Exam 7: Current and Former Communist Regimes

In Leninist states, appointments to key positions had to be drawn from the __________, a list of approved names, maintained by the Central Committee.

The Soviet leader who spearheaded the reforms before communism collapsed there and in Eastern Europe was __________.

Reforms under Khrushchev allowed criticism of

Along with Karl Marx, which individual wrote The Communist Manifesto that first set out the ideas later known as Marxism?

The movement that was largely responsible for defeating the communist regime in Poland was

The late 1980s were significant for communist nations because of all of the following EXCEPT

Under the Leninist state, the communist party called all the shots; they were led by a group of self-selected and self-perpetuating officials who sat atop a vast hierarchy labeled as __________.

The peaceful reform movement in Czechoslovakia in 1968 that eventually led to a Soviet invasion of the country was known as

What factors explain why some postcommunist countries have been more successful than other in transitioning to democracy and/or capitalism? How might those countries that are lagging in democratization catch up or is it now too late?

During communist rule, any internal conflicts (ethnic, religious, etc.) were suppressed by the government. Now that many of these states have collapsed, what has the impact been on the level of violence and conflict in these now-former communist countries? Use specific examples to illustrate your arguments.

Cuba became a Soviet ally and adopted Marxism-Leninism in __________.

How did Mikhail Gorbachev's programs of glasnost' and perestroika, which were designed to "fix" the Soviet Union, lead to its collapse?

The post-war military alliance led by the Soviet Union was known in the West as

The communist world began to unravel shortly after _________ became general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985.

The person most responsible for the repressive policies that earned the Soviet Union the term "totalitarian" was ___________.

The two critical institutions within the Soviet "party state" were the Secretariat and the __________.

The person who developed a strategy for winning a revolution (which was then used as the basis for organizing the Soviet Union and most other communist countries) was ___________.

Which country was the only Eastern European country to experience serious violence, including the executions of the former ruling family, during the 1989 transition from communism?

Under the leadership system developed by Lenin, communist countries controlled

Under Stalin, prior to World War II, the socialist movement focused on