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