Russian Soviet Federative Socialist RepublicThe Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR; Rossiyskaya Sovetskaya Federativnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika, rɐˈsjijskəjə sɐˈvjetskəjə fjɪdjɪrɐˈtjivnəjə sətsɨəljɪˈsjtjitɕɪskəjə rjɪˈspubljɪkə), previously known as the Russian Soviet Republic and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, as well as being unofficially referred to as Soviet Russia, the Russian Federation, or simply Russia, was an independent federal socialist state from 1917 to 1922, and afterwards the l
Time Person of the YearPerson of the Year (called Man of the Year or Woman of the Year until 1999) is an annual issue of the American news magazine and website Time featuring a person, a group, an idea, or an object that "for better or for worse ... has done the most to influence the events of the year". The editors of Time magazine select the featured subject, though the Time website also runs an annual reader's poll that has no effect on the selection. The tradition of selecting a "Man of the Year" began in 1927, with Time editors contemplating the news makers of the year.
UskorenieUskorenie (ускорение; literally meaning acceleration) was a slogan and a policy announced by Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on 20 April 1985 at a Soviet Party Plenum, aimed at the acceleration of political, social and economic development of the Soviet Union. It was the first slogan of a set of reforms that also included (restructuring), (transparency), new political thinking, and (democratization).
EurocommunismEurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for Western Europe. During the Cold War, they sought to reject the influence of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The trend was especially prominent in Italy, Spain, and France. The origin of the term Eurocommunism was subject to great debate in the mid-1970s, being attributed to Zbigniew Brzezinski and Arrigo Levi, among others.
PerestroikaPerestroika (ˌpɛrəˈstrɔɪkə; перестройка) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1987 onward widely associated with CPSU general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and his glasnost (meaning "transparency") policy reform. The literal meaning of perestroika is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the political and economic systems of the Soviet Union, in an attempt to end the Era of Stagnation. Perestroika allowed more independent actions from various ministries and introduced many market-like reforms.
GosplanThe State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan (), was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Gosplan had as its main task the creation and administration of a series of five-year plans governing the economy of the USSR. The time of the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War which followed was a period of virtual economic collapse.
