Faberge Renaissance Egg (1894) |
Azova egg (1891) |
TRANSITIONS
 |
dissolution of XUSSR -->
- political & military breakup - "painful" shift from communist, state controlled economy to market based economy - new trade relations, new standards - ethnic issues
"Second World" (USSR's political power was greater than economic power)
Transition
difficult not only for former members - also for satellites/ spheres of
influence)
Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS) |
COMMUNISM to CAPITALISM
COMECON
- intensely centralized, barter system
State
controlled land, raw materials, factories, transportation,
management, labor, markets, production goals
and standards,
budgets, prices....
incompatible
systems: public vs private property ownership,
monopoly of power by communist parties vs multiparty
system, single
bloc vs many countries, stationed enterprises
vs multinational
corporations
focus
on heavy industry, defense & space, rail & air industries
little
priority on consumer goods
|
Reform requires:
|
 |
Rough times:
Degraded
and insufficient infrastructure
Privatization of agriculture: slow process, low prices for farmers,
tough competition from the US and EU, high
costs for consumers
up against the US and EU
Privatization
of manufacture, etc.: also slow, need to find markets,
improve efficiency, become competitive
Service
sector needs development
Inexperience
in banking
Energy 
Dependence
on Soviet reserves
Oil
for cash, nuclear power for domestic use
émigrés,
defectors
exiles, purges read
about the Soviet GULAG
minorities
Russians in former republics
| CULTURAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY |  |
 |
Rurik united nomadic tribes in Novgorod and Kiev (land of Rus') in 862 |
Orthodox
Christianity adopted 988
1200-1450
Mongols
(Tatar) control Russia
much
of Central Asia converts to Islam
late
1200s Teutonic Knights (“Alexander
Nevsky”)
1300s
Ottoman
Turks
| Ivan the Terrible
(Ivan Grozny) 16th c. right: Repin's famous painting
|
 |
mid-1600s
Romanov dynasty
ended isolation from Europe
territorial
expansion of Russian empire
 |
Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg as a "forward capital" in 1712 |
1800s
territorial expansion includes Central Asia; Fort Ross in CA
Map
of Russian Empire 1895 Historical
maps of Russian empire
Trans-Siberian
Railroad - finished early 1900s
1917
October
Revolution
Karl Marx |
my translation: "Comrade Lenin cleanses the Earth of scum" |
1922 USSR formed
Lenin dies 1924; Stalin era begins
Stalin
in power until death (1953)
Monument to Lenin |
Joseph "Steel" Stalin |
Stalinist economic policy, 1930-1940
post-WWII expansion of sphere of influence into Balkans, Eastern
Europe, East Germany
Cold
War
late 1980s perestroika (reconstruction) and
glasnost'
(openness)
December 26, 1991: demise of Soviet Union
Early
1990s: 12 of 15 former republics join Commonwealth
of
Independent
States
NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT 
| huge
land mass
northern
location (above 40o, 50o N)
vast plains, low plateaus
mountain systems in south, far east
Urals - low; boundary between Europe and Asia
midlatitude continental interior climates predominant
hydrology: basins, rivers
diversity of environment (desert to tundra) |
Life in northern Russia |
Natural Resources
rich in minerals, fuels: especially Siberia (oil, natural gas, coal, minerals,
diamonds (1/4 of world's), gold (Sukhoi Rog),
timber, fish)
rich in fuels: Transcaucasus, Caspian Sea, Central Asia
problems of extracting and transporting
system depended on extensive use
political power linked to steel and fuel output
taiga - world's largest forest area (2.9 mil. mi.2 vs
Brazil's 2.12 mil. mi.2)
important in biodiversity and world climate
change
relatively little land suitable for commercial farming
Environmental Problems 
Natural problems:
earthquakes in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Central Asian states
cold
flooding
Anthropogenic problems - major environmental
damage, especially
during Soviet times:
priority on heavy industry and goals of the government
"extensive" economic system
faulty handling, storage of hazardous materials (e.g., North Fleet)
weapons testing (i.e., Kazakhstan)
over-excavation of minerals
oil pipeline leaks, breaks (e.g., Pechora R.)
