Fall of the USSR

Question 1

What are the four main interpretations of the fall of the USSR between 1985 and 1991

Answer 1

1: Economic weakness and failure of Gorbachev’s economic reforms
2. Political problems and the failure of Gorbachev’s political reforms
3. The nationalist resurgence in Soviet republics and Eastern Europe
4. The personal actions of Gorbachev and Yeltsin

Question 2

What failed campaign did Gorbachev set up regarding alcohol

Answer 2

The anti-alcohol campaign (made it incredibly hard to buy and sell alcohol) just lead to the country losing 9% in GDP and boost in black markets.

Question 3

What was the last five-year plan and how well did it do

Answer 3

Gorbachev’s Twelfth Five Year Plan and it was absolutley tragic. “uskorenie” meaning ‘acceleration’ meant huge injections of government investments. However global oil prices plummeted so Russia lost a lot of money so the project was financed by huge loans (27.2 billion) with no real result to show from it

Question 4

List some long term failures of agriculture policies before Gorbachev

Answer 4

Food production fell dramatically