasus Mountains- stretch across the land and
separate the Black and Caspian seas Transcaucasia- republics or Armenia, Azerbaijan, and
Georgia Central Asia- Kazakhastan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan Turan Plain- lowland between the Caspian Sea and the
mountains and uplands of Central Asia Two major rivers- Syr Darya and Amu Darya Deserts- Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum
Landforms and Resources
Rivers and Lakes Ob, Yenisey, Lena, and the Volga Rivers Caspian Sea Aral Sea- also a saltwater lake Lake Baikal- The deepest lake in the world
It holds 20% of the world’s fresh water
Drainage basins- an area drained by a major river and its tributaries Arctic Ocean, Caspian Sea, Pacific Ocean, Baltic Sea,
Black Sea, and Aral Sea basins
Landforms and Resources
Russia and the Republics have a great wealth of natural resources
Managing of the resources is difficult One challenge- transporting the resources from harsh
and distant regions Another challenge- how to use the resources without
damaging the environment in the process
Landforms and Resources
Natural resources Huge reserves of coal, deposits of iron ore, and other
metals Also the leading producer of oil and natural gas Petroleum deposits around the Caspian Sea Huge forests are home to 1/5 of the worlds timber
resources Powerful rivers make it a large producer of
hydroelectric power
Landforms and Resources
Resource management Harsh climates Rugged terrain Huge distances These all make it difficult to transport resources Arctic and Subarctic region- Siberia- businesses find it
difficult to attract workers to this region Damage to environment- mining, gas, and oil
operations have caused significant damage Russia’s hydroelectric plants have also caused damage to
plant and animal habitats
Vocabulary- Term, definition, and picture
ChernozemUral MountainsEurasiaTranscaucasiaSiberiaContinentallyTaigaRunoffTrans-Siberian
Road
Baltic Republics
CzarRussia
RevolutionUSSRCommand
EconomyCollective FarmRed ArmySupra
Silk RoadGreat GameNomadYurt CaucasusChechnyaNagorno-
KarabakhPrivatizationDistance Decay
1. What is the name of the region's westernmost lowland?
2. What mountain range separates Russia from Transcaucasia?
3. Why might a large part of the region's population live on the Northern European Plain?
4. What factor contributes to the dry conditions on the Turan Plain?
5. Why is the Volga one of the region’s most important rivers?
6. Why has resource management been a problem for the leaders in Russia and the Republics?
7. How can climate affect transportation?8. To what depths can permafrost extend in Russia and
the Republics?9. How does distance from the sea affect the region’s
climate?10.In what way is the climate of Transcaucasia unique?11.What are the major vegetation regions in Russia and
the Republics?12.How are climate and vegetation related?
Map Monday
• What is the purpose of a railway system?• How would this type of connection be
beneficial to Russia?
Modification: changing of environment to make life easier for the people Adaptation: changing of people’s lives to better fit the environment Dependency: relying on the environment for survival Often interactions that take place now lead to negative effects later on.
Human Environment Interaction
Railway system developed to connect ports to interior of Russia Built across Siberian tundra to allow access to resources
Oil, coal, and metals
Tran-Siberian Railroad
Nuclear power plant explosion took place in 1986 Radiation poisoning is still affecting the area today
Chernobyl
Used to be world’s 4th largest land-locked body of water. Due to irrigation needs of the Soviet Union
Aral Sea Depletion
During the Cold War and WWII many new weapons were developed In order to guarantee their effectiveness, they needed to be tested Many repercussions are occurring still today from the testing of biological, nuclear, and chemical warfare.
WWII/Cold War Test Sites
Answer the questions on your warm-up paper based on the quote below.
We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can bequeath our children a sustainable world that benefits all.
Warm-up 2/17
How does permafrost affect natural resources and HEI in Russia and the Republics?
Answer in 5 COMPLETE SENTENCES!
Early History
Controlled by Vikings in 9th CenturyTaken by Mongolians in 13th Century17th Century – Russian Empire one of the
greatest and largest in known world
Early 20th CenturyWWI (1914-1918)
Russia fights on side of Allies (GB, France, US)
Russian Revolution (1917)Forced Czar Nicholas II to give up
throneRussian Communist Party rises led by
Vladimir Lenin Strict government control of
government and society- based on ideas of Karl Marx
Soviet EraRussia becomes the USSR 1922Union of Soviet Socialist RepublicsJoseph Stalin takes over after Lenin
WWII (1939-1945)fought Nazi Germany on side of Allies
Conditions in Soviet Union were increasingly worseGulag Labor CampsFalling economy
Soviet EraCold War (1945-1991)
Soviet Union set up communism in Eastern European neighbors
Fear of democratic governments that communism would spread world wide called Cold War because both sides competed for world influence with very little violence
Fall of CommunismFall of the Soviet Union occurred in
199115 different republics created12 joined the Commonwealth of
Independent States
Where in the World Wednesday?
