8th Grade Social Studies: Russia

Eastern Europe's Largest Country
Poland

Vistula River
Long and largest River in Poland

Complementary regions
regions that benefit each other
Czechoslovakia peacefully divided into Czech Republic & Slovakia

Danube River
Europe's 2nd largest river

Eastern Orthodox Branch of Christianity
80% of Romanians belong Derived from Constantinople not Rome

Yugoslavia
Capital is Belgrade
a country in Southeastern and Central Europe
Came into existence after World War I

Origins of Russia
wave of immigrants became farmers and traders
9th Century city of Kiev emerged as important trading center
First rulers -viking trader called themselves the 'Rus'

1223 Russia
Mongol Horde destroyed Kiev and brought Russia under their control
The Russian Empire
The Mongol Conquerors demanded only tribute or taxes from the Russians
Allowed them to keep the politics, leaders and religion

Ivan III
1400's - wrangled control of Moscow from the Mongols, as he refused to pay tribute and was able to fight the Horde off

Ivan IV
Also know as the Ivan the Terrible
became czar and further unified the land

Peter the Great
1682-1725
Further expansion by acquiring land along the Baltic Sea
Created St. Petersburg which ultimately became the new capital

Catherine the Great
1762-1796
Acquired the northern side of the Black Sea along with many non Russian peoples

Russian Revolutions of 1917
led by the Bolsheviks and Lenin
The last Czar ( Nicholas II) and his family were murdered to make way for a socialist led by representatives attempted to follow philosophy of Karl Marx

Who said? 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his need'
Karl Marx

Joseph Stalin
Dictator of Russia
8 to 10 million people killed

The Cold War
Russia and the U.S. became bitter enemies after WWII
no battles and only a handful of people indirectly died

Mikhail Gorbachev
1985
became the last leader of the Soviet Union -promoted openness (Glasnost )
restructuring (Perestroika)

Glasnost
'openness' allowed more open discussion of the country's problems

Perestroika
restructuring' Mikhail Gorbachev promoted major economic reforms

Boris Yelstin
1991
1st democratically elected president of new Russia
Common wealth of Independent States created 1991

Ural Mountains
Divided Europe from Asia

Siberia
Stretches from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean and is a vast frozen wasteland
Contains the Trans-Siberian Railroad that was built in 1891-by 1916 it connected Siberia to Moscow

Rivers of Russia
The Ob Rivers system drains this are situated between the Yenisei and Lena Rivers is the Central Siberian Plateau

'Jewel of Siberia '
North of Mongolia is Lake Baikal -worlds deepest lake and home to the many endangered species

Covers 2,293 miles
The Volga (Europe's longest river)

Habitations Fog
Fog that is caused by fumes and smoke from cities-
fog hangs over the city as summer usually only last 2 to 3 months

Taiga
is a huge forest of tall evergreen needle-leaf trees in Southern Russia

Collective Farms
1920's + 1930's under the Communist government
farms created to modernize agriculture
small farms were combined + workers were to share any profits the farm earned

Capital of Russia
Moscow

'Venice of the North'
St. Petersburg

Trans-Siberian Railroad
Built in 1891
by 1916 it Connected Siberia to Moscow -
is currently the single longest rail line in the World

Russian Federation
system of government
includes strong president and a parliament called the Federal Assembly
Consists of 21 republics-makes up 15% of the land area

Kiev
Capital City of Ukraine

Steppe
An ancient warlike tribe that used to control much of the area

Serfdom
status of many peasants under feudalism
serfs who occupied a plot of land were required to work for the lord of the manor who owned the land

Kremlin
The Moscow Region symbolized Russia with the Kremlin and onion shaped church domes

Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan
Russia has more coastline on the Pacific Ocean then any other country this particular regions boarders -the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan

Uniate Church
Many citizens belong to this church and the members believe the Eastern Orthodox form of Christianity but recognize the Roman Pope's authority

Dnieper River
The regions (Ukraine) major river, which provides the country with Hydroelectric power

Caucasus
Mountains in Central Asia and South -has forest as well
most have been cut down for building

Cossacks
to distinguish themselves some Ukrainians claim decent from the Cossacks

Crimea
is a peninsula on the northern coast of the the Black Sea in Eastern Europe that is almost completely surrounded by both the Black Sea and the smaller sea of Azov to the northeast

'White Russians'
Citiznens of Belarus are often referred to as this due to their connections with Russia

Homogeneous
a population or the same type of ethnicity

Caspian Sea
The largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full fledged sea
located between Europe and Asia