17.1
Taiga: forest of evergreen trees that grows south of the tundra.
Steppe: wide flat grassland.
17.2
The Rus and Kiev: The Rus are the Viking invaders who set up the trade city of Kiev
Mongol Influence: roughly in the 1200’s AD, Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan took control over the region, forcing them to pay tribute, and separating the genders.
Czar: it is the Russian word for Caesar, acted as an emperor for the Kingdom of Muscovy, controlled Russia from 1400’s to 1917.
Peter the Great: Unified Russia, first Czar
abdicate: to leave or give up power1917: abdication of the Czar, Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin takes power
Bolshevik: Russian word for majority, largely a political party of industrial workers, later changed their name to Communists.
USSR 1922: drafted a Communist constitution, unified surrounding nations under Russian dominance.
Cold War: post WWII stand off between the democratic West and the communist east. Differences in ideology, economy, and society.
1991 Collapse: the Russian economy is broken, the nations disband, end USSR.
Russian Orthodox: the Russian twist on Eastern Orthodox introduced by Methodius and Cyril.
1957 Sputnik: Russia launches the first satellite into space.
17.3
4 Regions: Volga, Moscow, St Petersburg, Urals
Kremlin: the center of government in Russia’s Moscow
light industry: textiles, etc, causes generally less pollution than heavy industry
heavy industry: machinery construction, heavy metal work, more pollution than light industry.
17.4
Siberia's area and comparisons: vast untapped natural resources in a sleeping frozen wasteland of death, huge.
1891 Trans-Siberian Railroad: the single greatest source of transportation in the region, connects all major cities. Moscow-Novosibirsk-Vladivostok
Lake Baikal: home to the only freshwater seal, protected by the government.
17.5
Vladivostok: a key port on the Pacific, it is frozen up during the winter, just recently opened because it was a key military port during the cold war.
Sakhalin Oil: there is oil there.
Kuril Islands Fish: that’s where they fish.
18.1
Mt. Elbrus: highest point in Europe. Russian Caucasus
18.2Cyrillic Alphabet: constructed by Cyril and Methodius of Eastern Orthodox mission, Used Greek letters to represent Russian/Slavic phonemes.
serfs: peasant class, loyal to land and lord. Work the earth to be protect militarily.
Cossacks: defiant horse riding serfs, revolted and became key military for the Czar.
Muscovy Empire: rise of the Czar tradition, the Russian nobility.1
917:Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia gain independence.
1922: those 3 join the USSR.
Chernobyl: site in Ukraine of a nuclear meltdown, 1986
Meaning of Belarus: White Russians
18.3
500's BC: Caucasus region is controlled by Persian Empire (modern Iran)
650 AD: comes under control of the Muslim Empire
Georgian Language: pre-Cyrillic alphabet, in use since at least the 400’s AD.
1988 Armenian: earthquake destroys 1/3 of industry
Oil Azerbaijan: key economic nutrient
