The
ancestors of modern day Russians are Slavs. The first record
of the Slavs can be traced back as far as the fifth and sixth
century. Russia was called "Kievan Rus" during the
rule of Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) in the 11th
century. Under Yaroslav, Russia became the largest European
state stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the northwest,
to the Black Sea coast and the lower Danube in the south, and
from the Carpathian Mountains in the west, to the upper Volga
in the east. Yaroslav developed an education system and revised
the first Russian law code.
During
the 13th century, the Mongol state, also known as the Tatars,
appeared in Central Asia. In 1223, the Tatar's armies led by
Genghis Khan invaded the southeast and conquered Siberia, China,
central Asia, and the Caucasus. After Genghis Khan's death
in 1237, the Tatars led by his grandson Batu Khan, began their
second westward expansion into Russia. Over the course of three
years, the Russians defended their homeland. However, the Tatar's
well-armed armies overwhelmed the Russians and finally established
rule in the 1250s.
In
the second half of the 14th century, the Russians stopped carrying
out the Tatar's orders. On September 8, 1380, Russians led
by Grand Duke Dmitri Ivanovich fought and won the battle against
the Tatar's armies on Kulikovo Field. Tatar's power came to
an end a hundred years later, during the rule of Ivan III (1462-1505).
In 1480, Ivan III established Russia's national independence
and Kievan Rus became known as Russia. Under the rule of Ivan
III's son, Vasily III (1505-1533), all the lands of Russia
were finally unified. They formed a new united state, and the
feudal wars ended.
Ivan
IV, also known as "Ivan the Terrible", was the first
ruler to be crowned tsar (emperor). Under his rule the Kazan
and Astrakhan Khannates were conquered. As a result, the Volga
region, western Siberia, and Urals became a part of Russia's
territory. After the death of Ivan IV came a period known as
the "Time of Troubles." During this period, one tsar
was quickly replaced by another. Taking advantage of the problems,
the Poles attacked and conquered Moscow in 1610. However, a
popular movement led by Kouzma Minnin and Duke Dmitri Pozharsky,
saved the country. After several bloody battles, Moscow was
liberated. In 1613, the State Council was assembled and they
elected Mikhail Romanov as the new tsar.
In
1689, 17 year-old Tsar Peter (1672-1725) inherited the throne
and introduced many reforms into Russia. He built metal works
that enabled Russia to produce its own arms and started a textile
industry. He divided the country into provinces headed by governors
that were responsible for tax collection, the armed forces,
and public order. Peter also introduced new schools and textbooks
on various subjects and opened an Academy of Science. Peter
later became known as "Peter
the Great." The Russian Empire made great advancements during the reign
of Catherine II (1729-1796). The empress introduced limited freedom of speech,
and a liberal press appeared. In 1773, a massive peasant rebellion led by Emelyan
Pugachev swept through Russia.
It was the greatest popular revolt in Europe.
At
the beginning of the 19th century, Emperor Napoleon Banoparte
of France invaded Russia but was defeated. In the latter half
of the 19th century, Russia gradually transformed from a feudal
society to a capitalist industrial power. Food, textiles, and
machine-producing industries all flourished. Railroad construction
expanded on a massive scale in the period 1860-1890. By the
end of the century, the Siberian main line connecting western
Russia with the Far East had been completed.
In
1881, Tsar Alexander II was assassinated by the Narodnaya Volya
("People's
Freedom"). Alexander III (1845-1894) inherited the throne as the new tsar
and established a savage regime. The leaders of Narodnaya Volya were put to death.
