Poland's Fight Against Communism

George Bush Senior and Mikhail Gorbachev

He wanted the Soviet Union to be accepted as part of the world community and to turn its economy towards cooperation with other countries.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall in communist East Germany

<p>The Soviet authorities put down the uprising, showing they would accept no relaxation of communist control.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Solidarity</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The alliance between workers, intellectuals, and the Catholic Church</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Star Wars</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>He saw it as a threat to world stability</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>No agreement on arms reduction was reached</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Both sides agreed for the first time to reduce their nuclear arsenals</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>To reduce its Armed Forces by 500,000 men and substantially reduce the numbers of conventional armaments</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>To look forward to a day when there will not be no more nuclear weapons in the world at all</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) were implemented by Gorbachev to loosen the party's grip on the economy and allow people to question the past. These reforms aimed to bring about transparency and restructuring in the Soviet society and economy, but also led to increased criticism of the Soviet system, contributing to its eventual collapse.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Boris Yeltsin, appointed by Gorbachev, criticized party members and sought to make his mark by sacking corrupt officials. His popularity with the people led to his sacking by the party hardliners, showing the resistance to Gorbachev's reforms.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Gorbachev sought a new relationship with the West, aiming to reduce military spending and halt the nuclear arms race. He met with Reagan in 1985 in Geneva, marking the beginning of his efforts to forge a new relationship with the United States.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Gorbachev faced challenges from the entrenched nomenclature, a class of privileged Communist Party officials who controlled the economy and society. They resisted Gorbachev's reforms and posed a significant obstacle to his attempts to reform the Soviet system.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>By 1991, the Soviet people rejected communism, which ultimately led to the collapse of the USSR. This rejection of the communist ideology played a crucial role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The KGB, the Soviet secret police, enforced the Communist Party's control and silenced dissent, leading to repression and fear among the Soviet people. Its activities contributed to maintaining the authoritarian rule and stifling opposition within the Soviet society.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A sit-in at the Gdansk Shipyard demanding lower food prices and the right to organize free trade unions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The government agreed to negotiate, a move unprecedented in any communist country.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Gorbachev advised the Polish government to sit down with Solidarity and eventually agreed to free elections.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Solidarity won the elections, leading to the first non-communist government in the Soviet Bloc since 1948.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>It influenced change in other communist satellite states, notably leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The division between the capitalist West and the Communist East.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The events in Poland and East Germany marked a significant shift in the power dynamics of the Eastern Bloc.</p> Signup and view all the answers