1.
Annapurna Massif
–
Annapurna is a massif in the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes one peak over 8,000 metres, thirteen peaks over 7,000 metres, and sixteen more over 6,000 metres. The massif is 55 kilometres long, and is bounded by the Kali Gandaki Gorge on the west, the Marshyangdi River on the north and east, at the western end the massif encloses a high basin called the Annapurna Sanctuary. Annapurna I Main is the tenth highest mountain in the world at 8,091 metres above sea level, the entire massif and surrounding area are protected within the 7,629 square kilometres Annapurna Conservation Area, the first and largest conservation area in Nepal. The Annapurna Conservation Area is home to several world-class treks, including the Annapurna Circuit, by March 2012, there had been 191 summit ascents of Annapurna I Main, and 61 climbing fatalities on the mountain. This fatality-to-summit ratio is the highest of any of the eight-thousanders, in particular, the ascent via the south face is considered, by some, the most difficult of all climbs. In October 2014, at least 39 people were killed as a result of snowstorms and avalanches on and around Annapurna, Annapurna is a Sanskrit name that literally means full of food, but is normally translated as Goddess of the Harvests. According to Devdutt Pattanaik, Annapoorna devi is, without her there is starvation, a universal fear, This makes Annapurna a universal goddess. Her most popular shrine is located in Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges River and her association with the giving of food led her in time to be transformed into Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, of a French expedition led by Herzog, ichac made a documentary of the expedition, called Victoire sur lAnnapurna. Its summit was the highest summit attained for three years, until the first successful ascent of Mount Everest and they were, however, beaten to the second ascent of Annapurna by a matter of days by a British Army expedition led by Colonel Henry Day. In 1978, the American Womens Himalayan Expedition, a team led by Arlene Blum, the first summit team, composed of Vera Komarkova and Irene Miller, and Sherpas Mingma Tsering and Chewang Ringjing, reached the top at 3,30 pm on October 15,1978. The second summit team, Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz and Vera Watson, died during this climb, in 1981 Polish expedition Zakopane Alpine Club set a new route on Annapurna I Central. Maciej Berbeka and Bogusław Probulski reached the summit on May 23,1981, the road called Zakopiańczyków Way was recognized as the best achievement of the Himalayan season in 1981. On 3 February 1987, Polish climbers Jerzy Kukuczka and Artur Hajzer made the first winter ascent of Annapurna I, the first solo ascent of the south face was made in October 2007 by Slovenian climber Tomaž Humar, he climbed to the Roc Noir and then to Annapurna East. The ratio of 34 deaths per 100 safe returns on Annapurna I is followed by 29 for K2 and 21 for Nanga Parbat, gangapurna was first climbed in 1965 by a German expedition led by Günther Hauser, via the East Ridge. The summit party comprised 11 members of the expedition, Annapurna South was first climbed in 1964 by a Japanese expedition, via the North Ridge. The summit party comprised S. Uyeo and Mingma Tsering, Hiunchuli is a satellite peak extending east from Annapurna South, Hiunchuli was first climbed in 1971 by an expedition led by U. S. Mount Machhapuchchhre, named after its resemblance to a fish-tail, is another important peak, Mount Machhapuchchhre and Hiunchuli are prominently visible from the valley of Pokhara
2.
Nepal
–
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
3.
Avalanche
–
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a sloping surface. Avalanches are typically triggered in a zone from a mechanical failure in the snowpack when the forces on the snow exceed its strength. After initiation, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass, if the avalanche moves fast enough some of the snow may mix with the air forming a powder snow avalanche, which is a type of gravity current. Slides of rocks or debris, behaving in a way to snow, are also referred to as avalanches. The remainder of this article refers to snow avalanches, the load on the snowpack may be only due to gravity, in which case failure may result either from weakening in the snowpack or increased load due to precipitation. Avalanches that occur in this way are known as spontaneous avalanches, Avalanches can also be triggered by other loads such as skiers, snowmobilers, animals or explosives. Seismic activity may trigger the failure in the snowpack and avalanches. A popular myth is that avalanches can be triggered by loud noise or shouting, Avalanches are not rare or random events and are endemic to any mountain range that accumulates a standing snowpack. Avalanches are most common during winter or spring but glacier movements may cause ice, there is no universally accepted classification of avalanches—different classifications are useful for different purposes. Avalanches can be described by their size, their potential, their initiation mechanism, their composition. Most avalanches occur spontaneously during storms under increased load due to snowfall, the second largest cause of natural avalanches is metamorphic changes in the snowpack such as melting due to solar radiation. Other natural causes include rain, earthquakes, rockfall and icefall, artificial triggers of avalanches include skiers, snowmobiles, and controlled explosive work. Avalanche initiation can start at a point with only an amount of snow moving initially. A snowpack will fail when the load exceeds the strength, the load is straightforward, it is the weight of the snow. However, the strength of the snowpack is much more difficult to determine and is extremely heterogenous and it varies in detail with properties of the snow grains, size, density, morphology, temperature, water content, and the properties of the bonds between the grains. These properties may all metamorphose in time according to the humidity, water vapour flux, temperature. The top of the snowpack is also influenced by incoming radiation. One of the aims of research is to develop and validate computer models that can describe the evolution of the seasonal snowpack over time
4.
