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Russia did have much effect on the world, just not United States...
Until about 1850 Russia was arguably the most powerful nation in the world and played a key role in defeating Napoleon. It occupied on fifth of the world's land surface, from central Europe to California. In 1850s Russia fought against a coalition of other countries including UK, France, Ottoman Empire and others.
When? World wide slave trade ended in 1810 IIRC. Anyway, Russia didn't need slaves because it had millions of peasants that had almost as few rights as slaves in America.
Their economy was based on agriculture. Russia was a large exporter of grain. The society consisted largely of wealthy landowners, poor serfs (peasants), and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Their government was the Czar, who had unrestricted power. I don't think there are any monarchies like that left anywhere today.
PS: Damn, slowlane got here ahead of me. GJ slowlane.
Ok, I'm not sure how this extra quote got in here...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMarbles
Alexander the Great was Greek (or Macedonian to be accurate). Not Russian. Maybe you meant Alexander Nevsky?
Serfs were different from emplyees of today's corporations in that they had no freedom to move or change employer. They were bound to the land. They had very few rights. Landowners could even beat them as punishment. In Russia it was like that until 1867 when they were emancipated by the Czar.
I always thought Alexander or Alexandria the great, was a Russian....you know the guy in the painting you always see riding the horse doing a wheeling, with the cape on...let me see if I can find a image of it...a very famous painting...
Well I can't find it, but it's a painting of a guy, I always thought was Alexandria the great, on a horse, the horse is mounted on two legs, and he, the rider, has a cape on, and a sword in the air, it's an oil painting...
Look how large the old Soviet Union use to be...I mean they like owned or controlled the bulk of the realistate on the planet...you could fit like 5 United States inside of The Soviet Union back then...
If indeed this is the Soviet Union Hitler tried to take on, what the heck was he thinking?
Another thing that amazes me is that all of this was started by disgruntal college students....from what I read, Lenin (the bald one) was in or dropped out of college, when he started this whole Bolsheviks movement...it would be like Tim Tebow, from the Florida state Gators, rising to power, and expanding The United states to Canada and all of South America....
Russia just kinda reminds me of the late Rodney Dangerfield, for as big and massive as they were, and what they did during the space era, satelite in space and all (poor dog, may you rest in peace), they just don't seem to get any respect...or like Dangerfield said 'No respect I tell ya, no respect'....
Interesting. A couple of things, though:
1. That map is a Mercator projection which distorts near the poles. They way to tell is by comparing Greenland to South America - Greenland should be much smaller, about 1/3 the size of S. America. Anyway, Soviet Union was large but not THAT large.
2. Soviet Union, despite its size, was relatively sparsely populated. Much of the land is uninhabited because it is either too cold or too dry.
That said, Hitler did indeed miscalculate by deciding to attack Soviet Union.
1. That map is a Mercator projection which distorts near the poles. They way to tell is by comparing Greenland to South America - Greenland should be much smaller, about 1/3 the size of S. America. Anyway, Soviet Union was large but not THAT large.
2. Soviet Union, despite its size, was relatively sparsely populated. Much of the land is uninhabited because it is either too cold or too dry.
That said, Hitler did indeed miscalculate by deciding to attack Soviet Union.
Ok thanks...
And check this out, by looking at the above map...you can see where South America and Africa use to be connected...and where the south eastern part of florida use to be connected to the N-Western part of Africa...
So what that means is...the vegitation and animal life originally found in southern Florida, should be very similuar to the vegetation and animals found in NW Aftrica...
The soil should be similuar also...I wonder how long it took for these continents to drift apart? I wonder if it happened suddenly and violently, like a mud slide?
Or did it take thousands of years?
To me, from what I observe in nature, from floods and mud slides and earthquakes to hurricanes, is that when nature shifts of does something, it's usually very sudden and violent...
I believe it's called continental drift...
When the continents were connected, I wonder why all the elephants and lions stayed in Africa? You would think they would have spread equally over America also.
Unless they were here years ago and just got killed off...
Ok, here's what I mean...the continents use to fit together like a puzzle...you would think while together, the animals would have spread into what is now North America...ever wonder why the rhinos or hippoes or giraffs or zebras never crossed into America while the lands were connected?
Seems wolves did though...and maybe certain birds...and alligators...
And buffalo herds...
But like why didn't the monkeys cross over, or like the great apes? or Orangatangs?
You would think when the settlers first arrived that they would of encountered all these animals in the tropics of America, which would have been Florida, louisiana Alabama....unless the indians, who were already here, hunted them to extinction....guess well never know...unless fossils are recoverd...and or bones...
It would probably have taken the continents millions of years to drift apart. They're drifting even now. Eventually California may bump into China.
The separation took place before there were mammals and other species that we know today. Which is why you can find skeletons of the same species of dinosaurs on far flung continents.
Interesting thing, I learned that Maine was a chunk of Africa that broke off and bumped into the North American continent, which is why there are no bones of large dinosaurs in Maine. Maine is comparatively new land, which is why its soil is so poor. That's what I heard or read somewhere, anyway.
Getting back to animals, different species wandered into new grazing lands wherever they could, looking for food, just like human animals did. If animals couldn't get over to someplace, they stayed where they were. Humans learned to build a boat.
On the subject of a painting of Alexander someone mentioned. There may have been a couple of fellows painted with a swirling cape on a turning, rearing horse, but the one I'm seeing in my mind's eye is Napoleon Bonaparte.
Speaking of which, Adolf didn't study Napoleon's invasion of Russia and its aftermath very well, did he? Of course, Adolf didn't study much military history at all, only the bits and pieces he found interesting, I wager, like invade and conquer. Personally, I could never understand why the Nazis felt they needed all that land. In the old days land meant power, but things were changing quickly by the 1930's.
The late 1800's and early 1900's were a time of ferment and revolution. There were the anarchists, whose movement really took off in the mid 1800's, who felt government of any kind only put down working people and was therefore wrong. Nationalism was popular. My grandfather was a fierce nationalist who fought both the Germans and the Russians to get them out of his country, when he was in his late teens and early 20's. This would have been around the time of WW1, the Russian Revolution, and the Armenian genocide. BTW, did you know that the Germans had a socialist government during the time of the Kaiser. Kaiser Wilhelm of WW1 felt himself an ardent socialist.
Americans were very nationalistic, by the way. You can tell that by just reading popular books and periodicals of the era.
I am moving these posts from the Thread: What's Your Area of Greatest Expertise"...These posts are off topic for that Thread, but are interesting enough to deserve their own thread...one that can't go off topic!!
Not only that but Trudy even played the roll as her great ancestor Boudica in the movie ''Warrior Queen Boudica'' and she looks tough in this musical tribute don't you think
6/3...Now you've done it...that was suppose to be a secret
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Alexander the Great was Greek (or Macedonian to be accurate). Not Russian. Maybe you meant Alexander Nevsky? 
Things in History That Puzzle Us
