russia unit test

Who was Boris Yeltsin?

A former member of the soviet Politburo who declared the end of the old Soviet -style regime

What is shock therapy?  

A reform that Yeltsin advocated to bring Russia towards democracy and free-market economy. 

What is an oligarchy? 

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a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.

Who was/is Vladimir Putin? 

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Russia's president was elected in 2000. He often acted aggressively and worked towards increasing centralization of power in Russia.

Who was/is Dmitri Medvedev? 

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What is nomenklatura? 

An ordered path from local party soviets to commanding positions of leadership

What were the Russian czars? List the five most important in Russian history 

and why?

The russian tsars  were: __Vladimir I-__ He set russia on a different course of development from Western Europe after converting to the russian orthodox church

 __The Romanov family__, __Peter the Great__- He introduced the Slavophile vs. Westerner to Russian politics, and __Catherine the Great__- She solidified and expanded reforms in Russia.  

What is Marxism-Leninism? 

Theory that took place under communist rule and provided legitimacy for it.  This theory is an  interpretation of Communism that Lenin used to adapt the central tenets of Marxism to the experience of Russia.

What is democratic centralism?

It is to rule by a few people for the benefit of many others and a form of democracy where the interests of the masses were discovered through discussion within the Communist party

What is totalitarianism?

A method of rule where one individual has total rule/power over many people/ a country.

Explain the concept of Stalinism.

Stalinism was created by Joseph Stalin. It was a regime of totalitarianism. It consisted of the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, and collectivization of agriculture.

Explain the tenets of the Russian constitution of 1993.

The Russian Constitution of 1993 was created to provide russia with a  strong president that is checked by popular election and the house of legislature( the Duma)

13\. What is cultural heterogeneity?

It is when an area is exposed and made up of people with different cultures/backgrounds.(This happened to Russia as it expanded its borders to the baltic sea to the pacific ocean)

What is a slavophile?

It is a lover of slavic culture

Who was Peter the Great in Russian history? Who was Catherine the Great in 

Russian history? 

Peter the Great was a tsar of russia in the 17th century that used the western model to modernize russia with a stronger navy and a bureaucracy.Catherine the Great, was a Russian queen who ruled from the 18th century and gained access to the black sea.

What is statism?

A strong state that protects itself from geographical vulnerabilities and centralizes its economic and political affairs. 

What is civil society?

It is spheres of privacy that are free from state control.

What was glasnost?

A new emphasis on freedom of speech and press.

Explain the role of the Russian Orthodox Church.

* closely tied with the state since the early day of princes
* Soviet Union prohibited religious practices of all kinds -- > lost their religious affiliations during the 20th century
* Boris Yeltsin re-encouraged the Russian Orthodox Church
* Old reflection of Russian nationalism
* highly regulated by the government now
* influence establishing Russian statism

What was the Decembrist Revolt in 1825?

This revolt resulted from western thoughts that influenced Russian intellectuals(they wanted western political institutions). It was crushed by Nicolas I.

What was the Crimean war? 

The Crimean War (1854-56) was fought by an alliance of Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia. It was the only major European conflict the Army engaged in between 1816 and 1914.

What were zemstvos?

They were regional assemblies

Who were Marxists? 

Individuals who believed in marxism(an economic and political theory that examines the flaws inherent in capitalism and seeks to identify an alternative, which he called "utopian socialism.

Who was V.I. Lenin? 

 An individual who changed the meaning of marxism to an approach of democratic centralism. He believed russia was in such bad shape that a revolution could happen (Followers called bolsheviks)

During the Russian Revolution, what group made up the Red Army (Bolsheviks)?

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What group made up the White Army?

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Red Army:

Bolskeviks made up the army and were led by Lenin. 

White Army:

Russian military leaders that were funded by the allied powers.

What was the New Economic Policy? 

A limited revival of capitalism, especially in light industry and agriculture, introduced by Lenin in 1921 to repair the damage inflicted on the Russian economy by the Civil War and war communism.

What is the Central Committee in Communist USSR?

the executive leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, acting between sessions of Congress. According to party statutes, the committee directed all party and governmental activities. Its members were elected by the Party Congress.

What is the Politburo in Communist USSR?

the highest organ of the party when the party Congress and the Central Committee were not in session. The Politburo, along with the Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (Orgburo) until 1952, was one of three permanent bodies of the party.

What is the role of the general secretary in Communist USSR?

