Growth of Russian Empire
Russian expansion, 1796-1894
Growth of Russia
1462 : 15,000 mi2
1914 : 8.5 million mi2
Grew avg. 50 mi2 /day
to 1/7 of Earth’s landmass,
11 time zones
U.S. & Russia
Westward (or
eastward) expansion
Settler colonialism
on Native lands
Railroads enable
settlement
End to slavery
(or serfdom), 1860s
Causes for expansion
• Urge to sea (warm-water ports)
• Defensive buffer
• Global “overseas” imperialism
• Plain ole’ greed
Land Use
Russia
Russia
In east-west bands, affecting settlement
Oil
Trans-Siberian railroads
in eastern Russia
Omsk
Russia
Empires
1. Homeland
-Muscovy origin
2. Ukraine/Belarus•
5
2 1
4
5
3
4
4
5
-Slav, Orthodox
3. Boreal riverine
-Fur trade, extraction
-Outnumber nonRussian natives
4. Russian settlers
-S. Ukraine, S. Siberia belt
5. Nationalistic empire
-Non-Slavic republics
-Russians administer from cities
Barriers to Russian expansion
WEST
Swedes,
Poles,
Lithuanians
(Invaded
by French,
Germans)
EAST
Japanese,
Americans
(Alaska 1867)
SOUTH
Ottomans (Turks),
Persians (Iranians),
British (in India)
Nationalism in the Former Soviet Union
Russians as % of Empire
80
Ethnic Russian
percentage of
population
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1719
1917
1989
Lenin on national self-determination
• Nationalism of the oppressor vs.
Nationalism of the oppressed
• Criticized Russian
majority nationalism
• Independence for Poland,
Finland, Baltic states
• Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR), 1922
Stalin on nationalism
• Ethnic Georgian
(Dzhugashvili)
but pro-Russian
• Feared, repressed ethnic
minorities & religions
• Russification of
minorities (Cyrillic)
• Ruled republics through
Russified elites, money
Stalin on nationalism
• Constructed ethnic groups from
local identities
• Divide-and-rule through ethnic
boundaries
– “Time bombs” of minorities
within republics
• Yet boundaries strengthened
identity later
S.S.R.s
Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR)
_________ Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) :
Ukrainian
Byelorussian
Georgian
Armenian
Azerbaijan
After World War II:
Moldavian
Estonian
Kazakh
Kirghiz
Turkmen
Tadzhik
Uzbek
Latvian
Lithuanian
Ethnic minority areas within S.S.R.s
Ethnic minority areas within S.S.R.s
(mainly within RSFSR)
• Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR)
• Autonomous Oblast (Region)
• Autonomous Okrug (District)
Nagorno-Karabakh
Ethnic Armenian region, but part of Azerbaijan;
War in 1988-94
Russia successor state to USSR,
Dec. 25, 1991
Place name changes:
De-Sovietization
Leningrad
St. Petersburg
Gorky
Nizhny Novgorod
Frunze
Bishkek
Place name changes:
Indigenization
Byelorussia
Belarus
Yakutia
Sakha
Kishinev
Chisinau
,
Place name changes:
Transliteration
Gomel
Homyel
Tadzhikistan
Tajikistan
Nakhichevan
Naxçivan
Kirghizstan
Kyrgyzstan
• Ukraine, Belarus,
Kazakstan disarm nukes
• Economic, military
ties disrupted
between republics
• Rise of “mafia”
economy, crime
Aftermath, 1990s
“Shock therapy”
• Close command industries
•Reduce or end subsidies
• Privatize industrial economy
•High unemployment,
inflation, inequality
Spatial economy
• Winning regions
Hub cities
Gateway
• Losing regions
Older military-industrial
Agricultural, Resources
Ethnic minority
Opposition to Yeltsin
•Communists & nationalists
lament loss of Empire
•Slavophile populists mistrust
West; often anti-Semitic
•Yeltsin tanks fire on
Parliament, 1993
• Candidates: Rutskoi, Lebed, Zhirinovsky, Zyuganov
Yeltsin’s Demise
• Financial crash
• Health problems
• Drunk as a skunk
• Corruption extended to family
• Ethnic minority autonomy
(soft on Chechens?)
Vladimir Putin, 2000-?