Kazakhstan
–
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in northern Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is the worlds largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest in the world, Kazakhstan is the dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the regions GDP, primarily through its oil/gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources, Kazakhstan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, the terrain of Kazakhstan includes flatlands, steppe, taiga, rock canyons, hills, deltas, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. Kazakhstan has an estimated 18 million people as of 2014, Given its large area, its population density is among the lowest. The capital is Astana, where it was moved in 1997 from Almaty, the territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic tribes. This changed in the 13th century, when Genghis Khan occupied the country as part of the Mongolian Empire, following internal struggles among the conquerors, power eventually reverted to the nomads. By the 16th century, the Kazakh emerged as a distinct group, the Russians began advancing into the Kazakh steppe in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, they nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the Russian Empire. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, and subsequent civil war, the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganised several times, in 1936, it was made the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan has worked to develop its economy, especially its dominant hydrocarbon industry. Kazakhstans 131 ethnicities include Kazakhs, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars, the Kazakh language is the state language, and Russian has equal official status for all levels of administrative and institutional purposes. The name Kazakh comes from the ancient Turkic word qaz, to wander, the name Cossack is of the same origin. The Persian suffix -stan means land or place of, so Kazakhstan can be translated as land of the wanderers. Kazakhstan has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age, the regions climate, archaeologists believe that humans first domesticated the horse in the regions vast steppes. Central Asia was originally inhabited by the Scythians, the Cuman entered the steppes of modern-day Kazakhstan around the early 11th century, where they later joined with the Kipchak and established the vast Cuman-Kipchak confederation. Under the Mongol Empire, the largest in history, administrative districts were established. These eventually came under the rule of the emergent Kazakh Khanate, throughout this period, traditional nomadic life and a livestock-based economy continued to dominate the steppe. Nevertheless, the region was the focus of ever-increasing disputes between the native Kazakh emirs and the neighbouring Persian-speaking peoples to the south, at its height the Khanate would rule parts of Central Asia and control Cumania
5.
Mountaineering
–
The term mountaineering describes the sport of mountain climbing, including ski mountaineering. Hiking in the mountains can also be a form of mountaineering when it involves scrambling, or short stretches of the more basic grades of rock climbing. All require experience, athletic ability, and technical knowledge to maintain safety, mountaineering is often called Alpinism, especially in European languages, which implies climbing with difficulty such high and often snow and ice-covered mountains as the Alps. A mountaineer with such great skill is called an Alpinist, historically, many cultures have harbored superstitions about mountains, which they often regarded as sacred due to their proximity with heaven, such as Mount Olympus for the Ancient Greeks. In 1492 Antoine de Ville, lord of Domjulien and Beaupré, was the first to ascend the Mont Aiguille, in France, with a team, using ladders. It appears to be the first recorded climb of any technical difficulty, in 1573 Francesco De Marchi and Francesco Di Domenico ascended Corno Grande, the highest peak in the Apennine Mountains. During the Enlightenment, as a product of the new spirit of curiosity for the natural world, in 1741 Richard Pococke and William Windham made a historic visit to Chamonix. By the early 19th century many of the peaks were reached, including the Grossglockner in 1800, the Ortler in 1804, the Jungfrau in 1811, the Finsteraarhorn in 1812. In 1808 Marie Paradis became the first female to climb Mont Blanc and this inaugurated what became known as the Golden age of alpinism, with the first mountaineering club - the Alpine Club - being founded in 1857. Well-known guides of the era include Christian Almer, Jakob Anderegg, Melchior Anderegg, J. J. Bennen, Michel Croz, in the early years of the golden age, scientific pursuits were intermixed with the sport, such as by the physicist John Tyndall. In the later years, it shifted to a more competitive orientation as pure sportsmen came to dominate the London-based Alpine Club and this ascent is generally regarded as marking the end of the mountaineering golden age. By this point the sport of mountaineering had largely reached its modern form, with a body of professional guides, equipment, mountaineering in the