romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
On February 7, 1987, dozens of political prisoners were freed in the first group release since Khrushchev's "thaw" in the mid-1950s. On May 6, 1987, Pamyat, a Russian nationalist group, held an unsanctioned demonstration in Moscow. The authorities did not break up the demonstration and even kept traffic out of the demonstrators' way while they marched to an impromptu meeting with Boris Yeltsin, head of the Moscow Communist Party and at the time one of Gorbachev's closest allies. On July 25, 1987, 300 Crimean Tatars staged a noisy demonstration near the Kremlin Wall for several hours, calling for the right to return to their homeland, from which they were deported in 1944; police and soldiers merely looked on.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When were the prisoners set free?
A: February 7, 1987,', "
Q: Who released the prisoners in the 1950s?
A: Khrushchev's", '
Q: What sort of prisoners were released?
A: political', '
Q: Who demonstrated close to the Kremlin in July of 1978?
A: Crimean Tatars', '
Q: Prior to 1987 when was the last large release of prisoners?
A: mid-1950s.']
On September 10, 1987, after a lecture from hardliner Yegor Ligachev at the Politburo for allowing these two unsanctioned demonstrations in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin wrote a letter of resignation to Gorbachev, who had been holidaying on the Black Sea. Gorbachev was stunned – no one had ever voluntarily resigned from the Politburo. At the October 27, 1987, plenary meeting of the Central Committee, Yeltsin, frustrated that Gorbachev had not addressed any of the issues outlined in his resignation letter, criticized the slow pace of reform, servility to the general secretary, and opposition from Ligachev that had led to his (Yeltsin's) resignation. No one had ever addressed the Party leader so brazenly in front of the Central Committee since Leon Trotsky in the 1920s. In his reply, Gorbachev accused Yeltsin of "political immaturity" and "absolute irresponsibility." No one backed Yeltsin.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who disagreed vocally about the demonstrations being permitted?
A: Yegor Ligachev', '
Q: Who resigned in September of 1987?
A: Boris Yeltsin', "
Q: What was Gorbachev's reaction to Yeltsin's resignation?
A: stunned", '
Q: What did Yeltsin dislike about the reforms?
A: slow pace', "
Q: Who took Yeltsin's side?
A: No one"]
On June 14, 1987, about 5,000 people gathered again at Freedom Monument in Riga, and laid flowers to commemorate the anniversary of Stalin's mass deportation of Latvians in 1941. This was the first large demonstration in the Baltic republics to commemorate the anniversary of an event contrary to official Soviet history. The authorities did not crack down on demonstrators, which encouraged more and larger demonstrations throughout the Baltic States. The next major anniversary after the August 23 Molotov Pact demonstration was on November 18, the date of Latvia’s independence in 1918. On November 18, 1987, hundreds of police and civilian militiamen cordoned off the central square to prevent any demonstration at Freedom Monument, but thousands lined the streets of Riga in silent protest regardless.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Where did the demonstrators meet in June of 1987?
A: Freedom Monument', '
Q: Where is Freedom Monument?
A: Riga', '
Q: What did the protesters do?
A: laid flowers', '
Q: Where did further protests take place?
A: Baltic States', '
Q: Who were the protesters remembering?
A: Latvians']
In spring 1987, a protest movement arose against new phosphate mines in Estonia. Signatures were collected in Tartu, and students assembled in the university's main hall to express lack of confidence in the government. At a demonstration on May 1, 1987, young people showed up with banners and slogans despite an official ban. On August 15, 1987, former political prisoners formed the MRP-AEG group (Estonians for the Public Disclosure of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), which was headed by Tiit Madisson. In September 1987, the Edasi newspaper published a proposal by Edgar Savisaar, Siim Kallas, Tiit Made, and Mikk Titma calling for Estonia's transition to autonomy. Initially geared toward economic independence, then toward a certain amount of political autonomy, the project, Isemajandav Eesti ("A Self-Managing Estonia") became known according to its Estonian acronym, IME, which means "miracle". On October 21, a demonstration dedicated to those who gave their lives in the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence took place in Võru, which culminated in a conflict with the militia. For the first time in years, the blue, black, and white national tricolor was publicly displayed.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What was being protested in Estonia?
A: new phosphate mines', '
Q: When did the phosphate mine protests begin?
A: spring 1987', '
Q: What group was started by ex-political prisoners?
A: MRP-AEG group', '
Q: Who was in charge of the MRP-AEG group?
A: Tiit Madisson', '
Q: What was requested for Estonia in the proposal printed by the Edasi newspaper in 1987?
A: autonomy']
On October 17, 1987, about 3,000 Armenians demonstrated in Yerevan complaining about the condition of Lake Sevan, the Nairit chemicals plant, and the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, and air pollution in Yerevan. Police tried to prevent the protest but took no action to stop it once the march was underway. The demonstration was led by Armenian writers such as Silva Kaputikian, Zori Balayan, and Maro Margarian and leaders from the National Survival organization. The march originated at the Opera Plaza after speakers, mainly intellectuals, addressed the crowd.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was the Yerevan demonstration?
A: October 17, 1987', '
Q: How many people demonstrated?
A: about 3,000', "
Q: What was the demonstrators' nationality?
A: Armenians", '
Q: The protesters were unhappy with the pollution in what body of water?
A: Lake Sevan', '
Q: Where did the protest march start?
