andropovs supression of dissidents 1967 -82

Question 2

Who were the dissidents?

Answer 2

People who criticized the Soviet state or system – a diverse range of people.

Question 3

What characterized intellectual dissidents?

Answer 3

They developed independent ways of thinking and often faced restrictions on exchanging ideas, reading foreign research, and using foreign equipment.

Question 4

Who was Andrei Sakharov?

Answer 4

A nuclear scientist who became an intellectual dissident. He co-wrote a letter to Brezhnev criticizing the system (1970) and was later banned from military research.

Question 5

who complained about Restrictions on their professional freedom, ability to work, and travel imposed by the government.

Answer 5

.

Roy Medvedev, Zhores Medvedev, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Question 6

What did political dissidents try to do?

Answer 6

They tried to hold the government accountable to its own laws. Groups were established to monitor the Soviet Union’s application of the UN Declaration on Human Rights.

Question 7

What did the UN Declaration on Human Rights promote?

Answer 7

Human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of speech and religion.

Question 8

What was the Soviet Union’s stance on the UN Declaration of Human Rights?

Answer 8

They did not support the Declaration but were a member of the UN.

Question 9

What were the Helsinki Accords (1975)?

Answer 9

An agreement where 33 signatories, including the USSR, agreed to respect basic human rights like freedom of speech and movement.

Question 10

Who were religious dissidents?

Answer 10

Individuals who faced restrictions on their worship and religious practices. Catholics in the Baltic republics (like Lithuania) were often prominent.

Question 11

Who were the refuseniks?

Answer 11

Soviet Jews who were denied their right to emigrate to Israel. They had long-standing support in US Congress, and their situation was a difficult issue at international summits between USA and USSR.

Question 12

What did many dissidents who were communists want?

Answer 12

They wanted the Soviet system to work better according to its own ideals.

Question 13

What shared concern did all dissidents have?

Answer 13

A concern with human rights and freedom of expression.

Question 14

What was samizdat?

Answer 14

Illegal, often handwritten materials like poems, newsletters, and transcripts of foreign broadcasts (e.g., Voice of America). Production became a popular hobby during the late 1960s.

Question 15

What was the “Chronicle of Current Events”?

Answer 15

A well-known samizdat – an underground newsletter that highlighted human rights abuses and the treatment of dissidents.

Question 16

How did the dissident movement change by the 1970s?

Answer 16

It became more diverse and bolder.

Question 17

What methods did dissidents use to promote their views?

Answer 17

A wide range of methods, including the use of the foreign press.

Question 18

What actions did the Soviet state take against dissidents? (General)

Answer 18

Surveillance and harassment, threats of expulsion, denial of publication, dismissal from jobs, and house searches with confiscation of “anti-Soviet” materials. By mid-1970s, Amnesty International estimated 10,000 political prisoners in USSR.

Question 19

What was the new criminal code introduced in 1960?

Answer 19

It abolished night-time interrogations and limited the powers of the KGB, making it more liberal than previous arrangements. Article 70 provided authorities with “catch-all” powers to deal with anything “Anti-Soviet.”

Question 20

What difficulty arose during the 1966 trial of Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel?

Answer 20

Difficulties in applying the new criminal code because of the need to prove intent when accusing someone of anti-Soviet activity.

Question 21

What changes were made to the criminal code in 1966?

Answer 21

New articles were added that dropped the need to prove intent for “anti-Soviet” activities. Those arrested now had to be dealt with by a court of justice, and court records were kept, allowing dissident groups to publicize their cases.

Question 22

What was a development in the treatment of dissidents starting in 1967?

Answer 22

The use of psychiatric hospitals to discredit dissidents in the eyes of the public. This became common, with “special hospitals” run by the NKVD where ‘patients’ were held until ‘cured’ (changed their views). Conditions were overcrowded and unhygienic.

Question 23

What happened to Vladimir Bukovsky in 1967?

Answer 23

The Politburo agreed to place this leading dissident in a ‘special mental hospital’.

Question 24

How were refuseniks sometimes “treated” in these hospitals?

Answer 24

With electric shock and drugs.

Question 25

Who were Zhores Medvedev and Natalya Gorbanevskaya?

Answer 25

Zhores Medvedev was a writer and scientist, and Natalya Gorbanevskaya was an editor of the "Chronicle of Current Events." Both were examples of dissidents sent to psychiatric hospitals.

Question 26

What was internal exile?

Answer 26

Another method used to limit the impact of dissidents by sending them to remote areas within the Soviet Union.

Question 27

Where was Sakharov sent into internal exile in 1980?

Answer 27

To Gorky, a city closed to foreigners, severely restricting his means of communication with supporters.

Question 28

What was another option for the government regarding dissidents who continued to write criticism?

Answer 28

Expulsion from the USSR. Alexander Solzhenitsyn was expelled in 1974.

Question 29

How did records of court cases smuggled out of the USSR impact international opinion?

Answer 29

They were used by human rights groups in the West to highlight the treatment of dissidents.

Question 30

How did human rights groups use the Helsinki Accords in relation to Soviet dissidents?

Answer 30

They highlighted the treatment of dissident groups as a violation of ‘freedom of thought, conscience and belief’, which was a constant source of irritation to the Soviet government.

Question 31

What was a potential outcome of international condemnation of the USSR's treatment of dissidents?

Answer 31

Sometimes it led to the release of dissidents. The Soviet leadership became increasingly concerned with its international reputation.

Question 32

What was the level of support for dissidents within the USSR?

Answer 32

They had limited support from the general public and never threatened the social or political stability of the country.

Question 33

What was a limitation of the dissident movement?

Answer 33

It was a collection of individuals and never became a coherent group or movement. They struggled to organise public demonstrations (e.g., 1968 protest in Red Square had only seven people). Fear of the secret police played a part in this.

Question 34

What was the state of dissident groups at the end of the 1970s?

Answer 34

They were still small and divided.

Question 35

How had the methods of dealing with opposition changed compared to Stalin's era?

Answer 35

They had become less violent, moving away from terror and torture. Andropov’s methods were more subtle, with developments in technology like more sophisticated bugging devices. The KGB's professionalism, reputation, and status grew.

Question 36

What was a continuity in the use of the secret police?

Answer 36

Targeting opposition to the regime and the use of secret police, mostly focused on people outside the Party (with some exceptions).

Question 37

What were some changes in the use of the secret police over time?

Answer 37

Became less violent (after becoming more violent), more accountable, and less independent. Stalin was more proactive, while other periods might have been more reactive.