Topic: Political transformations in Europe after 1989

Target group

4th‑grade student of high school and five‑year technical school

Core curriculum (extended programme)

XX. Political problems of the modern world: contemporary changes on the political map of the world, systemic changes in Europe, functioning of the European Union, causes and effects of terrorism, relations between Western civilization and the civilization of Islam.

Student:

2) presents and evaluates the effects (political, social and economic) of political and economic changes in Europe and the former USSR countries after 1989.

General aim of education

Student will analyze changes on the political map of Europe after 1989 and gives reasons for these changes.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• discuss changes in the system of states on the political map of Europe created after 1989 and the reasons for these changes;

• indicate on the political map of Europe the states that were created after the division of the USSR, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia;

• explain the terms: dependent territory, an escalade, enclave, and point to examples on the map;

• analyze changes after the reunification of Germany.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher explains the aim and planned course of the lesson. They explain the success criteria to be achieved by the students.

Realization

• The teacher asks students to find out the reasons for the breakup of these two countries. It informs that students can use the content found in the textbook and on the internet resources.

• Pupils indicate reasons related to individual countries and discuss this topic.

• Pupils indicate reasons related to individual countries and discuss this topic.

• The teacher asks questions about the current political situation of countries in the former Soviet Union: causes of current conflicts in Ukraine, Georgia, Chechnya, etc. During the talk he refers to the facts and statistical data contained on the Internet.

• The teacher displays on the interactive whiteboard maps from the textbook: Political situation in the Eastern Caucasus; Abkhazia and South Ossetia - self‑proclaimed states in the territory of Georgia; Annexation of Crimea by Russia. Common map analysis and discussion.

• Students use the political map of Europe, indicate the states that were created as a result of the division of the former Yugoslavia. They name the countries that gained the most independence, and Kosovo - the youngest country, which only in 2008 became an independent state.

• The teacher displays on the interactive whiteboard a map of the textbook of the State created after the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Analysis for ethnic groups in individual countries and the date of independence.

• The teacher asks students if they know other countries in Europe that have arisen from the division of one country. Students should indicate the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which were once one state - Czechoslovakia. Students search for reasons for this breakdown on the internet.

• The teacher gives an example of Germany, which in turn undergone major political changes. Students search the internet for the reasons for unification of Germany and discuss this topic.

• Students, using the dictionary in a textbook, explain the concept of dependent territory, an escalade, an enclave and with the help of a teacher look for an example on the world map.

Summary

• At the summary of classes, students perform exercises on the interactive whiteboard related to the lesson.

• The teacher assesses the students' work, taking into account the contribution and their possibilities.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

• Make at home a note from the lesson using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Political transformations in Europe after 1989

After the Second World War, following the defeat of Nazi Germany, the leaders of the victorious powers decided that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, would be subordinated to the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). Germany itself was also divided - at first, into occupation zones, and then, in 1949, into two separate states. The eastern part – GDR (German Democratic Republic) – went to the custody of the Soviet Union, whereas the western part – West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) – got under the influence of the Western powers (United States, Great Britain and France).

In the 1980s the nations under the domination of the Soviet Union in the central‑eastern part of the continent began a march towards sovereignty. The first transformations took place in Poland and brought about, among others, some changes on the political map.

On the one hand, the reunification of Germany – divided in 1945 as a result of the decisions of the leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union and Great Britain – was effected. On the other hand, federal countries disintegrated, mostly those which comprised nations with a strong sense of identity or economic exploitation. The Velvet Revolution led to the division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czechs believed that Slovakia’s development was at their expense, while the Slovaks had aspirations to create an independent state.

The longest and most tragic disintegration was the one of Yugoslavia. The reasons for that were the ethnic and religious diversity and the mutual historical resentments dating back many centuries.

In 1991 Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia were the first to declare independence. A year later, after the proclamation of independence by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia was formed only by Serbia and Montenegro. The proclamation became the cause of the civil war. Bosnia and Herzegovina was the most diversified ethnically and religiously: it was inhabited by Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats and Muslim Bosnians. In addition, none of the communities lived in a cohesive area. In the years 1993‑1995, the fighting took place on the territories of Bosnia and Croatia. Not uncommon were genocide and ethnic cleansing. The estimates indicate around 100,000 people killed and 1.8 million forced to leave their homes. Pursuant to the treaty signed in Dayton (USA), Bosnia and Herzegovina maintained its independence, but the country was divided into two parts: the Republic of Serbia and the Muslim‑Croat Federation (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). In order to preserve stability, the decisions of the central authorities have to be approved by both parties. An additional consequence of those turbulent changes was the emergence on the political map of the independent Kosovo – a region in the south of Serbia inhabited largely by Muslim Albanians, but very important historically for the Serbs because of the significance of the battle of Kosovo, fought at Kosovo Polje, near the present‑day city of Pristina. The armed struggle against the aspirations of Albanians on the part of the Serbian army led to the escalation of violence, and the NATO joined the conflict. Consequently, that area came under the administration of the United Nations, and in 2008 declared independence.

In 2006, the Federation of Serbia and Montenegro disintegrated peacefully. Two separate countries emerged: Serbia and Montenegro.

The greatest territorial changes concerned the area of the Soviet Union. In 1991, as a result of the transformations, 15 new states were created. Some of them, for example Lithuania, regained their independence, others – for example Belarus – were born anew as independent states.

One of the consequences of the First World War and the Soviet rule in the Caucasus was the specific arrangement of the borders of Christian Armenia and Muslim Azerbaijan. The conflicting interests of both communities led to an armed conflict and to the seizing of a part of the territory belonging to Azerbaijan by Armenia. As a result, Nagorno‑Karabakh, inhabited mostly by Armenians, currently has direct contact with Armenia.

Not less complicated is the situation in the Western Caucasus. The Georgian authorities do not control South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which countries in 1991 and 1992 declared independence and function with the support of Russia.

In March 2014, Russia took control of Crimea belonging to Ukraine since 1954. Russia justified its actions by invoking the will of the Russian‑speaking population expressed in a referendum, the validity of which was not recognized by the United Nations General Assembly.

Another region in Europe outside the control of the internationally recognized authorities is Transnistria – a fragment of Moldova inhabited mainly by Russians, which territory declared independence, not willing to be a small part of the Moldovan community. In spring 2014, following the example of Crimea, the parliament of Transnistria appealed to the Russian parliament with a request to incorporate this area into the Russian Federation.