Deck 5: Russia and the Near Abroad

Question 1

The Caucasus region, bordered by the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, lies to the southwest of Russia. ​

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The major groups of Slavs are the Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. ​

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Because of its 23,000 mile-long coastline, Russia faces little geographic impediments to its seaborne trade and power. ​

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Alcohol consumption is very high in Russia relative to other world countries.

Question 5

Natural resources are distributed evenly across Russia the Near Abroad, so one region has not become favored over another.  ​

Question 6

The Soviet Union's command economy system was an unqualified failure due to inefficient and unwieldy processes. ​

Question 7

Although Russia does have a large amount of arable land, it imports more food than it exports. ​

Question 8

Although Russia is much larger than the United States, the populations of the two countries are roughly equal. ​

Question 9

Russian is a Slavic language from the Indo-European family. ​

Question 10

Russia's Far East is a bustling coastline with three major cities and numerous shipping ports. ​

Question 11

Ukraine is ethnically divided in part due to Moscow's Russification efforts. ​

Question 12

Despite the large size of Russia and the Near Abroad, 75% of the people live in 20% of the total area known as the Fertile Triangle.

Question 13

The pervasiveness of organized crime and corruption in Russia's political and economic systems waste almost half of its GDP.

Question 14

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian population declined in response to wars and food shortages.

Question 15

Of the autonomies, the oblast have the greatest authority to self-rule. ​

Question 16

During the Bolshevik Revolution, Josef Stalin seized control of the government and executed Nicholas II and his family. ​

Question 17

The Russian Revolution of 1917 began as a protest against Russian losses during WWI and ultimately resulted in the overthrow of Nicholas II, the last of Romanov tsar. ​

Question 18

Until 1991, the region your book identifies as Russia and the Near Abroad, plus Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania made up the single communist country called the USSR. ​

Question 19

The Shanghai Pact is an agreement allowing free trade between Russia and China.

Question 20

The major climate type in the Russian region is subarctic, and the major biome is boreal forests.

Question 21

What caused Russia to move backwards in the demographic transition? ​

A)death rates increased and birth rates increased
B)birth rates decreased and death rates decreased
C)death rates rose and birth rates decreased
D)death rates decreased and birth rates increased
E)birth rates decreased and immigration decreased

Question 22

The "-stan" countries are to the south of Russia and provide a partial buffer between Russia and Asia. ​

Question 23

Considering their large Muslim populations, pastoral nomad traditions, and petroleum reserves, the central Asian countries are similar to the Middle East.

Question 24

What is one tactic Russia uses to achieve control over neighboring countries that have displeased Russian leaders? ​

A)It refuses to receive imports from opposing country.
B)It closes the Russian border to the opposing country.
C)It captures opposing leaders and sends them to prison camps.
D)It assassinates opposing leaders.
E)It cuts off or raises prices on natural gas to the opposing country.

Question 25

Victor Yushchenko became Ukraine's president after the Orange Revolution, which encouraged greater independence from Russia. ​

Question 26

What is a persuasive approach to international relations that relies on the use of diplomatic, cultural, or economic tools?

A)soft power
B)slow power
C)easement
D)inducement
E)complacency

Question 27

Despite fierce battles and substantial damage to manufacturing, urban areas, and infrastructure during World War II, Russia did not have a large number of casualties from the war. ​

Question 28

Muslim Ottoman Turks murdered approximately one million or more Christian Armenians during World War I. ​

Question 29

Moscow was once known as the "Third Rome" because of its importance in which religion? ​

A)Judaism
B)Islam
C)Buddhism
D)Hinduism
E)Christianity

Question 30

What type of political division (subject)within Russia has a degree of self-governance? ​

A)Commonwealth of Independent States
B)Autonomies
C)Crimeans
D)Unions
E)Localities

Question 31

The permafrost areas of Russia are one of the few areas that would not be affected by global warming due to the cold conditions that prevail yearlong at this high latitude.
​

Question 32

Which Soviet leader introduced new policies of glasnost and perestroika to allow a more democratic political system?

A)Gorbachev
B)Putin
C)Lenin
D)Stalin
E)Yeltsin

Question 33

Which autonomous unit has the right to establish its own official languages and constitutions and pass laws that may conflict with the federal government? ​

A)Sacred Spaces
B)Okrugs
C)Oblasts
D)Republics
E)Altairs

Question 34

One of the most important rivers in Russia is the Volga, which carries freight, provides, irrigation, and supplies hydroelectric power. ​

Question 35

The seventy-five years following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 saw a resurgence in state support for the Orthodox Church and other religions. ​

Question 36

The Russian cross is a formidable symbol carried into battle by the Bolsheviks.

