RUSSIA- Fall of the USSR 1985-91- GORBACHEV AND YELTSIN

Question 1

Which type of historians approach the concept of causation in history through the actions of individuals?

Answer 1

Intentionalist historians

Question 2

When did Gorbachev receive the Nobel Peace Prize?

Answer 2

1990

Question 3

What were Gorbachev’s failings?

Answer 3

Lack of vision; naivety; powerbase; expectations; foreign policy; insensitive handling of national minorities; inconsistency; indecision

Question 4

Why were Gorbachev’s measures to reduce the power and role of the Communist Party problematic?

Answer 4

Attacking the base of his own power without ensuring an adequate replacement

Question 5

How did Gorbachev make the ethnic clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh worse?

Answer 5

Declared a state of emergency and imposed direct control from Moscow in November 1988

Question 6

What is an example of Gorbachev’s inconsistency?

Answer 6

His speech in November 1987- praised Stalin’s leadership while condemning his ‘real crime’

Question 7

What is an example of Gorbachev’s indecision?

Answer 7

Hesitated for several days before releasing information about Chernobyl

Question 8

When was the Chernobyl nuclear accident?

Answer 8

1986

Question 9

Which historian believes that Gorbachev’s fault was attempting economic reform, democratisation and decolonisation simultaneously?

Answer 9

Ronald Suny

Question 10

Which considerable challenge did Gorbachev succeed in for most of his time as General Secretary?

Answer 10

Dealing with divisions between reformers and conservatives

Question 11

What sort of image did Yeltsin present?

Answer 11

A politician in touch with the wishes of the people

Question 12

Why was Yeltsin in a strong position to undermine Gorbachev’s leadership?

Answer 12

Reputation as a reformer; base of popular support

Question 13

When was Yeltsin removed from the Politburo?

Answer 13

February 1988

Question 14

How did Yeltsin use his time after being removed from the Politburo?

Answer 14

Established firmer links with other reformers and critics of Gorbachev

Question 15

How many people gathered in Moscow to support Yeltsin in March 1991?

Answer 15

200,000

Question 16

When did Yeltsin attack Gorbachev publicly?

Answer 16

Central Committee Plenum of October 1987

Question 17

How did Yeltsin take advantage of Gorbachev’s decision to hold elections for the Congress of People’s Deputies in 1989?

Answer 17

Used his position as mayor of Moscow to organise demonstrations in his support; secured 89% of the city’s vote

Question 18

What did Yeltsin’s election to the People’s Congress give him?

Answer 18

Platform to attack Gorbachev and the Soviet government

Question 19

What did Yeltsin use to specifically attack the central Soviet government?

Answer 19

His election to the Congress of People’s Deputies for the RSFSR in 1990

Question 20

When was Yeltsin elected as chairman of the Congress of People’s Deputies?

Answer 20

May 1990

Question 21

When did Yeltsin resign from the Communist Party?

Answer 21

July 1990

Question 22

What did the Congress of People’s Deputies consider itself to be above?

Answer 22

Authority of the Soviet government

Question 23

What calculated move did Yeltsin take to reduce the power of the central Soviet government even further?

Answer 23

Encouraged the nationalist movements of non-Russian republics

Question 24

When did Yeltsin and Gorbachev decide to work together to pursue reform?

Answer 24

Spring of 1991

Question 25

What did Yeltsin and Gorbachev join forces to support?

Answer 25

Novo-Ogarevo Agreement, which formed the basis of Gorbachev's Union Treaty of 1991

Question 26

Which historian views Yeltsin's decision to work with Gorbachev as a cynical move to bide his time?

Answer 26

Robert Service

Question 27

What was the August Coup of 1991 a last-ditch attempt to do?

Answer 27

Preserve territorial integrity of the Soviet Union and rule of Communist Party

Question 28

Where was Gorbachev on holiday in when the August Coup took place?

Answer 28

Crimea

Question 29

What was formed to take over the running of the country while Gorbachev was away?

Answer 29

State Emergency Committee

Question 30

Who were the leaders of the August Coup?

Answer 30

Gennady Yanaev; Vladimir Kryuchkov; Dmitri Yazov

Question 31

Who was Gennady Yanaev?

Answer 31

Gorbachev's vice-president

Question 32

Who was Vladimir Kryuchkov?

Answer 32

Head of KGB

Question 33

Who was Dmitri Yazov?

Answer 33

Defence Minister

Question 34

Who were the leaders of the August Coup supported by?

Answer 34

Some of the leading army officers

Question 35

Who announced during the Coup that Gorbachev was ill and a state of emergency would rule in his absence?

Answer 35

Gennady Yanaev

Question 36

How long did the August coup last?

Answer 36

4 days

Question 37

What happened during the August Coup?

Answer 37

Series of repressive measures hastily announced, including a ban on strikes/demonstrations

Question 38

How did the leaders of the August Coup attempt to maintain law and order?

Answer 38

Tanks were ordered onto the streets of Moscow

Question 39

Why was the August Coup unsuccessful?

Answer 39

Poorly planned; implemented without wholehearted backing of the armed forces

Question 40

How did Yeltsin benefit from the August Coup?

Answer 40

His stand against the plotters greatly enhanced his reputation as a defender of freedom and reform

Question 41

When had the monopoly of the Communist Party been legally ended?

Answer 41

By the summer of 1991

Question 42

After the Communist Party had been destroyed, what did Yeltsin and other reformers establish as a political party?

Answer 42

Democratic Reform Movement

Question 43

When did Yeltsin ban the Communist Party of the Soviet Union within Russia?

Answer 43

November 1991

Question 44

What did Yeltsin launch after he had been emboldened by his enhanced position post-August Coup?

Answer 44

Programme of market reform in economy

Question 45

When was Yeltsin provided with an opportunity to finally kill Gorbachev's Union Treaty of 1991?

Answer 45

Ukrainian President, Leonid Kravchuk, refused to sign it; asked for further negotiations

Question 46

When was Yeltsin's Commonwealth of Independent States implemented?

Answer 46

December 1991

Question 47

What did the Commonwealth of Independent States not require?

Answer 47

Central Soviet government

Question 48

When did Yeltsin take a stand against Gorbachev's Union Treaty of 1991?

Answer 48

November 1991