1. The Countries of Eastern Europe

3. Poland  200 years –Loss of identity  national identity—sense of what makes the people a nation  Controlled by Germany, former USSR –1980s independence movement

4. The Field Country  North European Plain –¾ is open field –Fertile soil  Carpathian Mountains –coal, sulfur, and copper

6. Holocaust  95% Roman Catholic  Jewish ghettos in Warsaw  Ghetto: An area where a minority is forced to live  6 death camps  6 million Poles killed, ½ were Jewish  9,000 Jews remain

7. Soviets  USSR took Poland, expanded border into Germany  Germans fled  Today, nearly everyone living in Poland is Polish

8. Catholic Church  Communism doesn’t allow religion  Catholic leaders worked out compromise with the Communist government leaders that allowed churches in Poland

9. End of Communism  End of communism didn’t bring instant prosperity to Poland  Converted state- controlled industries to private  Prices rose rapidly  Mid 90’s- economy stabilized

10. Czech Republic Slovakia Hungary

12. The Czech Republic  Pop.10 million  Vltava River  Plateaus and mountains  Separate ethnic group  Independent in1993

13. Path to Nationhood  Roman Empire ruled until 14 th century  400 years of rule under Austria  Czechoslovakia created in 1918 –Stable democratic government

14. Path to Nationhood Hitler took Czechoslovakia  Soviet control after WWII- Communism  1989-“velvet revolution”—a revolution without bloodshed  Vaclav Havel: transition to a free society and economy in 80’s  “velvet divorce”: created Czech and Slovak republics in 1993

15. Reform  Privatization of the Czech economy in 90’s  Privatization—is the process of selling government-owned industries and businesses to private owners who can run them more efficiently

16. Two Regions  West: Bohemia –Quartz –Prague - capitol  East: Moravia –Industrial and water pollution –Deforestation 56% of forests gone

17. Slovakia  Independent in 1993  Pop. 5 million  Ag region

18. Farms  Collective farms— workers paid by govt, shared profits from products  Still working to return land to private ownership

19. Hungary  95% Magyars  Roman Catholic  Have had a history of throwing off foreign rulers  1956—tried to overthrow the Soviet government!

21. Landscape  Size of Indiana  Danube River –“breadbasket of the world”

22. Free Enterprise  Difficulty after Communism  Privatization in 1990’s –New government system stable