The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1929 until the union's dissolution in 1991, the officeholder was the recognized leader of the Soviet Union

What was Stalin's plan for farming? 

It was the creation of "kolkhoz" collective farming systems that stretched over thousands of acres of land and had hundreds of thousands of peasants working on them.

Who were the kulaks?

a peasant in Russia wealthy enough to own a farm and hire labor

What was Stalin's Five-Year plan?

The plan was to initiate rapid and large-scale industrialization across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) by collectivizing agriculture and developing heavy industry. 

Who was Nikita Khrushchev?

One of the soviets leaders. Khrushchev was critical of Stalin's policies and attempted to reverse some of them. He is responsible for placing nuclear missiles in Cuba which resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

 What was the secret speech? 

Khrushchev revealed the existence of a letter written by Lenin that was very critical of Stalin; used to denounce Stalin's rules & practices

What was deStalinization? 

A process that led to reforms, such as loosening the government censorship of the press, decentralization of economic decision making,and the restructuring of the collective farms. 

Explain the Bay of Pigs event. 

After a failed U.S.-sponsored invasion of communist Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, the Soviets

took steps to place missiles in Cuba. This meant that nuclear weapons were being positioned a mere 90 miles from America’s shores.

Who was Leonid Brezhnev?

General secretary who ended the reforms and tried to cope with the increasing economic problems that were just under the surface of soviet power.

Who was Leonid Brezhnev? 

General secretary who ended the reforms and tried to cope with the increasing economic problems that were just under the surface of soviet power.

Who was Mikhail Gorbachev?

Last general secretary of soviet and he was more open to western style reforms than any other leader

What was democratization? 

Having the same old structure of the old soviet nut with a little bit of democracy.two moves created a 


1. A new congress of people duties with directly elected representatives 
2. A new position of “president” that was selected by congress 

It did bring some democracy but many of the new deputies were critical of Gorbachev, increasing the level of discord within the government.

What was perestroika?

This economic reform was Gorbachev's most radical, and also his least successful. he tried to keep the old Soviet structure, and modernize from within. Most significantly, it transferred many economic powers held by the central government to private hands and the market economy. Specific reforms included authorization of some privately owned companies, penalties for underperforming state factories, leasing of farm land outside the collective farms, price reforms, and encouragement of joint ventures with foreign companies.

What is a constitutional court? 

It is a russian judicial system that is not controlled by the executive.

Who were the Chechens? 

Russian muslims who have fought for their freedom for many years. They want to make Chechnya an independent state from Russia. 

What is state corporatism in Communist USSR?

It is when the state determines which groups affect policy making.

Explain the role of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) in Russia today.

The CPRF stands for the Communist party of the old Soviet Union that is the 2nd strongest party in the Duma. It impacted Russia by being an important force in Russia and holding 157 seats in the Duma. It also emphasized planning and nationalism, and implies the idea of Russia gaining its lost territories back. 

Who is Vladimir Zhirinovsky? What role has he played in national politics in Russia? 

He is the head of the liberal democrats(a political party/group). In national politics of Russia, he has attacked reformist leaders and openly disliked Yeltsin. 

What isYabloko? 

It is a political party that is constantly reformist. The name is an acronym for its three founders.  This party believes in pro-democracy and its leader is Grigori Yavlinski.

Explain the role of the head of state in Russia today. Explain the role of the head of government. What *is* the name of the person(s) performing these roles?

The role of the head of state(the president)  is to appoint the prime minister, issue decrees that have the force of law, and dissolve the Duma.

The name of the person who is the head of state is Vlamdimir Putin.

What is a presidential decree in the Russian government? 

 It is a legal act with the status of a by-law made by the President of Russia.

What is the Federation Council? 

Upper house of the Russian legislature that has 2 members of each of the 89 administrative units.

Who was Alexander Lebed? What role has he played in national politics in Russia? 

He was a former russian general that gained a following during the election of 1996.

What is the Confederation of Independent States? 

Unification of 15 former republics of the soviet union

Who was Boris Berezovsky? What role has he played in national politics in Russia?

Russian who became a rich Oligarch by buying up Russian industries after the fall of Communism and the beginning of "shock therapy. He was exiled by the Russian government.

What is the United Russia Party in Russia today?

Foreign media and observers describe United Russia as a pure "presidential party", with the main goal of securing the power of the Russian President in the Russian parliament.

Explain Russification.

Russification was the policy of enforcing Russian culture on the vast numbers of ethnic minorities that lived in the Russian Empire.