Eastern Europe Albania Bosnia Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech

Eastern Europe Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and Russia

Match the Eastern European countries! Latvia Estonia Russia Hungary Lithuania Czech Republic Poland Belarus Slovakia Ukraine Slovenia Croatia Romania Bosnia & Herzegovina Albania Moldova Bulgaria Macedonia Serbia & Montenegro

Elbe River (stretches From Germany to Czech Republic) Baltic Sea Carpathian Mtns Ad r Danube River (begins in Austria, empties into Black Sea iat ic Se a Balkan Mtns Aegean Sea Black Sea

Humid Continental: Variety in temperature and precipitation; all 4 seasons Eastern Europe: The Basics • Landforms/Bodies of Water: – Balkan Mountains (Block off the Balkan Peninsula from the rest of Europe) – Balkan Peninsula (Difficult Transportation) – Danube River (Flows through the heart of Europe; flows • from East to West over 9 countries; links Europeans to the Black Sea) Marine West Coast: Frequently cloudy, foggy, and damp; – Volga River: (Russia) constant temps; even – Ural Mountains (Russia) amounts of precipitation Climates: Humid Subtropical: long periods of 1. Humid Continental summer heat and humidity; subject to hurricanes 2. Marine West Coast 3. Humid Subtropical 4. Mediterranean: Summers are dry and hot; winters are cool and rainy

• • Volga River Russia and Europe’s longest River! (**) Empties into Caspian Sea Handles 60% Russian trade (importance**) Home to 11 of 20 major Russian cities**

Eastern Europe: Natural Resources • Abundant in Natural Resources throughout Europe • Major Resources found in Eastern Europe: – Copper, Coal, Zinc, Petroleum, Iron Ore, Lead

Cultural Crossroads • Due to Eastern Europe’s location, it has become a “cultural crossroads”: a place where multiple cultures crossed paths • Many people have passed through this portion of Europe to cross between Europe and Asia • Exs: – Traders, nomads, migrants, armies

Conflicts over National Identities • In Eastern Europe, there have been frequent conflicts over ethnic identities – Why? Centuries of foreign rule = ethnic groups in want to fiercely protect their ethnic heritage • Wanted to become “nation-states” Political unit of people Who share a common Culture or history • Examples: • Balkan Countries vs. the Ottomans – Fought over who should rule territory • Led to “Balkanization”: process of a region breaking up into small, mutually hostile units

Conflicts over National Identities • Serbia: • Freedom for Slavs in Austria-Hungary • 1914: Serbian nationalists assassinated Austrian noble, Archduke Franz Ferdinand • Marked the beginning of WWI • Result of War: – Austria-Hungary split apart (2 Separate Countries) – Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Poland gain independence

History of Struggle • Eastern Europe has been susceptible to invaders – German invasions of Soviet Union during WWII • After WWII, the Soviet Union created a “Political Barrier” with Eastern European countries • Why? – Wanted to protect itself from future invasions • Established COMMUNIST governments in these nations • Soviet refusal to “un-occupy”

Soviet Union’s Control of Eastern Europe • After WWII: Soviet Union dominates Eastern Europe • Nations dominated by Became “Satellite Nations” (mini-Soviet Unions) another country CHARACTERISTICS: – Military treaties – Military bases placed in most countries – Communist govs took power; Controlled almost all aspects of people’s lives – “Hammer & Sickle”

Western and Eastern Divisions • Result of Soviet domination: • Lack of growth and prospering • Eastern Europe cut off from technological advancements • Created a boundary between West and East

Dividing West from East • This division between Western and Eastern Europe became known as the “Iron Curtain” (imaginary)

Seeking Independence • 1989: Reforms by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev gave Eastern European countries more freedoms • Result: – Many Eastern European countries were successful in establishing independent governments

Fall of Communism • Fall of Communism led to Independence & Instability – Newly found independence = ethnic loyalties very important – Led to civil wars, which created instability in the region • Ex: – Serbian Civil War (didn’t want to split into separate countries) – Czechoslovakia = Czech Republic & Slovakia

Eastern Europe is Culturally Diverse! • Multiple Languages & Religions • Religion: Major ones are Eastern Orthodox Christians, Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism – Result: Many different ethnic groups of people all living in the same place = conflict • Less URBAN than rest of Europe • Folk Art – Artwork produced by rural people, not professional artists • Woodcarving, pottery, embroidered costumes – Influenced by religion & rural customs

Economic Changes after Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe • Command Economies (govt controlled) to Market Economies (people controlled) – Where industry makes the goods consumers want to buy; supply & demand • Factories became privately owned – How is this different from the Soviet Union era? – Factories were State-Owned and Operated

Problems of Economic Changes 1. Inflation (money isn’t worth as much) 2. Factories closed 3. Unemployment – Some Eastern European countries have found ways to prosper economically – Other are having issues with economic progress

Civil War in Serbia • Slobodan Milosevic: Wanted to Increase Serbia’s power over the rest of Yugoslavia – Republics began leaving Yugoslavia – Serbia declared war and lost • Milosevic tried for war crimes – Nations end trade w/Yugoslavia and country grew poorer – 2000: Milosevic voted out of office

Why Serbia Feared? • Milosevic’s “Greater Serbia” • Expansion of Serbian borders to countries w/Serbian populations – Alarmed territories of impact; declared independence • Led to wars/conflicts between Serbia and other newly independent nations

War in Bosnia • Use of VIOLENCE to STOP Independence of Bosnia & Herzegovina • Many of Bosnia’s Muslims and Croats (Croatians) were murdered • Tried to eliminate entire ethnic group – Ethnic Cleansing – More than 200, 000 died; over 2 million fled their homes

Kosovo • Milosevic tried to gain control of Kosovo (Serbian area) – Get rid of Albanian influences (culture) • Response by Kosovo: – Declared their independence • 1990 s: KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) carries out attacks against Serbian officials • Serbian Ethnic Cleansing against Albanians – Bombed villages, etc. – Outcome of conflicts: new nation—Serbia & Montenegro

Ukraine • Has a large mining industry – has huge open-pit iron-ore mines ( this led to large amounts of pollution)

Ukraine • Capital = Kiev • A large number of ethnic Russians live here – Russians call Ukrainians “little Russians” and talk of Ukraine as if it were part of Russia the Ukrainians obviously do not like this and relations between the groups of people are difficult.

• The Crimea – Small peninsula that goes out into the black sea – The people have never thought of themselves as part of Ukraine have ties with Russia (summer homes of Russian czars (rulers) have been built here)

Chernobyl • 1986 nuclear power plant disaster – (significance) worse nuclear disaster in world history

• Due to safety issues a ‘meltdown’ occurred and the area had to be evacuated a 30 km exclusion zone was established around the plant “the dead zone”

• Today a few have moved back, but it remains the same as it was when left in 1986 – For those exposed to radiation rates of cancer have gone up

Russia • Resources: • Has some of the world’s largest supplies – Natural Gas: world’s largest reserves – Coal: 2 nd largest reserves – Oil: 8 th in world for reserves, but 2 nd producer • Problem: Majority of the resources are in Siberia (frozen parts of Russia) and thus can’t be accessed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics