Class 12 Political Science Chapter 1 — The End of Bipolarity
Welcome to HSLC Guru. This page provides complete English-medium question answers for ASSEB Class 12 Political Science (Contemporary World Politics) Chapter 1 — The End of Bipolarity. The chapter traces the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the policies of Mikhail Gorbachev (Glasnost and Perestroika), the painful transition known as Shock Therapy, and the consequences for world politics including India–Russia relations.
About the Chapter
The chapter “The End of Bipolarity” explains how the Cold War world, divided into two rival blocs led by the United States and the Soviet Union, came to an end. It examines the structural weaknesses of the Soviet system, the reform programmes of Mikhail Gorbachev, the rise of nationalist movements in the constituent republics, and the eventual disintegration of the USSR in December 1991. The chapter also discusses the consequences of this collapse, including the emergence of fifteen independent republics, the model of “Shock Therapy” applied to post-communist economies, the conflicts that followed, and the transformation of India’s relationship with Russia in the new world order.
Summary
The Soviet Union, formed after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, became one of the two superpowers of the post-Second World War world. It led the Eastern bloc through the Warsaw Pact and provided an alternative to capitalism through a planned, state-controlled economy. Despite achievements in industry, education and welfare, the Soviet system became bureaucratic, authoritarian, and economically stagnant by the 1980s. It lagged behind the West in technology, consumer goods and political freedoms.
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party and introduced two major reforms — Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring). These reforms were intended to modernise the USSR and normalise relations with the West, but they unleashed forces beyond Gorbachev’s control. People in the Eastern European satellite states demanded freedom; the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989; and one country after another rejected communism. Within the USSR, nationalist movements gained strength, especially in the Baltic republics and Russia itself.
A failed coup in August 1991 by Communist hardliners further weakened the centre. Boris Yeltsin emerged as a popular leader, and in December 1991 Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declared the Soviet Union dissolved. The USSR was replaced by fifteen independent republics. The collapse ended the bipolar structure of world politics, leaving the United States as the sole superpower and giving rise to a unipolar moment.
The post-Soviet states adopted a painful transition model called Shock Therapy, designed by the World Bank and the IMF. It involved rapid privatisation, deregulation, free trade and the abrupt withdrawal of state subsidies. The result was the collapse of industries, mass unemployment, devaluation of currencies, the rise of an oligarch class, and a sharp decline in living standards. Conflicts also broke out in Chechnya, Nagorno-Karabakh, Tajikistan and other regions.
India’s relations with Russia have remained warm even after the disintegration. India and Russia share a vision of a multipolar world and cooperate in defence, energy, science, technology and counter-terrorism. The 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation laid the foundation, and successive agreements have continued the partnership in the post-Cold War era.
সাৰাংশ (Summary in Assamese)
দ্বিতীয় বিশ্বযুদ্ধৰ পিছত পৃথিৱী দুটা পৰাশক্তি — মাৰ্কিন যুক্তৰাষ্ট্ৰ আৰু ছ’ভিয়েট ইউনিয়নৰ নেতৃত্বত দুটা ভাগত বিভক্ত হৈছিল, যি অৱস্থাক ‘দ্বিমেৰুকৰণ’ বুলি কোৱা হয়। ছ’ভিয়েট ইউনিয়নে ৱাৰছ’ সন্ধি আৰু পৰিকল্পিত অৰ্থনীতিৰ যোগেদি পূব ইউৰোপৰ সমাজবাদী দেশসমূহক নেতৃত্ব দিছিল। কিন্তু আশীৰ দশকৰ মাজভাগত ছ’ভিয়েট অৰ্থনীতিত স্থবিৰতা, প্ৰযুক্তিগত পিছপৰাত্ব, আৰু ৰাজনৈতিক স্বৈৰাচাৰিতাই দেশখনক দুৰ্বল কৰি তোলে।
১৯৮৫ চনত মিখাইল গৰ্বাচেভে ক্ষমতালৈ আহি ‘গ্লাছনস্ট’ (মুকলিকৰণ) আৰু ‘পেৰেস্ট্ৰইকা’ (পুনৰ্গঠন) নামৰ দুটা সংস্কাৰ আৰম্ভ কৰে। এই সংস্কাৰে পূব ইউৰোপত গণতান্ত্ৰিক জাগৰণ ঘটায়; ১৯৮৯ চনত বাৰ্লিন প্ৰাচীৰ ভঙা পৰে আৰু ১৯৯১ চনৰ ডিচেম্বৰত ছ’ভিয়েট ইউনিয়ন বিলুপ্ত হয়। ফলত ১৫খন স্বাধীন প্ৰজাতন্ত্ৰৰ জন্ম হয় আৰু পৃথিৱী একমেৰু হৈ পৰে।
উত্তৰ-ছ’ভিয়েট দেশসমূহে বিশ্বব্যাংক আৰু আই এম এফৰ পৰামৰ্শত ‘ছ’ক থেৰাপি’ গ্ৰহণ কৰে, যাৰ ফলত বহুতো শিল্প বন্ধ হ’ল, নিবনুৱা সমস্যা বাঢ়িল, আৰু সাধাৰণ মানুহৰ জীৱন কঠিন হৈ পৰিল। ভাৰত-ৰাছিয়া সম্পৰ্ক স্বাধীনোত্তৰ যুগতো ঘনিষ্ঠ হৈ আছে — প্ৰতিৰক্ষা, শক্তি, প্ৰযুক্তি আৰু সন্ত্ৰাসবাদ-বিৰোধী সহযোগিতাৰ ক্ষেত্ৰত দুয়োদেশ দৃঢ় অংশীদাৰ।
NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers
Q1. Which among the following statements about the Soviet system is wrong?
(a) The Soviet system was based on a centralised system of planning.
(b) Soviet system did not have private property.
(c) The Soviet political system revolved around the Communist Party.
(d) Russia was one among the fifteen Soviet Republics that ranked higher than others.
Answer: (d) Russia was one among the fifteen Soviet Republics that ranked higher than others — this is the wrong statement, since formally all fifteen republics were treated as equal, although Russia was politically and culturally dominant in practice.
Q2. 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.
Answer: The correct chronological order is — (d) Russian Revolution (1917) → (a) Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979) → (b) Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) → (c) Disintegration of the Soviet Union (1991).
Q3. Which among the following is not an outcome of the disintegration of the USSR?
(a) End of the ideological war between the US and the USSR.
(b) Birth of the CIS.
(c) Change in the balance of world power.
(d) Crisis in the Middle East.
Answer: (d) Crisis in the Middle East was not an outcome of the disintegration of the USSR.
Q4. Match the following:
| Column A | Column B |
|---|---|
| (i) Mikhail Gorbachev | (a) Successor of the USSR |
| (ii) Shock Therapy | (b) Military pact |
| (iii) Russia | (c) Reforms |
| (iv) Boris Yeltsin | (d) Economic model |
| (v) Warsaw | (e) President of Russia |
Answer: (i) → (c) Reforms; (ii) → (d) Economic model; (iii) → (a) Successor of the USSR; (iv) → (e) President of Russia; (v) → (b) Military pact.
Q5. Fill in the blanks.
(a) The Soviet political system was based on the ____________ ideology.
(b) ____________ was the military alliance started by the USSR.
(c) ____________ party dominated the Soviet Union’s political system.
(d) ____________ initiated the reforms in the USSR in 1985.
(e) The fall of the ____________ symbolised the end of the Cold War.
Answer: (a) Socialist / Communist; (b) Warsaw Pact; (c) Communist Party of the Soviet Union; (d) Mikhail Gorbachev; (e) Berlin Wall.
Q6. Mention any three features that distinguish the Soviet economy from that of a capitalist country like the US.
Answer: (i) The Soviet economy was based on centralised state planning under Gosplan, while the US economy is governed by free-market forces of supply and demand. (ii) In the USSR, all major means of production — land, factories, banks — were owned by the state, whereas private property is the foundation of the US economy. (iii) The Soviet state guaranteed minimum standards of living such as employment, education, healthcare and housing for all citizens, while in the US these are largely provided through private markets and individual capacity to pay.
Q7. What were the factors that forced Gorbachev to initiate the reforms in the USSR?
Answer: Several factors compelled Gorbachev to launch reforms — economic stagnation and a falling growth rate; technological backwardness compared to the West; the heavy burden of the arms race and the war in Afghanistan; the inefficiency and corruption of the bureaucracy; the absence of political freedoms and democratic accountability; and growing demands from citizens, especially in the more developed republics, for openness and a better quality of life. Gorbachev believed that without reform, the USSR could not survive in a rapidly changing world.
