Chapter 8: Pressures For Change and the Reaction of the Regime Flashcards
when can the emergence of dissidence be traced back to in the USSR and why do you think dissidence began then?
- living conidtions improved in many aspects such as consumerism however this picture was not universal and conditions in some areas of the USSR were better than other
-“The Thaw” was a period of liberlaisation and reform wihtin USSR society and led the freedom of speech of many intellectuals - the period of de-stalanisation under khrushchev where many prisioner were let out of the gulags gave a reason for radical activity
why do you think that the soviet regime could not tolerate a complete open society ?
- soviet union could’nt let society for be entirly free as it might threaten socialism and its future plus lead to rebellion once again
what did citizen grumbl about everyday ?
food shortages and finding a good hospital
how commo was political dissidence in the USSR and how can we account for this ?
- not very common becasue theres was lots of pressure from the KGB
- even when they had the freedom to express their ideas dissidents often disagreed with each other and couldnt set out a clear form of politcial opposition
-not many artist seeked to express politcial ideas
how do you think the Helsinki Accords affected the treatment of political dissidents ?
- it put more strains on dissidents as the KGB monitored more closely the soviets
when did the KGB crackdown began and reach its peak ?
-began in 1977
-reached its peak in 1983
who was Andrei Sinyavksy and Yuri Daniel ?
- sinyavksy and daniel was a trial against them for begin convicted of the offense of anti-soviet agitation and propaganda in a Moscow court for publishing their satirical writting of soviet life aboard
why is the Sinyavksy-Daniel trial significant ?
- the sinyvaksy-daniel trial was the first soviet trial where writers were openly convicted soley for their literacy work, provoking appeals from many soviet intellectuals and other public figures outside the soviet union
what did the sinvyasky-daniel trial led to in terms of meeting ?
- led to the glasnost meeting , the first spontaneous public demonstation in the soviet union after world war ii
how many year were sinyvasky and daniel sentenced for in labour camps ?
-sentenced to seven and fiver years
in what ways did their trial back fire on the regime ?
highlighted the absurdity of the regime
what does the sinyvasky-daniel trial tell us about the political dissidence under brezhnev and soviet society more broadly ?
-shows the repression towards politcial dissidents and the regime attitudes towards intellectuality
- highlighs the limits on freedom of speech
- terrible conditions dissidents condemed for speaking up
who was Andrei Sakharov ? what did he later support after war?
-he was a reowned scientist prominent in developing soviet nuclear weapons after the war however later he opposed nuclear testing and supportted East-West cooperation of human rights
what did andrei sakharov do in 1960 ? what did this led to ?
-he became involved in nuclear disarment campagins and spoke out against the war in afghanistan in his work of Samizdat
-this led to sakharov not begin allowed to coutinue with his research
what did Andrei Sakharov won in 1975?
noble peace prize
what happened to Andrei Sakharov five years later ?
he was forced to live in internal exile in the province of Gorky
why did Andrei Sakharov went on a hunger strike ?
an attempt to put pressure on the goverment to let his wife travel to the US for heart surgery
when was Andrei Sakharov allowed to return to Moscow ?
1986
what does the andrei sakharov case tell us about political dissidence under brezhnev ?
- faced lots of oppression
- freedom of speech wasnt allowed weather it was a political case or non-political
who was alexander solzhenitsyn ?
-he published One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich during khrushhev thaw period and became a bestseller across the world
who is the book One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich based on ?
the story is set in a soviet labor camp in the early 1950s and described a single day in the life of a ordinary prisioner called Ivan Denisovich
what did Alexander Solzhentisyn won and why did he not attend to accept the award ?
- he won the noble prize for literature but decided not to travel to collect it for fear of arrest on his return
what other books did Alexander Soltzhenitsyn write ?
-gulag archipelago
-cancer ward
where did alexander soltzhenitsyn other two book got pbulsihed ?
his book got smuggled out and published in the West
who did alexander soltzhenitsyn work critsised ?-
- highly critical of lenin in gulag system
what happened to alexander soltzhenitsyn after his dissident works got published ?
he was tried for treason and stripped of his soviet citzenship in 1974 and deported to germany in an attempt to end the widespread of international protest and unwelcome publicity
where did alexander soltzhenitsyn later settled in ?
USA
what does alexander soltzhentisyn case tell as about political dissdience under brezhnev ?
-the idea that thinking and suggesting something different wasnt allowed highlgiht the limitation of freedom
-humuliation from not begin able to come back to his own country and seeing his family again
what poltical critisism was Sakharov stating in his works >
-he argued that without intellectual writing and idea the soviet union will collapse because theres a lack of participation and freedom of pseech that had put their beloved russia behind in so many prespectives
- they are living in a different era therefore putting them behind and not begin able to enjoy from the advantages of a second industrial revolution and techonology
define the term dissident ?
a radical/intellectual writer who opposes to political order ?
how did the KGB attempt to deal with dissidents ?
-punish them
-exile to different country
-stripe away their citizenship
-imprisonment
account for the difference in treatment of Alexander Solzhenitsyn under khrushchev and brezhnev ?
-under khrushchev he got liberalistion and freedom of thought
-under brezhnev he got punished for his books and limited on freedom of though and speech
