Gorbachev

Question 1

give the two reforms that characterised Gorbachev’s regime

Answer 1

• glasnost (openness)
• perestroika (restructuring the economy)

Question 2

What issues were a hangover from Breznev?

Question 3

What nationalistic issues did the policy of glasnost unintentionally drive?

Answer 3

TLDR: countries involved- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia
*
* The Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia declared the 1940 Soviet annexation illegal. In January 1991, the Soviet military harmed civilians in Lithuania, damaging Gorbachev’s reputation
*

Question 4

Geneva Summit

Answer 4

• Occurred in November 1985
  *What was agreed? No concrete outcomes but issued a joint statement that ‘a nuclear won cannot be won and must not be fought’- demonstrates that Gorbachev is removing ideology as a factor in poor relations. Also agreed to meet In Washington and Moscow so set the stage for future intervention
• What were the points of contention? SDI: Strategic Defence Initiative (‘Reagan’s Star Wars)

Question 5

Reykjavik Summit

Answer 5

• Occurred in October 1986
  *What was agreed? *Also exchanged ideas on human rights (but did not agree) and di
• What were the points of contention? No agreement made on arms disputes and argued about SDI- Reagan refused to give it up and Gorbachev realisedSDI would have to be detached from dearmament*

Question 7

Washington Summit

Answer 7

• Occurred in December 1987
  *What was agreed? No concrete outcomes but issued a joint statement that ‘a nuclear won cannot be won and must not be fought’- demonstrates that Gorbachev is removing ideology as a factor in poor relations. Also agreed to meet In Washington and Moscow so set the stage for future intervention
• What were the points of contention? SDI: Strategic Defence Initiative (‘Reagan’s Star Wars)

Question 8

Moscow Summit

Answer 8

• Occurred in May 1988
  *What was agreed? No concrete outcomes but issued a joint statement that ‘a nuclear won cannot be won and must not be fought’- demonstrates that Gorbachev is removing ideology as a factor in poor relations. Also agreed to meet In Washington and Moscow so set the stage for future intervention
• What were the points of contention? SDI: Strategic Defence Initiative (‘Reagan’s Star Wars)

Answer 9

Geneva Summit

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a
Occurred in November 1985
*What was agreed? No concrete outcomes but issued a joint statement that ‘a nuclear won cannot be won and must not be fought’- demonstrates that Gorbachev is removing ideology as a factor in poor relations. Also agreed to meet In Washington and Moscow so set the stage for future intervention
What were the points of contention? SDI: Strategic Defence Initiative (‘Reagan’s Star Wars)
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5
q
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Reykjavik Summit

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a
Occurred in October 1986
*What was agreed? Also exchanged ideas on human rights (but did not agree) and di
What were the points of contention? No agreement made on arms disputes and argued about SDI- Reagan refused to give it up and Gorbachev realisedSDI would have to be detached from dearmament
(Add Clarifier)

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6
q
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Question

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a
Answer

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7
q
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Washington Summit

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a
Occurred in December 1987
*What was agreed? No concrete outcomes but issued a joint statement that ‘a nuclear won cannot be won and must not be fought’- demonstrates that Gorbachev is removing ideology as a factor in poor relations. Also agreed to meet In Washington and Moscow so set the stage for future intervention
What were the points of contention? SDI: Strategic Defence Initiative (‘Reagan’s Star Wars)
(Add Clarifier)

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8
q
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Moscow Summit

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a
Occurred in May 1988
*What was agreed? Human rights/cultural exchange were focused on instead of larger issues, which was expected as it was Reagan’s last year.
Seven were signed on issues like fishing rights, cultural exchange programs
What were the points of contention? START f9Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty failed to be signed, SDI: Strategic Defence Initiative (‘Reagan’s Star Wars) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty were raised again
relatively unimportant

Question 10

Afghanistan War

Why did Gorbachev want to withdraw from the Afghanistan War?

Answer 10

• Large numbers of casualties
• Publlic opposition from inside the USSR
• High costs of intervention
• It was unlikely that the Afghan and Soviet armies would win against the US-supplied mujaheddin guerilla fighters.

Question 11

Afghanistan War

Give the dates of the withdrawal of troops

Answer 11

• Gorbachev wanted to withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan as soon as he took office in 1985
• In February 1988, Gorbachev announced that in May 1988, the removal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan would begin.
• This was finished by 15th February 1989

Question 12

Afghanistan War

How was withdrawal viewed by globally and the Soviet people?

Answer 12

• Helped improve US-Soviet relations
• But viewed as a humiliating failure at home and internationally

Question 13

List the differing views of Reagan’s Star Wars (Strategic Defence Initiative)

Answer 13

• Fear in both USA and USSR that SDI could create space-based warfare
• Source of tension in 1985-1988 summits between USA and USSR
• USSR was worried that MAD’s ‘balance of terror’ would be destabilised by SDI which fuelled their continued expansion of nuclear weapons
• Britain: PM Margaret Thatcher believed SDI was unlikely to come to fruition (but accepted it after it boosted the UK economy)
• West Germany: Chancellor Helmut Kohl supported the programme
• France: President Francois Mitterand desired an agreement to be made on space.

Question 14

Why did t

Answer 14

• economic instability & lack of consumer goods led discontent
• policies of perestroika and glasnost enouraged reform and criticism
• ‘domino effect’ in satellite states
• *

Question 15

Why did Gorbachev’s economic policies fail?

Answer 15

Failures in economic policy
By 1991 industrial output had dropped by 18%.
Also, the Nomenklatura (ruling elite) liked their extreme privileges and they did not want to give them up.
Gorbachev removed some of their privileges such as their ‘special shops’ and their chauffeur driven cars which lost him support amongst the most powerful Soviet leaders.
There was also a problem with alcoholism amongst the workers, partly due to the cheap price of vodka on the black market.
Alcoholism cost the government almost 100 million rubles in lost taxes.
By 1988, the budget deficit was around 12% of the Soviet GNP compared to 3.5% of the USA’s.

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