Nevertheless, workers' disturbances continued, and the first workers' unions
were established. In 1890s, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924) began his revolutionary
activities in Russia and in 1903 founded the Communist Party. In 1894, the new
tsar Nicholas II (1868-1917) came to the throne. In the summer of 1914, World
War I broke out. Russia, along with Britain and France, was drawn into a vast
and lengthy war against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
In
1918 a bloody Civil War broke out. The Communists ("Red")
and monarchists
("White") fought for control of Russia. The Communists eventually triumphed
under the leadership of Lenin and Leon Trotsky in 1922 when the last foreign
troops evacuated. After the November 1917 Revolution and civil war, the former
empire was divided into several independent socialist republics. In 1922, representatives
of four republics, Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia (now call Belarus), and Transcaucasia
(now Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) signed a declaration forming the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During the 1930s, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan joined the USSR. The Baltic states (Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania) were incorporated by the USSR in 1940 at the beginning of
World War II.
From
1920 to 1940, great improvement was made toward education.
Almost 50 million men and women became literate. In 1930, universal
primary education was introduced. Russia was also the first
country in the world to introduce free health care to all citizens.
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. Six months
later, German troops occupied half of the west of the Soviet
Union. The Russians counter-attacked and eventually drove the
German troops from Russia in 1944, and captured Berlin on May
1, 1945.
In
1953, Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) became general secretary.
Thousands of innocent people who had been jailed were set free.
The country made some outstanding achievements, including the
launching of the first artificial satellite, the first nuclear
power station, and the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. In
1964, as a result of internal politics, Khrushchev was removed
from power.
In
1985, the new general secretary Mikhail S. Gorbachev (b 1931)
tried
to
save the Party and the country with widespread reforms. He
was the first and the last
president of the USSR. In August 1991, The USSR slit up into 15 independent
countries: the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,
Belarus, Ukraine, Moldavia,
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Currently,
the various countries cooperate under the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS).
Climate
Russia
has a largely continental climate due to its massive size.
Most regions experience six months of continuous snow. Consequently,
no part of the country has a year-round growing season. In
the northern artic and sub-artic zones, the average winter
temperature is minus 58 degree F. By complete contrast, in
the south and the Caucasus, summer temperatures can reach 110
degree F. Western Russia has a typical continental climate
of hot summers (up to 86 degree F) and cold winters (minus
13 degree F). The Russian year is clearly divided into four
seasons that sharply differ from each other - winter, spring,
summer, and fall.
The
winter months of December, January, and February have frosts,
ice, and snowstorms. During this season, the earth is blanketed
in white snow and ice. The
winter is particularly long in the north where the land
is washed by the Arctic Ocean. Much of this region is almost
perpetually ice-bound. Average days of snow cover vary
from 60 to 80 days in the South and from 260 to 280 days
in the Far North. The Far East experiences permafrost during
most of winter. For this reason, buildings must be constructed
on pilings and machinery must be made of specially tempered
steel.
In
the north, the winter lasts seven to eight months of the year.
During this period it is dark and cold, with raging snowstorms
and blizzards. The boundless deserts are blanketed with snow;
the bare forests, the cold and emptiness, are a terrible and
unusual sight. Spring begins in March and lasts through April
and May. This is the time when the first flowers appear from
under the snow; they are called snowdrops. The
ice on the rivers begins to melt and break up, turning into rivulets of water
that run along the streets in the towns and flow into the meadows and fields
in the countryside.
Spring
is followed by the summer months - June, July, and August.
Everything blooms, thrives and bears fruit. Summer is hot in
the south and relatively warm elsewhere. Average temperatures
range from 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the European region.
Drought often occurs in early, middle, and late summer.
Fall
is considered the most beautiful time of the year, called "golden
autumn", because the forest leaves turn golden red.
Particularly beautiful are the maple trees, whose leaves
acquire a golden and bright red tinge. In November, the
trees shed their leaves leaving only their bare branches.
The ocean has little affect on the climate of Russia due to high mountains
along the country's southern border. Therefore, the country receives low
to moderate amounts of precipitation during the year. Rainfall is highest
in the westerly mountain regions with an average annual precipitation of
79 inches and decreases toward the southeast. The wettest areas are the
small, lush subtropical regions adjacent to the Caucasus and along the
Pacific coast.
