February Revolution, Russian Revolution - the revolution against the Czarist government which led to the abdication of Nicholas II and the creation of a provisional government in March 1917

October Revolution, Russian Revolution - the coup d'etat by the Bolsheviks under Lenin in November 1917 that led to a period of civil war which ended in victory for the Bolsheviks in 1922

Russian - the Slavic language that is the official language of Russia

pirogi, piroshki, pirozhki - small fruit or meat turnover baked or fried

kvass - fermented beverage resembling beer but made from rye or barley

kolkhoz - a collective farm owned by the communist state

country, land, state - the territory occupied by a nation; "he returned to the land of his birth"; "he visited several European countries"

Soviet Socialist Republic - one of the states that formerly made up the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922-1991)

Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia, Russia - formerly the largest Soviet Socialist Republic in the USSR occupying eastern Europe and northern Asia

Caspian, Caspian Sea - a large saltwater lake between Iran and Russia fed by the Volga River; the largest inland body of water in the world

Eurasia - the land mass formed by the continents of Europe and Asia

steppe - extensive plain without trees (associated with eastern Russia and Siberia)

czar, tsar, tzar - a male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917)

Isaac Stern, Stern - United States concert violinist (born in Russia in 1920)

balagan - a word for chaos or fiasco borrowed from modern Hebrew (where it is a loan word from Russian); "it was utter and complete balagan!"