12 Political Science The End of Bipolarity Assignment

PO LITICAL SCIENCE CLASS XII
Contemporary World Politics

Chapter – 2
The End of Bipolarity
Assignment
1) The Russian Revolution was inspired by the ideals of ___________ as opposed to

capitalism and need for an ____________ society.
2) Which event in 1989 led to the unification of Germany? (CBSE 2019 Sample paper)
3) What was the largest garage sale in the history?
4) What was the socialist bloc?
5) What is the new name of former USSR? (CBSE 2011)
6) Who was the General Secretary of Communist party of Soviet Union in 1985?
7) What does CIS stand for?
8) Name the two reforms introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev?
9) Why it is said that collapse of Berlin wall signified the collapse of bipolar world?
10) Mention the characteristics of Soviet political system. (CBSE 2013, 2019)
11) Mention any two possibilities which were being presumed in changed scenario of world
politics after disintegration of the USSR.
12) Which two former Soviet Republics had violent secessionists’ movements? (CBSE 2019)
13) Identify any two fields in which the Soviet Union lagged behind the West? (CBSE 2019)
14) When and how did Russia revive its economy?
15) In which part of Central Asia did civil take place? For many years did the war continue
and when did it come to end?
16) Which party dominated the Soviet Union’s political system?
17) What is meant by Prestroika and Glasnost as suggested by Gorbachev?
18) What is the difference between nationalism and secessionism?
19) On what ideology was Soviet system based?
20) Name any two republics formed after the split of Yugoslavia.
21) Name the Russia’s second largest bank that went bankrupt in 1998 post disintegration.
Also name any two major oil and gas producing countries of Soviet Union.
22) Which one of the following was NOT a consequence of disintegration of the USSR?
a) Many new states emerged.
b) Russia emerged as a new superpower.
c) Power relations in world politics changed
d) The capitalist system emerged as the winner.
23) Which one of the following was NOT given primacy by the makers of the Soviet system?
a) Abolition of private property
b) Society based on the principle of equality
c) No opposition party was allowed
d) No state control over economy
24) Write the name of the leader associated with the following:
a) Began collectivization of agriculture in USSR
b) Suppressed the popular rebellion in Hungary
c) Involved in the invasion of Afghanistan
d) Introduced Perestroika & Glasnost
e) Played a key role in dissolving of the Soviet Union
f) Helped in the unification of Germany
g) Stopped the arms race with the US
h) Involved in suppressing popular rebellion in Czechoslovakia
25) Arrange the following in chronological order:
a) Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
b) Fall of the Berlin Wall
c) Disintegration of the Soviet Union
d) Russian Revolution
26) Write a note on CIS states formed post the disintegration of USSR?
27) Who was Mikhail Gorbachev and why did he decide to bring reforms or What reforms did
he initiate for Soviet Union?
28) How can we say that Soviet Union emerged as super power after Second World War?
OR
List the factors which helped Soviet Union becoming superpower after 2nd World War?
29) “The Soviet Union lagged behind the West”. Comment?
30) Describe consequences of the disintegration of Soviet Union?
31) What is the Multipolar world projected by India and Russia?
32) When did Socialist Revolution take place in Russia?
1917.
33) What was Shock Therapy?*
Shock Therapy was the transitional form from authoritarian socialist system to a
democratic capitalist system in Russia, Central Asia and East Europe under the influence
of the World Bank and IMF.
34) What was the largest garage sale in history?
Largest garage sale in history was resulted due to shock therapy to undervalue the
valuable industries of the USSR to sell them at throwaway prices.
35) What was the immediate cause of disintegration of USSR?*
The rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within various republics including
Russia and the Baltic Republic (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia and
others proved to be the most immediate cause for disintegration of the USSR.
36) What was Socialist Bloc?
The Second World countries or the group of east European countries, who were
liberated from fascist forces, followed the model of the USSR known as Socialist Bloc.
37) What is the new name of former USSR?
Russia.
38) When did the Berlin Wall fall?
November 1989.
39) Who was the General Secretary of Communist Party of Soviet Union in 1985?
Mikhail Gorbachev.
40) Mention the role of Boris Yeltsin in the disintegration of the USSR?
Boris Yeltsin had emerged as national hero after popular election in Russian Republic. In
Dec 1991, under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declared
themselves independent.
41) What does CIS stand for?
Commonwealth of Independent States.
42) What is meant by Political and Psychological shock with reference to USSR?
When ordinary citizen of USSR became more knowledgeable about the economic
advances of the west. They could see the disparity between their system and the system
of the west. After years of being told that the Soviet system was better than Western
Capitalism, the reality of it’s backwardness came as political and psychological shock.
43)When did socialist revolution took place in Russia and what does it emphasis on?
Socialist revolution took place in Russia in 1917; it basically emphasized on ideals of
socialism as opposed to capitalism and need for egalitarian society.
44) How did the makers of Soviet Union worked towards making communist or
socialist system?
• The makers of soviet system gave primacy to the state and the institution of party
• The soviet political system revolved around communist party and no other party or
opposition was allowed.
• The economy was planned and controlled.
45) Why is it said that collapse of Berlin wall signified the collapse of bipolar world?
OR
Why the fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 treated as the end of bipolarity
The Berlin wall symbolised the division between capitalist and communist world was
demolished by the people in 9th November 1989.
Collapse of Berlin Wall unified the divided Germany and eight east European countries of
the Soviet Bloc replaced their Communist government resulting into disintegration of Soviet
Union. With the disintegration of Soviet Union, military alliances came to an end and the
world became unipolar.
46) What is “Shock Therapy”? Mention the methods of ‘Shock Therapy’ amongst the
former Second World countries. OR
State the consequences of Shock Therapy?
OR
Assess the consequences of post communism period?
OR
What was Shock Therapy? Was this the best way to make a transition from
communism to capitalism? (NCERT Q no. 9)
Shock Therapy was a painful process of transition from an authoritarian socialist system
to a democratic capitalist system. This transformation system was influenced by the World
Bank and the IMF in Russia, Central Asia and East Europe. Though it varies in intensity
and speed amongst the former second world countries but its direction and features were
quite similar.
This was not the best way to make a transition from communism to capitalism due to
following drawbacks:
 Under the influence of Shock Therapy the industrial complex of Russia was ruined and
destroyed.
• Russia, the large state controlled industrial complex lost about 90 per cent of its industries
through sales to private individuals and companies.
Since the restructuring was carried out through market forces and not by government
directed policies, it led to disappearance of all industries, this was called “the largest
garage sale in history” where industries were sold at throwaway prices and were
undervalued.
 It systematically destroyed old system of social welfare, the withdrawal of government
subsidies and pushed lot of people into poverty.
• The withdrawal of government subsidies pushed large sections of society into poverty.
• The middle class was pushed to the periphery of society and the academic, intellectual
manpower disintegrated or migrated.
• Mafia emerged in most of these countries and started controlling many economic
activities.
• Privatization led to new economic disparity and Russia got divided in rich and poor
region.
 Hence under transition period led by shock Therapy the old trading structure of Russia
broke down with no alternative in place
• The value of ‘ruble’, the Russian currency, declined dramatically due to high rate of
inflation.
• The collective farm system disintegrated leaving people without food security and Russia
started to import food. The GDP of Russia also declined from 1989 to 1999.
• The construction of democratic system was not given importance and the constitution of
all the new republics were made in hurry. The new Presidents gave themselves extended
powers and long tenures for example Presidents of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
appointed themselves and then gave themselves extension of next 10 years.
47) How did disintegrated Soviet republics revived their economies after the
disintegration of USSR?
 Most of these economies especially Russia started reviving in 2000, ten years after
their independence.
 The reason for the revival for most of their economies was the export of natural
resources like oil , natural gas and minerals.
 Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are major oil and gas
producers.
 Other countries have earned due to oil pipelines that cross their territories for which
they get rent.
 Some amount of manufacturing even restarted.
48) Highlight the role of Boris Yeltsin in the disintegration of Soviet Union and shifting
the power from centralized unit to individual republics?
• Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero and opposed the military coup encouraged by
Communist leaders.
• The Russian republic where Yeltsin won the election began to shake centralized control.
• Power began to shift from Soviet centres to individual republics especially in Europeanized
side of Soviet Union.
• In December 1991 under the leadership of Yeltsin Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declared
themselves independent that Soviet Union was disbanded. The communist party of Soviet
Union was banned.
49) Mention the causes of Soviet disintegration?