Education
During
most of the Soviet period, the government tightly controlled
the education system. Schools emphasized skill building and
teaching of the Communist ideology, and teachers were expected
to both educate students and shape their personalities to the
Communist ideal. The number permitted to study a given profession
was determined by official estimates of the number of graduates
the profession will need. Private schools and publishing were
also prohibited.
In 1992, Russia adopted a new education law that legalized private schools and
home schooling. This law also gave educators the right to choose their own
textbooks and to determine other aspects of instruction. Private publishing
has expanded rapidly, although new textbooks are still not widely available.
Russia
has inherited a comprehensive system of education from
the Soviet period, with an extensive network of
preschool, elementary, secondary, and higher education
institutions. Children have to attend school six days
a week, Monday to Saturday. The school year begins in
September and ends in May. It is divided into four terms,
with vacations of up to two weeks between the terms.
Preschool begins with children five years old and is
optional. Education is required and free beginning at
age 6, when children enter primary school for grades
one to four. Intermediate education begins with grade
five and continues through grade nine. Children can then
enter upper-level schools or vocational-technical programs. Undergraduate
training in higher education institutions generally involves
a four to five year course of study, after which students may enroll in
a one to three year program of graduate training. Vocational schools consist
of general education mixed with technical training and some on-the-job
experience.
Religion
"Church
of the Spilled Blood"
The
major religion of Russia is Russian Orthodox Christianity.
About one-fourth of the population belongs to the Russian
Orthodox Church and members are dispersed throughout
the country. However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers
do not attend church on a regular basis. Nonetheless,
the church is widely respected by both Russian believers
and nonbelievers, who see it as a symbol of Russian heritage
and culture. The state officially observes Orthodox holidays
and many politicians attend major church festivals.
Muslims form the second largest religious group in Russia. They are concentrated
mostly in the ethnic republics of Chuvashia and Bashkortostan in the
middle Volga region, and in the republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and
Alania, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Dagestan.
Buddhists
live chiefly in the republic of Buryatia and Tyva on the Russian
border with Mongolia and in Kalmykia on the northwest shore
of the Caspian Sea.
Despite
the re-emergence of traditional religions, most Russians do
not adhere strictly to a single belief. Instead, they combine
traditional faiths with other alternative beliefs. Witchcraft
and astrology are popular, especially among young people. Russians
have also turned to numerous new beliefs, sects, and religious
denominations. Foreign missionaries and other proselytizers
have introduced a wide variety of religious beliefs and New
Age philosophies.
Lifestyle
Lifestyles
of the urban and village populations in Russia differ sharply
and are greatly dependant on their income levels. For Russia's
poor, life is a daily grind of survival and many people spend
hours each day selling their belongings or other goods on the
street
The
clothes worn by urban folk are of international style. Men
usually wear European style jackets, trousers, shirts, and
ties. Women wear dresses or blouses with skirts or slacks.
The work schedule dominates people's daily routine in the cities.
On workdays, household chores are done when time permits, and
most are done over the weekend. The norm in Russia is a five-day
workweek with two days off, usually Saturday and Sunday. One
of the days off is devoted to household affairs and the other
is usually spent on entertainment, walks in a local park, or
visits to the cinema, theater, museum, parents, or friends.
In the summer, Russians usually try to go on vacation to enjoy
the warmth of the northern sun and admire Russia's flowers,
green forests, and meadows.
Life is quite different in the countryside. Village life still depends on the
cycle of the season and the traditional work like sowing and harvesting,
grazing the cattle, plowing, haymaking, hunting, and collecting fruits. In
the winter months, Russians rest after the hard work done in the fall. In
the summer, they like to go swimming in their local river or lake, or go
mushroom and berry picking in the forest.
