The Cold War and Collapse of Communism
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- What was the name for the split and ideological conlict between the democratic, capitalist nations (US, etc.) and the communist dictatorships?
- The Cold War (1946-1980s)
- How did Winston Churchill describe the Soviet Union's indirect takeover or influence in Eastern Europe?
- He said that an "Iron Curtain" had descended upon Europe.
- What did President Truman call his policy of preventing communism from spreading?
- Containment.
- Name four important events of the Cold War.
- The Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War etc.
- What did the Soviet economy spend too much money on?
- It's military economy. There were shortages of consumer goods .
- Who was the last leader of the Soviet Union?
- Mikhael Gorbachev (ruled 1985-1991).
- What two policies did he introduce in an attempt to improve the stagnant Soviet economy?
- glasnost: openness, free press, free elections, free speech (in the past you'd be arrested for these). Perestroika: restructuring (reforms) of the economy and bureaucracy.
- What happened in the late 1980s in the Soviet Bloc?
- Eastern European nations (Poland, Hungary) had free elections and voted out their communist parties. The Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunified in 1989.
- What did Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania do?
- They were forcibly taken over by the Soviet Union, so they demanded their independence, too. The republics of the Soviet Union began to break away.
- In the summer of 1991, what happened to Gorbachev?
- Hardline communists, upset with their loss of power, tried to overthrow Gorbachev. Their coup failed when Boris Yeltsin, supported by the people and soldiers, refused to allow it to happen. The coup collapsed.
- What happened by Christmas 1991?
- Yeltsin's popularity and power had grown, while Gorbachev was blamed for the nation's problems. The USSR voted itself out of existence.
- Who became the first president of "Russia"?
- Boris Yeltsin. He wanted in some ways to be democratic, but he also wanted to centralize his power.
- What was his "shock therapy"?
- He tried to rapidly introduce market reforms in order to get the economy going. The results were unemployment, a falling currency (the ruble) and the rise of many opposition groups.
- What is current Russia President V. Putin trying to do?
- He has tried to centralize power (more in the Soviet tradition), deal with Russian oligarchs and mafia, put down Islamic Chechen rebellions, as well as ethnic discontent.
- What problems face the Soviet Union Today?
- The pensions of the elderly are worthless, unemployment, a huge gap between the rich and poor, AIDS and an antibiotic resistant strain of TB, crime etc.