Brezhnev

Question 1

After Khrushchev who assumed leadership and for how long

Answer 1

Kosygin assumed a collective leadership for 4 years

Question 2

Why was Kosygin removed, allowing Brezhnev to assume leadership

Answer 2

Kosygin lacked he inclination to indulge in the necessary political in-fighting to stay at the top

Question 3

In what ways did Brezhnev consolidate his power

Answer 3

Decentralised ministries abolished
Party no longer divided into agricultural and agricultural wings
Eased out possible rivals

Question 4

What political policies did Brezhnev implement

Answer 4

Promoted his supporters to politburo
8 members protégées
Andropov head of KGB and Politburo member from 1967

Question 5

What was the Nomenklatura under Brezhnev

Answer 5

People were selected for a position in the party from a list of trusted personnel

Question 6

Why were agricultural reforms implemented by Brezhnev

Answer 6

The regime recognised agricultural underperformance and rural poverty
Problem was made worse through younger peasants moving into towns

Question 7

What main agricultural reforms were out in place by Brezhnev

Answer 7

Fewer restrictions on how peasants could use private plots
Attempts to integrate farms into associated rural Industries
Increased investment in agriculture

Question 8

How did Brezhnev attempt to reduce the standard of living gap between towns and the countryside

Answer 8

Peasants were given internal passports allowing them to move and still receive the same social security as urban workers

Question 9

By how much did state investment in agriculture increase under Brezhnev

Answer 9

It trebled

Question 10

What were the positive outcomes of Brezhnev’s agricultural reforms

Answer 10

Rapid rise in output
Worlds largest wheat producer in 1970
Total agricultural production was rising by 6% per annum

Question 11

What were the negative outcomes of Brezhnev’s agricultural reforms

Answer 11

Shortages in food shops due to increased demand
Increasing dependence on foreign goods
Private plots (which produced 30% of food) only made up 4% of cultivated land

Question 12

What economic reforms were attempted by Kosygin

Answer 12

Partially reformed pricing system
Managers given more independence
Centrally planned economy restricted progress
His reforms were abandoned by 1970

NO FUNDAMENTAL REFORMS ATTEMPTED

Question 13

What economic reforms were attempted under Brezhnev

Answer 13

9th 5yr gave consumer goods a higher priority than capital goods
10th and 11th 5yr put a higher emphasis on oil, gas and coal reserves
30 billion roubles spent on railway development to exploit mineral reserves
Scientific progress in space and defence

Question 14

What were the shortfalls of Brezhnev’s economic reforms

Answer 14

No attempt at substantial economic reform
Targets not met
GDP continued to decline
Production costs rose
No comparative increase in output or efficiency

Question 15

What were the 5 main reasons for stagnation under Brezhnev

Answer 15

1) defence spending
2) investment in agriculture
3) flaws of centrally planned economy
4) corruption
5) black market

Question 16

What % of the economy was devoted to defence spending under Brezhnev

Answer 16

25%

Question 17

What amount of the economy did the Black market and second economy amount to

Answer 17

100 billion roubles

Question 18

How was corruption and the mafia dealt with by Brezhnev

Answer 18

1000 death sentences between 1983 and 1984

Question 19

What cultural and social aspects were positive under Brezhnev

Answer 19

Education advances - proportion of adults in further education grew
Standard of living - only 16% lived in communal apartments compared to 40% under Khrushchev
5 day working week
Real wages increase by 50%
70% of women had full time jobs

Question 20

What cultural and social aspects were negative under Brezhnev

Answer 20

High rates of male unemployment
Great regional variation
Life expectancy fell due to alcoholism
Alcohol abuse comprised 45% of divorce pleas
Certain foods were expensive due to food shortages

Question 21

Give example of three dissidents under Brezhnev

Answer 21

Sinyavsky - literal critic who published anti-soviet writings
Sakharov - opposed nuclear testing
Solzhenitsyn - demanded an end to censorship in literature

Question 22

How many Soviet Jews left the USSR during the 1970s

Answer 22

250,000

Question 23

What were the Helsinki Accords

Answer 23

Participants had to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms

Question 24

How did Soviet dissidents use the Helsinki Accords

Answer 24

Used them as a basis to demand for more freedom
Formation of Helsinki groups to monitor observance of the agreement
Provoked harassment from the KGB

Question 25

What happened in Czechoslovakia in 1968

Answer 25

Leader introduced major reforms e.g. Freedom of the press
USSR afraid they wouldn’t remain loyal members of Warsaw Pact
Warsaw forces invaded and crushed the ‘Prague Spring’

Question 26

What was the Brezhnev doctrine

Answer 26

Claimed soviet states had only limited sovereignty and that the USSR had the right to intervene in affairs of other socialist countries

Question 27

What was Brezhnev’s nationalities policy

Answer 27

Russification of republics
More investment in less developed republics
Soviet policy was inconsistent
Regime did not show concern about growing dissent in republics

Question 28

What % of total capital investment in 1980 did the Russian Federation absorb

Answer 28

62%

Question 29

What was the impact of the Afghanistan War in terms of foreign policy

Answer 29

Boycott of 1980 Moscow olympics

USA embargo on exports of grain and technology to the USSR

Question 30

How many veterans of the Afghanistan war were imprisoned under Brezhnev

Answer 30

3000

Question 31

What % of civilians thought the Afghanistan war was a national shame

Answer 31

46%

Question 32

What % of civilians under Brezhnev we’re proud of returning soldiers from Afghanistan under Brezhnev

Answer 32

6%