Potent Potables
This “cocktail” of reforms mixed openness and restructuring, shaken vigorously by a new Soviet leader after 1985.
What are glasnost and perestroika?
This was the year Gorbachev became the leader of the USSR.
What is 1985?
This Polish trade union movement, led by Lech Wałęsa, became a symbol of resistance to Soviet control.
What is Solidarity?
Reagan’s 1983 speech labeled the USSR with this memorable phrase.
What is evil empire?
This term describes the Soviet system’s chronic inefficiency and lack of innovation.
What is stagnation?
This “bitter brew” for the USSR was a decade long conflict that drained resources and morale, contributing to Soviet decline.
What is the Soviet-Afghan War?
Gorbachev met US President Ronald Reagan for the first time in this city.
What is Geneva?
This 1989 event in China showed the limits of reform in communist states and shocked global audiences.
What is Tiananmen Square?
This U.S. defense initiative proposed a space‑based missile shield, alarming Soviet leaders.
What is SDI?
The USSR struggled economically in the 1980s due to falling global prices for this key export.
What is oil?
Eastern European states got a “taste of independence” after Gorbachev's 1988 announcement that reversed this earlier Soviet foreign policy.
What is the Brezhnev Doctrine?
This 1986 disaster undermined trust in the Soviet government and accelerated calls for reform.
What is Chernobyl?
The 1989 peaceful protests in East Germany that helped bring down the Berlin Wall were centered in this city.
What is Leipzig?
This 1987 treaty eliminated an entire class of nuclear missiles and marked a major step in arms reduction.
What is the INF treaty?
The USSR spent a disproportionate share of its GDP on this, leaving little for consumer goods or modernization.
What is the military?
A “volatile mix” of nationalism, economic collapse, and political fragmentation led to this Soviet republic to declare itself independent in 1990.
What is Lithuania?
Gorbachev’s 1988 announcement that Eastern Bloc states could determine their own paths was informally known as this doctrine.
What is the Sinatra Doctrine?
This country's Charter 77 group formed the backbone of the dissent movement against its leadership.
What is Czechoslovakia?
The US funded anti-leftist groups in this country by trafficking weapons to Iran.
What is Nicaragua?
This common sight became a symbol of the Soviet system’s failure to meet basic needs for its people.
What are long lines?
One of Gorbachev's earliest domestic policies included tightening control over this alcoholic beverage.
What is vodka?
Gorbachev received this major international award in 1990 for his role in reducing Cold War tensions.
What is the Nobel Peace Prize?
This protest in 1989 involved two million people forming a human chain across three republics.
What is the Baltic Way? (Or Baltic Chain?)
The US began supplying this crucial weapon to the mujahideen in the mid 1980s.
What are stinger missiles?
This 1987 reform law attempted to decentralize economic decision‑making by allowing limited private enterprise and cooperatives.
What is the Law on State Enterprises?