• Underestimated as
Yeltsin puppet
• Ex-KGB in Germany;
knows West well
• Yet also placates
“Eurasians,”
Soviet memories
Chechnya
• Won vs. Russia in
1990, 1994-96
• Declared independence
• Key Caspian oil pipeline
Putin’s ruthless brutality won admirers
Russians flatten Grozny,
capital of Chechnya, 2000
Authoritarianism returning
• Media controls
• Centralization in Moscow
• Ethnic autonomy lessened
• Economic heavy hand
ETHNIC REGIONS IN RUSSIA
1992 Federation Treaty
Keep Russian Federation together by
granting autonomy to ethnic minority regions
Chechnya refused to sign, declared independent
Tatarstan, Bashkortostan almost refused,
got greater autonomy
Putin cracked down on Chechens, weakened others, 2000
Northern ethnic regions
Russian majority in resource extraction/
Native minority in reindeer
Karelia (Finnish)
Yamalia
Komi
Khantia-Mansia
Evenkia
Taymyria
Sahka (Yakutia)
Permyakia
Nenetsia
Koryakia
Chukotka
Volga/Urals ethnic regions
• Surrounded by Russia since 16th century
Tatarstan
Bashkortostan
Mordovia
Mari El
Chuvashia
Udmurtia
Tatarstan
Turkic Muslim descendants of
Tatar nomadic warriors;
Now largest minority in Russia;
Capital at Kazan
Nearly independent 1991;
Negotiated treaty relationship with
Russia as nation-to-nation
Southern Siberia ethnic regions
• Buddhist region along Mongol/China border
Altaya
Buryatia
Ust-Orda
Aga
Tuva
Birobijan
(Jewish)
Tuva (Tyva)
Independent 1921-44 ; Tuvans unique culture
niq
Throat singing in
Genghis Blues
Buryatia
Buryats ethnic Mongols along Lake Baikal
North Caucasus ethnic regions of Russia
• Predominantly Muslim;
some Orthodox, Buddhist
• Predominantly Turkic;
some Iranian
• Fought Russian expansion
in mountains
North Caucasus ethnic regions of Russia
Chechnya
Ingushetia
Adygea
Dagestan
North Ossetia
Kalmykia
Kabardino-Balkaria
Karachay-Cherkessia
Ethnic minority regions
since Federation
Treaty, 1992
Russians fear one secession
would spread to all
Chechens
Caucasian-speaking Muslim
mountain people ( 1 mil.)
Strong clans bitterly resisted
1850s Russian conquest
Stalin exiled Chechens,
Ingush to Kazakstan, 1944
Return 1957, live in
Chechno-Ingushetia republic
Declaration 1991
Chechen Communist chiefs
backed August coup
Air Force Gen. Dudayev
declared independence
Yeltsin sent troops,
but backed down
Ingush split from Chechnya,
conflict with North Ossetians
Chechnya
• Plains to north
• River, ridges,
and Grozny in
the middle
• Mountains and
forest to the
south
• Effect of
geography on
security
Invasion 1994
Yeltsin shells Chechens &
Russians, takes Grozny
Rebels driven to mountains;
Dudayev killed
Key Caspian oil pipeline
30,000 civilians die;
half-million displaced
War unpopular among Chechen
Russians, soldiers’ moms
Chechens expand scope;
take hostages in Russian hospital
Lebed negotiates for
independence in 5 years
Rebels retake Grozny;
Yeltsin withdraws before election;
Chechens elect “moderate” Maskhadov
victory 1996
Russia invades again, 1999-2000
Lawlessness in Chechnya
Apartment bombings in
Russia (Chechens or KGB?)
Putin prime minister;
brutally retakes Grozny
Russians flatten Grozny,
capital of Chechnya, 1999
Rebels driven south again
into mountains, Pankisi Gorge (Georgia);
Basayev leads terrorist attacks
Tensions grow,
2001-03
Pres. Putin wins U.S. support
after 9/11, in return for bases;
Chechens portrayed as Al-Qaeda
Moscow theater hostagetaking ends in disastrous raid
Chechen rebel raids;
Russian tensions with Georgia
Moscow gas
raid kills 121
hostages, 2002
(U.S. trainers in Pankisi Gorge)
Rebels see “referendum” for
limited autonomy as sham
Beslan, 2004
Rebels take 1,000 hostages at
grade school in North Ossetia
Explosions, shootout kill 330 +
(half kids) in “Russia’s 9/11.”
Basayev suspected, but
Russians kill Maskhadov
Fighting in Chechnya, suicide
bombings in Russia continue
Environment in Russia
USSR was worse than West
• 2.5 X air pollution of
U.S. (per GNP)
• 20% water unsafe
• 1/3 of arable land
affected by acid rain
• Etc., etc.
Why USSR was worse
• Heavy industry
• Expand agriculture
• “Inexhaustible” resources
• Legitimacy, self-sufficiency
through technology
• Sacrifice for defense
Why USSR was worse
• Leadership technicians;
questioning prevented
• Little free opposition
• Secrecy; lack of enforcement
• Central planning insensitive
• Only capitalism harms nature
WATER
Aral Sea
• Once the 4th largest inland body of
water in the world. A series of
dams was built to irrigate cotton.
• Aral Sea reduced to about 25% of
its 1960 volume, 4x salinity wiped
out the fishery.
• Pollutants became airborne as dust,
causing significant local health
problems.
Aral Sea
Interbasin water transfers
(river diversions)
Kara
Kum
Canal
Amu Darya
Size of
Aral Sea
Environmental damage estimated
at $1.25 -$2.5 billion a year.
Caspian Sea
Western,
Russian
oil and gas
Companies
in Caspian
Basin
Caspian Sea
Caspian
Seal in
Kazakstan
Caspian sturgeon
and its caviar
Oil spill off
Baku, Azerbaijan
Dnieper R.
Ukraine
Sea of
Dniester R.
