Chapter 2 - The End of Bipolarity :Important Questions and Answers

List of Questions and Answers

1.Which one of the following was NOT given primacy by the markers of the Soviet System?
(a) Abolition of private property.
(b) Society based on the principle of equality.
(c) No opposition party to be allowed.
(d) No state control over economy.

Ans: (b) No state control over economy.

2.The successor country to the Soviet Union is _______________
(a) Russia (b) Uzbekistan (c) Belarus (d) Georgia

Ans: (a) Russia

3.State any one special feature of Indo-Russian friendship.

Ans:Several powers in the international system.

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4.What is meant by "Shock Therapy"?

Ans: The model of transition in Russia, Central Asia and east Europe that was influenced by the World Bank and the IMF came to be known as "shock therapy".

5.Highlight any one feature of the multipolar world as visualised by both Russia and India.

Ans: Several powers in the international system, collective security.

6.The Soviet political system was based on ___________________ ideology.

Ans: communist

7._________________ was the military alliance started by the USSR.

Ans: Warsaw Pact

8.____________________ party dominated the Soviet Union’s political system.

Ans: Communist

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9.______________________ initiated the reforms in the USSR in 1985.

Ans: Mikhail Gorbachev

10.The fall of the ____________________ symbolised the end of the Cold War.

Ans: The Berlin Wall

11.What were the factors that forced Gorbachev to initiate the reforms in the USSR?

Ans:
Factors that forced Gorbachev to initiate reforms in the USSR are :

  • to keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West.
  • to normalise relations with the West.
  • to democratise and reform the Soviet Union

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12.Examine the consequences of the shock therapy.

Ans:
Following are the consequences of Shock-Therapy:

  • In Russia, the large state-controlled industrial complex almost collapsed, as about 90 per cent of its industries were put up for sale to private individuals and companies.
  • The restructuring was carried out through market forces and not by government-directed industrial policies, it led to the virtual disappearance of entire industries.
  • The valuable industries were undervalued and sold at throwaway prices and this was said to be "the largest garage sale in history"
  • The value of the ruble, the Russian currency, declined dramatically.
  • The rate of inflation was so high that people lost all their savings.
  • The collective farm system disintegrated leaving people without food security, and Russia started to import food.
  • The old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed.
  • The withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of the people into poverty.

13.What were the reason for disintegration of Soviet Union?

Ans:

  • The internal weaknesses of Soviet political and economic institutions, which failed to meet the aspirations of the people, were responsible for the collapse of the system.
  • The Soviet economy used most of its resources in maintaining a nuclear and military , development of its satellite states.This led to a huge economic burden and at the same time, ordinary citizens became more knowledgeable about the economic advance of the West.
  • The Soviet Union had become stagnant in an administrative and political sense as well. The Communist Party that had ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years was not accountable to the people.
  • Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration, rampant corruption, the inability of the system to correct mistakes it had made, the unwillingness to allow more openness in government, and the centralisation of authority in a vast land.
  • Gorbachev’s reforms promised to deal with these problems but they too failed.

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14.Explain the consequences of disintegration of soviet union?

Ans:
Here is the list of consequences:

  • First thing it led to the end of cold war arguments.The dispute had triggered a massive arms race and accumulation of nuclear weapon, the end of cold war led to the end of arms race and a possible a new peace started.
  • Second, power relations in world politics changed and, the US became the sole superpower. Institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund became powerful advisors to all these countries since they gave them loans for their transitions to capitalism.
  • Third, the end of the Soviet bloc meant the emergence of many new countries.All these countries had their own independent aspirations and choices. Some of them, especially the Baltic and east European states, wanted to join the European Union and become part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).The Central Asian countries wanted to take advantage of their geographical location and continue their close ties with Russia and also to establish ties with the West, the US, China and others.