5B - POLITICAL

Question 1

What had the communist party become?

Answer 1

The gov of the USSR, controlling the economy, army, police and the media

Question 2

What could true democracy lead to?

Answer 2

The fall of communism

Question 3

What had Khrushchev’s reforms threatened?

Answer 3

Soviet control of Hungary and Poland

Question 4

What happened under Brezhnev?

Answer 4

Little meaningful reforms and not attempts to democratise the gov

Question 5

How was the USSR ran?

Answer 5

A centralised party (CP) has control over the state
Regional parties in each of the republics obeyed the CP

Question 6

What did Gorbachev want to end?

Answer 6

Stagnation and corruption
Cynicism and apathy of the people

Question 7

What did Gorbachev want to do politically?

Answer 7

Open up debate
Allow intellectuals more freedom of expression
Allow the public to have access to information

Question 8

How did Gorbachev eliminate stagnation + corruption within the party

Answer 8

Appointed young communists who supported reform to senior positions

Question 9

How did Gorbachev heighten his own authority?

Answer 9

Through patronage

Question 10

What happened when economic reform failed?

Answer 10

Became convinced that political reform was an essential part of revising the economy

Question 11

What was the issue with getting info/data

Answer 11

Accurate info was almost impossible to obtain - due to manipulation of economic date

Question 12

What would democratisation do?

Answer 12

Limit the power of traditionalists - speed up economic reform
End strict centralisation by passing power to the people

Question 13

What did traditionalist do?

Answer 13

Stand in the way because of their old fashioned methods/ideas

Question 14

What was Glasnost?

Answer 14

A commitment to being open about the state of the Soviet economy

Question 15

Who opposed Gorbachev?

Answer 15

Hardline communists because it threatened their power

Question 16

Who did Gorbachev look for support?

Answer 16

Writers and intellectuals - invited them to criticise hardliners

Question 17

When was the 27th party congress?

Answer 17

Feb + March 1986

Question 18

What did the 27th party congress commit to?

Answer 18

Systematic and all round improvement of socialism + genuine democracy

Question 19

What was this new adoption a symbol of?

Answer 19

Wanting to break away from the past

Question 20

How was the media liberalised?

Answer 20

Newspapers began to publish accounts on Stalin
Admitted problems in the economy
Permitted the publication of banned books, plays and films

Question 21

When was glasnost extended?

Answer 21

1987-1988

Question 22

What did the extension of glasnost do?

Answer 22

Publicly criticised Marx and Lenin
Attacked the foundations of Soviet communism

Question 23

What were some signs of foreign culture?

Answer 23

1988 the people were permitted to listen to foreign radio broadcasts and read foreign newspapers

Question 24

What happened at the 19th party congress

Answer 24

Senior party officials admitted the scale of the problems facing the Soviet union

Question 25

What did Glasnost cause?

Answer 25

Allowed communist radicals + intellectuals to criticise moderates + communism

Question 26

What were the main criticisms?

Answer 26

Reforming too slowly/too little The whole of the system Stalin's terror Demanded independence

Question 27

What was Gorbachev surprised of in terms of Glasnost?

Answer 27

He himself received criticism

Question 28

What happened at Chernobyl?

Answer 28

Reactor exploded - sending radioactive fallout

Question 29

How much radiation was released?

Answer 29

50 million curies - 500 Hiroshima nuclear bombs

Question 30

How did cost cutting cause the incident?

Answer 30

No protective concrete structure Cheaper, more powerful but less safe reactors were used

Question 31

How did target chasing cause the incident?

Answer 31

Raised targets by 250% in 5 years Energy minister - demanded employees cut downtime on repairs During safety tests reactors were not stopped - couldn't miss ttargets

Question 32

How did negative info being shared cause the incident?

Answer 32

Nuclear accidents were only possible in capitalist states - plant workers believed Bosses downplayed the explosion Small accident in 1982 was covered up

Question 33

What were social consequences of the incident?

Answer 33

50 people died Children's cancer rose by 90% in Ukraine Exclusion zone uninhabitable for 20,000 years

Question 34

How was the government's credibility affected?

Answer 34

Chernobyl personnel blamed Credibility was affected home + abroad

Question 35

What was the green movement?

Answer 35

Green activists developed in affected areas

Question 36

How did nationalisation grow after the incident?

Answer 36

Developed in affected areas - Ukraine + Belarus 1989 - demanded Chernobyl be closed

Question 37

How did glasnost affect relations with the US?