Q8. What were the major consequences of the disintegration of the Soviet Union for countries like India?
Answer: The disintegration ended the bipolar structure of world politics and left the United States as the only superpower. Ideological contests between socialism and capitalism faded, and capitalism became the dominant economic model. New countries emerged in Central Asia and the Caucasus, opening fresh diplomatic and economic opportunities. International institutions, currencies and power equations changed. For India, the disappearance of a reliable strategic partner forced a recalibration: India launched economic liberalisation in 1991, improved relations with the US, and rebuilt ties with Russia on a new basis emphasising defence cooperation, energy and a multipolar world.
Q9. What was Shock Therapy? Was this the best way to make a transition from communism to capitalism?
Answer: Shock Therapy was the model of transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy that was adopted in Russia, Central Asia and East Europe in the 1990s under the influence of the World Bank and the IMF. It required rapid and total privatisation of state-owned industries and agriculture, abolition of state subsidies, free trade, deregulation and integration into the global capitalist economy through the World Bank, IMF and WTO.
Shock Therapy was not the best way to make the transition. It led to the collapse of state-owned industries, the largest garage sale in history, mass unemployment, sharp inflation, the destruction of social welfare, and a steep fall in living standards. A small group of oligarchs cornered enormous wealth, while the middle class shrank. The Russian rouble lost value, GDP contracted, and many countries took years to recover. A gradual, sequenced reform — as in China — would have been less destructive socially.
Q10. Write a short essay on India’s relationship with Russia.
Answer: India’s relationship with Russia is one of the most enduring partnerships in contemporary international politics. Built on the foundations of the 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation, the relationship has continued seamlessly with the Russian Federation after 1991. India and Russia share a common vision of a multipolar world order in which several major powers play important roles rather than one country dominating others.
The two countries cooperate in many areas. In defence, Russia has been India’s largest supplier of military hardware — including the BrahMos cruise missile, T-90 tanks, MiG and Sukhoi aircraft, INS Vikramaditya, and the S-400 air defence system. In energy, Russia helps build the Kudankulam nuclear power plant and supplies oil and gas. In space, Russian cooperation has been important from the days of Rakesh Sharma’s flight to today’s Gaganyaan project. There is regular high-level political dialogue, annual summits, and cooperation in counter-terrorism, science, technology and culture. India also benefits from Russia’s support on issues like Kashmir and a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. Both countries are members of BRICS and the SCO, which strengthens their partnership at the multilateral level.
Short Answer Questions
Q1. What is meant by bipolarity in world politics?
Answer: Bipolarity refers to a structure of world politics in which power is concentrated in two opposing blocs led by two superpowers. After the Second World War, the world was divided between the United States and its allies on one side and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other, producing the Cold War.
Q2. Name the two reform programmes introduced by Gorbachev.
Answer: Glasnost (openness in political and cultural life) and Perestroika (restructuring of the economy). They were intended to modernise the USSR but ultimately accelerated its disintegration.
Q3. When did the Berlin Wall fall and what did it symbolise?
Answer: The Berlin Wall, which divided communist East Germany from democratic West Germany since 1961, was brought down by the people on 9 November 1989. It symbolised the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communist authority in Eastern Europe.
Q4. What was the Warsaw Pact?
Answer: The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance founded in 1955 by the Soviet Union and seven East European communist states as a counter to NATO. It dissolved in 1991 along with the disintegration of the USSR.
Q5. Mention any two strengths of the Soviet system.
Answer: (i) The USSR developed a vast industrial base and made spectacular advances in science, space and military power. (ii) It guaranteed every citizen a minimum standard of living through subsidised food, housing, education and free healthcare.
Q6. What is meant by the Second World?
Answer: The Second World referred to the bloc of socialist countries led by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, including East European states like Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.
Q7. Who succeeded Gorbachev as the leader of Russia?
Answer: Boris Yeltsin became the first elected President of the Russian Federation in June 1991 and emerged as the leading figure after the failed coup of August 1991, formally replacing the Soviet leadership when the USSR was dissolved in December 1991.
Q8. What is the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)?
Answer: The CIS is a regional organisation formed in December 1991 by Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and later joined by other former Soviet republics (except the Baltic states and later Georgia). It was created to coordinate economic, security and cultural ties among the post-Soviet states.