Food
All
Russian tables are laid out to include a plate of bread,
salt, pepper, and mustard. Russians generally eat three
meals a day. The morning meal typically includes buckwheat
pancakes, porridge served with sour cream and cheese, although
some Russians eat only bread and tea for breakfast. Dinner
is served in the afternoon and is the main meal of the
day. It often begins with soup, which is made from beets
and served with sour cream. It may also begin with appetizers
such as salted fish, cold meats, bard-boiled eggs, and
caviar. The main course is served hot and typically made
with beef, pork, or chicken. Popular dishes include meat
or
vegetable-filled
pasta accompanied by sour cream, and cubed or sliced beef in
a sour cream sauce over noodles. The evening meal usually consists
only of tea and appetizers. In addition to tea, coffee and
seltzer are popular beverages, and vodka and beer are extremely
popular alcoholic drinks.
Pie is another traditional Russian national dish. Russian pies are comparatively
small, elongated, and consist of a filling covered with pastry and baked
in the oven. The pastry for the pies may be leavened or unleavened, and the
fillings may differ to include cabbages, peas, turnips, carrots, potatoes,
spring onions, mushrooms, meat, fish.
Holidays
On
certain popular holidays, the singing of ditties called chastushkas
is a prominent feature of Russian country festivals and parties.
In certain parts of rural Russia they still remain popular.
A chastushka is a verse of four lines sung in a dance rhythm
to the accompaniment of a balalaika (a stringed instrument
similar to a guitar) or Russian accordion.
The
song is usually a humorous improvisation on recent local news,
in which two performers compete with each other
to the general merriment and encouraging applause of the listeners.
Both men and woman participate.
New
Year is celebrated with much vigor in Russia. Many celebrate
it twice a year on January 1 and 14, which corresponds to January
1 in the Julian calendar. The celebration includes a brightly
decorated Christmas tree and the exchanging of New Year gifts
followed by a hearty dinner. According to tradition, an abundant
meal signifies an abundant New Year.
Another
popular holiday, Shrovetide, called Butter Week in Russia,
occurs the day before Ash Wednesday. People sit down to
a festive meal because it is traditionally the last chance
to feast before the fasting period of Lent. The highlight
of this holiday is the eating of bliny (pancakes), a symbol
of Yarilo, the ancient pagan sun-god. It is also a time
to announce the coming of spring. June 12 is Russia's Independence
Day. It commemorates the adoption in 1991 of the Declaration
of Sovereignty of the Russian Federation. Other popular
holidays include Christmas, celebrated on January 7, and
Easter.
Typical
Russians singing traditional songs
Bibliography
Torchinsky,
Oleg: Cultures of The World: Russia, Marshall Cavendish
Corporation, New York, 1996
"Russia," Microsoft
Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. 1993-1999, Microsoft Corporation
The
Russian Century: A Photographic History
of Russia's 100 Years
By:
Brian Moynahan
Publisher:Barnes & Noble
Books, 1999
Revealing
a history largely hidden from the outside world,
the images in this book often startle with
their ironic contrasts. Guests at a lavish
1914 banquet and unemployed men in a St. Petersburg
soup kitchen confront each other in photos
on facing pages; young Svetlana Stalin sits
perched on the knee of her father's trusted
executioner Lavrenti Beria; a professional
Lenin look alike drinks casually in one of
Moscow's modern strip clubs. Published for
the first time, these photos document Russia's
tumultuous 20th century--a hundred years of
oppression and disillusionment, revolutions
and coups, and the birth and death of countless
dreams. From the last days of the tsars to
the Bolshevik Revolution, from the ravages
of world war to the rampages of cold war, and
from the collapse of communism to the breakup
of the Soviet Union, here are the dramatic
stories of peasants and plotters, politicians
and princes, artists and extremists--told against
the backdrop of the most expansive, excessive,
and exotic country on Earth.
This
stunning photographic record covers the last
century of Russian history, a century wracked
by dizzying changes and cataclysmic events:
wars, revolutions, purges, totalitarianism,
and the sudden giddy joys of freedom. In these
pictures you will see the contrast between
the opulent world of the nobility and the hunger,
disease, and poverty of peasant life. Portraits
of anonymous soldiers, workers, children, and
grandmothers are set alongside those of well-known
Russian figures, from Nicholas II, Rasputin,
and Alexander Solzhenitsyn to Nikita Khrushchev,
Yuri Gagarin, and Boris Yeltsin. Here are vivid
images of the 1917 revolution, life under Stalin,
the Cold War, glasnost, and the chaos of modern
Russia--a tapestry woven from the dramatic
moments of history and the ordinary details
of everyday life.
