Just nine months earlier, the ship had been part of a revolution in naval warfare when the ironclad dueled to a standstill with the C. Virginia Merrimack off Hampton Roads, Virginia, Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. World War II. World War I. Art, Literature, and Film History.
Sign Up. Early 20th Century US. Civil War. Following its independence, Moldova was affected by civil war. Estonia is one of the three Baltic States in northeastern Europe. The country was also established following the authorization of a puppet government endorsed by the Soviet Union. Nazi Germany occupied the territory between and In August , Russian troops withdrew from the country while its military presence ended in September after Estonia seized control of its nuclear reactor facilities located in Paldiski.
Following the demise of the Soviet Union, the country restored its official name as the Republic of Latvia attaining its full independence on August 21, It was fully recognized as an independent state on September 6, by the Soviet Union. The Republic of Lithuania is one of the three Baltic States located in Northern Europe covering about 25, square miles. Soviet Lithuania was established on July 21, The German Nazis occupied the territory between and and the territory was later reoccupied by the Soviet Union for the next 50 years.
However, the US together with most European nations continued to acknowledge Lithuania as an independent sovereign nation. Soviet Lithuania declared itself a sovereign state on May 18, and despite authorities from the Soviet Union finding the action illegal, the country was re-established and declared an independent nation.
On November 18, , the territory declared its independence from the Soviet Union, and on November 14, , it was renamed the Republic of Georgia. Following its independence, the country struggled with the economic and civil crisis through most of the s.
Following the adoption of the country's new constitution in , the Azerbaijan SSR Constitution ceased to exist. The Republic of Tajikistan is a landlocked, mountainous country located in Central Asia. Soviet Tajikistan existed between and From to , collective farming and the accelerated expansion of cotton production took place particularly in the southern region of the territory.
Other small scale developments took place over time which resulted in improved irrigation infrastructure. The territory was renamed the Republic of Tajikistan on August 31, and it declared its independence on September 9, Tajikistan was recognized as an independent state by the Soviet Union on December 26, Following its independence, the country fell into the Civil War involving different factions.
As a result, more than half a million residents fled the country due to increased poverty and persecution. With 77, square miles, Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous and landlocked country. Initially, the Soviet Union had established its power in the region in In August , a seriously ill Aliyev engineered a dynastic succession, appointing his son, Ilham, as prime minister.
A drive for independence in the late s and early s played a pivotal role in the demise of the Soviet Union. A botched Red Army crackdown on protesters in Vilnius in January precipitated the failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in August that year. The unsuccessful coup, in turn, triggered the collapse of the Soviet empire.
After gaining independence, Lithuania looked westward, joining the EU and Nato in Lithuania enjoys free and fair elections. Under her watch, Lithuania rebounded from a severe depression brought on by the financial crisis and is now striving to meet eurozone entry criteria by After the collapse of the USSR, Latvia underwent a dramatic transformation by rapidly turning west, joining the EU and Nato in and the eurozone in Many Latvians believe the influx of migrants from the USSR during decades of Soviet control was part of a concerted effort to destroy Latvian nationalism and Baltic culture, and recent government policies promoting the use of Latvian over Russian have been a source of tension.
In recent years, Latvia has reinvented itself as a financial services hub, facilitating capital flight from Russia and other former Soviet republics. Some Latvian banks have faced international criticism for allegedly engaging in money laundering. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for October Estonia is the smallest, least corrupt and most prosperous of all the former Soviet republics. The Baltic state rushed to embrace a market system after the Soviet collapse, and its economy is now powered by vibrant telecoms and electronics industries.
The global financial crisis hit the country hard, sending unemployment spiralling. But stringent austerity measures quickly got the economy back on track. Estonia joined the EU and Nato in , and, thanks to the quick recovery, entered the eurozone in Tensions boiled over in when local Russians rioted over a government decision to relocate a second world war memorial in central Tallinn, the capital.
The clash left one dead and dozens injured. But a shrinking populace is perhaps a greater challenge than any problems with Russia. The current population of 1. Young Estonians are also taking advantage of EU membership to emigrate in droves. For 22 years, the sides have been unable to agree on a political settlement to the conflict. In late , Moldovan authorities entered an agreement with the EU, placing the country on a path towards full membership. The country is wedged between Romania and Ukraine , not far from the Black Sea.
There were repeated bouts of internal political and economic turmoil during the late s and early s, though the situation has stabilised in recent years. Moldovan authorities have also had to contend with separatist rumblings from a Turkic minority, the Gagauz , and granted them special autonomous status in a agreement. The post-Soviet period has had a Dickensian flavour for Russia — it has been the worst of times, followed by better times. President Boris Yeltsin presided over the Kremlin during the bleakest period, from to It was an era marked by economic dysfunction, lawlessness, rampant corruption and a ruinous war in the southern territory of Chechnya.
A turning point took place on the last day of the millennium when Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned, elevating his prime minister, Vladimir Putin, to the presidency. Putin immediately set out to put Russia back together again by unleashing a second war in Chechnya, which ultimately succeeded in halting a secessionist trend — while pushing Islamist militants to turn to terrorism.
Terror continues to claim dozens of lives every year. As president, Putin moved quickly to consolidate his authority over the economy and politics. Although corruption remained prevalent, a mood of prosperity returned — at least to Moscow and St Petersburg. Politicians and entrepreneurs who have opposed Putin have been treated harshly, underscored by the long imprisonment of billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
In recent years, Putin has tightened his personal grip on power to such a degree that critics say there is little to distinguish him from the tsars and general-secretaries who led Russia in bygone epochs.
Analysts suspect that one of his chief goals is the expansion of Russian influence in other formerly Soviet republics under the guise of an economic union. Nursultan Nazarbayev has led Kazakhstan as president, since independence in , extending his tenure through a series of constitutional revisions and elections in which he has faced only token opposition. Nazarbayev permitted a relatively high degree of political activity until the emergence of a reform movement called Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan , backed by several wealthy business people, in late He launched a crackdown and the movement was formally dissolved in Over the next two years, several prominent opposition figures were murdered in mysterious circumstances.
All presidential and parliamentary elections held during the independence era have been deemed flawed by independent western monitoring groups. Over the past decade, Kazakhs have experienced a steady reduction in individual rights. Amendments adopted in , for example, give authorities the right to cut internet and mobile phone access without judicial review.
Kazakhstan, a country with a large Russian minority, has strong relations with Russia , China and the United States. It has the second largest oil reserves among the former Soviet republics after Russia, and its oil exports are expected to soar as its huge Kashagan oil field, in the Caspian Sea, develops.
In recent years, the gap between rich and poor in Kazakhstan has widened, heightening social tensions.
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