Gorbachevs New Thinking

Question 1

What did Gorbachev realise when he came to power?

Answer 1

When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, the Soviet economy was nearly bankrupt, particularly because the amount the USSR was spending on arms was still very high.
Gorbachev knew that this could not be sustained - the USSR could not keep up with the USA’s nuclear technology.

Question 2

When did Gorbachev come to power?

Answer 2

1985

Question 3

What was happening in communist states in 1985?

Answer 3

Even worse, living standards in communist nations remained low, and people were unhappy with their lack of human rights. This had caused unrest to rise again in communist nations in Eastern Europe, such as Poland.

Question 4

What did Gorbachev then recognise?

Answer 4

Gorbachev recognised one very important: reform was essential if communism and the USSR were to survive. He also recognised that relations with the USA had to improve if the USSR was going to progress.

Question 5

What did the new reforms that Gorbachev introduce become called and what did they include?

Answer 5

Gorbachev new thinking included:
- Perestroika
- Glasnot
- end the arms race
- ended the Brezhnev doctrine

Question 6

What was Perestroika?

Answer 6

Gorbachev’s policy of ‘Perestroika’ (restructuring the economy) was designed to make the USSR’s economy more efficient and even introduced some capitalist ideas to the
USSR, such as allowing Western businesses into the USSR.

Question 7

What was Glasnost?

Answer 7

Gorbachev’s policy of ‘Glasnost’ (openness) encouraged greater freedom of speech by ending censorship of the press. It was hoped that these two reforms would make the USSR more popular with the people living within it. Gorbachev’s reforms did not stop there

Question 8

How did Gorbachev affect the Brezhnev doctrine?

Answer 8

Gorbachev brought an end to the Brezhnev Doctrine - this showed his commitment to ending any interference in satellite states across the USSR’s ‘sphere of influence’. He proved his commitment to this by removing Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1988.

Question 9

What did Gorbachev then recognise?

Answer 9

Gorbachev recognised one very important: reform was essential if communism and the USSR were to survive. He also recognised that relations with the USA had to improve if the USSR was going to progress.

Question 10

What effect did Gorbachev new thinking have?

Answer 10

The USA’s president, Ronald Reagan, believed that Gorbachev was different lo previous leaders. Reagan therefore agreed to a series of summit meetings. In total, leaders of the USA and the USSR met five limes between 1985 and 1989 showing their commitment to cooperating with each other.

Question 11

What was agreed at the Washington summit(1987)

Answer 11

at the Washington Summit
(1987),
the
superpowers agreed the ‘Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty’. The INF treaty abolished all nuclear and land-based missiles with ranges of 500-5500km - 2692 of these were destroyed by 1991. This was the first time the superpowers had taken any steps towards reducing their stocks of nuclear weapons

Question 12

What happened at the Malta Summit(1989)?

Answer 12

The final summit was the Malta Summit, where Gorbachev met with the new US president, George Bush. No agreements were made, but both leaders believed that this marked the end of the Cold War.

Question 13

How did Gorbachev new thinking affect the Soviet sphere of influence?

Answer 13

It gave communist countries in Eastern Europe the freedom and opportunity to criticise and remove their communist governments.

Question 14

What happened in Hungary in 1988?

Answer 14

In 1988 Gorbachev accepted that Hungary could become a multi-party state. In May 1989, the Hungarian government took down the fence along the border with Austria in the West, allowing greater freedom of movement. It also promised a new democratic government and free elections were held in October 1989. This election was won by an alliance of anti-communist groups.

Question 15

What happened in the velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989?

Answer 15

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on 17th November 1989, which turned into a full-scale revolution against communism. The “Velvet Revolution” overthrew the communist government on 24th November 1989. On 9 December 1989, Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia - he was the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia since 1948.