• Economic Stagnancy
a. Economic institutions experienced internal weaknesses to meet the aspirations of people.
b. Economic stagnation for many years to severe consumer shortages and large section of Soviet
society began to question the system.
c. The soviet economy used much of its resources in building military arsenal, nuclear weapons
and making satellite base at East European states and central Asian republics. This led to huge
economic burden that the system could not cope with.
d. The ordinary citizen could realize the economic advancements of western countries and could
compare that the eastern power is quite behind and after years of perception that soviet system
is better than western capitalism, the economic backwardness came as political and
psychological shock.
• Political and Administrative Causes:
a. The only ruling Communist Party was not accountable despite its rule of 70 years.
b. The ordinary people were abstained/alienated from taking participation in political riots;
hence the system became incapable of correcting its mistakes.
c. The ordinary citizens were exempted from gaining the privileges.
d. Due to non-participation of people, the government lost popular support from all sides.
e. Unwillingness of government to allow openness and centralization of authority in vast land
was another reason towards disintegration of USSR
• Gorbachev’s Reform Policies:
a. Gorbachev’s reforms aimed at keeping the USSR abreast of information and technological
revolutions taking place in the west.
b. In spite of Gorbachev’s accurate diagnosis his reform methods were not successful because
the section of Soviet Society became impatient and thought that he was too slow in carrying out
his reforms and were not benefitted as per their expectation or were benefitted slowly.
c. Apart from this, members of communist party they felt that their powers were reduced and
were not supporting Gorbachev in his reform activity.
d. In this tug of war Gorbachev lost support from both ends and even those who were supporting
him became disillusioned as they felt that he did not adequately defend his policies
• Rise of Nationalism and Desire for Sovereignty:
a. The rise of nationalism in various republics of Soviet Union and desire for sovereignty in
Russia and other Baltic republics (in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Georgia) proved
to be immediate cause of disintegration.
b. The nationalist dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union was strongest in European and
prosperous part in Russia and the Baltic areas as well as Ukraine and Georgia.
c. Ordinary people felt alienated from Central Asia and from each other and concluded that they
were paying too high an economic price to keep the backward area within Soviet Union.

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PO LITICAL SCIENCE CLASS XII

Contemporary World Politics

1) The Russian Revolution was inspired by the ideals of ___________ as opposed to

49) Mention the causes of Soviet disintegration?

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