Eastern Europe’s geography allowed and encouraged many diverse people to easily conquer its land. The history of Eastern Europe has been marked by migration, foreign conquest, war and revolution. The region is home to a mix of diverse people who have often battled with each other and many foreigners
As a buffer and crossroads, Eastern Europe reaches from Central Europe to Russia. Also, it reaches from the Baltic Sea and through the Balkan Peninsula. Much of the region lies on the European plain . Its main rivers, the Danube and the Vistula allowed goods and cultural influences to travel along river routes. This led to the Balkans in the south feeling the impact of the Byzantine empire and the Muslim Ottoman empire. Because of the ease of its accessibility, Eastern Europe was the perfect target for neighboring groups of people, whether they were peaceful or looking to take over.
During the Middle Ages, the Slavs spread out from present-day Belarus into
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Prince Boleslaw of Cracow issued a charter to protect the liberties of Jews. In response, Jewish villages were common in Poland. Religious influences and people were spreading at a rapid rate. This caused many kingdoms to develop that would battle for power in the near future. Roman Catholic missionaries converted many West Slavs in Poland in the 900s. The first Polish king was crowned, but to survive, Poland frequently had to battle Germans, Russians, and Mongols. Queen Jadwiga and Duke Wladyslaw Jagiello of Lithuania’s marriage began Poland’s greatest age. However, political power in Poland shifted to the nobles because of liberum veto or “free veto” in which the vote of a single nobel could block the passage of a law. Because of their lack of a strong central government, Poland-lithuania declined. Because Poland did not take strong stand against invaders they declined after a short-lived
Syria is a Middle Eastern country located on the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. To people in the West, Syria is most likely known for violence, terrorism, and conflict because that is what the media portrays. However, it is one of the oldest inhabited regions in the world and is rich with culture and history. From Bible references noting, “The road to Damascus” to Ottoman control in 1516 to Bashar al-Assad taking control in 2000, Syria has seen periods of peace but has been plagued with many years of instability throughout its history and especially in recent years. This essay will discuss the events leading to the uprisings, the current situation, and possible peaceful resolutions.
“If the Soviet Union let another political party into existence they would still be one state party state because everybody would join the other party,” is a quote by Ronald Reagan about the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union(USSR) is a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1999. It's fall resulted from its government-run economy not working very well. Soviet Union was run by Vladimir Lenin, dictator who overthrew Russian monarchy, and Bolshevik communist. At first USSR aligned with the US to defeat the Nazi Germany. But the countries soon turn against each other due to the difference in perspective about how government should run in 1945. Their clash was a major part of cold war. Now with all this information
Ukraine is granted a market economy status by the EU and USA. The sharp economic decline in the 90s resulted in deteriorating living standards for most citizens and widespread poverty. However, during the 21st century, there has been some positive economic growth in Ukraine, as well as Eastern Europe as a whole. Ukraine’s currency, the Hryvnia, was introduced in September 1996 and has remained relatively stable. The unstable political situation in Ukraine hardly influences its economic development. GDP has been growing steadily since 2005 at an average growth rate of 7% and industrial production has been expanding by 12%. The Ukrainian economy was hit by the harsh effects of the global financial crisis but managed to attain a 4.2%
Eastern Europe was considered a weak area with problems of economics and political instability. This was most true in the interwar period as western counties had divided along the ‘lines ' they believed, and with the powerful Germany and Russia on either side wanting the land back to their ‘empire '. "They [Russia and Germany] also capitalized on the abdication of the other Great powers and on the profound polticodemrgraphic and socioeconomic weakness and conflicts within the area."
At the commencement of the Soviet Union, there was a grave of food shortages; to improve the agricultural productions; in 1921 Lenin instated the New Economic Plan (NEP). The New Economic Plan gave the opportunity for the farmers or peasants to produce their crops for profit; in the years that followed, some of these farmers were prosperous after the implementation of the NEP. Unfortunately, Stalin abandoned the NEP and replaced it with the Five Year Plan, he also justified the collectivization of Agriculture and lastly Stalin’s statism had an impact on Russian History.
The Zbigniew Brzezinski defined a Soviet victory as entailing “the submissive neutralization of both Western Europe (through the dismantling of NATO) and Japan, and the withdrawal of U.S. political military presence across the oceans. Moreover, victory was also defined as attaining the worldwide economic supremacy of communism over capitalism” . Part of this view is corroborated in the infamous Long Telegram by American diplomat George F. Kennan, which, among other things, claimed that the USSR wanted to further socialism at the cost of Western capitalism. . From both sources, one can assume the terms of victory for the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and, consequently, these can be compared with the actual events of the Cold War to determine how large a defeat the Soviet Union suffered. It is indeed true that the Western capitalism emerged victorious in the end. Western Europe wasn’t “neutralised”; in fact, it was Eastern Europe that submitted to Western politics as the USSR collapsed. Similarly, by the end of the Cold War it was the USSR’s political presence - rather than the US’ - that had collapsed, leaving the US seemingly unopposed as the leading global superpower. In each of these cases, it appears that the Soviet Union suffered a total defeat far removed from any conditions of victory. However, while this paper will begin by examining these areas of defeat, it will then go on to argue that the defeat was not necessarily total. Finally, it will argue that survival and
The Cold War was a period in world history marked with increased tensions primarily between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both countries desired to expand their ideologies across the globe, the U.S. urging capitalism and democratic elections and the Soviets promoting communism.
