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 conservatives who opposed reforms.
c. coup - a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.
d. CIS Stands for the Commonwealth of Independent States, its a loose federation of
former Soviet territories.
e. shock therapy- an abrupt shift to free market economics

1. Identify and define two early changes that Gorbachev made? How were these changes
different from previous Soviet leaders?
He allowed openness and personal freedom, which allowed the churches to become open
once more and he also allowed the publication of books from previous banned authors. He also
allowed local managers greater authority over their farms and factories.
2. Why would it be ineffective for the central government to decide what should be produced
all over the country?
Because people in different parts of the country may need or want different things than
other people in a different place, but the government does not produce what some people need
resulting in a rebellion because of unfairness.
3. Explain Gorbachevs third reform and how it would help to move the country toward
democracy.
Gorbachevs third reform was known as democratization which would gradually open the
political system. It elected a new legislative body and allowed voters to freely choose from a
list of candidates for each office.
4. What was the IMF Treaty? Why did Gorbachev agree to sign it? What effect do you think
this Treaty had on the Cold War?
The IMF Treaty, also known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear forces treaty, banned
the use of nuclear missiles with ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles. Gorbachev agreed to sign it
because he realized that the Soviet Union did not have enough money to keep up the USAs
production of arms. It allowed the cold war to be more civilized and not have bombs being
dropped left and right.
5. What effect did Gorbachevs reforms have on Russian ethnic minorities?
Ethnic tensions began to brew because Gorbachev allowed for economic and political
freedom for the majority population, which was Russians, and these ethnic groups wanted their
own freedom. Many ethnic groups demanded self-rule and religious freedom.

6. Which satellite nation was first to defy Gorbachev? How did Gorbachev respond?
The first nation do defy Gorbachev was the Baltic nations from Lithuania, Estonia, and
Latvia. They tried to claim their own independence and Gorbachev ordered an economic blockade
of the republic. Later, in 1991, unarmed civilians were attacked by Soviet troops in Lithuanias
capital resulting in 14 deaths and hundreds of wounded.
7. What was Boris Yeltsins position in Soviet government? Why did he oppose Gorbachev?
Yeltsin was a member of the parliament and the former mayor of Moscow.
He opposed Gorbachev because he disapproved of the slow pace of reforms and the attack on
unarmed citizens in Lithuanian. He soon became the first Russian federation directly elected
president.
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 given the name of Hard-liners and they were furious that Gorbachev had given
up the Soviet Unions role as the dominant force in Eastern Europe. They feared losing their
own power and privileges and because of this they vowed to overthrow Gorbachev and revoke his
reforms.
9. What was the August Coup? Who orchestrated it?
The August Coup was made up of hardliners, older communist members in parliament,
who on August 18th 1991 stormed up to Gorbachevs vacation home and demanded his resignation
as Soviet president.
10. What were the most important reasons for the failure of the Coup?
The main reasons that the August coup failed is because the Soviets had lost their fear
of the party, they were also willing to defend their freedom, and because when the hardliners
ordered an attack on the parliament building they refused.
11. How did the 15 soviet Republics respond to the failed Coup?
All 15 soviet republics declared independence in response to the failed Coup.
12. When Gorbachev stepped down as president, who became the next president?
The next president after Gorbachev stepped down was Boris Yeltsin.
13. What was the new name of the Soviet Union after this coup?
After the failed Coup the Soviet Union was renamed the Russian Federation.
14. What was Yeltsin attempting to do by forming the CIS? What effect would it have on the
traditional Soviet Union?
The formation of the CIS, Commonwealth of Independent states, meant the end of the
Soviet Union and allowed all the former territories of the Soviet Union to unite and come
together to build a better nation.

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 adopted a plan known as shock therapy which was an abrupt shift to free economy
and allowed him to lower trade barriers, remove price controls, and end subsides to state-owned
industries. It did not work because many factories depended on the government, many people
lost their jobs because of forced shut down of factories, and the inflation rate and prices were
high.
16. When Yeltsin stepped down, a new leader was elected. What are some of the problems
that faced this new leader, Vladimir Putin?
Putin had to deal with the rebellion in Chechnya, economic, political, and social problems.
He had to deal with homeless children, high rates of unemployment and domestic violence, a
steep population decline, decline of standard of living and average life expectancy.
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 had declared its independence but Yeltsin denied the regions right to secede.
In 1994, he ordered armed troops into Chechnya and turned the capital into rubble. Although
they signed a cease-fire in 1996, war continued from Yeltsin and even after he stepped down to
Putin. Putin forcefully dealt with the rebellion in Chechnya and soon but an end to the war.
18. In what ways were the policies of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin similar?
They all tried to input policies and reforms that would be for the good of the people and would
allow them to have more economical, political, and social freedom.