Europe and the Russian Domain
- I. Aug 24 (W) - Political Economic History I
- II. Aug 29 (M): Political Economic History II and Geopolitcal Framework I
- III. Aug 31 (W) Geopolitical Framework II and Demographic Transitions
- IV. Sept 7 (W) Migration and Cultural Patterns and Environmental Change
- I. Sept 12 (M) The Former Soviet Union: Political Economic and Geopolitical History
- II. Sept 14 (W) The Geopolitical Framework, and Demography
- III. Sept 19 (M) Cultural and Environmental Issues and Eastern European Balkanization
Western Europe
- Define Tribute and Capitalist Economic Systems
- Identify the approximate time periods of Europe’s three forms of political economic organization since ~1500: Feudalism, Industrial Capitalism and Global Capitalism, as well as its expansionary eras of Mercantilism and Colonialism
- Define ‘enclosure,’ and explain its role in shifting Britain from a Feudal to Capitalist society
- Explain core-periphery relationships under industrial capitalism
- Describe the role of Europe’s “internal periphery” during the industrial capitalist era, and explain why Ireland and Spain became part of that periphery
- Explain core-periphery relationships under global capitalism
- Define the four industrial economic sectors, and identify Europe’s two fastest growing sectors today
- Explain how growth in these sectors is contributing to economic stratification, both within countries and between regions.
- Use the film on Liverpool to illustrate the kinds of jobs that were lost and gained with the shift from Industrial to Global Capitalism. Clarify who wins and loses, identifying the source of economic stratification within and between regions. Identify 2-3 of Liverpool’s “regional advantages” such that it has managed to thrive, whereas other regions such as Bootle, have not
- Differentiate “Social Welfare” from Capitalist and Socialist economic models and contrast a free market with a command economy
- Explain why Europe chose Social Welfare post-WWII, why it is difficult to maintain, and provide examples of how it is being dismantled
- Describe Europe's agricultural revolution Post WWII, explaining why intensification led to concentration and specialization
- Define “nationalism” and “sovereign state” and “irredentism”
- Define ‘nationalist separatism,’ and illustrate with the Carpatho-Rusyns case
- Contrast the geo-political structure of present-day France and Germany in 1648.
- Clarify when Germany began to industrialize and colonize. Explain why it lagged but was quick to catch up
- Describe Germany’s “local” geopolitical aspirations behind WWI and WWII, and identify 3 economically critical geopolitical losses that Germany incurred by the end of WWII
- Clarify when Germany was reunified and describe 2-3 difficulties Germany faced during reunification
- Identify where most European countries fit in a political economic spectrum, and recent shifts
- Clarify the role of monarchies in Europe
- Define supra-nationalism, providing examples of what states may “give up” to the supra-nation
- Identify and explain economic and political reasons for forming a common market
- Contrast Ireland and Spain’s economic role in the EU, clarifying the dominant economic sector to which they aspire and why one was able to succeed and the other less so
- Describe Germany’s strategy for economic success, clarifying the dominant economic sector to which it aspires, where it faces competition, why it has been able to succeed, and why the EU is increasingly irrelevant to its economic goals
- Explain why and how Europe chose to strengthen the union over time
- Identify 2 requirements to join the EU and explain 3 reasons why the EU might resist new members
- Explain why the EU is economically weak and clarify why it will be difficult to strengthen it
- Explain why the EU is politically weak and describe 2-3 issues that keep the EU from strengthening its union
- What is keeping the EU from falling apart?
- Draw the demographic transition cycle, including the theoretical BR and DR curves, and plot a country's actual demographic statistics on the graph
- Explain why, according to theory, Europe is in the fourth stage
- Italian Demographic Transition Film Questions
- Associate each stage with the shape of its population pyramid
- Draw Europe’s general population pyramid, and describe 2-3 economic and social implications of its shape
- Identify the main push and pull factors driving urbanization pre-1800, 1800-WWII, and post WWII, and link them to major political economic transitions in Europe
- Identify the predominant direction of emigration/immigration pre- and post-WWII, describe the main push and pull factors, and link them to major political economic transitions in Europe
- Identify the three major linguistic groups within Europe, and their general location
- Identify the general divide between Eastern and Western Christianity and Protestant/Catholic within Europe
- CSM article questions on Belgium
- Relate Europe’s demographic transition and economic history to periods of ethnic tolerance and conflict. Contrast American and European attitudes towards immigration.
