World Cultures 11

Unit II: Russia

Name _______________________________
Date _______
Block ___________

Read the article entitled The Collapse of the Soviet Union and complete the questions below.
Indentify/define each of the following: [remember to answer fully]
a. Politburo ruling committee of the communist party.
b. Soviet hard-liners old members of the government that oppose reform.
c. coup a group of people in a government that work to make change.
d. CIS Commonwealth of Independent States.
e. shock therapy- shift to free market economics.

1. Identify and define two early changes that Gorbachev made? How were these changes
different from previous Soviet leaders?
Gorbachev promoted the idea of openness, or Glasnost, rather than an unchanging
totalitarian state. He also introduced Perestroika, which was economy restricting.
2. Why would it be ineffective for the central government to decide what should be produced
all over the country? It would be ineffective because if the central government told the
factories how much to produce and how much to pay, the production could rise and the price
would stay the same. Workers had no motive to improve efficiency.
3. Explain Gorbachevs third reform and how it would help to move the country toward
democracy. The third reform was called Democratization. This was made to gradually open the
political system of the soviets. This plan called for a new legislative body and the foreign policy
also changed.
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 the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces. This
treaty banned the use of nuclear missiles with ranges from 300-3400 miles long. Gorbachev did
not have the money to spend on the war, so he and Ronald Reagan signed the treaty. I think this
was a good effect on the war because the less weapons used, the less damage made.
5. What effect did Gorbachevs reforms have on Russian ethnic minorities? Because of his
reforms, over 100 ethnic groups demanded their freedom. Russians were the largest group, but
were accompanied by 14 other major ethnicities.
6. Which satellite nation was first to defy Gorbachev? How did Gorbachev respond? Lithuania
was the first nation to defy him. In response, Gorbachev ordered an economic blockade. Still
worried that Lithuanias courage would inspire he sent troops to the capital to attack unarmed
civilians.

7. What was Boris Yeltsins position in Soviet government? Why did he oppose Gorbachev? He
was a member of the parliament and former mayor of Moscow. He opposed Gorbachev for his
attack on Lithuania and for his slow paced reforms.
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. They were called hard-liners.
They opposed both Yeltsin and Gorbachev because they did not want reform.
9. What was the August Coup? Who orchestrated it? The August Coup was an attempt to
take over the government and overthrow Gorbachev by a group of members in the Soviet
Unions government. It was orchestrated by Boris Yeltsin.
10. What were the most important reasons for the failure of the Coup? The anger they
sparked with the Communists and Gorbachevs resignation.
11. How did the 15 soviet Republics respond to the failed Coup? They all declared independence.
12. When Gorbachev stepped down as president, who became the next president? Boris
Yeltsin.
13. What was the new name of the Soviet Union after this coup? The Commonwealth of
Independent States.
14. What was Yeltsin attempting to do by forming the CIS? What effect would it have on the
traditional Soviet Union? He was trying to promote integration of the newly independent
states. The traditional Soviet Union would not have promoted these new states.
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? Yeltsin proposed shock
therapy as an answer to the troubles he was facing at the time. Shock therapy was the change
to a free market economy. It did not work. It caused and inflation rate of 800 percent. And it
cut peoples jobs because of high demand.
16. When Yeltsin stepped down, a new leader was elected. What are some of the problems
that faced this new leader, Vladimir Putin? The trouble with Chechnya continued under Putin for
years. After withdrawing troops from Chechnya, they attacked a theater in Moscow, which
caused 150 Russian deaths.
17. What was the Chechnya issue? How did Putin deal with it? Was he able to end this issue
for the new Federation? Explain. It was a battle between Russian and the Soviet Union. He was
not able to put an end to right away. He withdrew troops when he thought tensions calmed, but
they retaliated.
18. In what ways were the policies of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin similar?

All of these men were desperately trying to force change on Russia for the betterment of the
country, however they all faced difficulties that hurt Russian more than they had helped it.