Summary Special Unit

What you did

  • You watched Instructor Videos and read the Canvas content for the Special Unit
  • You participated in a Discussion Activity

What you learned

  • Ukraine is bordered by Russia, Belarus, Poland, Romania and Moldova
  • Ukraine is the largest country lying completely in Europe
  • Ukraine includes a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov
  • Ukraine is roughly the size of Texas
  • Ukraine has been independent since 1991
  • The worst nuclear accident in history, took place in Ukraine in 1986
  • Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe
  • Ukraine is a major agricultural powerhouse (wheat, sunflowers, corn, millet oats etc.)
  • Despite its agricultural strength, most Ukrainians live in cities
  • Ukraine has rich iron ore and coal deposits and a large steel producing industry
  • Much of Russian natural gas flows to Europe through pipelines which flow through Ukraine. Russians pay Ukraine about $2 billion per year.
  • Ukraine is NOT a member of NATO or the European Union
  • Article 5 of the NATO treaty requires NATO nations to come to the aid of other NATO countries. This Article has been invoked one - post 911
  • Parts of Ukraine are more strongly linked to Russia than to the centralized government in Kviv  - The Crimea and the Donbas Regions
  • The "Revolution of Integrity" 
  • Russia supported Ukrainian insurgents in both of these regions and helped them to "secede" from Ukraine
  • Ukraine is vast plain with the exception of the Carpathian Mountains in the Southwest, the Black Sea in the south and the Sea of Azov in the Southeast
  • The Dnipro (or Dnieper) River is the most important river in the country
  • The Crimean Peninsula has a mediterranean type climate
  • Ukraines's flat plain has made it the "European Super Highway" and the country has been occupied, divided and restored many times throughout history
  • Ukraine was know as Kievan Rus in the 9th century and was the seat of Slavic culture and the Orthodox Religion
  • Following the communist revolution, Stalin imposed collectivized farming and created a severe famine Ukrainians call the Holodomor. The Soviets then tried to suppress the fact that it ever happened.
  • Ukraine clearly has a long and complex relationship with Russia
  • Ukraine has a distinct and separate culture and language from Russia
  • Russia is now focusing its invasion on the Eastern Donbas Region and the Crimea. If Russia is successful in Ukraine, it may move on to Moldova and elsewhere.

Israel/Hamas

  • Israel is  bounded on the north by Lebanon, the northeast by Syria, southeast by Jordan and to the south by Egypt
  • Israel is the only nation in the world with a majority Jewish population
  • The Middle East, including Israel was part of the Ottoman Empire until the end of World War I
  • The Balfour Declaration stated Britain's support of the establishment of a Jewish homeland
  • The Mandate of Palestine was a  League of Nations mandate for British Administration of Palestine and Jordan.
  • The Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
  • Palestinians speak Arabic and are culturally Arab and reside primarily in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
  • 5.3 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, an area about twice the size of Washington DC, making it one of the densest places on Earth
  • Gazans are not free to enter and leave Gaza at will. Goods can not enter and leave Gaza without Israeli approval. Electricity is controlled by Israel and food, water, and opportunity are in chronically short supply.
  • Hamas is a military and political group which has had authority internally within Gaza since 2005.
  • Hamas believes Israel does not have the right to exist.
  • Conflicts between Hamas and Israel have been ongoing since 2006. Israel employees the "iron dome" to protect itself from rocket attacks.
  • Hamas has created a network of tunnels beneath Gaza to house its military and their supplies
  • Hamas conducted its largest and bloodiest attack on Israel in October 2023, killing 1200 and taking 200 hostage
  • Israel has bombed Gaza relentlessly and Gaza is under siege without access to water, fuel, food or power.
  • A ground war is underway

Coming Up

  • Special Unit Exam Opens 12/6 closes 12/8 (no Extensions)

The Beauty of Ukraine

I thought it might be nice to end this otherwise dismaying unit with some images of the beauty of Ukraine.