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Belgian Amiga Club - ADF Collection
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BS1 part 27.zip
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BS1 part 27
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WorldAtlas2_d2.adf
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TEXTA
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1990-04-02
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In the 5th Century AD, Slavic tribes began migrating into Russia
from the west and the first Russian state was founded by
Scandinavian chieftains in the 9th Century. In the 13th Century,
the Mongols overran the country, to be recovered by the grand
dukes of Muscovy or Moscow in 1480. Ivan the Terrible was the
first Tsar in 1547. Peter the Great, who ruled from 1682 to
1725, extended the reach of Russia and in 1721 founded the
Russian Empire. During the 19th and early 20th century, western
ideals and modernization began to influence the country. But
political changes failed to keep up with the changing times. In
1905 during the War with Japan and during World War I, military
desertions crippled the country and the power of the Tsarist
regime. In March 1917, the Russian revolution began with strikes
for higher wages. A provisional government was established under
Alexander Kerensky. The Kerensky government was overthrown on
November 7, 1917 in a communist coup led by Vladimir Ilyich
Lenin. On January 21, 1924, Lenin's death resulted in a power
struggle that saw Joseph Stalin become absolute ruler. Stalin
exiled opponents and engaged in "purges", mass trials,
executions, and work camps to consolidate his control and power.
It is estimated that millions of people were killed. Germany and
the Soviets signed a non-aggression treaty in 1939 and in June
1941 the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. The Germans were hurt
badly by the extreme Russian winters and allied aid to the
Soviets. The Soviets became a prime player in the allied war
effort. On March 5, 1953, Stalin died and Nikita Khrushchev was
elected First-Party Secretary. He condemned Stalin and removed
his body from his tomb at the Kremlin. Khrushchev suppressed the
Poles and Hungarians, while expanding Soviet nuclear weapons and
instigating revolutions around the world. He initiated the Cuban
missile crisis by operating Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. In
October 1964, Khrushchev was deposed and replaced by first
secretary Leonid Brezhnev. In August 1968, Soviet troops invaded
Czechoslovakia to curb Czech liberalization of communism. The
Soviets, during the 1960s and 1970s provided huge amounts of
aid and military supplies to Vietnam and several other African
nations. In 1972 a freeze of intercontinental ballistic missiles
was reached with the United States.
Food shortages created economic problems during much of the early
1980s. The Soviets received world wide condemnation of the
September 1, 1983 shooting down of a Korean Airliner killing 269
people. New Soviet Premier Gorbachev held summit meetings with
U.S. President Reagan during 1985 and 1986. In 1987, Gorbachev
initiated reforms including expanding freedoms, and the
democratization of the political process. The Soviets received
world wide criticism for their secrecy regarding the April 25,
1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. @