Americas became popular in the 1800s. In North America, Pikes Peak in the Colorado Rockies was first climbed by Edwin James, though lower than Pikes Peak, the heavily glaciated Fremont Peak in Wyoming was thought to be the tallest mountain in the Rockies when it was first climbed by John C. Frémont and two others in 1842, pico de Orizaba, the tallest peak in Mexico and third tallest in North America, was first climbed by U. S. military personnel which included William F. Raynolds and a half dozen other climbers in 1848. Heavily glaciated and more technical climbs in North American were not achieved until the late 19th, in 1897 Mount Saint Elias on the Alaska-Yukon border was summitted by the Duke of the Abruzzi and party. But it was not until 1913 that Mount Mckinley, the tallest peak in North America was successfully climbed by Hudson Stuck, Mount Logan, the tallest peak in Canada was first summitted by a half dozen climbers in 1925 in an expedition that took more than two months. In 1879-1880 the exploration of the highest Andes in South America began when English mountaineer Edward Whymper climbed Chimborazo, the summit of Aconcagua was finally reached on January 14,1897 by Swiss mountaineer Matthias Zurbriggen during an expedition led by Edward FitzGerald that began in December 1896. The Andes of Bolivia were first explored by Sir William Martin Conway in 1898 and it took until the late 19th century for European explorers to penetrate Africa
6.
Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"
–
The Medal of the Order For Merit to the Fatherland was established on March 2,1994 by Presidential Decree №442. Its award criteria were modified on January 6,1991 by Presidential Decree 19, civilian Division first and second class. Awarded to citizens of the Russian Federation for outstanding achievements in fields of industry, construction, science, education, health, culture, transport. Military Division first and second class, the Medal of the Order For Merit to the Fatherland is 32mm in diameter and made of silver, the medal first class is gold plated. The obverse bears a likeness of the Order, a double headed eagle over a red-enamel cross pattée. On the reverse, the motto of the Order BENEFIT, HONOUR, at the bottom, laurel leaves, the year of establishment 1994 and the award serial number. In the case of the division, the sword device is added between the medal suspension ring and the pentagonal mount. The medal hangs from a standard Russian pentagonal mount covered by a scarlet ribbon
7.
Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"
–
The Order For Merit to the Fatherland is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on March 2,1994 by Presidential Decree 442, until the re-establishment of the Order of St. Andrew in 1998, it was the highest Order of the Russian Federation, though it is still the highest Civilian decoration of the state. The Order of St. Andrew decoration is given to Military personnel only, the statute of the Order was modified on January 6,1999 by Presidential Decree 19 and again on September 7,2010 by Presidential Decree 1099. The Order For Merit to the Fatherland is a mixed civilian, the highest of the four classes is the Order I class, the lowest being the Order IV class. These classes are awarded sequentially from the IV to the I class, in exceptional cases, the President of the Russian Federation may decide to award the Order For Service to the Fatherland to persons not previously awarded state awards of the Russian Federation. Soldiers receiving the Order For Merit to the Fatherland for distinction in combat will receive the Order with Swords, the order has a collar and four classes. The collar is the insignia of the President of the Russian Federation. The four classes of the Order are individually identified by the size, cross, Is a silver-gilt ruby-enamelled cross pattée bearing the gilt state emblem of the Russian Federation on its obverse. On the reverse of the cross is a circular medallion surrounded by the motto BENEFIT, HONOUR, in the center of the medallion, the year of the establishment of the Order 1994. On the reverse of the arm of the cross, laurel leaves. The cross for the Order I class measures 60mm across and is affixed to a 100mm wide red sash worn over the right shoulder. The cross of the II and III classes measures 50mm across and is worn on a 45mm wide red neck ribbon for the II class, the cross for the IV class measures 40mm across and hangs from a standard pentagonal mount covered by a red 24mm wide ribbon. Star, The star of the Order is eight pointed, 82mm across and of highly polished silver. At its center on the obverse if a circular medallion bearing the gilt state emblem of the Russian Federation. Around the medallion, a red enameled band with the motto of the Order BENEFIT, HONOUR, the reverse has the serial number of the Order engraved on the lower arm. A cavalier of an order is an individual who as received a grade of an order, a full cavalier of an order is an individual who has sequentially earned every class of that order. The individuals listed below are among those who have been so honoured, Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation The Commission on State Awards to the President of the Russian Federation
8.