- CSM article questions on multiculturalism
- Describe the relative strength of religion throughout Europe and how that impacts the development of the EU
- Identify 3 natural resource endowments that have contributed to Europe's economic success
- Describe the shift in Europe’s environmental pollution that has accompanied political economic change
- Describe 2-3 ways in which the development of the EU has strengthened environmental stewardship in the region
- Identify 3 environmental changes that are expected with continued global warming that will have significant economic implications in Europe
- Describe the EU’s “umbrella approach” to reducing green house gases and explain why it hasn’t worked
The Russian Domain
- Contrast Russian and European expansion – its purpose and geography
- Contrast Europe’s “enclosure” and Russia’s “emancipation,” and their subsequent urban labor pools
- Explain why Russia trailed Europe in joining the Industrial Revolution, and why it was state sponsored
- Describe the formation of the USSR’s national and republic boundaries, and identify the USSR on a map
- Identify when the USSR went fully socialist, and explain the system’s appeal at that time
- Explain why private property was banned (noting the exceptions), and how housing was distributed
- Explain why private enterprise and retail/trade was banned (noting the exceptions), and how goods were produced/distributed
- Define GOSPLAN, COMECON and TPKs, and contrast Europe and Russia’s core-periphery relationship with their colonies/republics
- In the industrial sector, describe the logic of “extensive economics,” and explain why it was chosen
- Contrast the organization of agricultural state collectives and cooperatives
- Identify when the USSR collapsed, and explain 2-3 reasons why the Soviet economy ultimately failed
- Vologda film questions
- Bratsk film questions
- Identify NATO and the Warsaw Pact on a map circa the 1980’s, and describe what they each represented
- Identify the former USSR on a map and highlight 2-3 economic and political implications of the devolution for Russia
- Describe the general structure of the political system within the USSR and explain how it was expected to restructure under Glasnost at the national level, and under the Commonwealth of Independent States at the international level
- Explain why the loss of the Ukraine was particularly difficult for Russia.
- Explain why the Ukraine might wish to distance itself from Russia, and why it might wish to accept Russia’s influence
- Clarify how Russia exerts its influence over the Ukraine, and others within the former USSR
- Identify the Russian Federation on a map, and argue whether it is best described as a nation or state
- Describe the general structure of its political system, as well as how the system has been modified through ‘managed democracy’
- Identify and describe 2-3 forces pulling the Federation apart
- Dagestan film questions
- Identify where Russia fits in the demographic transition cycle, and clarifying whether it substantiates theory. Identify additional forces that have influenced its demographic transition.
- Draw Russia’s population pyramid, and describe 2-3 social and economic implications of its shape
- Contrast the forces and relative strength of urbanization in the pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet eras
- Contrast the forces and direction of internal migrations in the pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet eras
- Identify Russia’s population distribution on a map, and explain how it reflects the above processes
- Identify the dominant language group and religion within the Russian Federation, and where significant pockets of Muslims reside
- Describe “russification” and its purpose, contrasting it against the ‘ideal’ communist treatment of culture
- Clarify why Russians are a poorly treated "minority" in the former Soviet republics
- CSM questions on how Orthodox Christianity survived the Soviet period
- Explain 2-3 reasons why Orthodox Christianity is on the rise today in the Russian Federation
- Use Armenia and South Ossetia to illustrate why Soviet-era boundaries have fostered modern geopolitical problems, and clarify whether these cases are nationalist or irredentist in nature
- Identify on a map the Black Earth Zone, highlighting what Russia lost with the breakup of the USSR
- Identify on a map the region’s 4 historically major oil regions, highlighting what Russia lost with the breakup of the USSR.
- Explain how the Caspian's Sea's designation as a "sea" or "inland lake" will impact Russia’s claim to oil
- Describe the state of the Russian Federation’s environmental stewardship, and relate that condition to its political economic history
- CSM Arctic questions
- Identify the basic affinity of most Balkan people, and the exception
- Identify the region’s three religions and where each dominates
- Define “Balkanization.” For the Kosovo case, clarify why they wanted to break away, why Serbia resisted, why “ethnic cleansing” occurred. Describe the current status.