NCERT Class 12 Pol Sci Chapter 2: The End of Bipolarity Hard Quiz

Question 1

Which event is generally treated as the formal end point of the Soviet Union in the timeline of the end of bipolarity?

Accepted Answer

The resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev on 25 December 1991

Answer

The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989

Answer

The signing of the START-I treaty in 1991

Answer

The Warsaw Pact dissolution in July 1991

Question 2

Which republic played the leading institutional role in declaring the Soviet Union dissolved through the Belavezha Accords?

Accepted Answer

Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

Answer

Russia, Kazakhstan and Georgia

Answer

Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia

Answer

Belarus, Moldova and Armenia

Question 3

The failed August 1991 coup in the Soviet Union was primarily launched by hardliners opposing which broad trend?

Accepted Answer

Political and economic reforms associated with Gorbachev

Answer

A military alliance with NATO

Answer

Rapid privatization under shock therapy

Answer

Withdrawal from the United Nations

Question 4

Which term best captures Gorbachev’s policy of restructuring the Soviet economy and administration?

Accepted Answer

Perestroika

Answer

Glasnost

Answer

Détente

Answer

Collectivization

Question 5

In the Soviet reform context, glasnost most directly encouraged:

Accepted Answer

Greater openness in public discussion and criticism

Answer

A return to strict censorship and central command

Answer

Compulsory military expansion across Eastern Europe

Answer

A ban on regional political participation

Question 6

Why did nationalist movements intensify inside the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s?

Accepted Answer

Because central reforms weakened coercive control and opened political space

Answer

Because the Soviet constitution abolished all republic identities

Answer

Because NATO directly administered Soviet republics

Answer

Because oil exports fully stabilized the Soviet economy

Question 7

Which statement best explains the contrast between the United States and the Soviet Union near the end of the Cold War?

Accepted Answer

The Soviet Union faced deep internal economic and political strain, unlike the United States

Answer

Both superpowers were equally weakened by identical domestic crises

Answer

The United States dissolved into republics while the Soviet Union remained unified

Answer

The Soviet Union had outpaced the United States in consumer welfare and legitimacy

Question 8

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, which state inherited its permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council?

Accepted Answer

Russia

Answer

Ukraine

Answer

Belarus

Answer

Kazakhstan

Question 9

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was primarily conceived as:

Accepted Answer

A loose association among former Soviet republics

Answer

A replacement for NATO’s integrated command

Answer

A new communist bloc under Moscow’s tight control

Answer

A customs union limited only to Baltic republics

Question 10

Which group of republics chose a path outside the CIS framework early and strongly emphasized separation from the Soviet legacy?

Accepted Answer

The Baltic republics

Answer

The Central Asian republics

Answer

The Caucasus republics only

Answer

The Slavic republics

Question 11

In many post-Soviet states, the transition to a market economy in the 1990s was associated with:

Accepted Answer

Economic disruption, inflation and concentration of wealth

Answer

Immediate prosperity and stable employment growth

Answer

Lower inequality and universal social protection

Answer

The complete disappearance of state influence overnight

Question 12

Which outcome most directly illustrates the emergence of a unipolar moment after the end of bipolarity?

Accepted Answer

The United States standing as the sole superpower

Answer

The Soviet bloc’s military reconsolidation

Answer

Equal strategic parity among five major powers

Answer

The merger of NATO and the Warsaw Pact

Question 13

Why is the Soviet system often described as suffering from political rigidity by the 1980s?

Accepted Answer

It depended on a highly centralized party structure resistant to adaptation

Answer

It lacked any centralized institutions

Answer

It allowed unrestricted competitive party politics

Answer

It gave republics full sovereign control over defense policy

Question 14

Which of the following best links arms competition to the Soviet crisis?

Accepted Answer

The costly superpower rivalry strained an already troubled economy

Answer

Arms competition reduced military spending burdens on Moscow

Answer

The nuclear race ended Soviet dependence on heavy industry

Answer

Military parity guaranteed domestic political legitimacy

Question 15

What was one major political consequence of loosening censorship under glasnost?

Accepted Answer

Public criticism exposed long-suppressed failures and weakened regime legitimacy

Answer

The one-party state gained stronger ideological control

Answer

Regional identities disappeared under cultural homogenization

Answer

The military took over all civilian planning institutions

Question 16

Which leader became especially prominent by resisting the August 1991 coup and then rose politically in Russia?

Accepted Answer

Boris Yeltsin

Answer

Nikita Khrushchev

Answer

Leonid Brezhnev

Answer

Yuri Andropov

Question 17

Which sequence is historically accurate for key events related to the end of bipolarity?

Accepted Answer

Berlin Wall falls → August coup attempt → Soviet disintegration

Answer

Belavezha Accords → Berlin Wall falls → Soviet coup attempt

Answer

Soviet disintegration → Warsaw Pact created → German reunification

Answer

German reunification → Cuban Missile Crisis → Soviet disintegration

Question 18

The post-Soviet rise of oligarchic power in some republics was most closely tied to:

Accepted Answer

Rapid and uneven privatization of state assets

Answer

Strict prohibition of private property

Answer

Agrarian reforms under wartime planning

Answer

The abolition of all natural resource sectors

Question 19

Which statement best captures the international significance of the end of the Soviet Union?

Accepted Answer

It ended the Cold War structure centered on two rival superpowers

Answer

It restored the exact pre-1945 balance of power in Europe

Answer

It immediately created a stable multipolar order with no dominant state

Answer

It dissolved all military alliances across the world

Question 20

Which factor was least responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Accepted Answer

A decisive electoral victory by the Warsaw Pact over NATO

Answer

Economic stagnation and inefficiency

Answer

Nationalities asserting autonomy

Answer

Political reforms that loosened central control

NCERT Class 12 Pol Sci Chapter 2: The End of Bipolarity Hard Quiz

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