Eight-thousander
–
The eight-thousanders are the 14 independent mountains on Earth that are more than 8,000 metres high above sea level. All eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia and their summits are in the death zone. The first recorded attempt on an eight-thousander was when Albert F. Mummery, the attempt was unsuccessful when Mummery and two Gurkhas, Ragobir and Goman Singh, were killed by an avalanche. The first recorded ascent of an eight-thousander was by the French Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal. The first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders was the Italian Reinhold Messner, in 1987, Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka became the second person to accomplish this feat. Messner summitted each of the 14 peaks without the aid of supplemental oxygen and this feat was not repeated until nine years later by the Swiss Erhard Loretan in 1995. Phurba Tashi of Nepal has completed the most climbs of the eight-thousanders, juanito Oiarzabal has completed the second most, with a total of 25 ascents between 1985 and 2011. The alpinists with the highest number of winter ascents are Jerzy Kukuczka, the first woman who summited all 14 eight-thousanders with no disputed climbing was the Spanish Edurne Pasaban, in 2010. In August 2011, Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to climb the 14 eight-thousanders without the use of supplementary oxygen. The countries with the highest number of climbers that have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders are Italy and South Korea, with five each, followed by Spain. Kazakhstan and Poland have three each that completed the Crown of the Himalaya. Field O2 lists people who have climbed all 14 without bottled oxygen, claims in which not enough evidence was provided to verify the ascents of all 14 peaks. The disputed ascent in each claim is shown in parentheses
9.
Oxygen
–
Oxygen is a chemical element with symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the group on the periodic table and is a highly reactive nonmetal. By mass, oxygen is the third-most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen, at standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dioxygen, a colorless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula O2. This is an important part of the atmosphere and diatomic oxygen gas constitutes 20. 8% of the Earths atmosphere, additionally, as oxides the element makes up almost half of the Earths crust. Most of the mass of living organisms is oxygen as a component of water, conversely, oxygen is continuously replenished by photosynthesis, which uses the energy of sunlight to produce oxygen from water and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is too reactive to remain a free element in air without being continuously replenished by the photosynthetic action of living organisms. Another form of oxygen, ozone, strongly absorbs ultraviolet UVB radiation, but ozone is a pollutant near the surface where it is a by-product of smog. At low earth orbit altitudes, sufficient atomic oxygen is present to cause corrosion of spacecraft, the name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, whose experiments with oxygen helped to discredit the then-popular phlogiston theory of combustion and corrosion. One of the first known experiments on the relationship between combustion and air was conducted by the 2nd century BCE Greek writer on mechanics, Philo of Byzantium. In his work Pneumatica, Philo observed that inverting a vessel over a burning candle, Philo incorrectly surmised that parts of the air in the vessel were converted into the classical element fire and thus were able to escape through pores in the glass. Many centuries later Leonardo da Vinci built on Philos work by observing that a portion of air is consumed during combustion and respiration, Oxygen was discovered by the Polish alchemist Sendivogius, who considered it the philosophers stone. In the late 17th century, Robert Boyle proved that air is necessary for combustion, English chemist John Mayow refined this work by showing that fire requires only a part of air that he called spiritus nitroaereus. From this he surmised that nitroaereus is consumed in both respiration and combustion, Mayow observed that antimony increased in weight when heated, and inferred that the nitroaereus must have combined with it. Accounts of these and other experiments and ideas were published in 1668 in his work Tractatus duo in the tract De respiratione. Robert Hooke, Ole Borch, Mikhail Lomonosov, and Pierre Bayen all produced oxygen in experiments in the 17th and the 18th century but none of them recognized it as a chemical element. This may have been in part due to the prevalence of the philosophy of combustion and corrosion called the phlogiston theory, which was then the favored explanation of those processes. Established in 1667 by the German alchemist J. J. Becher, one part, called phlogiston, was given off when the substance containing it was burned, while the dephlogisticated part was thought to be its true form, or calx. The fact that a substance like wood gains overall weight in burning was hidden by the buoyancy of the combustion products
10.
