Loading subject…
Censorship
Censorship in Cuba was a systematic government policy designed to eliminate dissent and control all forms of communication, including print, electronic media, arts, and academia.
Cold War
Political rivalry between the USA and the Soviet Union after WWII
Congress of People's Deputies
A new Soviet legislative body created in 1989 as part of Gorbachev's demokratizatsiya reforms. It featured partially competitive elections and became a platform for reformers and nationalists to challenge Communist Party authority publicly for the first time.
Five-Year Plans
Economic programs aimed at industrial and agricultural development through state-led planning.
Five-Year Plans
Government-led economic programs to boost industrial and agricultural growth.
Glasnost
Policy of openness that encouraged free discussion and criticism of government actions.
Gulag
The Main Administration of Camps, a vast Soviet network of forced labor camps where millions of political prisoners, criminals, and perceived enemies of the state were imprisoned. The Gulag served both as a tool of political repression and as a source of forced labor for economic projects.
Inflation
General increase in prices and fall in purchasing power.
Lysenkoism
A pseudoscientific agricultural theory promoted by Soviet biologist Trofim Lysenko, rejecting genetics in favour of environmental conditioning of crops, adopted in Maoist China with disastrous consequences for food production.
Marxism-Leninism
Communist ideology emphasizing class struggle and revolution; Mao later adapted it to focus on peasants rather than industrial workers.
Nomenklatura
The Soviet system of Party-controlled appointments to all important positions in government, industry, and society. Under Stalin, it became a patronage network that rewarded loyalty over competence, creating a privileged ruling elite.
Perestroika
Economic reform policy designed to restructure the Soviet economy by introducing market-like changes.
Planned Economy
An economic system controlled by the government, which determines production and distribution of goods.
Politburo
Politburo was the highest policy-making body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, responsible for all major political and economic decisions. Its members were the most powerful figures in the USSR.
Propaganda
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. States use propaganda through media, education, and public events to shape public opinion.
Samizdat
The clandestine copying and distribution of banned literature and political texts by hand in the Soviet Union, bypassing state censorship.
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a state-approved artistic style that glorifies socialist ideals, the working class and the achievements of the revolution, while discouraging experimental or abstract forms of expression.
Tamizdat
The practice of smuggling banned manuscripts out of the Soviet Union for publication abroad, then secretly reimporting copies back into the country.