CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIA SSWG 2 RUSSIA THE

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIA SSWG 2

RUSSIA & THE WESTERN REPUBLICS

A HISTORY OF EXPANSION • Russia’s rapid expansion had lasting effects on nearby lands & people – Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) • Formed between Baltic & Black seas • Settled by Vikings b/c of river trade • 13 th century: Mongolian invaders halt growth • 1500: Ivan the Great expands to east – By 1700 s, extended to Pacific Ocean – More people = more religions = more cultures

RUSSIA LAGS BEHIND WESTERN EUROPE • Territorial Growth = rapid • Progress in other ways = science & technology = lags behind • Peter the Great = Czar = tried to change this – Moved Russia’s capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg • Direct access to Baltic Sea = “window to the “West” • Late to industrialize – Harsh working conditions,

THE RISE & FALL OF SOVIET UNION • Russian Revolution – 1917; people angry at czars revolt & communist Lenin came to power • Formation of USSR (1922) – capital moved back to Moscow • Stalin leading Russia (1939) = conflict with rest of world • 1940 s = Cold War Begins; Fear of spreading communism • 1980 s = Gorbachev gives Soviet people more freedoms leading to collapse of communism/USSR & end of Cold War – USSR divided into 15 republics

A RICH CULTURE • Variety of ethnic groups b/c of rapid expansion • Russians mostly Orthodox Christianity • Buddhism, Islam, Judaism – Many Jews have fled b. c of persecution • Russian architecture = elaborate churches, onion shaped domes

ART & CULTURE • 18 th & 19 th Century art portrays czarist Russia • Emergence of Russian ballet • Moscow & St. Petersburg resemble cities in West - clothing, art, magazines, movies, music