Mount Everest
–
Mount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in China as Chomolungma/珠穆朗玛峰, is Earths highest mountain. Its peak is 8,848 metres above sea level, Mount Everest is in the Mahalangur Range. The international border between China and Nepal runs across Everests summit point and its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse,8,516 m, Nuptse,7,855 m, and Changtse,7,580 m. In 1856, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 8,840 m. The current official height of 8,848 m as recognised by China and Nepal was established by a 1955 Indian survey, in 2005, China remeasured the height of the mountain and got a result of 8844.43 m. An argument regarding the height between China and Nepal lasted five years from 2005 to 2010, China argued it should be measured by its rock height which is 8,844 m but Nepal said it should be measured by its snow height 8,848 m. In 2010, an agreement was reached by both sides that the height of Everest is 8,848 m and Nepal recognises Chinas claim that the rock height of Everest is 8,844 m. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, Mount Everest attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal and the other from the north in Tibet, as of 2016 there are well over 200 corpses on the mountain, with some of them even serving as landmarks. The first recorded efforts to reach Everests summit were made by British mountaineers, with Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. Tragedy struck on the descent from the North Col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8,595 m the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition, the Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo, and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the north ridge on 25 May 1960. In 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometric Survey of India to fix the locations, heights, starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing 500 kg and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country due to suspicions of political aggression, several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were turned down. The British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas, conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health, nonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to 240 km distant
11.
Soviet Union
–
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
12.
Chelyabinsk Oblast
–
Chelyabinsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia. Its administrative center is the city of Chelyabinsk, during the Middle Ages, the Southern Urals were populated by Bashkir tribes that were part of the Golden Horde, Nogai Horde, and smaller Bashkir unions. The area was incorporated into the Tsardom of Russia in the late 16th century, many cities of Chelyabinsk Oblast, including the city of Chelyabinsk itself, trace their history back to those forts. In 1743, the Chelyabinsk fortress became a center of the Iset Province, the 1750s-1770s saw the emergence of industrial enterprises in South Ural, when the first factory-centered towns like Miass, Kyshtym, and Zlatoust were founded. After South Ural recovered from the Pugachevs Rebellion, the territory of modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast started to more people from the European part of Russia. In 1919, Chelyabinski became the capital of the newly formed Chelyabinsk Governorate. At this time, the population of the new region already exceeded one million people, in 1923, together with the Perm, Yekaterinburg and Tyumen governorates, it was merged into a single Ural Oblast that lasted less than ten years, until 1934. On January 17,1934, Chelyabinsk Oblast was finally established and its current boundaries were formed when Kurgan Oblast was detached from it in 1943. During the 1930s, the economy and industrial output grew as Chelyabinsk Oblast became a key focus of the first Five-Year Plans. The economy continued to grow with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, as industries were evacuated from the parts of the Soviet Union to Ural. During the war, Magnitogorsk alone produced one third of all Soviet steel, while the city of Chelyabinsk became the center of Soviet tank production. Chelyabinsk Oblast has been associated with nuclear research since the 1940s. While there are no power stations in Chelyabinsk, a number of production reactors were located there starting with the early Cold War. The province was closed to all foreigners until 1992, with the exception of allowing a British medical team following a two-train rail explosion in the mid-1980s. The documentary Chelyabinsk, The Most Contaminated Spot on the Planet was made by Slawomir Grunberg about the dumping of radioactive waste in the Techa River. Chelyabinsk Oblast is on the slope of the Southern Urals. Only a small part of the territory to the west is on the slopes of the Southern Urals. Chelyabinsk Oblast is situated in the Southern Urals, near Kurgan, Most of the Oblast is located to the east of the Ural Mountains, which form the continental boundary between Europe and Asia
USSR Order For Personal Courage
USSR Order For Merit To The Fatherland
