Eastern Europe
OBJECTIVES:
I know when I am successful when:
•
I can list and find the Eastern European Countries.
• I understand the history behind the Eastern European Countries
• I list and find the different physical map attributes for the Eastern
European Countries
• I can list and describe the governments of the different Eastern
European Countries
Eastern Europe –
Physical Map
LANDFORMS:
• Carpathian Mountains are a low mountain range just south of
the Northern European Plain. They stretch from the Alps to the
Black Sea.
• The Great Hungarian Plain lies to the south and west of the
Carpathians. They are fertile and are located mostly in Hungary.
• Balkan Peninsula is one of the largest peninsulas in Europe and
extends into the Mediterranean Sea.
WATER FEATURES:
• The Adriatic Sea lies south of Bulgaria and is important for trade
routes.
• The Black Sea borders the south eastern countries in this
region.
• The Baltic Sea lies on the northern border just north of the
Northern European Plain.
Eastern Europe –
Physical Map
• The Danube River is also vital to trade and transportation. It
starts in Germany and winds through NINE countries before
emptying into the Black Sea. Thousands of ships travel up and
down this river each year.
Eastern Europe Physical Map
• The climate around the Baltic Sea is the harshest. The winters
are long, hard and cold. Sometimes there are as few as 30
sunny days a year. There are huge forests growing in this area.
• The internal plains of Eastern Europe vary in vegetation. There
are huge forests, grassy plains
Przewalki wild horses
Eastern Europe- Climate
CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• In 1986 a flawed nuclear reactor that was also operated without
properly trained personnel exploded throwing radioactive steam and
fire into the atmosphere.
• 30 employees of Chernobyl died from the explosion from either
radiation poisoning or the accident.
• Over 200 nearby residents died from Acute Radiation Syndrome.
• Many believe that this accident was a direct result from the Cold War
isolationism that created a lack of safety culture in the USSR.
• Thousands of people were quickly moved from the fall out areas
Eastern Europe –
Chernobyl
CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• Chernobyl released radioactive materials for 10 days.
Eastern Europe –
Chernobyl
CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was a way to keep the most
severely affected areas vacant.
• There are documented mutations of animals from the disaster.
• The wildlife expanded abundantly during the absence of
mankind. There is some debate as to how much the radiation
actually affected the wildlife since the deformed would have
been eaten or died rather quickly leaving the normal to survive.
Eastern Europe –
Chernobyl
CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• Because of the radiation seeping into the soils, there has been
strict monitoring on crops and animals harvested in and around
certain areas. The restricted area originally covered 9000 farms
and over 4 million sheep.
• There has been a 95% reduction in land and farms monitored
due to the areas being cleared of radiation.
• Constant monitoring of the site has given scientists decades of
information on the reaction of the environment to radioactivity
levels.
• There are several towns that have become ghost towns because
they were deserted after the incident. One town had an
amusement park that never opened because of the explosion.
• The Red Forest is one of the most contaminated places in the
world.
Eastern Europe –
Chernobyl
Deserted apartments in
Pripyat
The abandoned city of
Pripyat
Ferris Wheel to never enjoy
the sounds of music and
children
Eastern Europe –
Chernobyl
POLAND and the BALTIC REPUBLICS
• Lithuania and Poland were strong countries during the Middle Ages.
• WWI and WWII had devastating effects on this area.
• In WWI much of the fighting took place in Poland, so millions of Poles
died.
• WWII began when Germany invaded Poland because Hitler wanted
more land for the Germans to live in and he believed that the Slavs
were inferior.
• After the Germans left, Russia moved in and invaded also murdering
thousands of Poles.
• After WWII, Russia turned Baltic Republics into the buffer zone
between Western Europe and Russia. These new Soviet territories
were turned into communist countries.
• Poland remained free but was still forced to take a communist
government.
Eastern Europe – Poland
POLAND and the BALTIC REPUBLICS
• There are many different languages and religions observed in these
territories but the cultures remain basically the same.
• Cultural differences are:
• Poland and Lithuanian traded mostly with Roman Catholic
countries so the people are mostly Catholic.
• Latvia and Estonia were ruled by Sweden for a line time so their
religion is Lutheran.
• Estonia language is similar to Finnish
• Latvian and Lithuanian languages are similar
• Polish language is related more to the southern countries.
Eastern Europe – Poland
POLAND and the BALTIC REPUBLICS
• Cultural Similarities –
• many of the same types of foods are eaten – potatoes,
sausage are very important as is seafood.
• Many of the same crafts are practiced
• The Baltic Republics love dancing and music
• The traditional attire is colorful with decorations
The Baltic States today
• Because Russia did not invest much money and time into the
infrastructure of the Baltic Republics, industry could not produce
what the area needed. Today they are still working on improving
the infrastructure.
• By working hard to rebuild industry, cities like Warsaw, the
capital of Poland , are now major industrial centers.
•Tourism is one of the biggest contributors to greater economic
growth.
•The republics are now constitutional democracies and practice a
market economy.
Latvian Flag
Eastern Europe – Poland
• Inland Eastern Europe consists of Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,
Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.
• These areas have a mixture of western influence as well as Russian
influence.
• Most people are Orthodox Christians and some of the languages are
based on the Cyrillic or Russian alphabet.
• During the Soviet era these countries were controlled by communist
governments, however, today all of the countries, but Belarus, are
republics. Belarus is actually a dictatorship.
• The inland countries have struggled with their economies since the
collapse of the Soviet Union. Four of the six countries now have
thriving industrial centers.
• Prague, Kiev and Budapest are three of the most important cities in this
region because of their prosperity.
Czech
Flag
Eastern Europe – Inland
POLAND and the BALTIC REPUBLICS
• Conflict has ruled this region for generations. It was a dispute over
territory that led to the assassination of a leader that led to WWI.
• After WWI, European leaders changed property lines for the Baltic
as they combined some areas and divided others.
• The Balkan states are the most culturally diverse area of Europe.
• Mostly, Balkan countries are mostly Christian and belong to the
Orthodox Church. There are also Roman Catholic, Islamic and
Muslim religions practiced widely
• Most of the languages derive from the Slavic group and but there
is also Germanic and a Latin based language. Albanian language
is unlike any other language in the world. The Roma also have its
own unique language.
Romanian Flag
Eastern Europe –
Balkans
The Balkans Today
• Like the rest of Eastern Europe, the Balkan countries were
once ruled by the USSR and had communist governments.
When the Soviet Union fell, the countries were left poor
and with little infrastructure to work with.
• Ethnic cleansing has been strongest in this area.
•
The violence that raged in this region brought the world to
its aid and when the conflicts finally ended the Balkan area
was shared with nine newly divided countries: Albania,
Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia,
Montenegro, Romania and Bulgaria.
Eastern Europe –
Balkans