St. Basil’s CathedralMoscow, RussiaBuilt in 1588 after Russia conquered
European lands.Modeled to look like flames rising from
the center of MoscowTaken from the Russian Orthodox
church under the rule of Communism
Origins of the Cold War
U.S.-Soviet Relations to 1945
Allies in World War IIPostwar Cooperation – the
U.NSatellite States in Eastern
EuropeOccupation Zones in
GermanyIron Curtain
• Uneasy peace between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
• Competition for world dominance and global power. • Fought on political and economic fronts rather than on
military battlefields---------Even though the threat of war was always present.
• Defined America’s foreign policy from 1946 to 1989. • It affected domestic politics and how Americans viewed the
world and themselves. • Constant state of military preparedness and arms race
· Propaganda war----Democracy vs Communism· US policy: Support nations threatened by Communism
coldwar
The Bi-Polarization of Europe: The Beginning of
the Cold War
The Bi-Polarization of Europe: The Beginning of
the Cold War
map/cold war
Soviet Union/China and Allies……..
Democracy vs. Communism
Bi-Polarization of the World
US, Allied Nations and Allied colonies.
1950’s
The Cold War: Roots of the Conflict
Soviet Expansion:
· The Soviet Union occupied most of Eastern Europe by the end of World War II.
Satellite State
When a nation is under the control of another.
Ex. Part of Germany was under the control of the Soviet Union.
Other examples: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria
The “Iron Curtain”
From Stettin in the Balkans, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lies the ancient capitals of Central and Eastern Europe. -- Sir Winston Churchill, 1946
Truman Doctrine [1947]
1. Civil War in Greece.
2. Turkey under pressure from the USSR for concessions in the Dardanelles.
3. The U. S. should support free peoples throughout the world who were resisting takeovers by armed minorities or outside pressures…We must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.
4. The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey $400 million in aid.
Marshall Plan [1948]
1. “European Recovery Program.”
2. Secretary of State, George Marshall
3. The U. S. should provide aid to all European nations that need it. This move is not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.
4. $12.5 billion of US aid to Western Europe extended to Eastern Europe & USSR, [but this was rejected].
* The U.S. gave over $12 billion in aid to European countries between 1948 and 1952, helping to improve their economies and lessen the chance of communist revolutions.
map/cold war
Soviet Union/China and Allies……..
Containment: Stop the expansion of Communism in Asia and Europe
US, Allied Nations and Allied colonies.
1950’s
Communist ExpansionA Chronology of Events
Communist ExpansionA Chronology of Events
China1949
Soviet Union1918
Korean War1950 to 1953
Eastern Europe
1946
CONTAINMENT
Marshall PlanBerlin Airlift
NATOKorean War
Berlin Blockade 1947-
8
Focus on Berlin
After World War II, Germany was divided into four zones, occupied by French, British, American, and Soviet troops.
Occupation zones after 1945. Berlin is the multinational area within the Soviet zone.
· In June of 1948, the French, British and American zones were joined into the nation of West Germany after the Soviets refused to end their occupation of Germany.
Soviet blockade:
West Germany
East Germany
West Berlin
East Berlin
· In response, the Soviets cut off West Berlin from the rest of the world with a blockade.
Eventual site of the Berlin Wall
· President Truman decided to avoid the blockade by flying in food and other supplies to the needy people of West Berlin.
Berlin Airlift
· At times, over 5,000 tons of supplies arrived daily.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949)
United States
Belgium
Britain
Canada
Denmark
France
Iceland
Italy
Luxemburg
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
1952: Greece & Turkey
1955: West Germany
1983: Spain
Military alliance to counter Soviet expansion.
Warsaw Pact (1955)
} U. S. S. R.
} Albania
} Bulgaria
} Czechoslovakia
} East Germany
} Hungary
} Poland
} Rumania
Soviet Union and satellite states rival alliance to NATO
NATO
• Mao Tse Tung, defeats Chang Kai Shek in the Chinese Civil War…..