The Cold War was a state of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States soon after WWII had ended. The war was deemed “cold’ because there was no direct fight between the two key countries. When World War II ended, there were only two super powers left and both had intentions of spreading their incompatible ideological system across the globe. Soviet’s Communism and the United States’ Capitalism were the different views that sparked the Cold War. Problems started when the USSR started its expansionism in Eastern Europe which went against the rules brought about in the Yalta Conference. The Yalta Conference was the meeting of the heads of governments of United States, United Kingdom and the Soviet Union (Brinkley p. 655). The conference was designed to prepare a post-war peace plan. The United States saw the Soviet’s expansion as a threat so they planned to contain the growth of communism. Under President Truman, the United States aided countries in Europe to stop the spread of communism. This aid cost the United States approximately 400 million dollars which went to the Greek and Turkish governments. The Cold War had a massive impact on numerous countries around the world with proxy wars occurring in places like Korea and Vietnam. While the war was pulling other countries into conflict, the United States was being influenced as well. Fear and a shift in opinion of homosexuals were present in the time of the Cold War and even continued when the Cold War came to an
Central Asia, an area for millennia dominated by the nomadic horse people, whom brought their beliefs with them. People of Central Asia believed in all kinds of gods in different ways as a result of their history. The most famous religions of Central Asia are Islam and Buddhism, and Christianity also has a long history in Central Asia. However, the religion has been changed over time and the existence of some religions are in danger such as Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. Zoroastrianism and Buddhism were prominent religions in Central Asia prior to the arrival of Islam, and the Islam religion is getting bigger in Central Asia. Why is it problem that Islam is getting bigger religion rather than others? Spreading specific religion means getting lose the other religion. The balance is important because the thoughts of people, and tradition, and culture is a part of culture, and it affects to thought in the area. Especially, young people are affected from the religion about education The young generation will make next generation; however, is it possible to stop the disappearance of one of the native culture, the religion? The period which people live changed that’s why the environment is also change. Even though the religion and people though has been changing, people can prevent the disappearance with their mind. From this essay, you can see why the religion has been
The history of the Soviet Union begins with the Russian Revolution of 1917. In February of that year the wartime decay of Russia’s economy and morale triggered a spontaneous popular uprising in Petrograd. This led to the imperial government of Czar Nicholas II being overthrown. After the formation of a provisional government, workers councils, known as soviets, began to sprout up throughout the country to protect the rights of the working class. This allowed the Bolsheviks (Communists) to arouse widespread interest in a socialist revolution. Eventually, in November 1917, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin seized power from the provisional government. Finally, after securing power, the Bolsheviks officially established the Soviet Union
In the seventeenth century, the expansion of Russian peasants would spread into Siberia, changing the landscape and how it was separated. Valerie Kivelson's study of ignored Russian maps in the expansion of the early Russian empire is a major and important work for the comparative social history of migrations and empires in itself. In addition, explores both property and geographical mapping as indications of the distinct display of the Russian state and of the Orthodox faith. The use of maps was crucial for the Muscovy Empire’s complex formation of territories and responsibilities. Which brings back to light, Russian history from a geographical perspective and on how spatial thinking influenced how Muscovites understood and organized the world.
The Balkan Peninsula was filled with an assortment of ethnic groups, with its history of uprisings and clashes between the ethnic groups, the Balkan region was known as the “powder-keg” of Europe. Being named the “powder-keg” of Europe, wasn’t an understatement. It was justified to be called the “powder-keg.” Below, are reasons defining why, it was justified.
Many political beliefs exist. Everyone has the right to chose what to believe in, what ideas to have, what to seek and how to achieve his goals. Political science is not very defined and strict. Specific rules saying that if one believes in a certain idea he should join a certain party do not exist. Certain things match certain group of people and other things this group of people would not accept. The same principle can be applied for countries. Communism appears to be successful for China, but it failed for Eastern European countries. It is very important the proper way of government to be found and used by the government of a country. The failure of the government can lead to failure in
Russia is a huge landmass and covers a vast amount of the earth’s surface area. Being so large, Russia contains a huge variety of different geographical features. There are several mountains, rivers, bodies of water, climate zones, and population centers in Russia. Most of the development in Russia is located in its core area, east of the Ural Mountains. There are several countries around Russia that used to be parts of a larger union called The Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, however, in 1991, the USSR broke apart into several other independent states. The new states that were formed are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and
When we hear the term Russian culture many Americans tend to have negative thoughts like the cold war, their government ruling with an iron hand, and the Red Scare. These thoughts do not do the justice to the Russian people or to their long history as a people dating back to INSERT DATE. One of the major themes throughout Russian history and this course is the idea that the Russian people value intangible things more than the tangible. The Russian people have a long rich heritage, they are deep in there Christian faith, and they pride themselves on hospitality and value there community, families, and fellow Russian people. They have learned how to sacrifice from the constant invasions and being forced farther and