Deck 25: The International Revolt Against Soviet Communism

Question 1

The overthrow of communism in central and eastern Europe has sometimes been called the Revolution of 1989, but it was not revolutionary in one sense because:

A) no radical changes occurred.
B) for the most part, no armed struggle occurred.
C) it was brought about by foreign intervention.
D) it occurred less by implosion than by explosion.

Answer 1

for the most part, no armed struggle occurred.

Question 2

Which of the following occurred after the overthrow of communism in central and eastern Europe?

A) Central and eastern Europe lost control over their own destinies.
B) One of the two superpowers that had dominated international affairs disappeared.
C) The Cold War started between Russia and the United States.
D) Russia rose to power and gained control over the federated constituent republics.

Answer 2

One of the two superpowers that had dominated international affairs disappeared.

Question 3

One reason that the great reformer Mikhail Gorbachev rose to supreme power in the Soviet Union was that:

A) his advanced age and experience made him greatly respected.
B) a younger man was desirable because his immediate predecessors had been too old or became incapacitated in office.
C) his leadership of the KGB gave him immense power.
D) the Soviet system tended to push able reformers to the top every few years.

Answer 3

a younger man was desirable because his immediate predecessors had been too old or became incapacitated in office.

Question 4

One of Gorbachev's key policies was perestroika, which meant:

A) the drastic restructuring of the centrally planned command economy.
B) political rule by a three-person directorate.
C) a willingness to reexamine past mistakes and wrongdoings.
D) the rapid creation of a free market economy.

Question 5

The centrally planned Soviet command economy was ill-suited for competing in the contemporary industrial world because it:

A) could not produce sufficient quantities of goods.
B) was incapable of successfully initiating and completing large, new projects.
C) had failed to mitigate unemployment.
D) restricted the freedom to stimulate creativity and incentives to increase productivity.

Question 6

Gorbachev's second key policy was glasnost, which meant:

A) friendship with the West.
B) restructuring the command economy.
C) openness, or the freedom to criticize the existing system.
D) agreement to reduce the levels of nuclear weapons in the world.

Question 7

Which of the following was a direct result of reforms initiated by Gorbachev?

A) Revamping of the collectivized agrarian system
B) Revision of the legal codes to encompass a measure of civil liberties
C) Emergence of totalitarian control over political, cultural, and intellectual life
D) Dissolution of the role of the Communist Party as the directing agent of Soviet society

Question 8

The freer political atmosphere under Gorbachev revealed that the Soviet Union had:

A) been overspending on housing under the Communist regime.
B) hardly spent any money on developing nuclear weapons.
C) inefficient state enterprises.
D) more than half of the population living in poverty.

Question 9

Which of the following actions of Gorbachev was condemned by his critics?

A) His indecisive steps in building a market economy
B) His political measures to dismantle the old guard completely
C) His refusal to repress the ethnic unrest in the constituent republics
D) His increasing repression of freedom of speech

Question 10

Gorbachev launched a dramatic new foreign policy of détente and arms reduction because:

A) he needed to relieve the intolerable military burden on the Soviet economy.
B) he repudiated ideological struggle in favor of "universal human interests."
C) he wished to fool the West into believing that he had abandoned old Soviet policies of expansionism.
D) he needed to relieve the intolerable military burden on the Soviet economy and repudiated ideological struggle in favor of "universal human interests."

Question 11

An important factor in overthrowing communism in Poland, which was not present in other eastern European countries, was:

A) the strong support of the United States.
B) the stagnation of the economy.
C) the support of pope John Paul II.
D) the secondary strategic importance of the country for Soviet security.

Question 12

Despite all the problems of the central and eastern European Communist states, their governments would not have been overthrown without:

A) the unyielding pressure of the United States.
B) Gorbachev's clear signal that the Soviet Union would not intervene outside its borders.
C) the sudden collapse of their finances.
D) guerrilla warfare.

Question 13

In 1988, the Hungarian Communist party:

A) eased hard-liner Kádár out of office.
B) dissolved itself.
C) formally condemned the supporters of the Soviet intervention.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 14

The floodgate to political change was opened in East Germany when:

A) Hungary opened its border with Austria and allowed East Germans a safe exit.
B) violent rioting began in Berlin and Leipzig.
C) the East German troops fired on innocent civilians.
D) Honecker, an East German leader, decided to introduce German-style glasnost.

Question 15

Crucial to the downfall of communism in Poland was the rise of "Solidarity," led by Lech Walesa, which was:

A) a nationwide boycott of goods made by state-owned industries.
B) an independent trade union federation.
C) a secret, conspiratorial organization committed to revolution.
D) a boycott of rigged Communist elections.

