RUSSIA- Fall of the USSR 1985-91- NATIONALISM

Question 1

How many republics was the USSR divided into?

Answer 1

15

Question 2

What had Soviet control over Eastern Europe been enforced by?

Answer 2

Military action under the Brezhnev Doctrine

Question 3

How much did the USSR spend annually on propping up communist governments around the world?

Answer 3

$40 billion

Question 4

What did Gorbachev believe about the use of armed intervention?

Answer 4

Morally wrong

Question 5

When had communist rule been imposed on Eastern Europe?

Answer 5

After WW2

Question 6

Why did the ending of the Brezhnev Doctrine pose a particular problem for those Eastern European leaders who wanted to resist reform?

Answer 6

Could no longer rely on Soviet military intervention to buttress their regimes

Question 7

When did the Polish communist government yield to public pressure?

Answer 7

1989 with Solidarity- decided to allow it and any other political groups to stand in elections

Question 8

How did Solidarity fare in the Polish general elections?

Answer 8

Defeated the Communist Party in a landslide victory

Question 9

What happened to the Polish Communist Party as a result of the 1989 elections?

Answer 9

Collapsed

Question 10

Which was the first satellite state to separate itself from communism?

Answer 10

Poland

Question 11

Where did the pressure for reform come from in Hungary?

Answer 11

Within the Party

Question 12

Who had been the hardline leader of the Hungarian Communist Party since 1956 and when was he sacked?

Answer 12

Janos Kadar; 1988

Question 13

What did the Hungarian Communist Party do after it had sacked its leader?

Answer 13

Decided to allow other political parties to contest elections

Question 14

Which satellite state was most reliant on Soviet support?

Answer 14

East Germany

Question 15

When did the Berlin Wall fall?

Answer 15

9 November 1989

Question 16

Who became the East German leader in October 1989?

Answer 16

Egon Krenz- refused to sanction widespread repression

Question 17

When did Gorbachev encourage those who wished to push for reform in East Germany by visiting East Berlin?

Answer 17

October 1989

Question 18

When was the communist regime in Czechoslovakia forced to make concessions in response to public demonstrations calling for reforms?

Answer 18

November 1989

Question 19

What organisation emerged in Czechoslovakia to co-ordinate the campaign to get rid of the communist government?

Answer 19

Civic Forum

Question 20

Who was elected as President of Czechoslovakia in December 1989? (Baclava)

Answer 20

Vaclav Havel

Question 21

When did demonstrations against the communist government begin in Romania?

Answer 21

End of 1989

Question 22

What sealed the end of communism in Romania?

Answer 22

Arrest and subsequent execution of Nicolae Ceausescu

Question 23

Why was Ceausescu forced to flee Romania in December 1989?

Answer 23

Even the army were unwilling to support him

Question 24

What increased the unpopularity of Ceausescu even further?

Answer 24

Urged the army to open fire on demonstrators

Question 25

Where had reformers within the Communist Parties taken the lead in asserting national independence?

Answer 25

Hungary; Bulgaria

Question 26

Where did bloody civil war accompany the break-up of communism?

Answer 26

Romania; Yugoslavia

Question 27

When had every pro-Soviet communist government in Eastern Europe disintegrated by?

Answer 27

1989

Question 28

What effect did the change in Soviet foreign policy have?

Answer 28

Changed the relationship between Russians and national minorities within the USSR

Question 29

What encouraged the growth of nationalism within the USSR? (3)

Answer 29

Environmental concerns; insecurity of local Party leaders; culture and language

Question 30

Where had environmental damage been the greatest in the USSR?

Answer 30

Outlying regions

Question 31

What was a major environmental concern in the Baltic republics?

Answer 31

Industrial pollution

Question 32

Which area of the USSR was facing soil erosion due to the diversion of rivers?

Answer 32

Central Asia

Question 33

Why did the insecurity of local Party leaders encourage the growth of nationalism?

Answer 33

Tempting for them to lend their support to popular local concerns in an attempt to maintain their position

Question 34

What was the balance of Russians and non-Russians in the USSR by the 1980s?

