Nicolette Briglio

Part 2
Ms. Tavani
April 21, 2015
Indentify/define each of the following: [remember to answer fully]
a. Politburo the Communist partys ruling committee that destroyed all
agreements
b. Soviet hard-liners - the older communist members in Parliament
c. coup - a sudden violent seizure of power from a government
d. CIS a loose federation of former Soviet territories
e. shock therapy a shift in stock market ecomony
1. Identify and define two early changes that Gorbachev made? How were these
changes different from previous Soviet leaders?
Churches belonged to the Government and when Gorbachev stepped in he
allowed other people to take a little responsibility and open churches. Also
another change was that he created the Glasnost which is an agreement to be
more open and it was a change because it was new to others.
2. Why would it be ineffective for the central government to decide what should be
produced all over the country?
Using the plan of Gorbachev the officials always told the owners of farms and
factories what and how much was to be produced and when to do it.
They handled everything that had to do with the money and wages and with not
allowing the people who work and own things make some rules and give them some room
for responsibility it will never work between the government and the workers.
3. Explain Gorbachevs third reform and how it would help to move the country toward
democracy.
Democratization was his third reform. This reform started to help the
government because it called for a new Legislative body. It opened the door to
civilians to vote from a list of names running.
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 Treaty stood for Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces and it was to
help limit the use of missiles. It banned nuclear missiles in a certain range mile.
It was between President Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987. Russia thought it

would help, but then noticed they didnt want to spend a lot, so they signed with
the U.S.
5. What effect did Gorbachevs reforms have on Russian ethnic minorities?
There are many different ethnic groups in Russia and they definitely clashed
and at times caused tension with a lot of their own freedoms.
6. Which satellite nation was first to defy Gorbachev? How did Gorbachev respond?
Lithuania was the first to defy Gorbachevs satellite and the reaction from
Gorbachev, himself, was to create and order an economic blockade.
7. What was Boris Yeltsins position in Soviet government? Why did he oppose
Gorbachev?
Boris Yeltsins position in the Soviet government was President. His title began
in 1990 and it ended 1999. He resigned because he head health issues.
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 older communist members were known as the conservatives, but more as
hard-liners. They disagreed and actually at a point were opposing to the two
because they were angry they had given up the position of the Soviet Union
being the dominant one in Eastern Europe.
9. What was the August Coup? Who orchestrated it?
The hard-liners kept Gorbachev in a home that he visits in the summer and
demanded for him to resign as President. This was known as the August Coup.
10. What were the most important reasons for the failure of the Coup?
The refusal of wanted to attack the Parliaments building when the troops were
ordered to by the hard-liners and then the military pulled its forces out of
Moscow was a reason the Coup failed.
11. How did the 15 soviet Republics respond to the failed Coup?
Every single one of the Soviet Republics declared independence.
12. When Gorbachev stepped down as president, who became the next president?
Boris Yeltsin became the next president.
13. What was the new name of the Soviet Union after this coup?
The new name was the Commonwealth of Independent States or the CIS.

14. What was Yeltsin attempting to do by forming the CIS? What effect would it
have on the traditional Soviet Union?
The goal was to make the government into a free market economy. He lowered
the price of trade and barriers and this left the workers without many jobs.
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?
His plan was known as the shock therapy and it was a shift to the free market
economy. The inflation increased and many, many, many factories shut down.
16. When Yeltsin stepped down, a new leader was elected. What are some of the
problems that faced this new leader, Vladimir Putin?
There were economic problems along with a lot of homeless children on the
streets of Moscow. This was caused by a rebellion in Chechnya and it cause
stress and a decrease in the standard living style.
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 its freedom from Russia and Putin put thousands of troops
into Chechnya and forced them all out.
18. In what ways were the policies of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin similar?

They were all once leaders of the Soviet Union and used force as a method of
control.