Q9. Name any two conflicts that arose in the post-Soviet space.
Answer: The Chechen wars in Russia and the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. There were also conflicts in Tajikistan and Georgia.
Q10. Why did the Soviet economy stagnate in the 1980s?
Answer: Heavy military spending due to the arms race and Afghanistan war, technological backwardness, an inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy, lack of incentives for productivity, neglect of consumer goods, and the inability of central planning to respond to a complex modern economy together produced stagnation.
Q11. List any three consequences of Shock Therapy.
Answer: (i) Collapse of state-owned industries and large-scale unemployment. (ii) Sharp decline in the value of the Russian rouble and high inflation that wiped out savings. (iii) The rise of an oligarch class that captured former state assets cheaply, deepening inequality.
Q12. How many republics emerged from the Soviet Union?
Answer: Fifteen independent republics emerged — Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Q13. State two reasons why people in Eastern Europe rose against communist regimes.
Answer: (i) They resented authoritarian one-party rule and the absence of political freedom. (ii) Their economies lagged far behind Western Europe in productivity and consumer goods, and people aspired to higher living standards.
Q14. What is meant by unipolarity?
Answer: Unipolarity is a configuration of world politics in which only one state holds preponderant economic, political and military power. After 1991, the United States enjoyed a unipolar moment as the world’s sole superpower.
Q15. Mention any two areas of cooperation between India and Russia.
Answer: Defence cooperation (Sukhoi and MiG aircraft, BrahMos missile, T-90 tanks, S-400 system) and civilian nuclear cooperation (Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant). The two countries also cooperate in space, energy, and counter-terrorism.
Long Answer Questions
Q1. Discuss the major features of the Soviet system.
Answer: The Soviet system, established after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, was inspired by the socialist ideal of an egalitarian society, free of exploitation. Its main features were:
- Centralised planning: The state planning agency Gosplan set production targets for every sector. Markets played little role.
- State ownership: Land, factories, banks, transport and trade were owned and controlled by the state. Private property was largely abolished.
- One-party rule: The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) monopolised political power. There were no genuine opposition parties or competitive elections.
- Welfare state: The state guaranteed employment, free healthcare, free education, subsidised food, housing and pensions.
- Industrial-military strength: The USSR became the second-largest industrial power and the second-largest military power, with achievements in space (Sputnik, Yuri Gagarin) and nuclear weapons.
- Federal structure with centralisation: Although it was a union of fifteen republics, real power was concentrated in Moscow under the Russian-dominated CPSU.
These features gave the USSR strength but also generated rigidity, inefficiency and discontent that eventually contributed to its collapse.
Q2. Explain the causes of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Answer: The disintegration of the USSR in December 1991 was caused by the convergence of several factors:
- Economic stagnation: By the 1980s, growth rates had fallen sharply. Consumer goods were scarce, technology lagged, and agriculture was inefficient.
- Burden of arms race and Afghanistan: Massive defence spending and the costly war in Afghanistan (1979–89) drained resources.
- Political authoritarianism: The absence of democracy, censorship, repression and the privileged Communist Party elite created widespread alienation.
- Gorbachev’s reforms: Glasnost and Perestroika exposed the failures of the system and unleashed expectations the system could not satisfy.
- Rise of nationalism: Nationalist movements grew strong, especially in the Baltic republics, Ukraine and Russia itself, and demanded sovereignty.
- Eastern European revolutions of 1989: The fall of communist regimes in Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria weakened the USSR’s outer empire and inspired domestic dissent.
- Failed coup of August 1991: Hardline communists’ attempt to remove Gorbachev backfired; Boris Yeltsin became a hero, and the centre lost authority.
The combination of these forces produced a peaceful but rapid collapse of the world’s first socialist superpower.
Q3. Discuss the consequences of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Answer: The disintegration had profound consequences for world politics:
- End of the Cold War: The ideological contest between socialism and capitalism ended.
- Unipolar moment: The United States emerged as the sole superpower, dominating institutions like the IMF, World Bank and NATO.
- Dominance of capitalism: Free-market capitalism became the prevailing global economic model.
- Birth of new countries: Fifteen independent republics emerged from the USSR, with their own languages, identities and policies.
