Chapter 19—Central and Eastern Europe

• National identity: A people’s sense of what makes them a nation.

• Ghetto: A section of a city in which a particular minority group is forced to live.
• Holocaust: The execution of 6 million Jews in Nazi concentration camps during WW2.
• Velvet revolution: A revolution without bloodshed, which took place in Czechoslovakia during the late
1980s.
• Collective farm: A government-owned farm managed by workers who share the profits from their
produce.
• Privatization: The process of selling government-owned industries and businesses to private owners.
• Balkanize: To break up into small, mutually hostile political units, as occurred in the Balkans after WW1.
• Entrepreneur: A go-getter individual who starts and builds a business.
• Multiplier effect: The effect an investment has in multiplying related jobs throughout the economy.
• Annex: To formally incorporate into a country or state the territory of another.
• Diversify: To increase the variety of.

1. How did WW2 affect Poland’s cultural patterns (hint: Holocaust & Soviets)?
• Before WW2, Poland—multiethnic nation
• The Holocaust—“a fire that burns something completely”
o Today—no more than 9,000 Jews live in all of Poland—a nation once home to 3+ mil. Jews
o Nazis killed almost all of Poland’s Jews during WW2—sealed of Jewish ghettos and slaughtered
all the people, then burned it to the ground
o Nazis also built 6 of their infamous concentration camps in Poland—people from many nations
suffered horribly/were brutally murdered; majority who lost their lives were Poles
o War’s end—6 million Poles killed in concentration camps; half of them Jews
o In all—Nazis massacred 6+ million Jews across Europe
• Fleeing Soviet Control
o Soviets expanded Poland’s W. border into what once was Germany
o Millions of Poles fled from land seized by the former Soviet Union—Germans living in lands
given to Poland also fled
o Result—nearly everyone living in Poland today is Polish
2. How did the Polish people maintain their national identity during communism?
• Even though the former Soviet Union controlled Poland in the years following WW2, the Polish never
forgot their cultural heritage or gave up hope for reclaiming independence
• 1980s—launched independence movement to reclaim national identity
• Catholic church—unified the Poles a always, even when there was no Polish nation
3. What is Solidarity, and what role did it play in forcing reforms in the 1980s?
• Solidarity—independent Polish workers’ labor union
• Solidarity pressed for economic = democratic reform during a strike stage by shipyard workers that
gained worldwide recognition in 1980
• 1989—public opinion forced the 1st free elections in Poland in more than 40 years, + Solidarity
candidates won large majority of the votes
4. How has Poland achieved economic prosperity after communism?
• Changing from command to market economy
• W/diminished gov. control, prices for food + consumer products rose rapidly at 1st, and many epopel
became unemployed-by mid 1990s, economic growth was up, and the rise in unemployment had
slowed
• Today, Poland’s economy is still growing—need for agricultural production to increase + for mining and
heavy industry to become more competitive
5. When was Czechoslovakia created?
• 1918
6. Why was Czechoslovakia separated into 2 countries, and when?
• Slovaks felt that the Czech-dominated government didn’t serve their interests adequately—Czech and
Slovak leaders worked on a velvet divorce, creating 2 separate countries in 1993—the Czech and
Slovak republics
7. How have economic conditions in the Czech Republic changed since the 1980s?
• 1990s—privatization of the Czech economy began and continues today
• Sought membership in the EU, but this hasn’t been smooth
• Activation in 2000 of the Temelin nuclear power plant near Austria and Germany led to border
blockades by Austrian environmentalists
• Strong industrial base + skilled workforce—continued Czech progress likely
8. Describe Slovakia’s economy.
• Mixed economy of farming + manufacturing
• Farms
o Traditionally an agricultural region—fruits, vegetables, + grains still grown near the Danube—
oats + potatoes raised farther N. in higher elevations
o Communists ended private ownership of farms in 1948 and set up government-owned collective
farms
o Major task of government—finding ways of returning land to private ownership
• Factories
o Didn’t become important until Communists assumed power after WW2—built many new palnts
in the region
o Many Slovaks left farms and migrated to cities because wages in factories we better than in
rural areas
o Since independence, Slovaks have struggled to improve economy—although some industries
made successful transitions
o Tensions w/Hungary also high because former Slovak prime minister tried to repress
Hungarians living in Slovakia
9. What is culturally unique about the Hungarian population?
• About 90% of Hungarians—descended from the Magyars who settled the area in the late 800s
• Hungarians date the birth of their nation from the year 1000, the year the Pope crowned King Stephen
• Hungarians have tried to throw off foreign rulers—tried to oust a Soviet-backed Communist government
in 1956, but their revolt was crushed—not till 1990 were Hungarians able to freely elect their first non-
Communist government in over 40 years
10. What are Hungary’s physical characteristics, and what economic activities do they support?
• Eastern half of Danube river—consists of a broad plain known as the Great Alfold—regions fertile soil
has given Hungary the nickname the “breadbasket” of Europe
• Western half of Danube river—more hills, plateaus, and valleys—contains large deposits of bauxite,
coal, and iron ore that support Hungary’s aluminum + steel industries
11. What effect did privatization have on Hungary’s economy?
• Steady growth, declining inflation, + increased foreign investment all resulted
• 2000—average salaries + economic productivity had returned to 1990 levels
