Key Terms

Question 1

Ostpolitik

Answer 1

German for “Eastern policy”; West Germany’s attempt in the 1970s to ease diplomatic tensions with East Germany exemplifying the policies of détente.

Question 2

Détente

Answer 2

The progressive relaxation of Cold War tensions that emerged in the early 1970s.

Question 3

Second Vatican Council

Answer 3

A meeting of Catholic leaders convened from 1962 to 1965 that initiated a number of reforms, including the replacement of Latin with local languages in church services, designed to democratize the church and renew its appeal.

Question 4

New Left

Answer 4

A 1960s counterculture movement that embraced updated forms of Marxism to challenge both Western capitalism and Soviet-style communism.

Question 5

Brezhnev Doctrine

Answer 5

Doctrine created by Leonid Brezhnev that held that the Soviet Union had the right to intervene in any East Bloc country when necessary to preserve Communist rule.

Question 6

OPEC

Answer 6

The Arab-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Question 7

Stagflation

Answer 7

Term coined in the early 1980s to describe the combination of low growth and high inflation that led to a worldwide recession.

Question 8

Postindustrial Society

Answer 8

A society that relies on high-tech and service-oriented jobs for economic growth rather than heavy industry and manufacturing jobs.

Question 9

Neoliberalism

Answer 9

Philosophy of 1980s conservatives who argued for privatization of state-run industries and decreased government spending on social services.

Question 10

Privatization

Answer 10

The sale of state-managed industries such as transportation and communication networks to private owners, a key policy of neoliberalism meant to control government spending, increase private profits, and foster economic growth, which was implemented in western Europe in response to the economic crisis of the 1970s.

Question 11

Developed Socialism

Answer 11

A term used by Communist leaders to describe the socialist accomplishments of their societies, such as nationalized industry, collective agriculture, and extensive social welfare programs.

Question 12

Solidarity

Answer 12

Independent Polish trade union that worked for workers’ rights and political reform throughout the 1980s.

Question 13

Perestroika

Answer 13

Economic restructuring and reform implemented by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in 1985

Question 14

Glasnost

Answer 14

Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev’s popular campaign for openness in government and the media.

Question 15

Velvet Revolution

Answer 15

The term given to the relatively peaceful overthrow of communism in Czechoslovakia; the label came to signify the collapse of the East Bloc in general in 1989 to 1990.