Question 16

In order for German reunification to take place in 1990, all of the following were necessary except:

A) Germany had to obtain approval from the four Allied powers, including the U.S.S.R.
B) Germany had to confirm its cession of territories in the east to the U.S.S.R.
C) Germany had to pledge the inviolability of the German-Polish border.
D) Germany had to confirm its cession of Alsace-Lorraine to France.

Question 17

The Czechs referred to their overthrow of the Communists in the autumn of 1989 as a "velvet" revolution because:

A) the overthrown Communist leaders wore uniforms trimmed with velvet.
B) blue velvet was the symbol of the Czech democratic forces.
C) it took place smoothly and without bloodshed.
D) red velvet symbolized the blood of the martyred Czech freedom fighters.

Question 18

In 1989, Romania:

A) experienced a "velvet" revolution that destroyed an iron curtain regime.
B) experienced violence when Ceausescu's security forces killed hundreds, sparking further protests.
C) experienced a peaceful transition under the progressive leadership of Ceausescu.
D) made Ceausescu, one of its most famous dissident writers, its first democratically elected president.

Question 19

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was succeeded by:

A) a federal state not unlike the United States.
B) fifteen sovereign states without any special connection with one another.
C) a loose organization called the Commonwealth of Independent States.
D) a loose organization called the Commonwealth of Independent States of former states excluding Russia.

Question 20

As president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin had all of the following problems except:

A) soaring inflation.
B) a serious decline in living standards.
C) widening corruption and crime.
D) recurring threats of military coups.

Question 21

The 1994 Russian invasion of Chechnya led to:

A) a speedy resolution of the conflict.
B) the establishment of a separate and independent Chechen Republic.
C) the defeat of the Chechen separatists.
D) a costly and frustrating guerrilla war.

Question 22

When Yeltsin suddenly resigned in December 1999, _____.

A) chaos erupted in Russia
B) Putin was appointed acting president
C) Chechen rebels spilled over into Russia and neighboring republics
D) military leaders took control of the Russian government

Question 23

Which of the following events immediately followed when the referendum proclaiming the national independence of Croatia and Slovenia got recognition from the international community in 1991?

A) Serb paramilitary forces carved out enclaves in secessionist states to drive out non-Serbs.
B) Croatian, Slovenian, and Bosnian forces attacked Serbia.
C) Slovenian and Croatian Muslims massacred thousands of Serbs.
D) Serbs and Bosnian Muslims collaborated to stop secession of Croatia and Slovenia.

Question 24

Which of the following was one of the terms of the agreement mediated by the United States in Dayton, Ohio, in 1996?

A) The UN peacekeepers agreed to completely pull out of Bosnia.
B) Serbia accepted the new boundaries of Croatia and Bosnia.
C) The Security Council imposed economic sanctions against the former Yugoslavia.
D) Croats and Muslims agreed to create a Croat-Muslim federation.

Question 25

Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic:

A) was indicted as a war criminal by the international court at The Hague.
B) refused to give up power after his arrest for war crimes.
C) finally stepped down after massive demonstrations followed his loss at the polls in 2000.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 26

What were the social, economic, and political reasons for the collapse of the Communist regime in the former Soviet Union?

Question 27

How did Gorbachev attempt to reform communism in the Soviet Union? Why did he fail? How did his failure open the way for an anti-Communist revolution?

Question 28

East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania all overthrew their Communist rulers in 1989. Compare and contrast the experiences of two of these countries in the context of the transition from Communist societies to democratic, capitalist ones.

Question 29

Why did the U.S.S.R. collapse with the end of communism? What kind of organization replaced it? How did this new organization differ from the Soviet Union?

Question 30

An explosion of nationalism, both in the former Soviet Union and in eastern Europe followed the collapse of communism. Explain its origins, nature, and the consequences.

Question 31

How does the territory united by the Russian federation compare with the size and boundaries of the former U.S.S.R.? Which regions broke away after the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991?

Question 32

Which areas in central and eastern Europe continue to experience religious and ethnic tensions? Which nations still face the problem of resolving differences between very diverse populations? Why have some of those nations succeeded while others have failed?

Question 33

Why did Russia invade Chechnya in 1994? How did the Russian public and the international community react to the invasion?

Question 34

What role did mass movements play in the fall of communism in central and eastern Europe?

Question 35

Compare Yeltsin's rule to Gorbachev's. Which leader do you think was more instrumental in bringing about the dissolution of the U.S.S.R.?

Question 36

What were the roots of the conflict in the Balkans? How did the history of that conflict affect the willingness of the international community to become involved?

Question 37

Why did NATO, in 1999, undertake its first military offensive? How was this "humanitarian intervention" justified? Why was it controversial?