CBSE Class 12 Political Science Case Study Questions The End of Bipolarity MCQs

Question. Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow:  
The Soviet Union had become stagnant in an administrative and political sense as well. The Communist Party that had ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years was not accountable to the people. Ordinary people were alienated by slow and stifling administration, rampant corruption, the inability of the system to correct mistakes it had made, the unwillingness to allow more openness in government, and the centralisation of authority in a vast land. Worse still, the party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens. People did not identify with the system and with the rulers, and the government increasingly lost popular backing. Gorbachev’s reforms promised to deal with these problems. Gorbachev promised to reform the economy, catch up with the West, and loosen the administrative system. All this might not have led to the collapse of the Soviet Union but for another development that surprised most observers and indeed many insiders. The rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within various republics including Russia and the Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Ukraine, Georgia, and others proved to be the final and most immediate cause for the disintegration of the USSR.

Question. Gorbachev promised to…
(a) Back the people in war and international tensions.
(b) Provide employment and pensions to elder citizens. 
(c) To defeat west and become the sole super power.
(d) To reform the economy, catch up with the West, and loosen the administrative system. 

Answer: D

Question. How long the communist party have been ruling Soviet Union?
(a) For sixty eight years
(b) For seventy years
(c) For 82 years
(d) For fifty years

Answer: B

Question. What was the final and most immediate cause for the disintegration of Soviet Union?
(a) The rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty within various republics including Russia and the Baltic Republics, Ukraine, Georgia, and others.
(b) The rise of extremism and the desire for privatization within various republics including Russia and the Baltic Republics, Ukraine, Georgia, and others.
(c) The rise of capitalism and the desire for democratic government within various republics including Russia and the Baltic Republics, Ukraine, Georgia, and others.
(d) All of the above   

Answer: A

Question. What led to the collapse of the Soviet System?
(a) Because of its failure in World War Two
(b) Because people did not identify with the system
(c) Because of its extreme bureaucratic nature
(d) All of the above   

Answer: C

Question. Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow: 
Economist Jeffrey Sachs is widely associated with shock therapy. He developed a plan of shock therapy for post-communist Poland in 1990, for post-communist Russia in 1992, and several other countries, including Bolivia and Chile. Bolivia, in particular, in 1985, had success as a result of shock therapy in ending a period of hyperinflation. Poland also initially seemed to benefit from shock therapy as inflation was controlled, but it saw a sharp rise in unemployment that peaked at 16.9%. Sachs did not like the term shock therapy, which he said was coined by the media and made the reform process sound more painful than it was. In Russia, neo- liberal shock therapy did not produce favourable outcomes. Shock therapy was applied swiftly and on a large scale, as opposed to how it was applied in other nations. Almost all of Russia’s industries were undervalued and sold to private individuals and companies, with most acquired by a few Russian oligarchs. With limited government intervention, most industries disappeared. The Russian currency declined, causing high inflation and the erosion of most citizens’ savings. Unemployment increased drastically, and government subsidies were removed, further pushing Russian families into poverty.

Question. What happened in Poland after the initial success of the shock therapy?
(a) Rise in the commodity prices
(b) Economy declines
(c) Rise in the unemployment rate
(d) All of the above 

Answer: C

Question. What was the aftermath of the shock therapy in Russia?
(a) Rise in the economy and in currency value.
(b) Decline in the unemployment rate and boosting economy.
(c) Improvement in people’s income and life style 
(d) Decline in the currency, increasing unemployment, high inflation and decrease in people’s incomes.

Answer: D

Question. Who developed the plan of the Shock therapy for the post-communist Poland?
(a) Mikhail Gorbachev
(b) Jeffery Sachs
(c) Both of them
(d) None of them   

Answer: B

Question. Which country benefited with the Shock therapy in 1985?
(a) Bolivia
(b) Poland
(c) Ukraine
(d) Russia 

Answer: A

Question. Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow: 
A coup took place in 1991 that was encouraged by Communist Party hard-liners. The people had tasted freedom by then and did not want the oldstyle rule of the Communist Party. Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero in opposing this coup. The Russian Republic, where Yeltsin won a popular election, began to shake off centralised control. Power began to shift from the Soviet centre to the republics, especially in the more Europeanised part of the Soviet Union, which saw themselves as sovereign states. The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to remain with the Soviet Federation. In December 1991, under the leadership of Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, three major republics of the USSR, declared that the Soviet Union was disbanded. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was banned. Capitalism and democracy were adopted as the bases for the post-Soviet republics. The declaration on the disintegration of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) came as a surprise to the other republics, especially to the Central Asian ones. The exclusion of these republics was an issue that was quickly solved by making them founding members of the CIS. Russia was now accepted as the successor state of the Soviet Union. It inherited the Soviet seat in the UN Security Council. Russia accepted all the international treaties and commitments of the Soviet Union. It took over as the only nuclear state of the post-Soviet space and carried out some nuclear disarmament measures with the US. The old Soviet Union was thus dead and buried.

Question. Which country became the successor state of the Soviet Union?
(a) Belarus
(b) Ukraine
(c) Central Asian Republics
(d) Russia

Answer: D

Question. Which were the three major republics of USSR?
(a) Poland, Cuba, Russia
(b) Sweden, Germany, France
(c) Russia, Ukraine, Belarus
(d) Ukraine, Poland, Sweden

Answer: C

Question. Who opposed the coup of 1991?
(a) Mikhail Gorbachev
(b) Post-Soviet republics
(c) Communist party
(d) Boris Yeltsin 

Answer: D

Question. Which type of government was adopted by the post-soviet countries?
(a) Socialist
(b) Capitalist and Democratic
(c) Communist Democratic
(d) None of the above

Answer: B

Question. Study the cartoon given below and answer the following questions:

Question. Why have the names of so many countries been written on the uniform of the soldier?
(a) It symbolizes the union of these countries.
(b) It symbolizes the colonization of these countries by USA.
(c) USA has invaded these countries.
(d) None of the above. 

Answer: C

Question. What message does this cartoon give to the international community?
(a) It reminds world about the peace and unity.
(b) It urges the world to fight against terrorism.
(c) It urges the need to have military rule over democratic governments. 
(d) It conveys that the US is a superpower and has the might to push its interests into any part of the world.

Answer: D

Question. Which country is represented by this mighty soldier?
(a) Russia
(b) China
(c) USA
(d) Canada

Answer: C

Question. Which of the countries listed below was never invaded by USA?
(a) Japan
(b) England
(c) Iraq
(d) Afghanistan 

Answer: B

Question. Read the following cartoon and answer the following questions:

Question. How many countries did the Soviet Union disintegrate?
(a) 15
(b) 14
(c) 13
(d) 18 

Answer: A

Question. What lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union?
(a) The rise of nationalism and the desire for sovereignty at various places
(b) The world economy sunk
(c) Russia emerged as a super power with capitalist democracy
(d) None of the above

Answer: A

Question. How was the collapse of the USSR seen by the West?
(a) As an opportunity to colonise Russia.
(b) A victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over totalitarianism.
(c) As the end of communist dominance.
(d) None of the above.

Answer: B

Question. What event officially marked the end of communism in the Soviet Union?
(a) End of Cuban Missile Crisis
(b) Rise of New World Order
(c) The failed August Coup
(d) Rise in US economy

Answer: C