1. Section B Exam Questions:
a) What was the Prague Spring of 1968? (4)
• Dubceck wanted to reform communist system in Czechoslovakia
• Ended censorship of press
• Czech citizens given freedom to travel abroad
• Other political parties allowed
• Known as ‘communism with a human face’
b) Explain why Solidarity was set up in Poland. (6)
• Soviet control was unpopular in Poland. Poles were strong Catholics and
proud of their history. They remembered the suffering of their people at
the hands of the Red Army in World War Two.
• In 1970s Poland was suffering major economic problems/standard of
living fell. Workers blamed the Government for these problems. Led to
trade unions being formed and an outbreak of strikes when the
Government announced increases in food prices.
• Strikes centred around ship yards at Gdansk – this union was solidarity
and was formed by Lech Walesa. Became a symbol of opposition to
communist government. Solidarity wanted better wages, and end to
censorship,workers’ control of their factories and religious freedom.
c) The following were all equally important reasons why Soviet control
of Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989:
i) the effects of solidarity in Poland
ii) the policies of Gorbachev
iii) the weakness of the communist governments in Eastern
European countries.
Do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer referring only to i)
ii) and iii).
• i) Solidarity had over 9 million members, forced the leader of Poland to
resign. Despite being declared illegal by Jaruzelski in 1982, it continued
as an underground organisation. By 1988 the communist government
had to legalise Solidarity and allow it to take part in elections. In 1989,
Solidarity became a partner in a coalition government with the Polish
Communist Party. In 1990 Walesa was elected president of the first non-
communist party since WW2. SIGNIFICANCE? Solidarity showed that
people were fed up of communism. It also showed that communism in
Poland depended on military force and when the USSR was unwilling to
back the Communist party in Poland, it crumbled. Unlike in Hungary and
Prague, Soviet tanks did not try and stamp out Solidarity. Solidarity
showed that if people in communist governments stood together against
oppression it could challenge communist governments.
• ii) Gorbachev became leader of USSR in 1985. What were
Gorbachev’s policies:
Glasnost = openness: ending corruption/stop persecution of
dissidents – eg – Andrei Sakharov was released from prison

2. Perestroika = restructuring: 1987 reforms were introduced to allow
market forces, with buying and selling for individual profit, encouraged
health reforms and private businesses now allowed.
Disarmament: USSR should pull out of Afghanistan (a war that cost
them $8bn a year). Disarmament treaty signed with USSR 1987 and
in 1989 further cuts in nuclear weapons was agreed. Brezhnev
Doctrine was abandoned.
How do all these policies lead to the collapse of the USSR? They meant that
Gorbachev was reforming the old Soviet style government and improving relations
with the USA. Glasnost also meant that now the corruption within the government
could be seen. Perestroika meant that communist style systems were being
abandoned and dropping the Brezhnev Doctrine meant that now countries in the
Warsaw Pact could abandon communism……
• the weaknesses of communist governments in East Europe:
Now that the Brezhnev Doctrine had been abandoned, Eastern
European countries started to oppose communism openly. In
Hungary, in 1990 the government dismantled the border with non-
communist Austria, leaving a hole in the iron curtain. In December
1990, in Romania, there was a revolution and the dictator Ceausescu
was executed. In Czechoslovakia in 1990, the communist government
resigned. In East Germany, the Berlin Wall was pulled down and free
elections were held in March 1990. After the collapse of communism
in Eastern Europe, communism also collapsed in USSR and in 1991
the Soviet Union was formally disbanded.
Conclusion: Show how Solidarity showed that opposition to communism was
getting stronger and that people in Eastern Europe were no longer prepared to live in
poverty. Once Gorbachev came to power in 1985 in the USSR and introduced his
reforms, Solidarity in Poland could not be crushed. The abandonment of the
Brezhnev Doctrine then meant that other East European countries were then able to
abandon communism.

3. Other Section B Exam Questions:
2007:
a) Describe the events in Hungary in 1956. (4)
b) Explain why there was opposition to Soviet Control in
Czechoslovakia in 1968. (6)
c) ‘Gorbachev was to blame for the collapse of communism in Eastern
Europe.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your
answer. (10)
2008:
a) Describe the reaction of the Soviet Union to the uprising in Hungary
in 1956. (4).
b) Explain why the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. (6).
c) The following were all equally important reasons why Soviet control
of Eastern Europe had collapsed by 1989:
i) the impact of Solidarity
ii) the growth of opposition in Eastern Europe
iii) the policies of Gorbachev.
How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer by
referring only to i), ii) and iii). (10)

4. Section A Exam Questions:
2006 Paper:
2a) Study Source B.
What is the message of this cartoon? Use details of the cartoon and
your own knowledge to explain your answer. (6)
The message of this cartoon is that the people of the Soviet Union are
unhappy with Gorbachev’s new policies of Glasnost and Perestroika. The
cartoon shows two scared figures labelled Glasnost and Perestroika about to
be eaten by three lions, just like criminals or Christians being thrown to the
lions in the Roman times. The fact that the lions are labelled ‘strikes’, ‘unrest’
and ‘riots’ shows that the people of the Soviet Union were angry about
Gorbachev’s policies and that is why they are circling the figures in the
middle who represent these policies. When Gorbachev came to power in the
USSR in 1985, he began to reform some of the Soviet systems and by
introducing Glasnost and Perestroika he bought in more capitalist style
systems and allowed more openness within the government. However some
people in the USSR felt that these reforms had not gone far enough and the
fact that more openness was allowed in the government meant that
discontent grew in 1988 as people saw how corrupt the government was. In
the cartoon Gorbachev is shown pointing at his reforms , hoping they will be
effective but in reality, due to growing discontent, by 1991 he had resigned
and communism collapsed in the Soviet Union.
2b) Explain why communism collapsed in Eastern Europe during the
1980s. (9)
• Poverty/resentment towards communism by 1980s. Party
members lived in luxury whilst the workers were poor, the West
seemed to be getting richer, people were resentful of huge sums of
money being spent on defence eg in Afghanistan, Industry and
agriculture were not performing efficiently.
• Solidarity in Poland – explain how this union was able to rouse
popular support and eventually win elections to ensure that the first
non-communist government was formed in 1990
• Gorbachev’s policies – Glasnost, Perestroika and disarmament.
How do these destroy communism – include the ending of the
Brezhev Doctrine and link this into why other Eastern Euopean
countries were able to openly leave abandon communism, eg
Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Romania.

5. Other Exam style Questions for Section A:
b) Explain why the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. (9)
b) Explain why there was opposition to Soviet control in
Czechoslovakia in 1968.
(9)
c) Explain why Gorbachev was unpopular in the late 1980s. (9)
d) Explain how the Soviet Union responded to evetns in Hungary in
1956. (9)