• China became a communistic country. • Chang Kai Shak is exiled to Taiwan.
• Mao Tse Tung becomes the Communistic leader of China.
• US believed there was a communistic plot to rule the world
Mao Tse Tung
Chang Kai Shek
•1950 to 1953, North Korea invades South Korea.• North Korea was a
communist nation and South Korea was a
democracy.• First war of “containment” policy to stop communism
• “Police Action” not a declared war
• President Truman leads United Nations.
• General Douglas MacArthur commands US
and UN troops.• Called “forgotten war”.
Truman vs. MacArthur
• Truman fires General MacArthur when he advises
Truman he would use nuclear weapons against the
Chinese.
• Stalemate by 1953.• Pres. Eisenhower negotiated an
end to war• Divided at 38th parallel• Communism contained• Remains divided today
• Stalemate by 1953.• Pres. Eisenhower negotiated an
end to war• Divided at 38th parallel• Communism contained• Remains divided today
atomic bomb
•The world would now live with the threat of nuclear war.
•Arms race between Soviet Union and U.S. who could build the most nuclear weapons.
•U.S. would use nuclear weapons as a “deterrent”
•Peace through strength……
•“nuclear diplomacy”
The Arms Race:A “Missile Gap?”
} The Soviet Union exploded its first A-bomb in 1949.
} Now there were two nuclear superpowers!
Brinkmanship
Belief that only going to the brink of war would protect the U.S. from going to war with the Soviet Union.
U.S. would threaten mass retaliation with Soviet Union in order to try to get them to back off.
Suez Crisis
Egypt’s president Gamal Abdel Nasser tried to construct a dam on the Nile River.
U.S. and Britain offered to pay for project but Nasser began communicating with Soviet Union and Recognized the People’s Republic of China.
Eisenhower administration withdrew its offer.
Suez Crisis
In Response, Nasser Nationalized the Suez Canal making it under government control.
Before it was managed by the British and French and protected with British armed forces.
This threatened the flow of Middle Eastern oil to Europe.
Suez Crisis
Britain and France teamed up with Israel to try to get the land back without consulting the U.S.
President Eisenhower did not like this and refused to support them.
As a result of lack of U.S. support, Britain, France, and Israel were forced to withdraw its troops.
Eisenhower Doctrine
Stated that the U.S. would use force to help any Middle Eastern nation threatened by communism.
CIACentral Intelligence Agency- 1947
Intelligence gathering organization.
1953 helped install a new government in Iran and in 1954 same thing in Guatemala
Both helped to place anticommunist leaders in power and also created long term resentment toward U.S.
1957 Russians launch SPUTNIK I
Facts on Sputnik
• Aluminum sphere, 23 inches in diameter weighing 184 pounds with four steel antennae emitting radio
signals.• Launched Oct. 4, 1957
• Stayed in orbit 92 days, until Jan. 4, 1958
Effects on the United
States•Americans fear a Soviet attack with missile technology• Americans resolved to regain technological
superiority over the Soviet Union• In July 1958, President Eisenhower created
NASA or National Space and Aeronautics Agency
• 1958 --> National Defense Education Act
1957 Russians launch SPUTNIK I
Atomic Anxieties:•“Duck-and-Cover Generation”
Atomic Testing:•Between July 16, 1945 and Sept. 23, 1992, the United States conducted 1,054 official nuclear tests, most of them at the Nevada Test Site.
Americans began building underground bomb shelters and cities had underground
fallout shelters.
Effects of Sputnik on United States
Cold War Technology
1948- Microwave
1946- Computer
1948- Hang Glider
1958- Nuclear Energy Plant
1960- Communications Satellite
1070s- Smoke Detector
1980s- Global Positioning System
• Red Scare was Americans response to the fear of
Communism
• Senator Joseph McCarthy accused 205 US Govt.
officials of being Communist.
•McCarthyism to destroy or assassinate one’s
character without proof and it ruined the careers
of many Americans.
red scare
Became a witch hunt that led to Americans pledging a “loyalty oath” to the United
States…….
NATO
• Soviets detonate their first atomic bomb…..
• The question is raised, where did they get the technology the bomb?
• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg would be
accused of giving away atomic bomb secrets.
• Charged with espionage they would be found guilty
and executed in 1953.
• 1947 investigation led to prison sentences for contempt known as the Hollywood Ten.
• Blacklisted: a list of persons who are under suspicion, disfavor, or censure, or who are not to be hired, served, or otherwise accepted.
red scare3