Azov
Moldova
Crimea
Danube R.
Romania
Don R.
BLACK SEA
Bulg.
Bosporus
Turkey
Russia
Georgia
Sea of Azov
Eutrophication (Algae growth)
Metals plant on
Dnieper River
Lake
Baikal
Environmental
objections to
paper mills
as early
as 1960s
AIR & LAND
Kola Peninsula, NW Russia
Donbass & Kuzbass
Donbass coal
fields, E. Ukraine
Kuzbass coal
fields, W. Siberia
Kalmykia
European
Buddhist
Mongols
Desertification
Chemicals/
Salinization
Oil development
Sakha
(Yakutia)
• Siberian
indigenous
• Coal, metals
mining
• Logging
Clear-cutting in Siberia
Japanese and South Korean
companies take
advantage of “fire sale”
International campaign to
protect Amur Tiger
along Chinese border
Noril’sk nickel smelter
Arctic Haze and Acid Rain
WAR
Acid rain,
Mining,
Nuclear subs
scuttled
Kola Peninsula
Sverdlovsk anthrax, 1979
Bioweapons disaster,
79 cases (66 dead)
in Yeltsin’s district
Uranium mining
Roma (Gypsy) kids
playing on radioactive
mill tailings from
Soviet uranium mine
in Pécs, Hungary
Soviet
nuclear tests
in Kazakstan
Genetic defects
near Semey
(Semipalatinsk)
Kazaks protest
Kyshtym waste
disaster, 1957
Orphans
– Explosion at Soviet weapons factory forces
evacuation of over 10,000 people in Ural Mts.
– Area size of Rhode Island still uninhabited;
thousands of cancers reported
Novaya
Zemlya
NUCLEAR
POWER
Chernobyl
disaster,
April 1986
400 million people exposed in 20 countries
“It Can’t Happen Here”
• U.S. reaction to Chernobyl, 1986
– Blamed on Communism, graphite reactor
• Also Soviet reaction to Three-Mile Island, 1979
– Blamed on Capitalism, pressurized-water reactor
• No technology 100% safe
– Three-Mile Island bubble almost burst
8,000 deaths in 14 years
3.5 million sick,
one/third of them children
Chernobyl’s political fallout
• Secrecy stimulated glasnost, environmental opposition
• Stimulated nationalism in Ukraine, Belarus,
other republics that lost clean-up workers.
• Questioning of the heart of technocratic power
• USSR collapsed within 5 years.
Positives since end of USSR
• Democratization: NGOs, data
• Decentralization: local sensitivity
• Deindustrialization of old areas
• Expanded national parks
• Protection laws stronger by 1993
Negatives since end of USSR
• Financial difficulties; jobs stressed
• Reduced monitoring, enforcement
• Increased affluence, cars, waste
• Profit motive; foreign firms
• Putin dismantled agency, 2002
Other positives in Eastern Europe
• Ecological dissidents in transition
• Increased spending
• Pollution control technology
• Loss of markets
• Entry into E.U. standards
RAIPON
Russia's recent socio-economic crisis has led to a
breakdown of most of the supply and transportation system
in the remote areas. Having been made dependent on
modern infrastructure and product distribution, the people
now find themselves left alone with
Rising mortality,
Lacking supplies,
Lacking medical care,
Lacking economic means,
Lacking legal expertise,
to deal with the situation…..
RAIPON
Diseases such as tuberculosis and alcoholism,
Prevalent malnutrition,
High infant mortality,
Death rate exceeding birth rate (for some ethnic groups),
High suicide rate,
Devastation of Native lands and water resources by industry,
Lack of implementation of relevant laws,
Waste of financial means for development programs,
Lack of legal capacity,
No legal security,
Loss of control over social and economic organisation,
Cultural and linguistic decimation.
10 of 41 indigenous peoples are on the edge of extinction.
Taiga/Boreal forest
•North Russia/Siberia
•Acidic podzol soils
poor for farming
•Conifers
•Half of Former USSR
(all in Russia)
Tundra (treeless) zone
•Permafrost
(frozen subsoil)
•Indigenous herders
•Slavs extract resources
Rivers
East/North
•Ob’-Irtysh
•Yenisei-Angara
•Lena-Aldan
•Amur-Ussuri
•Kolyma
•Lake Baikal
Ranges
•Kolyma
•Aldan
•Syan
•Altai
•Yablonovy
Seas
•White
Japan
•Barents
Bering
•Kara
Okhotsk
•E. Siberian Laptev
YanoKolymsky
Amur RiverSakhalin Island
Kamchatka
PeninsulaOkhotsk Sea
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Chukotka
Russian, Chukchi, Yup’ik, etc.
160,000 (1989)
10% Native
(in reindeer, caribou)
Russians, etc. in mining,
timber, administration
55,000 (2004)
Larger wealth gap,
Temporary work zone,
Democracy of majority
Chukotka
Diomede Islands in Bering Strait;
Yup’ik met on ice border in Cold War Détente, 1970s
Chukotka
Environmental cross-border cooperation since 1991