The Leninist organizational structure that concentrates power in the hands of the party elite.
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glasnost
Under Gorbachev, Soviet policies that opened up the political system and allowed for freedom of expression.
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near abroad
Russian term to describe the other fourteen republics of the former Soviet Union.
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nomenklatura
The Soviet System of lists that facilitated the CPSU's appointment of trusted people to key positions, adopted by communist regimes.
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oligarchs
Business and political leaders with what some think is undue influence in Russia.
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party of power
A kind of Russian political party created to support the current leadership.
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perestroika
Ill-fated program to reform the Soviet economy in the late 1980s.
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power ministries
The most important departments in the Russian government.
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privatization
The selling off of state-owned companies.
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purges
The systematic removal of people from party, state, or other offices; especially common in communist systems.
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shock therapy
Policies in formerly communist countries that envisage as rapid a shift to a market economy as possible.
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Berezovsky, Boris
Russian oligarch who put together United Russia.
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Brezhnev, Leonid
General secretary of the CPSU, 1964-82; largely responsible for the stagnation of the USSR.
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Gorbachev, Mikhail
Head of the CPSU and last president of the Soviet Union.
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Khodorkovsky, Mikhail
Russian tycoon arrested on corruption and tax evasion charges in 2003.
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Khrushchev, Nikita
Successor of Josef Stalin as head of the CPSU and Soviet Union from 1953 until he was ousted in 1964.
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Lenin, V.I.
Architect of the Bolshevik revolution and first leader of the Soviet Union.
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Medvedev, Dmitri
Third and current President of Russia.
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Putin, Vladimir
President of Russia from 2000 to 2013.
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Stalin, Joseph
Leader of the CPSU and Soviet Union, 1924-53.
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Yeltsin, Boris
Former reformist communist leader and president of Russia, 1991-2000.
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Zhirinovsky, Vladimir
Leader of the right-wing and racist Liberal Democratic Party in Russia.
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Zyuganov, Gennady
Head of the Russian Communist Party.
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BRICS
Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa
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CPRF
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
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CPSU
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
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KGB
Soviet secret police
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Bolsheviks
Lenin's faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party; later came to mean anyone who subscribed to his views and/or organization.
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Central Committee
Supposedly the most important body in a communist party; its influence declined as it grew in size and the party needed daily leadership.
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Cheka
Soviet Union's first secret police
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Comintern
The interwar condition of communist parties directed from Moscow
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Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The party that ran the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991.
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Federation Council
the largely powerless upper house of the Russian Parliament
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Five Year Plan
In the former Soviet Union, and other communist countries, the period for which Gosplan developed goals and quotas
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Gosplan
The Soviet central planning agency.
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Just Russia
A Russian political party created in 2006 under Putin.
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Liberal Democrats
The neofascist and racist opposition party led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky
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Mensheviks
The smaller and more moderate faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party before WWI
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Our Home Is Russia
New political party chaired by former prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.
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Politburo
A generic term used to describe the leadership of Communist Parties.
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provisional government
Generic term used to describe temporary governments formed until a new constitution is written; also, the government in Russia between the two 1917 revolutions
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Presidential Administration
The term used to describe the formal and informal network of leaders surrounding the Russian president.
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Russian Federation
formal name of Russia
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secret speech
given by Khrushchev in 1957 seen as the start of the "thaw"
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secretariat
Generic term used to denote the bureaucratic leaders of a communist party.
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State Duma
the lower house of the Russian Parliament
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Third International
Moscow-dominated organization of communist parties around the world between the two world wars.
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Twentieth Party Congress
occasion of khrushchev's "secret speech" launching de-Stalinization
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United Russia
The political party led by Russian president Vladmir Putin
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Vertical of Power
Russian term to describe the centralization of power in the hand of the president and his closest associates.
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Flashcard (124)