Russia

Question 1

eleventh-century fortress in the heart of Moscow that has been the historical seat of Russian state power.

Answer 1

Kremlin

Question 2

successor to the KGB, the Russian intelligence agency

Answer 2

Federal Security Service (FSB)

Question 3

what is the legislature in Russia? Include upper and lower houses

Answer 3

Duma is the lower house of the Russian legislature, and the Federation Council is the upper house. The Federal Assembly is the Russian legislature.

Question 4

Russian republic that has been a source of military conflict since 1991.

Answer 4

War in Chechnya

Question 5

Russia seized it from Ukraine in 2014, increasing hostility between it and the West.

Answer 5

Crimea

Question 6

the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33 as a result of Soviet policies

Answer 6

Holodomor

Question 7

a system in which power is divided unevenly among regional bodies- for example, some regions are given greater power over taxation or language rights than others, a more likely outcome in a country with significant ethnic divisions

Answer 7

Asymmetric Federalism

Question 8

main political party in Russia and supporter of Putin

Answer 8

United Russia

Question 9

successor party in Russia to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Answer 9

Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF)

Question 10

a small party in the Russian Duma with a social-democratic orientation

Answer 10

A Just Russia

Question 11

political party in Russia with a nationalist and antidemocratic orientation.

Answer 11

Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR)

Question 12

a punk band, several of whom were jailed for 2 years on charges of religious hatred.

Answer 12

Pussy Riot

Question 13

political activist in Russia who has been detained repeatedly for his opposition to Putin and United Russia.

Answer 13

Alexei Navalny

Question 14

a former deputy prime minister under Yeltsin and an outspoken critic of Putin who was assassinated in 2015.

Answer 14

Boris Nemtsov

Question 15

southwest Russia, near the Black Sea and Turkey, where there is a diverse mixture of non-slavic peoples with distinct languages and customs as well as a much stronger historical presence of Islam than Orthodox Christianity.

Answer 15

Caucasus

Question 16

the current leader of Chechnya. Thought by many to be connected to the assassination of Boris Nemtsov.

Answer 16

Ramzan Kadyrov

Question 17

a process in Russia whereby the former nomenklatura directors of firms were able to acquire the largest number of shares when these firms were privatized

Answer 17

insider privatization

Question 18

oligarch imprisoned and arrested for his opposition to the Putin administration.

Answer 18

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Question 19

a loosely integrated body that incorporates many former Soviet republics.

Answer 19

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Question 20

the contest between the UK and Russia when they both expanded into Caucasus and Central Asia. Intensified when they both gained control of the Persian Empire.

Answer 20

the Great Game

Question 21

“men of power” who have their origins in the security agencies and are close to Putin.

Answer 21

Siloviki

Question 22

Russian people noted for their control of large amounts of the Russian economy (including the media), their close ties to the government, and the accusations of corruption surrounding their rise to power.

Answer 22

Oligarchs

Question 23

president of Russia from 2008 to 2012; prime minister from 2012 to 2020; current head of the United Russia Party.

Answer 23

Medvedev

Question 24

a variant of Christianity separate from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism; originally centered in Byzantium.

Answer 24

Orthodox Christianity

Question 25

Russian word for emperor

Answer 25

tsar

Question 26

Russian revolutionary who led the 1917 Russian Revolution and headed the Soviet Union from 1917 until 1924.

Answer 26

Lenin

Question 27

Soviet secret police agency charged with domestic and foreign intelligence

Answer 27

KGB

Question 28

politically sensitive or influential jobs in the state, society, or economy that were staffed by people who were chosen or approved by the Communist Party.

Answer 28

Nomenklatura

Question 29

succeeded Lenin as head of the Soviet Union until his death in 1953

Answer 29

Stalin

Question 30

the peasantry were forced to give up their individual farms and join large collective farms

Answer 30

Collectivization

Question 31

top policy making and executive body of the Communist Party

Answer 31

politburo

Question 32

took office in 1953 after Stalin’s death. Wanted reform but couldn’t do it because of party-state bureaucracy and was forced from his seat in 1964 by the Politburo

Answer 32

Khrushchev

Question 33

rejected reform and placated the nomenklatura by assuring them that their power and privileges were safe. Slowed economic growth and increased corruption

Answer 33

Brezhnev

Question 34

wanted reform and implemented perestroika and glasnost. Became general secretary in 1985

Answer 34

Gorbachev

Question 35

“openness,” the policy of political liberalization implemented in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s

Answer 35

glasnost

Question 36

“restructuring,” the policy of political and economic liberalization implemented in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s

Answer 36

perestroika

Question 37

president of Russia from 1991 to 1999

Answer 37

Yeltsin

Question 38

current president of Russia as of 2012; also president of Russia from 1999 to 2008; prime minister from 2008 to 2012

Answer 38

Putin