Chapter 15

flag of the Soviet Union

Section 1

1. In post-Soviet Russia, the role of religion has changed from being illegal, to being very important and influential.

2. Russia's major ethnic groups are Russian, Turkic, Ukrainian, Uralic-Altic, Ossetian, Paleo-Siberian, and Caucasian.

creative writing: If I were a teen in Europe who wanted to persuade my parents that attending high school in the post-Soviet era is better than it was during the Soviet era, my essay would look something like this:

Dear Mama and Papa,
   I know that you attended high school during the soviet era, and you may believe that it was great. But the post-Soviet era that we now live in has provided an even greater education for me. This is because of the greater variety of subjects that I am being taught. You only learned about mathematics, engineering and science, and although these are very important, so is history, language, and literature! Without these, much of our humanity is lost, and where would we be without that?
   It is in my opinion that post-Soviet education is of higher quality than that of the Soviet era. Although you may disagree, stating that because of the Soviet Union, you now have a good paying engineering job, but I say, so do all of the other parents who grew up under Soviet rule. An entire generation was turned monochromatic, the same, with the same jobs and educations. but now, with a variety of subjects to master, my generation will flourish with color of varying educations and employments.
  This is why I believe that the quality of education in post-Soviet Russia is higher than it was in Soviet Russia.
   Thank you for your time, from your child,
   Akilina



map of major ethnic groups in Russia


Section 2
1. The ancient Slavs were the ancestors of the ethnic Russians.

2. The causes of the Soviet Union's collapse were the weakened economy, the Cold War, and  the disagreements between the privileges of the leaders, and the wages of the workers in the USSR.

creative writing:
   The United States played part in the downfall of the soviet union in Russia, although, it was also contributed to by the failing economy and disagreements of the wages and privileges of its people.
   As more people suffered under Soviet rule, the Soviet leaders went toe-to-toe with the U.S. and its allies. as both powers fought for international power and influence. Although both threatened to use nuclear weapons to destroy the other's land and sent used other countries' soldiers to fight a proxy war, the two sides used propaganda to get more people and nations on their side. Eventually, the soviets lost, and soon after the cold war, the soviet union fell apart, leaving individual countries to find their own political stand.