Chapter 21 - Gorbachev and the Ending of the Cold War Flashcards

1
Q

What problems occurred under Brezhnev?

A
  • 1972 = Crop failures = food shortages
  • 1964-82 = 25% Soviet gross GNP spent on military supplies
  • 1971-75 / 1976-80 = Ninth and Tenth Year Plans to increase production of consumer goods failed
  • 1970s = worldwide petrol shortages = USSR didn’t increase production to exploit demand for oil and high prices
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What successes occurred under Brezhnev?

A
  • Allowed farmers to return to working on state-owned plots (kept or sold surplus product = more likely to meet goals)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Who were the Presidents of the USSR between Brezhnev and Gorbachev?

A
  • Brezhnev
  • Andropov
  • Chernenko
  • Gorbachev
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What factors were undermining Soviet economic growth when Gorbachev came to power?

A
  • Alcoholism (low production, absenteeism, injuries)
  • Lack of foreign investment
  • State controlled businesses (Little regard for consumer demand)
  • Inflation and worker discontent (workers wages didn’t reflect inflation = strikes = low productivity)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What was ‘New Thinking’?

A
  • Gorbachev’s first major reform (targeting alcohol)
  • Prices raised on beer, wine and vodka
  • Places and times for selling alcohol restricted
  • Arrests for public drunkenness and drunk at work
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What was Perestroika?

A
  • ‘Restructuring’ = social, political and economic reforms
  • State-owned enterprises to receive budget and managers could use it as they saw fit
  • Businesses to function as profit-making organisations selling in wholesale markets
  • End state price controls (knew would lead to high prices and low living standards)
  • BUT enterprises to remain state-owned
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What was Glasnost?

A
  • Announced 1988
  • ‘Openness’ = allowed citizens more freedom to discuss political problems
  • Allowed open debate on past government actions (e.g.: forced collectivisation, Party purges)
  • Former enemies of state rehabilitated
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Why was Glasnost introduced?

A
  • April 1986 = Chernobyl disaster surpassed according to Soviet censorship policies
  • BUT Swedish support showed radiation coming from Ukraine = forced USSR to reveal truth
  • Sakharov travelled around USSR and world = told of conditions in Soviet prison camps
  • Led to criticism of gov and how past was portrayed in USSR
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What were Gorbachev’s New economic laws?

A
  • Law on Joint Ventures allowed foreign ownership of no more than 49% of business
  • Extended to 100% by 1990
  • 1988 Law on Enterprises to decentralise authority and give decision-making to businesses themselves
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What was the impact of the Reagen’s election for the USSR?

A
  • US President Carter’s economic sanctions and embargoes AND 1980 boycott of Moscow Olympics helped election of Reagan (anti-Communist)
  • Reagan announced Strategic Defence Initiative (1983)
  • Filled Soviet leadership with fear = nuclear armament accelerated again
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Why were Soviet foreign policies unsuccessful?

A
  • USSR couldn’t export fuel and raw materials to satellite states as too costly
    = alienated Eastern European states
    = closer to Western capitalist economic system
  • European Commission
    = established trade and cooperation with individual Comecon members
    = states in Soviet orbit could make own trade agreements
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How did USSR economic problems affect their role in the Afghanistan war?

A
  • Type of conflict in Afghanistan made war costly on economic AND social level
  • USSR could no longer afford war
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What were the effects of Perestroika?

A
  • General public had lower living standard BUT entrepreneurial class benefitting
  • Most Soviet citizens’ wages didn’t match inflation = food very expensive
  • Economic system failing in USSR
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is some evidence for the consequences of Gorbachev’s policies?

A

SUCCESS:
- By 1988, USSR made 61 joint-venture agreements with Western companies
= capital and technological developments

NOT SUCCESS:
- By 1988, Soviet budget deficit 13% Soviet GNP
= (US budget deficit 3.5% US GNP)

  • Alcohol policies cost state 100 billion rubles in taxes lost
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What were the effects of Glasnost?

A
  • Paved way for agricultural reform and eventually wider economic changes
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What was the overall impact of the Gorbachev era?

A
  • End to collectivisation
  • Transition to privatisation = improved productivity
  • Large and corrupt bureaucracy remained (to tackle this, public choice for representatives needed)
  • Economic problems remained severe
  • Perestroika and Glasnost undermined the communist system