- Rise of new conflicts: Wars broke out in Chechnya, Nagorno-Karabakh, Tajikistan and Georgia. Yugoslavia disintegrated in a series of brutal wars.
- Power shift in Asia: Central Asia became a strategic theatre for energy and geopolitics, drawing in the US, China, India and Iran.
- Restructuring of alliances: NATO expanded eastwards; the Warsaw Pact dissolved; the Non-Aligned Movement had to redefine its role.
Q4. Critically examine the model of Shock Therapy.
Answer: Shock Therapy was the rapid transition model adopted by Russia and other post-communist states under the guidance of the World Bank and the IMF. Its main components were rapid privatisation of state assets, removal of subsidies, free trade, currency convertibility, deregulation, and integration into the global capitalist system. The reforms were intended to dismantle the legacy of central planning quickly, before vested interests could resist.
The consequences were severe. State industries collapsed because they could not compete with cheap imports. The “largest garage sale in history” allowed insiders and oligarchs to acquire enormous wealth. The rouble lost most of its value; savings were wiped out by inflation. GDP fell sharply during the 1990s. Old age pensions, healthcare and education systems crumbled. A small elite became extremely rich while the middle class shrank. The transition produced a “mafia capitalism” rather than the orderly market economy promised by reformers. Critics argue that a gradual, sequenced approach — as in China — would have caused less suffering. Supporters argue that without rapid reform, the old elite would have blocked change. On balance, Shock Therapy achieved the formal goal of moving to capitalism but at a great social cost.
Q5. Examine India’s relations with Russia after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Answer: India’s relations with the Russian Federation after 1991 have been characterised by deep continuity and warmth. The 1971 Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation between India and the USSR was succeeded by the Indo-Russian Strategic Partnership of 2000 and the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership of 2010. The two countries hold annual summits and have signed more than eighty bilateral agreements covering defence, trade, science, energy, space and culture.
In defence, Russia remains India’s largest single supplier — Sukhoi-30 MKI and MiG-29 fighters, T-72 and T-90 tanks, INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier, BrahMos cruise missile (joint venture), Kilo-class submarines and the S-400 air defence system. In energy, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu is built with Russian cooperation; India also imports oil and LNG from Russia. In space, ISRO and Roscosmos cooperate on the Gaganyaan human space-flight programme. Both countries support a multipolar world order, cooperate within BRICS and the SCO, and back each other on key international issues. Russia has consistently supported India’s position on Kashmir and India’s bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council. The relationship is therefore one of the most stable and substantive in India’s foreign policy.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. The Soviet Union came into existence after the Russian Revolution of —
