States, nations and boundaries, and how borders changed after wars

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Europe at the end of the Cold War. Cards A to C. Card A, Europe in 1985: the Soviet Union is one country made of 15 republics; Germany is divided into West Germany and East Germany; Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia are each one country. Card B, Europe in 1993: the Soviet Union ended on December 26, 1991, and its 15 republics became 15 independent countries; Germany reunified on October 3, 1990; Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993; Yugoslavia began breaking apart in 1991. Card C, Kosovo: Kosovo, part of Serbia on the 1993 map, declared independence on February 17, 2008. About half of the members of the United Nations recognize Kosovo as a country; Serbia does not, and claims Kosovo as its province. Maps show its border dashed. Key: thick lines = borders; dashed line = a border one side disputes; each color = one country.

2. 1.

   Count the countries in the cards, leaving out Yugoslavia: four in 1985 and eighteen in 1993. Ari asks what the net change is and how it breaks down.

   • A net rise of 14: the Soviet Union adds 14, Czechoslovakia adds 1, and Germany takes away 1
   • A net rise of 18, the number of countries on the 1993 map, since 1985 had no countries to compare with
   • A net rise of 16: the Soviet Union adds 15, Czechoslovakia adds 1, and Germany adds nothing
   • A net rise of 15: the Soviet Union's 15 republics became countries and nothing took any away
3. 2.

   Germany went from two countries to one, the Soviet Union from one to fifteen, and Czechoslovakia from one to two. Bo says every change added countries. Is that right?

   • No: Czechoslovakia's change was a union, since two peoples came together on January 1, 1993
   • Yes: Germany reunified, which made a larger country and so added to the count
   • Yes: ending the Cold War split countries each time, as the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia show
   • No: Germany's change was a union, two countries becoming one, so changes ran both ways
4. 3.

   The Soviet Union ended on December 26, 1991, and Yugoslavia began breaking apart in 1991. Jun says the first caused the second. What do the cards show?

   • Yugoslavia began first, in January 1991, so it caused the end of the Soviet Union
   • Both fall in 1991, but the cards give no cause linking them, so the order does not show a cause
   • The two were one event, since both took place in 1991 and both ended a federal country
   • The Soviet Union ended in December 1991, so its end started the Yugoslav breakup that followed in the same year
5. 4.

   Luz reads the 1993 map and says it shows a new border inside the old Czechoslovakia. Is that fair?

   • No: Czechoslovakia stayed one country, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia are its regions
   • No: Czechoslovakia split in 1991 with the Soviet Union, so the border is older than the 1993 map
   • Yes, and the border is disputed, so the map shows it with a dashed line
   • Yes: Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993
6. 5.

   Which sentence about Kosovo does Milo choose to state both sides fairly?

   • Kosovo declared independence in 2008; about half of UN members recognize it, and Serbia does not
   • Kosovo is a province of Serbia, a claim that the other countries of the world accept
   • Kosovo is an independent country, recognized as such by the United Nations and its members
   • Kosovo declared independence in 2008, so its borders are agreed and shown as a solid line on maps
7. 6.

   How should Noah draw the border around Kosovo on a map?

   • Without any line, because a disputed border cannot be shown on a map until it is agreed
   • With a solid line as part of Serbia, because the 1993 map shows it in that way and so does Serbia
   • With a solid line, because about half of UN members recognize Kosovo as a country in its own right
   • With a dashed line, because Serbia disputes it though about half of UN members recognize Kosovo
8. 7.

   About half of UN members recognize Kosovo. Pia says that settles the question because half is a majority. Is that right?

   • Yes: Serbia's claim has ended, because a province cannot disagree with the United Nations
   • No: recognition by states has no effect on whether a country is independent
   • No: about half is not a majority, and Serbia still claims Kosovo, so the dispute stands
   • Yes: half of the world's countries recognizing a state is enough to settle its status
9. 8.

   The 15 Soviet republics became 15 countries. Ren says units of a federal country always become countries when it ends. Test it with Kosovo.

   • The rule fails because the Soviet republics were not recognized as countries by anyone
   • The rule holds, since Kosovo was one of the republics of Yugoslavia, like the Soviet republics
   • Not as a rule: Kosovo was part of Serbia, not a republic, and its status is disputed
   • The rule holds, since Kosovo became a country in 2008 just as the republics did in 1991
10. 9.

    The cards are titled "Europe at the end of the Cold War". Tala says that title shows the Cold War caused all four changes. What can the cards support?

    • The four took place on a single day, which is why one title can cover them together
    • The changes fall between 1990 and 1993 under one title, but each has its own date and form
    • The changes are unrelated, since their dates differ and so they cannot share a setting
    • The title shows the Cold War caused each change, since a title names the cause of what it covers
11. 10.

    The 1985 card shows one Soviet Union and the 1993 card shows 15 countries. Zee says the republics were independent in 1985 but not yet recognized. What fits the cards?

    • The republics became independent in 1993, the year of the second map, not in 1991
    • The republics became independent on December 26, 1985, a year before the 1991 date
    • The republics were independent in 1985, and the Soviet Union was a name for their group
    • In 1985 the Soviet Union was one country of 15 republics; they became countries after 1991