World Cultures 11

Unit II: Russia

Name _______________________________
Date _______
Block ___________

Read the article entitled The Collapse of the Soviet Union and answer the questions below
thoroughly and thoughtfully.
Indentify/define each of the following: [remember to answer fully]
a. Politburo The executive committee and chief policymaking body of a communist
party.
b. Soviet hard-liners Politicians that were taught to believe certain things.
c. coup An overthrow in government or powerand can involve violence.
d. CIS Commonwealth of Independent States.
e. shock therapy- A form of treatment that was supposed to help some mental
conditions.
1. Identify and define two early changes that Gorbachev made? How were these changes
different from previous Soviet leaders? Gorbachev decided to pursue other ideas which
included the glasnost. The glasnost brought changes and it allowed churches to re-open and it
allowed publication of books by previously banned authors.
2. Why would it be ineffective for the central government to decide what should be produced
all over the country? It was ineffective because individuals could not increase their pay by
producing more, so they had little motivation to improve efficacy.
3. Explain Gorbachevs third reform and how it would it help to move the country toward
democracy. Gorbachevs third reform, foreign policy helped the U.S.S.R because he realized
that they could not afford the costly arms race. So arms control became one of the top priorities
for Gorbachev.
4. What was the INF Treaty? Why did Gorbachev agree to sign it? What effect do you think
this Treaty had on the Cold War? The INF was a nuclear forces treaty between the U.S.S.R and
the United States. This treaty banned missiles being launched within ranges of 300- 3400 miles.
5. What effect did Gorbachevs reforms have on Russian ethnic minorities? The reforms led to
self-rule and freedom.
6. Which satellite nation was first to defy Gorbachev? How did Gorbachev respond?
Lithuania was the first nation to go against him, he retaliated with an economic blockade on
him.
7. What was Boris Yeltsins position in Soviet government? Why did he oppose Gorbachev?
Boris Yeltsin was part of the parliament in the Soviet government. He opposed Gorbachev
because he didnt agree with the way he handled the Lithuania situation.

8. What name was given to the older communist members in parliament? What opinion did
they have regarding both Gorbachev and Yeltsin? Explain your answer. The oldest communist
members in the parliament were called hardliners. They got angry with both of them because
they lost some of their power and they were afraid of losing more power.
9. What was the August Coup? Who orchestrated it? The August Coup was kind of like a
protest-campaign thats sole purpose was to get Gorbachev out of power. This was run by the
Hardliners.
10. What were the most important reasons for the failure of the Coup? The soldiers refused to
attack the parliament building.
11. How did the 15 soviet Republics respond to the failed Coup? The responded by all of them
declaring independence.
12. When Gorbachev stepped down as president, who became the next president? After
Gorbachev stepped down, Boris Yeltsin became the new president.
13. What was the new name of the Soviet Union after this coup? Russian Federation.
14. What was Yeltsin attempting to do by forming the CIS? What effect would it have on the
traditional Soviet Union? He was attempting to turn the Russian economy to a free market
economy. This emphasized the fact that Soviet Union was no more because of the free form
of government.
15. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin was faced with economic issues. What did
he do to attempt to solve these issues? Did it work? Why or why not? He lowered trade
barriers and removed price controls. This method wasnt successful because prices went up and
factory production stopped.
16. When Yeltsin stepped down, a new leader was elected. What are some of the problems
that faced this new leader, Vladimir Putin? He had all the problems that Yeltsin left behind and
never fixed.
17. What was the Chechnya issue? How did Putin deal with it? Was he able to end this issue
for the new Federation? Explain. Chechnya declared independence from Russia and Putin
reacted by deploying 80,000 troops in Chechnya. It could help stop the fighting and get them
out of fighting in the war.
18. In what ways were the policies of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin similar? They all tried to
help the society, but they all failed and resigned later.