(a) 1905 (b) 1917 (c) 1919 (d) 1921
Answer: (b) 1917
2. Who introduced the policies of Glasnost and Perestroika?
(a) Lenin (b) Stalin (c) Khrushchev (d) Gorbachev
Answer: (d) Gorbachev
3. The Berlin Wall fell in the year —
(a) 1985 (b) 1987 (c) 1989 (d) 1991
Answer: (c) 1989
4. The Warsaw Pact was established in —
(a) 1949 (b) 1955 (c) 1961 (d) 1971
Answer: (b) 1955
5. The Soviet Union officially disintegrated in —
(a) October 1990 (b) December 1991 (c) March 1992 (d) June 1989
Answer: (b) December 1991
6. How many independent republics emerged from the USSR?
(a) 12 (b) 13 (c) 14 (d) 15
Answer: (d) 15
7. Who became the first elected President of Russia?
(a) Vladimir Putin (b) Boris Yeltsin (c) Mikhail Gorbachev (d) Dmitry Medvedev
Answer: (b) Boris Yeltsin
8. The economic transition model adopted by Russia in the 1990s is known as —
(a) Big Push (b) Shock Therapy (c) Five-Year Plan (d) Mixed Economy
Answer: (b) Shock Therapy
9. Glasnost means —
(a) Restructuring (b) Openness (c) Centralisation (d) Welfare
Answer: (b) Openness
10. Perestroika means —
(a) Restructuring (b) Openness (c) Cooperation (d) Reform of the army
Answer: (a) Restructuring
11. The CIS was created in —
(a) 1989 (b) 1990 (c) 1991 (d) 1993
Answer: (c) 1991
12. The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation was signed in —
(a) 1962 (b) 1965 (c) 1971 (d) 1975
Answer: (c) 1971
13. Which republic did NOT emerge from the disintegration of the USSR?
(a) Kazakhstan (b) Uzbekistan (c) Yugoslavia (d) Tajikistan
Answer: (c) Yugoslavia
14. Which Soviet leader invaded Afghanistan in 1979?
(a) Khrushchev (b) Brezhnev (c) Andropov (d) Gorbachev
Answer: (b) Brezhnev
15. The fall of the Berlin Wall is associated with —
(a) Reunification of Germany (b) Partition of Germany (c) Founding of NATO (d) Founding of EU
Answer: (a) Reunification of Germany
16. The military counterpart of the Warsaw Pact was —
(a) SEATO (b) CENTO (c) NATO (d) ANZUS
Answer: (c) NATO
17. The “End of History” thesis was advanced by —
(a) Samuel Huntington (b) Francis Fukuyama (c) Henry Kissinger (d) John Mearsheimer
Answer: (b) Francis Fukuyama
18. Which of these states is in Central Asia?
(a) Estonia (b) Latvia (c) Kazakhstan (d) Belarus
Answer: (c) Kazakhstan
19. The BrahMos missile is a joint venture between India and —
(a) USA (b) Russia (c) Israel (d) France
Answer: (b) Russia
20. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is being built with cooperation from —
(a) USA (b) France (c) Russia (d) Japan
Answer: (c) Russia
21. Which one was a Baltic republic of the USSR?
(a) Armenia (b) Azerbaijan (c) Lithuania (d) Tajikistan
Answer: (c) Lithuania
22. The failed coup against Gorbachev took place in —
(a) August 1990 (b) August 1991 (c) December 1991 (d) March 1991
Answer: (b) August 1991
23. Which institution did NOT prescribe Shock Therapy?
(a) IMF (b) World Bank (c) WTO (d) UNESCO
Answer: (d) UNESCO
24. The Chechen conflict took place in —
(a) Russia (b) Georgia (c) Ukraine (d) Azerbaijan
Answer: (a) Russia
25. After the disintegration of the USSR, the United States is described as a —
(a) Bipolar power (b) Sole superpower (c) Regional power (d) Failing state
Answer: (b) Sole superpower
Timeline of Key Events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1917 | Bolshevik (October) Revolution; foundation of the Soviet state under Lenin. |
| 1922 | Formal creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). |
| 1945 | End of the Second World War; emergence of the USSR as a superpower. |
| 1949 | Formation of NATO by the United States and Western allies. |
| 1955 | Formation of the Warsaw Pact led by the USSR. |
| 1961 | Construction of the Berlin Wall. |
| 1979 | Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan begins. |
| 1985 | Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the CPSU and launches reforms. |
| 1989 | Fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November); collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe. |
| 1990 | Reunification of Germany. |
| August 1991 | Failed coup by Communist hardliners against Gorbachev. |
| December 1991 | Disintegration of the Soviet Union; formation of the CIS; emergence of fifteen independent republics. |
| 1992 onwards | Shock Therapy applied across the post-Soviet space. |
| 2000 | Indo-Russian Strategic Partnership signed. |
| 2010 | Upgraded to Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. |
Key Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bipolarity | A world order dominated by two rival superpowers and their blocs. |
| Unipolarity | A world order dominated by a single superpower. |
| Cold War | The political, ideological and strategic rivalry between the USA and USSR (1945–1991) that did not lead to direct war between them. |
| Glasnost | Russian for “openness”; Gorbachev’s policy of political and cultural liberalisation. |
| Perestroika | Russian for “restructuring”; Gorbachev’s economic and administrative reforms. |
| Warsaw Pact | Soviet-led military alliance of socialist states (1955–1991). |
| NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization, US-led military alliance founded in 1949. |
| Second World | The bloc of socialist states led by the USSR during the Cold War. |
| Shock Therapy | A rapid transition model from a planned to a market economy involving privatisation, deregulation and free trade, applied in Russia and East Europe in the 1990s. |
| CIS | Commonwealth of Independent States, formed in 1991 by the post-Soviet republics. |
| Oligarchs | A small group of business magnates who acquired massive wealth during Russian privatisation. |
| CPSU | Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the only legal political party in the USSR. |
| Multipolarity | An international order with several major powers of comparable influence. |