Question 37

Which agreement was intended to protect the independence and sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine from threats or use of force of territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine? ​

A)Operation Barbarossa
B)Warsaw Pact
C)Kiev Accord
D)Minsk Protocol
E)Budapest Memorandum

Question 38

The most important area of crop and livestock production in Russia and the Near Abroad is the black-earth belt. ​

Question 39

What does the term "loose nukes" refer to? ​

A)the attitude of Russia about using nuclear weapons
B)selling of nuclear information to foreign sources by Russian scientists
C)the smuggled radioactive material stolen from Russian nuclear facilities
D)the brain drain of nuclear scientists after ether fall of communism
E)terrorist organizations with nuclear capabilities

Question 40

What is the largest danger to the Russian economy? ​

A)effects of global warming
B)excessive dependence on imports of natural resources
C)high percentage of income used to fund the military
D)excessive dependence on exports of natural resources
E)high unemployment

Question 41

Who was the Russian leader that defeated the Swedes under Charles XII to gain a foothold on the Baltic Sea, where he established Saint Petersburg as Russia's capital and its "Window on the West"? ​

A)Peter the Great
B)Catherine the Great
C)Ivan the Terrible
D)Ivan the Great
E)Genghis Khan

Question 42

Victims of __________ __________ are coerced or lured into foreign countries and then forced to work as prostitutes.

Question 43

Which city was the site of the most ferocious battle on World War II's eastern front?  ​

A)Stalingrad (Volgograd)
B)Saint Petersburg
C)Moscow
D)Kiev
E)Leningrad

Question 44

Developing central Asian agriculture required significant diversions of water. Which body of water has lost 90% of its surface area and 80% of its volume since 1950? ​

A)the Black Sea
B)the Baltic Sea
C)Lake Baikal
D)the Dead Sea
E)the Aral Sea

Question 45

In the communist philosophical system, industrial working class people were collectively called members of the __________. ​

Question 46

Who led the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917?

A)Stalin
B)Lenin
C)Tsar Nicholas II
D)Catherine the Great
E)Putin

Question 47

In Tsarist and Soviet times, Russians tried to assert power by implementing a policy called __________, which attempted to implant Russian culture and language in non-Russian regions and to make non-Russians more like Russians. ​

Question 48

Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia make up the __________ region. ​

Question 49

Peasant landholdings in the Soviet Union were confiscated and reorganized under the _____ agricultural system.

A)orthodox
B)apostolic
C)indoctrinate
D)collectivized
E)consolidated

Question 50

Russian forces often employed a defensive tactic know as ______ _______, where all resources, including crops, roads, and buildings, were destroyed as the opposing army advanced to protect the motherland. ​

Question 51

Russia's historical center of power is the __________, a building in Moscow. ​

Question 52

_________ were peasant soldiers of the steppes who originally were runaway serfs and others fleeing from the rule of the tsars. ​

Question 53

Russians called the Kazan Tatars the _______ ________, after the brightly colored tents in which they lived. ​

Question 54

The industrial and agricultural hub that encompasses western Russia, northern Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova is called the __________ __________. ​

Question 55

Which philosopher formulated the economic and social ideals of communism?

A)Karl Marx
B)Karl Popper
C)Josef Stalin
D)Adolf Hitler
E)Vladimir Lenin

Question 56

The tundra and subarctic zones in Russia and the Near Abroad are permanently frozen to a depth of three meters. What is this permanently frozen layer called? ​

A)spodosol
B)podzols
C)permafrost
D)mollisol
E)chernozem

Question 57

A __________ __________ is a prolonged ethno-political dispute that has not evolved into all-out war. ​

Question 58

What is the primary conflict in the central Asian "-stan" countries about? ​

A)Russification
B)de-Russification
C)quality of life
D)routes of oil pipelines
E)water

Question 59

In communist philosophy, the capitalist class is collectively called by what name? ​

A)barbarossa
B)proletariat
C)holodomor
D)​​ bourgeoisie
E)moyenne

Question 60

What was the Cold War?

A)the stalemate between Japan and Russia over control of the Kuril Islands
B)the Soviet's withholding of oil and natural gas exports during the winter of 1953
C)a geopolitical struggle between the Soviets and the West for allegiance of newly independent countries in the aftermath of WWII
D)a long-standing skirmishes among the different ethnic groups in Siberia
E)Napoleon's invasion of Russia during the winter

Question 61

Russia and Ukraine have a strained history involving tensions over the control of the Crimean Peninsula and Ukrainian independence. How did Josef Stalin's actions in the 1930s affect current relations? ​

Question 62

What led to the classification of the Soviet Union as a "misdeveloped" country? ​

Question 63

Russia and then the Soviet Union repeatedly triumphed over powerful invaders, often losing territory and battles early on, but eventually inflicting a crushing and decisive defeat to invaders. What are four reasons for their success? ​

Question 64

What were Soviet citizens complaints with the command economy system prior to the Second Russian Revolution? ​

Question 65

Why have the Chechens long resisted Russian rule, and what actions has Russia taken under Putin to gain control of Chechnya?

Question 68

What does it mean to have a command economy, and what were two ways in which it proved inefficient and unwieldy? ​

Question 69

What were the problems with the rapid replacement (economic shock therapy)of the command economy with the free-market economy after the Second Russian Revolution? ​

Question 70

Why do many countries feel Russia's supply of oil and natural gas to be unreliable?  ​

Question 72

Explain why the neighboring countries of Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic communications and closed borders. ​

Question 74

Give three reasons Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula are strategically important to Russia.