The Communist Party of the Soviet Union sought to reform the system in 1985 because-
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → To keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West
Option (1) The USSR wanted to bring about structural reforms in the international relations arena — Incorrect. The reforms were of the Soviet system at home, not of international relations.
Option (2) To keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West — Correct. Mikhail Gorbachev, who became General Secretary in 1985, sought to reform the system because reforms were necessary to keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West.
Option (3) The USSR wanted to make the Eastern European Nations free from Soviet control — Incorrect. This was an effect that neither Gorbachev nor anyone else intended or anticipated: once reform began, the people of Eastern Europe protested against their governments and Soviet control.
Option (4) The USSR suffered a coup by the hardliners and wanted reform of the system — Incorrect. The coup came later, in 1991, encouraged by Communist Party hardliners who opposed the reforms.
NCERT (2025-26): “Gorbachev and the Disintegration … Mikhail Gorbachev, who had become General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, sought to reform this system. Reforms were necessary to keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West. However, Gorbachev’s decision to normalise relations with the West and democratise and reform the Soviet Union had some other effects that neither he nor anyone else intended or anticipated.…” |