Mikhail Gorbachev introduced reforms in the Soviet Union known as perestroika and glasnost. Perestroika restructured the Soviet political and economic system to transition to a market economy. Glasnost promoted openness and transparency. Gorbachev's reforms weakened the Soviet Union and led to revolutions in 1989 in Eastern Europe that overthrew communist governments. This caused the Soviet Union to abandon the Brezhnev Doctrine and lose control over Eastern Europe. It also led to the reunification of Germany.

1. History 12
Readings and Questions from: Global Forces of the Twentieth Century: Chapter 16
The Gorbachev Revolution
1991-2000
Gorbachev’s Reform Program
1. Briefly describe Mikhail Gorbachev’s background
2. Name the four points of the reform program proposed by Gorbachev, and briefly explain
each one.
3. Explain the Enterprise Law of 1987. Evaluate its success
4. Compare and contrast the challenges to Gorbachev’s leadership from those challenges
faced by Boris Yeltsin and YegorLigachev.
Perestroika and Glasnost
5. Explain how Glasnost and Perestroika negatively affected the Soviet Union.
6. What political changes were announced at the Nineteenth Party Conference?
1989 Revolution
7. Choose three Eastern European countries that underwent revolution in 1989. Compare
and contrast the causes and outcomes of these revolutions.
The Aftermath of the Revolution: Eastern Europe
8. Explain the political affects of the Revolution in the Soviet Union, how did the
abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine affect the balance of power in Eastern Europe?
Describe German Reunification. What was the significance of reunification?
Case Study: The Reunification of Germany
9. What factors account for the differences in living conditions between East and West
Germany?
10. Should the reunification have been carried out behind closed doors, or should it have
been a more public process? What are the possible negative consequences of keeping the
elements of this decision secret, what are the possible benefits?
Case Study the Nationalities Issue
11. What was the result of Gorbachev’s liberalization policy toward ethnic minorities?
12. Why did the policy of Russification fail? Examine the consequences of the failure of
Russification.
Case Study Chernobyl Disaster
13. Should nuclear power be promoted as an energy source? What are the potential benefits
and draw backs of using nuclear power as an energy source?
14. What appears to be the cause of the Chernobyl disaster? How might it have been
avoided? What were the results of the Chernobyl accident?

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Chapter 16
Vocabulary
Perestroika
Demokratizatsiya
Market Economy
Pravda
Andrie Sakharov, Yelena Bonner
The Baltic States
The Berlin Wall
Baclav Havel
Pluralism
Council for Mutual Economic
Ostpolitik
Freedom Trains
Five hundred Day Plan