What advancements were made in the Middle Kingdom?

The Middle Kingdom was a time of achievements for the ancient Egyptians. Art took on new styles and techniques, like the block style, where art was produced from large blocks of stone. Irrigation projects at the Faiyum, a large oasis on the west bank of the Nile in Lower Egypt, increased harvests.

Explanation:

nothing certain is known about what happened, but it seems that the country declined gradually, perhaps due to bad government, or, more likely, due to a series of bad harvests, which resulted in widespread and recurrent famine.

soviet influence spread across eastern europe sharply during and after wwii. the soviet armies liberated the countries in eastern europe and occupied them from the germans as they were forced to retreat towards germany.