theme 5: fall of the USSR 1985-91 Flashcards

1
Q

when did Gorbachev become general secretary

A

1985

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2
Q

Twenty-Seventh party congress

A

February 1986

Gorbachev attacks Brezhnev era as years of stagnation

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3
Q

when was the Chernobyl nuclear incident

A

April 1986

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4
Q

twelfth five year plan launched

A

1986

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5
Q

when were the laws on state enterprises enacted

A

1987

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6
Q

Plenum of the Central Committee

A

October 1987

Yeltsin attacks Gorbachev’s reforms

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7
Q

when was Yeltsin dismissed as first secretary in Moscow

A

November 1987

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8
Q

when was the legislation of co-operatives

A

January 1988

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9
Q

When was Yeltsin removed from the Politburo

A

February 1988

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10
Q

when was the nineteenth party congress?

A

June 1988

Principle of multi-candidate elections agreed

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11
Q

when were popular fronts formed in the Baltic republics

A

October 1988

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12
Q

When did Armenia announce its control over Nagorno-Karabakh

A

November 1988

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13
Q

when was the election to Congress of People’s deputies

A

March 1989

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14
Q

When were there demonstrations in Tbilsi, Georgia

A

April 1989

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15
Q

when was Gorbachev elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet

A

May 1989

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16
Q

when was the 500 days Programme put in place?

A

October 1989

Called for rapid transition to a market economy

17
Q

when was the fall of the Berlin Wall?

A

November 1989

18
Q

When was article 6 repealed

A

March 1990

opened the way for new political parties to be established

19
Q

When did Lithuania declare independence from the USSR

A

March 1990

20
Q

When did Yeltsin resign from the communist party?

A

July 1990

21
Q

when did Georgia declare independence

A

April 1991

22
Q

when did Yeltsin become president of Russia

A

June 1991

23
Q

when was the coup by the gang of 8

A

August 1991

24
Q

when did the Soviet Union recognize the Baltic states as independent

A

August 1991

25
Q

when did Yeltsin reject Gorbachev’s new Union Treaty

A

November 1991

26
Q

when was the USSR dissolved

A

December 1991

27
Q

The Novosibirsk Report of 1983

aka “for internal use only”

A

by economic sociologist Tatyana Zaslavskaya
Drew attention to growing crisis in agrivulture caused by state inefficiency and inflexibility
Most Politburo members ignored it, except Gorbachev who was aware that reform was needed

28
Q

Gorbachev removes opposition

A

1985: removes Grigory Romanov (leading rival), replaces with Ligachev and Ryzhkov
1986: Yeltsin and Yakelov promoted to central comittee

29
Q

alcohol spending in 1980s (stat)

A

alcohol accounted for 15% of a household’s spending

30
Q

Gorbachev quote on excessive alcohol use

A

April 1985 “we can’t build communism on vodka”

many turned up to work drunk

31
Q

methods & goals of the 12th five year plan (1986-90)

A

methods: increased investment, controlled by central planning
goals: accelerate growth of economy, especially focusing on science and research (mainly engineering)

32
Q

weaknesses of the 12th five year plan

A
  • investment geared towards construction projects which often lead to over spending
  • Soviet industry used out of date tools and machinery –> unproductive
  • soviet industry was slow to use new technology and used most foreign exchange to import food
  • agricultural sector needed vast sums of investment
  • focus remained on quantity over quality
33
Q

why didn’t Gorbachev’s policy of acceleration actually help the economy?

A

Didn’t address the fundamental problems that caused issues

Opposition to change from within the state and economic planning apparatus meant real change was hard to make