Yassou! Hello! Welcome to Athens, Greece!

Greece is a place with much great history. As Americans you will certainly know that your type of government, know as democracy, began here in Greece over 2,500 years ago! The word “democracy” comes from the Greek words “demos” (meaning “people”) and kratos (meaning “power”) so DEMOCRACY means PEOPLE POWER! Their greatest power? Voting!

Places like the Parthenon are symbols of our beginnings with democracy. The Greek people used to gather in public places, voice their opinions, and vote on important ideas that helped run their cities.

During the American revolution, when you fought for Independence from the monarchy of Great Britain, you borrowed ideas of people power from Greece. Today, your United States is one of the world’s largest democracies and you have us Greeks to thank for that! The type of government in Greece has now become a similar system in America where people  can vote for their representatives (like Congresspeople, Senators, and the President) with the idea that they will work towards supporting peoples' opinion. What a wonderful world! 

Before I go, I’d like to leave you with a few more details on what exactly a constitutional monarchy means. If you break down the term, “constitutional” sounds very similar to the word “Constitution.” In Great Britain, we have something similar to your ‘rule book’. At the same time, we also have a royal family because, simply put, that’s how things have been for quite some time now! However, my wife Kate, I, and even baby George must follow all of the rules and laws of our country even though we are a part of our country’s royal family. To be considered a king, queen, prince, or princess is really more of a title than anything.

​Well, I’ve got to go. Being a new parent is a busy job! Thank you for coming to learn more about my country. Ta-ta!

Reflection

"Constitutional"- being governed by a rule book- the Constitution! 

​"Monarchy"- when a king or queen rules a county until they die.

"Constitutional monarchy" - when the power of the king/queen is limited by a national constitution 

Even though Great Britain left the European Union, or EU, during the summer of 2016, we still cooperate with our neighbors and try to keep things peaceful. For example, the "Chunnel" connects us with France and is still used today. Watch the video below to understand more: 

Pryvit! Hi! Welcome to Ukraine! We are one of the independent countries that used to part of the Soviet Union. Just like the United States is one country composed of individual states, the Soviet Union was an empire made up of 15 smaller countries.  Let me tell you a little bit about our history.

​​In 1917, Russian revolutionaries overthrew their government because they didn't to be ruled by a czar, which is similar to a king. A group called the Bolsheviks (bol-sha-vicks) took over Russia with the help of their Red Army, and established the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), also called the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks (bol-sha-vicks) led a revolution against the czar (zar) because they wanted a communist government, believing communism would better protect the average citizen. Communism is when the government controls the economy by owning all industry and agriculture. 

Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the USSR from 1924 - 1953. He thought he could make his country better by controlling everything, so he took away land owned by Soviet citizens and forced them to work on government-run farms. He arrested and executed anyone who resisted, and many millions of people starved to death because the government was not running the farms effectively. Stalin used a secret police force to silence anyone who threatened to publish stories about how bad life was in the Soviet Union, which made it very difficult to get help from other countries or to fight against Stalin's dictatorship. 

After many, many years of harsh communist rule that caused frequent food and clothing shortages in the 1980s, many young people wanted to overthrow the communist-led government. ​On December 25, 1991, USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, and the Soviet Union officially broke up six days later. 

Today, the 15 countries who were part of the Soviet Union are now their own independent countries with their own unique governments and cultures. Unfortunately, most of the countries of the former-USSR have struggled to establish limited governments with stable economies. Today, many Eastern European nations have low GDPs and high levels of government corruption. Hopefully life here in Ukraine and in the rest of Eastern Europe will continue to improve. 

Dag! Hello! Welcome to Belgium! ​The capital of Belgium is Brussels and it is truly an international city. We even have THREE official languages: German, French, and Dutch. Brussels is not only the capital of our nation, but it is also the capital of the European Union.

EU and History

The European Union (as I know you have already learned in class) is an organization of 27 nations who work together on many, many things in order to increase cooperation across the entire continent of Europe. You see Europe has had a long history of conflict. From competing around the world with colonialism to World War I and World War II we have spent many, many years fighting each other. My country was taken over by Germany in both wars! It was not good for us or any other countries in Europe. Events like the Holocaust were so evil that we knew we needed to move away from conflict to cooperation. 

How We Cooperate

As a citizen of both Belgium and the European Union I can use my Belgium passport to travel to any of the other 26 nations. I don't have to apply for a visa or anything! It's as easy as going from Texas to Oklahoma. That makes tourism so easy in Europe!

