USSR control over Eastern Europe Part 2

Question 1

Give three events during WWII which increased Poles’ hatred for Soviet Russia.

Answer 1

1) Stalin divided Poland between Russia and Germany.
2) In 1940, Stalin massacred thousands of Polish Army officers and buried them at Katyn.
3) In 1944, the Soviet Red Army deliberately allowed the Warsaw Rising to fail, leading to huge loss of life.

Question 2

Why did religion make Poles more likely to oppose Communism?

Answer 2

1) Most Poles were Catholic; their faith was challenged by the Communist ideology.
2) The appointment of a Polish churchman as Pope John Paul II in 1978 helped encourage feelings of Polish pride.

Question 3

Why did Polish people have more power than in some other Communist countries? Give three reasons

Answer 3

1) Polish farmers had successfully held onto their own farms.
2) There was a strong tradition of using strikes against the government, such as in 1956 and 1970.
3) The Catholic Church united many Poles against Communism.

Question 4

Why did strikes increase in Poland by 1980?

Answer 4

1) Living standards were poor.

2) The communist government had large debt, leading to price rises in July 1980

Question 5

In which town, and in what type of industry, were there huge strikes in 1980?

Answer 5

1) Town - Gdansk

2) Industry - shipyard

Question 6

What was the name of the leader of Solidarity?

Answer 6

Lech Walesa

Question 7

By November 1980, Solidarity had gained considerable influence. Give three details to demonstrate this.

Answer 7

1) They had gained 9 million members.
2) The Polish Supreme Court declared that the union was legal.
3) The Communist party leader, Gierek, was replaced under domestic pressure.

Question 8

What was the name of the new Polish Prime Minister, appointed in 1981?

Answer 8

Jarulzelski

Question 9

Give three methods the Polish Prime Minister used in 1981-1982 to try to decrease Solidarity’s power.

Answer 9

1) Attempted (but failed) to negotiate with Solidarity
2) Declared martial law, giving the army more power and arresting and holding Solidarity supporters without trial.
3) Tried to replace Solidarity with new communist unions.

Question 10

The Polish Prime Minister’s attempts to decrease Solidarity’s power failed in 1981 to 1983. Give four details to demonstrate this.

Answer 10

1) Walesa’s imprisonment made him appear to be a hero.
2) Solidarity survived underground and no one took the new unions seriously.
3) Walesa was released from prison, Nov 1982
4) Walesa was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in 1983.

Question 11

In 1983-1984, the Catholic Church aided Solidarity’s power. Give two details to show this.

Answer 11

1) The Polish Pope visited Poland, giving hope for opponents to Communism.
2) It was learnt that a priest, Father Popielusko, who supported Solidarity, had been beaten to death by the secret police. This increased the strength of the opposition to the Communist regime: his funeral was attended by a quarter of a million people.

Question 12

In 1985, which person rose to power in the USSR?

Answer 12

Gorbachev

Question 13

Give two details to show that opposition to the Communist regime had increased in Poland, 1987-1988.

Answer 13

1) Jaruzelski (Communist leader of Poland) failed to win enough votes in a 1987 election about economic reforms.
2) In 1988, Solidarity organised a series of strikes, and persuaded Jaruzelski to agree to legalise Solidarity and call a general election.

Question 14

What was the result of the 1989 election in Poland?

Answer 14

1) In the main chamber, almost all leading Communists failed to get elected.
2) in the second chamber, Solidarity won 99 of 100 seats.

Question 15

What happened in the aftermath of the 1989 election in Poland?

Answer 15

1) Jaruzelski agreed that Solidarity could help form a government.
2) Mazowiecki, a leading Solidarity member, became the PM of a coalition government.
3) the remaining Communist ministers soon resigned.

Question 16

Give four details to show the low standard of living and poor economy in the USSR in the 1980s.

Answer 16

1) Some basic goods, such as sugar, were rationed.
2) The USSR could not compete with new industries, such as computers or telecommunications.
3) Farming employed over 20% of the workforce in the USSR, compared to 3% in the USA.
4) The USSR had to import millions of tons of grain, much from the USA.

Question 17

Give an example to show the perceived corruption of the Soviet leadership by the 1980s.

Answer 17

People complained about the luxurious country houses the Soviet leadership had built for their own families.

Question 18

In what ways did Reagan shift US policy towards the USSR, and how did this affect the Cold War?

Answer 18

1) Reagan increased US arms spending.
2) Regan introduced the “Star Wars” project (SDI).
This made the USSR increasingly realise they could not “compete” in the Cold War.

Question 19

Why did the Afghanistan War, from 1979, contribute to the USSR’s decline? Give 6 reasons.

Answer 19

1) The USSR’s invasion was widely criticised, especially by the Islamic word, losing the USSR many friends.
2) The Afghan rebels were helped by the USA, and the USSR’s invasion encouraged Reagan to take a tough anti-Soviet stance.
3) The USSR committed 125,000 Soviet troops by the early 1980s.
4) Around 15,000 Soviet troops died.
5) The war cost the USSR about $8 billion dollars a year.
6) The USSR’s cause in Afghanistan failed.

Question 20

What reformist ideas were introduced by Andropov in the USSR 1982-1984?

Answer 20

1) He called for an end to the arms race.

2) He attacked corruption at home.

Question 21

What two key domestic policies were introduced by Gorbachev from 1985? Give name and definition of each.

Answer 21

1) Glasnost - openness. This led to greater freedom of speech and the release of thousands of political prisoners.
2) Perestroika - restructuring of the economy.

Question 22

Give four foreign policy decisions made by Gorbachev.

Answer 22

1) Met with Reagan, leading to a disarmament treaty in 1987, agreeing to remove medium-range missiles from Europe within 3 years.
2) Left Afghanistan 1989.
3) Announced huge cts in the Soviet union armed forces Dec 1988
4) Made it clear Dec 1988 that the Brezhnev Doctrine was to be abandoned.

Question 23

Give four Eastern European countries which resisted took advantage of increased freedom and give a detail of each.

Answer 23

1) Hungary - opened frontier with Austria
2) Poland - free elections held.
3) East Germany - Berlin Wall torn down.
4) Czechoslovakia - anti-communist demonstrations.

Question 24

On what date was the Berlin Wall torn down?

Answer 24

10th November 1989.