12. What caused the term “to balkanize” to evolve after WW1?
• Grew out of the complex cultural patterns + political geography of the Balkan Peninsula
13. How have Romania’s economic activities changed since the end of Communist rule?
• Broad plains + fertile soils along Danube, Carpathian Mts. hold many minerals
• Economic chaos, scarce energy, Soviet-style industrializationEntrepreneurs and investors have
made small fortunes selling soft drinks if Romania—through the multiplier effect, 11 new jobs have
been added to Romania’s economy for each job that the soft drink company created
14. What signs of economic growth can be seen in Bulgaria?
• Known as garden of E. Europe—warm summers, mild winters, fertile soils and plains
• Early 1990s—turned away from strict communism—now democratic
• Late 1990s—economy found new markets for its goods in W. countries—foreign companies made
investments
 • Millions of tourists came to the black Sea resorts, bringing w/them desperately needed foreign currency
—inflation levels dropped as the country’s currency was stabilized
15. Why does Albania feel threatened by their neighbors, and what policy have they pursued as a result of
that?
• People living in a small nation with a distinctive culture—felt threatened by neighbors—pursued
isolation
16. Why was Yugoslavia created?
• Yugoslavia created at the end of WW1—land of southern Slavs—2 dozen independent ethnic groups
lived, either intermixed or in jigsaw puzzle ethnic regions
17. Why do internal tensions continue to challenge the people of the Balkan nations?
• Common Slavic heritage didn’t produce unity
• Slovenia + Croatia—wealthy republics that were afraid of poverty
• Ethnic Croats, ethnic Serbs, and Muslims battled for power for 4 years—“ethnic cleansing”
18. Compare the Baltic states (environment & politics).
• Environment
o Flat terrain, covered w/ marshy lowlands + fertile low plains—humid continental climate
influenced by air that comes off the Baltic Sea—region experiences we, moderate winters +
summers
o Benefited from access to sea and trade routes
o Subject to frequent conquests by other powers
• Politics
o Former Soviet Union—most recent power to rule the Baltic sates
o Lithuania, Latvia, + Estonia—gained independence after WW1
o Soviet forces invaded the 3 states in 1939—soon annexed to the Soviet Union
o Soviet Republics—life was harsh, S.U. took advantage of their strategic location on the Baltic
Sea by establishing naval bases in all 3 Baltic nations
19. Create a graphic organizer over Belarus, Ukraine, & Moldova.
• Ukraine
o GDP per Capita (US $)—5,300; GDP Growth Rate—1.5%; Unemployment—2.3%
o Kiev (capital)—mother of Russia
o Kievan traders carried fur, honey, and farm products to the busy markets of Constantinople
o Foreign Domination
 Ukrainians remained Orthodox even though the Poles tried to establish Roman
Catholicism
 1700s—Russian rulers established authority over the region—four centuries of Russian
rule developed strong links between the nations
 Despite this, Ukrainian nationalism remained strong—unsuccessfully independent after a
Communist revolution broke out in Russian in 1917
o Under Soviet Rule
 Ukrainians often suffered from harsh government policies—beginning in the 1920s,
Soviet rulers forced farmers to give up their land and work on large state-run collective
farms—many people resisted by burning crops—government sized all grain, leaving
people to starve—5 to 8 million Ukrainians died in the famine—during WW2, the
Ukrainians welcomed invading Germans as liberators and plotted with them against the
Soviet Union
o Since Independence
 Great potential for development—50 million people, vast fertile plains, + huge coal
resources
 “breadbasket” of E. Europe—on the fertile steppe, farmers produce food that is exported
to Russian + other nearby nations
 Farmers—grow wheat, rye, barley, and potatoes—agriculture productive because
country lies in a region w/warm weather + adequate precipitation
 Chernozem—important for farm productivity; rich, black-earth soils called chernozem
that formed beneath the lush grasses that once covered the steppe
  Faces difficulties in industry—must import large quantities of natural gas + oil—much of
machinery is old _ obsolete—foreign + domestic investors reluctant to invest in Ukrainian
businesses b.cus they consider regulations + taxes imposed by the Ukrainian
government to be excessive
• Belarus
o N. of Ukraine—10 million people in an area about the size of Kansas
o Like Russians + Ukrainians—people mostly Slavic and have practiced Orthodox Christianity—
favored reestablishing close political + economic ties w/Russia
o 1996—Belarus + Russia signed a pact to form a “union state” that would strengthen political,
cultural, and economic ties.
o In subsequent years, additional treaties called for development of a single currency, a joint
defense policy, and other measures to integrate the 2 nations
o Economy depends mainly on industry + services—however, the nation must import most of the
raw materials needed to produce finished goods
o Has oil reserves + large deposits of potash, which is used to make fertilizer
o Suffered severely from the Chernobyl disaster—winds blew the radioactive cloud N.ward from
Ukraine—more than 1/5 of the country’s farmland was contaminated—people using this land
had to stop producing food
• Moldova
o 2nd smallest of the former Soviet republics
o Most densely populated, with more than 4 million people living in an area about the same size
as Maryland/Delaware combined
o Once a romaninan principality—most residents Romanian descent
o End of Soviet Union—Romanian became the language used in schools
o Despite strong ties, Moldova’s residents rejected to unify with Romania in 1994
o Hilly terrain slopes gradually in a S. direction toward the Black Sea—location + inviting terrain
have made it a historic route between Asia + S. Europe
o Subject to frequent invasions
o Soviet planners built up Moldova’s factories—although the economy still depends on exports of
wine, sugar beets, and seed oils.