Fall of the soviet union- Gorbachev and Yeltsin

Question 1

What do internationalist historians believe?

Answer 1

Causation in History through the actions of individuals, yet their actions produce unintended results and this suggests the context within they operate that exerts a powerful impact on the course of events.

Question 2

Gorbachev’s failings

Answer 2

• lack of vision
• Naivety
• powerbase
• expectations
• foreign policy
• insensitive handlings of national minorities
• inconsistency
• indecision

Question 3

How did Gorbachev’s actions affect the USSR

Answer 3

His actions led to a string of weaknesses consisting of destabilisation, delegitimation and disintegration. With the decline of Soviet power and institutions, soviet citizens had to find alternate focal points for their identity. The most powerful were imagined or real national communities.