Soviet Union - Rise & Fall

The Rise & Fall of the Soviet Union

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

A Quick Review:

​Pull up the Highlighting Activity (HW) & let's get ready to review the Soviet Union!

Multiple Choice

What is the full name of the USSR or Soviet Union?

• Union of Special Socialist Republics

• Union of Special States & Republics

• United Soviet States & Republics

• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Multiple Choice

Who led the Communists in the Revolution of 1917?

• Stalin

• Lenin

• Gorbachev

• Czar Nicholas

Multiple Select

What sparked the Communist revolution? Check all that apply.

• Food Shortages

• Arab Spring Protests

• Failure in WWI

• Invasion by the Chinese & Koreans

Multiple Choice

True or False: The Soviet Union was the largest country that ever existed.

• True

• False

​What was the Soviet Union?

• The first nation to adopt the economic system known as communism.

• Under communism there is no private ownership and the economy is planned by the central government.​

• ​Every one is supposed to get their fair share of the country's wealth.

• ​The Soviet Union lasted from 1922, until it's collapse in 1991, at it's height it consisted of 15 Republics, now 15 independent nations.

• Leader of the Bolshevik Party

• Led Communist Revolution

• First Communist Leader of Russia​​

Vladimir Lenin​

• Dictator from 1929-1953

• One of the most cruel & brutal rulers in history.

• Killed 10 million of his own people.

• Established the Gulag prison network in Siberia for political opponents.

​

Joseph Stalin​

​

​Anyone not in compliance with the Soviet values and challenged the communist government was sentenced to a prison work camp, known as the Gulag. Many prisoners died working in Siberia to build Soviet infrastructure (roads, railroads, and coal mines.) Most of Siberia's infrastructure was built by slave laborers.

​

Gulag

Prison Camps

Multiple Choice

What kind of government/economic system did the Soviets set up in territory(Eastern Europe) that they gained during WWII?

• Democratic/

  Capitalist

• Democratic/

  Socialist

• Communist/

  Authoritarian

  (Autocracy)

• While the U.S. and Soviet Union were allies fighting against the Nazis, a division quickly set in following WWII.

• The Soviets mistrusted the U.S. after finding out about the Atomic Bomb after the fact.

• 2 Alliances develop as a result: Western nations formed NATO and supported capitalism and democracy; Eastern nations formed the Warsaw pact and supported Communism and totalitarianism.​

​Cold War Divisions​

​Marshall Plan

• The Marshall Plan was an aid package to help rebuild Europe following WWII.

• Only democratic nations could receive Marshall Plan aid.

• Since most of Eastern Europe had authoritarian pro-communist governments and were part of the Warsaw Pact alliance, they were helped by the Soviet Union and received no aid from the Marshall plan​.

​While western European nations quickly recovered, the East suffered. A wealth gap developed between Eastern and Western European nations that in many ways is still visible today.

​

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​Wealth Gap:

East & West

Multiple Select

In which of the following areas did the East and the West compete during the Cold War? Check all that apply.

• Space Exploration

• Nuclear Weapons

• Food Production

• Healthcare

• Winston Churchill of the UK coined the phrase "Iron Curtain" to describe the division in Europe during the Cold War between the East and West.

• The curtain served as a way to contain communism but to also isolate the Soviets. Fear and mistrust would build among both camps during Cold War.​

Iron Curtain​

Multiple Choice

 

Which leader brings about reforms to build a stronger economy(Perestroika) and freer society(Glasnost)?

• Joseph Stalin

• Vladimir Putin

• Vladimir Lenin

• Mikhail Gorbachev

• Under the reform of Perestroika private ownership and foreign investment would be allowed.

• Under the reform of Glasnost, greater media freedom and free speech would be less censored.

• The "Cold" relationship between would begin to thaw and the iron curtain was coming down.​

​Glasnost and Perestroika​

We are going to watch this Russian commercial for Pizza Hut.

Try to think about how the young and old Russians feel about the reforms.​

Pizza Hut comes to Russia for the first time...