The
Endless Steppe: Growing up in Siberia
By:Esther
Hautzig
Publisher:
HarperCollins Children's Books , 1995
It
is June 1941. The Rudomin family has been arrested
by the Russians. They are capitalists-enemies
of the people. Forced from their home and friends
in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded
cattle cars. Their destination: the endless
steppe of Siberia.
For five years, Esther and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields and
working in the mines, struggling for enough food and clothing to stay alive.
Only the strength of family sustains them and gives them hope for the future.
Baboushka:
A Christmas Folktale from Russia
Retold
by: Arthur Scholey
Publisher:
Candlewick Press, 2001
"Everyone
in the village is talking about the bright star in
the night sky, but Baboushka is too busy cleaning
her home to be bothered with the speculations-at
least until a trio of strangers arrived at her doorstep
with news of a miracle. The three kings ask Baboushka
for a place to stay and she offers them a warm bed
and a sumptuous feast. In return they tell her of
the newborn king whom they hope to find by following
the star. They invite her to come along, but she
makes excuses saying that there is too much work
to be done. After they depart, she reconsiders and
begins to clean the toys left by the death of her
son so that she might offer them as a gift to the
new baby. She sets out to follow them, only to discover
that she's too late. And so it is that Baboushka
travels the world looking for that child and leaving
a gift wherever she finds one.
Hannah's
Journal: The Story of an Immigrant Girl
By:
Marissa Moss
Publisher:
Harcourt, 2000
Gr
3-5-Hannah, 10, is a Russian Jew who leaves home
for America with her 14-year-old cousin Esther in
1901. From the start, the journey is fraught with
complications. Since Esther was originally supposed
to travel with 16-year-old Rivka, who died of influenza,
the two girls must assume different identities to
match the already obtained passports. After a perilous
trip filled with intolerable sanitary conditions,
storms, and other discomforts, Esther, Hannah, and
their new friend Samuel arrive on Ellis Island only
to spend an agonizing month waiting for officials
to locate their sponsor. Finally, he is found and
they begin their new life in New York..
Aman:
The Story of a Somali Girl
By:
Virginia Lee Barnes, Janice Boddy
Publisher:
Random House, Incorporated, 1995
An
extraordinary first-person account of a young woman's
coming of age in Somalia during the 1950s and 1960s.
Aman is an instantly recognizable story of a girl
who struggles against the obligations and strictures
of family and society. Aman gives a portrait of herself
as fiercely devoted to her family and culture yet
searching for a better life. By the time she is eight,
she has undergone a ritual clitoridectomy. At eleven
her innocent romance with a white boy leads to a
murder. At thirteen she is given away in an arranged
marriage to a stranger who attempts to deflower her
with a knife. She runs away to the city, where her
beauty and rebelliousness lead her to the rich, decadent
demimonde of white colonialists. Unflinchingly honest
in the telling of her story, Aman emerges as a woman
capable of both generosity and selfishness, love
and cruelty. Hers is an astonishing history, engagingly
- and necessarily - concerned with the role of women
in tribal societies, female circumcision, the vicissitudes
of colonialism, and the quest for female self-awareness.
Contribution
by:
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CENTER
21 South River Street Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: (717) 236-1523 Fax: (717) 236-3821
Email: isc1976@aol.com http://hometown.aol.com/isc1976
This
handout was prepared to accompany a workshop by Almira C. Rzehak
presented December 8, 2000 at the PA Department of Education.
Ms. Rzehak is a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina where she
was a professor of philosophy and sociology at the
University
of Sarajevo. Since coming to the United States, Ms. Rzehak
has been a journalist, teacher, and cultural consultant.
She
currently lives in Hershey, PA.
Administration Building, 4900 Curry Road,
Pittsburgh, PA 15236
