The Life Of Belarus

Funeral customs in Japan vary widely from region to region, but the majority of them are held as Buddhist funerals. At the time of death the body will be washed, and the orifices stuffed with cotton or gauze. Following the cleaning, the body is dressed in a suit or kimono depending on the gender of the deceased. Makeup is applied, and then the body is taken to where the service will be held. Once all of the arrangements have been made the body is put on dry ice in the casket. After family and close friends have attended the wake, the funeral service is held. Following the service the body and the family are transported to the crematorium where they wait for their loved one to be cremated so they may retrieve their bones and ashes. Due to the high population and small land area in Japan they are all cremated and share a family gravesite. Once the ashes have been collected they are taken to the family gravesite where the family says their last goodbyes and the urn is placed into the hollow space inside the gravestone. The family will hold services on certain days and years over time following the death of their loved one. (Billy Hammond

Russian princes, having gained back their territory from the Mongols, consolidated their power and restored the Russian state in 1462 under Ivan the Great. The underlying cultural aspects that existed in Russia from 1480-1800 like the Eastern Orthodox Church and the westernization of the boyars certainly helped Russia advance as a world power. The political constants in Russia, such as the serf and boyar control as well as expansion, also helped Russia to approach countries in the West in terms of influence.

In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed into fifteen different countries. It changed the world geopolitical balance. Their fall ended the ownership of a superpowers with the resources of more than a ten countries. The collapse left Russia unable to own anything like the global influence that they had for many years. Before the Soviet Union collapsed representatives of eleven Soviet republics from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan met and stated that they would no longer be part of the Soviet Union. Instead, they announced they will create a Commonwealth of Independent States. They did it because Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania had already stated their independence.

The economy of Eastern Europe in 1700 was based on that of agriculture and products such as wheat and barley because serfdom was still thriving in Russia. The serfs were the labor force and basis of the feudalistic type society until the reign of Alexander II. However, while other nations were becoming modern, the Russia economy was backwards compared to the rest of the world due to the fact that is was based on a form of slavery. But when industrialization occurred in Russia in the 1860s the economy had gradually switched to that manufactured good as factory and industry increased. The railroads from industrialization allowed for easy trade across vast and mountainous territory and also increased global trade with nations in the West as Russia could trade their various natural resources for a profit. However, by 1900 Russian’s economy was collapsing as they were still not industrializing a quick as the West and agricultural technology was not as up to date.

The family decorates the door of their home indicating that a death has occurred, and they also put a table outside, in front of the house, with pictures of the deceased on it. They also post notices all over town telling that a death has occurred, and about the life of the deceased. These things are the families way of letting the village knows that someone has died. After everyone has visited the deceased they all go to the church where a service is held, including a full mass. After the service the pall bearers carry the casket from the church to the cemetery, and everyone follows. As the procession passes by the people in the village

The Crimean war of 1853-1856 was fought at Crimean Peninsula, where Russia was fighting mainly against Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. The war was known as a long bloody war, as a result of poor organisation, leadership and communication of both Russia and the allies. Russia also known as the ‘Police of Europe’ due to the Vienna Treaty of 1814 was responsible in keeping peace in Europe, but this all changed when

During the 1450-1750 time period, the Russian Empire expanded vastly to become both a European and Asian power. The military brought both the steppes and Siberia under Russian control, and forced them to take an Oath of Allegiance to the tsar (the monarch of Russia). If the conquered peoples did not convert to Christianity, they would have to pay yasak to the tsar; specifically, in Siberia, the people would have to pay in the form of furs. Through yasaks and also its geography, Russia gained furs, mineral deposits, and rich agricultural lands. Russia also rapidly westernized during Peter the Great and Catherine the Great’s rule. Russia acquired territories in the Baltic region, Poland, and Ukraine; at the same time, Peter the Great created

Russia had rather horrible relations with the other surrounding major powers. The other surrounding major powers were Poland-Lithuania, Siberia, and Sweden. Russia’s poor relations with these powers is illustrated in 1581 when Ivan the Terrible conquered Western Siberia. After this there were continual increases of a Russian presence in Siberia. With the other two major powers, Poland-Lithuania and Sweden, Ivan started the twenty-five year war known as the Livonian War.

The body is cleansed, washed thoroughly from head to toe (Taharah). The faces of the deceased are not allowed to face down out of respect for the deceased. The body is then dried, everything is done by the members of the Burial Society and they also dress the deceased in a

In 1917 the Russian Empire plunged. Not long after, Chechnya’s declaration for independence failed, they

The banking system, stock market, and financial markets in Russia were also seriously affected. Russian government had to pump tens of billions of dollars to rescue financial markets and banking system of the country.

The war additionally left Russia in control of vast regions of Eastern Europe, and the US drove Allies in control of the West. While the Allies restored vote based system in the West, Russia started making Soviet satellites out of its "freed" lands; the split between the two was named the Iron

The largest immigration of Jewish citizens to Eastern Europe occurred between 965 and 1795. From 1772 to 1795 Russia expanded its territories westward. Czarist Catherine the Great encouraged Russian territorial expansion in 1772. She pushed the Border of Russia into the weak and under developed Commonwealth of Polish-Lithuania. Lithuania, Belarus, Poland and the Ukraine were all part of Polish-Lithuania. After acquiring new territory, the Russian nobility needed to decide how to deal with a new culturally diverse citizenry. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth lands acquired in the 1700’s, contained significant populations of Jewish citizens, which was a problem since the Russian Empire did not support religious practices outside of Eastern

Until the end of the 15th century, the vast territories to the west of the Ural Mountains, what is now known as the European part of Russia, were far from a single united state. Rather, it was a patchwork of small principalities ruled by different princes, united in their faith under the Russian Orthodox Church, but otherwise in fierce competition between themselves. The situation was complicated further by the Mongol overlords, requiring regular tributes ever since they conquered most of the Russian principalities back in the first half of the 13th century. On the other side, the Teutonic Knights and the Swedes, sensing the lack of power and unity from the Russians, tried to conquer the Russian lands closest to them. Squeezed between two formidable enemies, from East and West, the Russians had to fight for the very survival of

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