Chernobyl's Deadly Reactor 4 |
Norilsk, most polluted place in Russia (?) (copper, nickel --> sulfur dioxide)
Chernobyl
Map of Chernobyl Radiation Hotspots Impact on Health 10 Years Later Cesium 137 fallout map Chernobyl Accident: A Brief Chronology Chernobyl: Time Magazine
Aral Sea
Sumgait, Azerbaijan: petrochemicals
Black Sea
secret cities Chelyabinsk,
Most Polluted Place on the Planet
Novaya
Zemlya |
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Russian cathedrals, folk art, fairy tales and more
World's largest nation (in area) Time
zones map
Russia is the northernmost large and populous country in world
Russia is a "land empire"
Few good ports; many areas landlocked
history of autocratic leadership
military prowess renowned from WWII
Complex
political geography with 21 internal republics; republics and
autonomous districts established to reflect
ethnic minorities
Struggling to maintain status as world power, regain empire
| PEOPLE
Russian core in west; dominated by European Russians
Age-sex
graph-- erratic due to WWII deaths, purges, famines,
enforced baby booms, migrations
One of fastest rates of natural decrease in world
75%
urbanized (1917- 17%) (Why the big increase?) |
 |
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
main features of Stalin's regime: centralized control, focus on
industrialization, resource self-sufficiency
some initial success (steel, military hardware)
transportation costs, stuck in industrial rut
economic system in disarray
agriculture=7%, manufacture=38%, service=55% BUT in Europe:
agriculture=3%, manufacture=30%,
service=66% (1995)
agriculture most productive in Ukraine ("breadbasket") and Central
Asia
foreign
investment in oil, gas, minerals
reprioritization - decline of certain industries (e.g., military
manufacture)
"brain
drain"
Western Europe - main trading partner
Russian
Coal and Minerals Map Soviet
Machine Building Industries map (1982)
Soviet
Machine Building Industries map (1982) Petroleum/Pipelines
Map
Petroleum
Refining/ Chemical Industries Map Land
use map Trans-Siberian
Railroad
URBAN RUSSIA
Kremlin |
Believe it or not but this is a Russian subway station (Moscow) |
Russia: 17% urbanized in 1917--> 48% in 1959 --> 70% in 1990s
Moscow
St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad)
Volga Region
Urals
St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow |
Uspensky Cathedral |
Moscow
Photo Tour Tour
of St. Petersburg Virtual
Tour of St. Petersburg
900-day
siege of Leningrad during World War II
Russia Far East
Kluchevoi Volcano, Kamchatka |
Russia
Far East Interactive Map
|
Lake
Baikal -Deepest lake in the world
the
Gem of Siberia
| ETHNIC
TENSIONS
to right: minorities in the USSR were allowed to express aspects of their cultural heritage as long as they satisfactorily performed their duties as Soviet citizens. Here, warriors from Central Asia show their loyalty to Stalin |
 |
USSR
had contained 100s of distinct ethnic groups
after 1997 leaders in oblasts and territories elected (not appointed)
in
process of decentralization of decision-making, policy-making
Russification
independence unlikely for many living in Russian-dominated regions
Siberia: remnants of ethnic groups already in region or forced to move
there; decolonization demands
tensions between Russians and titular populations
Russian
map
Ethnic
Groups Map
Russia's
Ethnic Republics
Caucasus
Ethnicity Map
Ethnic
Groups in Southern Former Soviet Region
SOUTHWESTERN CIS
independent
but close ties to Russia
plains:
Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova
Transcaucasus: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan
Transcaucasus: region with most
complex ethnic mix of languages,
religions, and historic changes of control
in the world
under USSR, ethnic tensions subdued
since 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh, Moldova, Muslims in Georgia
oil
woes
Armenia and nearby Nagorno- Karabakh |
Destruction in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan |
Chechnya
 |
A Chechen memorial |
Russian artillery hammering Chechen rebel positions, 1995 |
Widespread destruction in Grozny, capital of Chechnya |
Outline of Events in Chechnya
1. Peter the Great annexes Caspian
Sea region, 1722
2.
Imam Shamil envisions the formation of Islamic proto-state, 1850s - 1864
3. Formation of Mountain Republic,
1922
4. Chechens declare independence
from USSR, 1943
5. Massive deportation of Chechens
by Stalin to Central Asia, 1944
6. Deported Chechens allowed
to return home, 1957
7. General Dudaev declares Chechen
independence from Soviet Union and Russia,
August 1991
8. Russia attempts political
reconciliation with Chechnya, 1992 - 1994
9.
Yeltsin sends Russian troops to Chechnya, December 1994
10.
Russian
troops fail to conquer Grozny; Russian Yeltsin politically embarrassed
11.
Russia
renews war with Chechnya, 1999
12. Map
of Russians attacking Chechnya, 1999
CENTRAL ASIA/ TURKESTAN
Kazakstan,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan
Central Asian musicians |
landlocked, arid/ semiarid, Muslim
strategic geopolitical position
incorporated into Russia - 1880s
under Russians & Soviets: Islam suppressed, nomadic pastoralism
discouraged, Russian influx
since 1991: increased interaction with other Muslim nations
fending off religious extremism |
Samarkand, Uzbekistan, famous stop along the Silk Road |
People
population growth
Sunni Muslims, Turkic languages
ethnic mix
Soviet-imposed boundaries
Russian outmigration |
| Economy
least industrialized subregion
low GDPs
under Soviets: traditional herding economy --> raw materials, irrigation
farming (iron, minerals, cotton
(see "Aral Sea" link below))
oil, natural gas... escape from Russian domination?
Soviets promoted certain level of industrialization but not range
infrastructure - big impediment to reaching markets |
Uzbek cotton workers |
Disappearance of the Aral Sea - please click here
LANDSCAPES
IN THE CIS
|
under Stalin living standards second to national industrial goals
Tsarist symbols, buildings, names replaced with Soviet ones
after 1991: trends toward "de-Sovietization"
"de- Russification" in some republics (i.e., Central Asia)
after
1985: Gorbachev attempts limited decentralization |
out with Lenin |
Secret Cities 
approx. range of 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants
nuclear, biological, chemical, missile, other weapons R&D
not on maps; special naming system
environmental damage
| Rural Landscapes
collectivization of agriculture to support industrialization
traditional rural society destroyed
food shortages, famine
private plots supplied sizable amount of food for Russians |
A Russian dacha (summer cottage) |
FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR THE CIS
future predictions difficult
transition process difficult
continuing Russian interference in internal affairs of CIS and former
satellite nations
centripetal forces for CIS: Russian oil, natural gas
centrifugal forces for CIS: ethnic issues, Russian hegemony
foreign capital is key
late 1990s: economic output 1/2 of 1989, prices rising,
unemployment, unpaid
workers and pensioners, understaffed
schools & hospitals,
death rates exceeded birth rates, lower life
expectancy, corruption,
lost life savings, mafiosi
better life for younger generation, entrepreneurs