1. Window To The West  Late 1600’s CZAR Peter I (aka Peter the Great).  Wanted to modernize Russia  Enlarged its territory, acquired seaports along the Baltic Sea  Built the capital of St. Petersburg as a major port city

2. Karl Marx  Father of modern communism  Advocated two principles: public ownership of all land and means of production, and class society with equal wealth.  Prior to the revolutions of 1917, land ownership in Russia was solely that of the wealthy and the Czar.

3. USSR  Helped defeat Germany in World War II.  Set up communist “satellites” in eastern Europe.  Cold War  Ideological war  Perestrolka  1991

4. Chechnya  Oil and gas pipelines run through Chechen lands.  If Russia looses control of Chechnya, they loose control of this valuable resource.  In May 2000, President Vladimir Putin established direct rule to attempt to stop rebels who were fighting for Chechnya’s freedom

6. Crimea  2013 – Viktor Yanukovych  Broke ties with EU for agreement with Russia  Large protests  2014 Russian troops move into Crimea