Answer 34

145 million Russians/141 million non-Russians

Question 35

Why was there violence in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988?

Answer 35

Populated largely by Armenians- ethnic tensions arose over the desire of the Armenians in the area to join the Armenian republic

Question 36

Where was Nagorno-Karabakh?

Answer 36

Autonomous region within the Azerbaijan republic

Question 37

What was a clear indication of the growing weakness of the central Soviet government?

Answer 37

Armenia announced in November 1988 that Nagorno-Karabakh was under its control

Question 38

Where were there ethnic clashes in the Soviet Union over growing nationalism?

Answer 38

Nagorno-Karabakh 1988; Georgia 1989; Kirgizstan 1990; Moldavia

Question 39

Where was the growth of nationalism most concerning for the Soviet government?

Answer 39

Baltic republics

Question 40

Which were the Baltic republics?

Answer 40

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Question 41

Why was nationalism in the Baltic republics so threatening for the Soviet government?

Answer 41

Had higher levels of education than the Soviet average; among more economically developed regions of USSR

Question 42

When were Popular Fronts established in the Baltic republics?

Answer 42

April-October 1988

Question 43

When had the Baltic republics been incorporated into the USSR?

Answer 43

1939

Question 44

Who took the lead in the formation of the Popular Fronts?

Answer 44

Intelligentsia

Question 45

What did the Popular Fronts call for?

Answer 45

Protection for their native languages and cultural traditions and then independence

Question 46

What was used by the Popular Fronts to stage a mass demonstration for independence?

Answer 46

Anniversary of Nazi-Soviet Pact, August 1989

Question 47

What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

Answer 47

Resulted in the Soviet annexation of the Baltic republics

Question 48

What did the protestors do on the anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet pact in a show of independence?

Answer 48

Organised a human chain of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians holding hands that stretched across the 3 republics

Question 49

What success did the Popular Fronts have in 1990?

Answer 49

Won a majority in elections to the Supreme Soviets in all 3 Baltic republics

Question 50

Which of the Baltic republics took the lead in declaring independence from the Soviet Union?

Answer 50

Lithuania

Question 51

When did Lithuania proclaim that it was an independent state?

Answer 51

March 1990

Question 52

Who proclaimed that Lithuania was an independent state?

Answer 52

Speaker of the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet, Vytautas Landsbergis

Question 53

What is the capital of Lithuania?

Answer 53

Vilnius

Question 54

When did pro-Soviet communists and some Red Army troops attempt to take over the TV station in Vilnius?

Answer 54

January 1991

Question 55

How many people were killed in the clashes over Vilnius?

Answer 55

At least 13

Question 56

What were the limits of nationalism?

Answer 56

Limited experience of independence; Soviet Union had allowed degree of autonomous control; republics had been net gainers of Soviet economic investment; loyalty to local and tribal groupings; role of ethnic Russians

Question 57

Which Ukrainian nationalist organisation found little support in the eastern half of the republic?

Answer 57

Rukh

Question 58

Which different Muslim groups was there violence between?

Answer 58

Uzbeks and Kyrgyz; Uzbeks and Turkmens

Question 59

How many Russians lived in the other republics of the Soviet Union?

Answer 59

60 million

Question 60

What indicated popular support for maintaining the Soviet Union in all of the republics outside of Georgia/Baltic republics?

Answer 60

Referendum held in March 1991

Question 61

What legislation contained enough concessions to keep support for a continued union alive?

Answer 61

Union Treaty of 1991

Question 62

Which position allowed Yeltsin to undermine Gorbachev's Union Treaty?

Answer 62

Chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet

Question 63

When was Yeltsin elected as Chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet?

Answer 63

March 1990

Question 64

Which group was Russian nationalism largely confined to?

Answer 64

Intelligentsia

Question 65

What put an end to any hopes of Gorbachev's Union Treaty?

Answer 65

August coup of 1991

Question 66

What did Yeltsin use to undermine Gorbachev's Union Treaty?

Answer 66

Support for Russian nationalism

Question 67

What did Yeltsin call for to replace Gorbachev's Union Treaty?

Answer 67

Commonwealth of Independent States made up of the former Soviet republics