The European Union cooperates in a number of other really important ways. For example, they often give financial aid (money) to developing economies in Europe and other parts of the world. In fact, one of the requirements of membership in the EU is that countries will help each other out financially in times of economic crisis. This has helped the European Union, as a group, to become one of the world’s largest economies worth over $16 trillion.  We didn’t become a continent full of developed economies with conflict… it took cooperation!

European Union countries also have trade agreements where we buy goods and services from each other. This means it is easier to trade between members of the European Union. We have agreed to limit import costs between members, making it cheaper to export products to each other which helps out our economies.

Lastly, 18 of the 27 countries of the European Union use “the Euro”. Having the same money in many EU countries makes trade and travel so easy! Cooperation has been such a huge boost to our economies all across Europe. I can’t even believe we used to have so much conflict.

In 2012 the European Union even received the Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace, democracy, and human rights in Europe”. That’s the highest honor of peace in the whole world! #awardgoals

Map of Global Corruption Index

Hover your mouse over different countries to see how corrupt they are ranked by Transparency International

T = Title       T = The Purpose         Y= Your          L= Legend

The Purpose of maps: political maps = show cities, states, countries; physical maps = show mountains, rivers, deserts, plains, peninsulas; thematic maps = measure the amount of something 

My country's government is called the Russian Federation. There are many people who make up the government, but the current president, Vladimir Putin, seems to have ultimate power... meaning everyone does what he says.  Putin joined the KGB (like the CIA in the U.S.) as an intelligence officer (spy) in 1975. Can you remember what war was going on between Russia and the United States at that time? Later on, Putin was given the job of Prime Minister in 1999 and has been a very powerful decision-maker ever since.

Compared to how things are in the United States, we have less freedom of speech and press. I can say "I don't like the government," but there are laws that prohibit publishing things that are anti-Russia or things that might cause Russians to revolt against the government. We are often ranked by world organizations, such as Transparency International, as one of the least free and most corrupt countries in the world. 

After World War II, most of Europe began to cooperate. When the European Union was formed, the Russian government decided not to become a member. This is mainly because, at the time, Russia had an unlimited communist government while many other European countries were democracies. Since then, our economy hasn't grown nearly as much as those of European countries that chose the work together. This is something that frustrates me. I wish our country was more concerned with the Russian people and less concerned about Russians in powerful government positions. 

Recently, Russia has done some things that have been very controversial. Russia has one of the largest militaries in the world. In 2014, Russia invaded a part of a country in Europe called Ukraine - you just learned about it. The military took a piece of their country called Crimea and made it a part of Russia. Also, our government supports dictators such as Bashar al Assad in Syria who has been so brutal towards his people. Europe and the rest of the world are very angry about these military decisions and I can see why. I don't think I agree with what my government's decisions were for Ukraine or Syria. My government sees these decisions as what's best for Russia's security, prosperity and future. I want my country to grow and prosper... but not at the cost of others. 

Guten Tag! Hello! Welcome to Germany. Did you know that Germany is the largest and most influential (important) economy in all of Europe? In fact Germany is the fifth largest economy in the WHOLE WORLD!

One of the reasons Germany has such a strong economy is because we have many industries (factories) that make many things that are wanted around the world. Perhaps you have heard of Mercedes, BMW, or Volkswagon (VW)? These are three car companies that are in Germany. Adidas? Yes, that started here in Germany as well. Our industries make many other things like: iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machines, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages, shipbuilding, and clothing.

Our agriculture (farming) is also very productive. We grow lots of food for our people and others in Europe including: potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle (cows), pigs, and chickens.

​All of these industrial and agricultural resources make Germany the strongest economy in all of Europe! Amazing! Germany's economy is also a great example of globalization. We sell our agricultural and industrial products to nations all over the world, which helps to connect different countries with each other, but it also means our GDP depends on people from other countries buying our industrial and agricultural products. Let's hope people continue to like driving cars made by Volkswagon!

France

Welcome to Paris, France or as we locals say, "La Ville-Lumière"… the “City of Lights”. Paris is one of Europe’s greatest cities. We Parisians are proud that Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centers, and our influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts make us a global city.

 Let me show you some of what my country is most famous for! 

Welcome to your final stop: Madrid, Spain! You may have heard of us before because a long time ago, we sent out conquistadors and colonized a lot of Central and South America. Nowadays, we are more famous for our sports like bull fighting and soccer. Some of the most famous soccer teams in the world are found here in Spain where we call the sport football.

 Let me show you some of what my country is most famous for!