Answer 37

November 1985 + October 1986 Gorbachev met with Reagan

Question 38

What was the outcome of Gorbachev's and Reagan's meetings?

Answer 38

November 1987 INF treaty - agreed to dismantle 25% of nuclear weapons

Question 39

What had the 10th party conference of 1988 embraced?

Answer 39

Radical democratic reforms

Question 40

How was the gov changed?

Answer 40

Multi - candidate elections Soviet citizens had the right to vote Independent candidates could stand for election

Question 41

What did multi-candidate elections allow?

Answer 41

For he people to make a choice between radicals, moderates and independents

Question 42

Who would elect the supreme soviet now?

Answer 42

The new congress of peoples deptuies

Question 43

How many times did the supreme soviet meet?

Answer 43

Rather than once a year it changed to 2-3 month sessions per year

Question 44

What did the supreme soviet cause?

Answer 44

Independent of the party's leadership - Gorbachev was appointed the chair

Question 45

In multi-candidate elections how many of the congresspersons of peoples deputies would be elected?

Answer 45

1500

Question 46

In multi-candidate elections, how many could be appointed by the CP and other organisations

Answer 46

750

Question 47

When was the March election?

Answer 47

1989

Question 48

What was significant about the march 1989 election?

Answer 48

Candidates were forced to engage in public debate to win votes

Question 49

What % of seats did the communists win?

Answer 49

80%

Question 50

What did yeltsin and Sakharov do?

Answer 50

Formed the inter-regional deputies group

Question 51

What did the IRDG do?

Answer 51

Embraced a radical anti-communist agenda, including private property + autonomy for the republics

Question 52

What % of the vote was for Yeltsin in Moscow?

Answer 52

89%

Question 53

Who else did well in the March 1989 election?

Answer 53

Nationalist and anti-communist candidates

Question 54

What had happened to the communist party?

Answer 54

Effectively been weakened by the election of a legitimate candidate

Question 55

What had multi-candidate elections created?

Answer 55

Opposition and weakened party control

Question 56

How had the unity been weakened?

Answer 56

Growth of nationalism in the republics

Question 57

Who's power had been strengthened after the elections?

Answer 57

Radical reformers

Question 58

When was the 3rd congress of people's deputies?

Answer 58

March 1990

Question 59

What happened at the 3rd congress of people's deputies?

Answer 59

The congress voted to abolish article 6

Question 60

What did the abolition of article 6 mean?

Answer 60

Other political parties could now organise and fight elections

Question 61

What happened in Moscow in the republic elections of 1990?

Answer 61

A group called democratic ~Russia won 95% of the seats

Question 62

What happened in Leningrad in the republic elections of 1990?

Answer 62

Democratic elections 90 took 805 of the seats

Question 63

What did Gorbachev want/need?

Answer 63

Needed a strong central authority in order to push economic reform Wanted constitutional change that would give him powers to deal with economic and political issues

Question 64

When was Gorbachev appointed President?

Answer 64

March 1990

Question 65

What did he gain as president in terms of power?

Answer 65

Emergency powers by the 3rd congress of people's deputies

Question 66

What was the issue of Gorbachev becoming president?

Answer 66

He lacked democratic legitimacy - only 60% of deputies voted for him

Question 67

What had Gorbachev hoped democratisation would give him?

Answer 67

A power base independent of the party

Question 68

How did Gorbachev use his emergency powers?

Answer 68

Censor the press Used troops to restore order

Question 69

Who criticised Gorbachev?

Answer 69

Radicals for abandoning reform and introducing a new form of dictatorship

Question 70

Who was elected chairman of the presidium in May 1990?

Answer 70

Yeltsin by the Russian Republic's congress of deputies

Question 71

When did Yeltsin declare Russian sovereignty?

Answer 71

12 June 1990

Question 72

When was Yeltsin elected as president of the Russian republic?

Answer 72

12 June 1991

Question 73

How much % of the vote did Yeltsin have?

Answer 73

57%

Question 74

How much had the CPSU's candidate won?

Answer 74

16% - massive blow to control

Question 75

What did Gorbachev propose?

Answer 75

The new Soviet union treaty

Question 76

What had Gorbachev's reforms led to in terms of the media, perestroika and glasnost?

Answer 76

Liberalising the Soviet media at the same time as launching controversial economic reforms led to growing criticism of the system