A: Opera Plaza']
On July 1, 1988, the fourth and last day of a bruising 19th Party Conference, Gorbachev won the backing of the tired delegates for his last-minute proposal to create a new supreme legislative body called the Congress of People's Deputies. Frustrated by the old guard's resistance, Gorbachev embarked on a set of constitutional changes to try to separate party and state, and thereby isolate his conservative Party opponents. Detailed proposals for the new Congress of People's Deputies were published on October 2, 1988, and to enable the creation of the new legislature the Supreme Soviet, during its November 29–December 1, 1988, session, implemented amendments to the 1977 Soviet Constitution, enacted a law on electoral reform, and set the date of the election for March 26, 1989.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What ws the final day of the 19th Party Conference?
A: July 1, 1988', '
Q: What did Gorbachev hope to create?
A: new supreme legislative body', '
Q: What was Gorbachev trying to separate?
A: party and state', "
Q: What was the proposed legislative body called?
A: Congress of People's Deputies", "
Q: What was the ideology of Gorbachev's opponents?
A: conservative"]
On October 2, the Popular Front formally launched its political platform at a two-day congress. Väljas attended, gambling that the front could help Estonia become a model of economic and political revival, while moderating separatist and other radical tendencies. On November 16, 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopted a declaration of national sovereignty under which Estonian laws would take precedence over those of the Soviet Union. Estonia's parliament also laid claim to the republic's natural resources including land, inland waters, forests, mineral deposits, and to the means of industrial production, agriculture, construction, state banks, transportation, and municipal services within the territory of Estonia's borders.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Whose laws would take precedence according to the declaration of national sovereignty?
A: Estonian', "
Q: Who claimed Estonia's national resources?
A: Estonia's parliament", '
Q: What was the name of the group that made its platform known on October 2?
A: the Popular Front']
In February 20, 1988, after a week of growing demonstrations in Stepanakert, capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (the Armenian majority area within Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic), the Regional Soviet voted to secede and join with the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia. This local vote in a small, remote part of the Soviet Union made headlines around the world; it was an unprecedented defiance of republic and national authorities. On February 22, 1988, in what became known as the "Askeran clash", two Azerbaijanis were killed by Karabakh police. These deaths, announced on state radio, led to the Sumgait Pogrom. Between February 26 and March 1, the city of Sumgait (Azerbaijan) saw violent anti-Armenian rioting during which 32 people were killed. The authorities totally lost control and occupied the city with paratroopers and tanks; nearly all of the 14,000 Armenian residents of Sumgait fled.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How many Azerbaijanis died in the Askeran clash?
A: two', '
Q: When was the Askeran clash?
A: February 22, 1988', '
Q: Who killed the two Azerbaijanis?
A: Karabakh police.', '
Q: What was triggered by the radio broadcast of the deaths?
A: Sumgait Pogrom', '
Q: How many were killed in the ensuing riots?
A: 32']
Gorbachev refused to make any changes to the status of Nagorno Karabakh, which remained part of Azerbaijan. He instead sacked the Communist Party Leaders in both Republics – on May 21, 1988, Kamran Baghirov was replaced by Abdulrahman Vezirov as First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party. From July 23 to September 1988, a group of Azerbaijani intellectuals began working for a new organization called the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, loosely based on the Estonian Popular Front. On September 17, when gun battles broke out between the Armenians and Azerbaijanis near Stepanakert, two soldiers were killed and more than two dozen injured. This led to almost tit-for-tat ethnic polarization in Nagorno-Karabakh's two main towns: The Azerbaijani minority was expelled from Stepanakert, and the Armenian minority was expelled from Shusha. On November 17, 1988, in response to the exodus of tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, a series of mass demonstrations began in Baku's Lenin Square, lasting 18 days and attracting half a million demonstrators. On December 5, 1988, the Soviet militia finally moved in, cleared the square by force, and imposed a curfew that lasted ten months.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who did Gorbachev make First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party in 1988?
A: Abdulrahman Vezirov', '
Q: Who was First Secretary prior to Vezirov?
A: Kamran Baghirov', '
Q: How many soldiers died on September 17?
A: two', '
Q: People of what ethnicity were thrown out of Shusha?
A: Armenian', '
Q: How long did the Lenin Square protest last?
A: 18 days']
The rebellion of fellow Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh had an immediate effect in Armenia itself. Daily demonstrations, which began in the Armenian capital Yerevan on February 18, initially attracted few people, but each day the Nagorno-Karabakh issue became increasingly prominent and numbers swelled. On February 20, a 30,000-strong crowd demonstrated in Theater Square, by February 22, there were 100,000, the next day 300,000, and a transport strike was declared, by February 25, there were close to 1 million demonstrators – about a quarter of Armenia's population. This was the first of the large, peaceful public demonstrations that would become a feature of communism's overthrow in Prague, Berlin, and, ultimately, Moscow. Leading Armenian intellectuals and nationalists, including future first President of independent Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian, formed the eleven-member Karabakh Committee to lead and organize the new movement.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Where were the first demonstrations in Armenia?
A: Yerevan', '
Q: What is the capitol of Armenia?
A: Yerevan', '
Q: How many people protested on February 23?
A: 300,000,', '
Q: What sort of strike was called?
A: transport', "
Q: What percentage of Armenia's total population protested on February 25?
A: about a quarter"]
Gorbachev again refused to make any changes to the status of Nagorno Karabakh, which remained part of Azerbaijan. Instead he sacked both Republics' Communist Party Leaders: On May 21, 1988, Karen Demirchian was replaced by Suren Harutyunyan as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia. However, Harutyunyan quickly decided to run before the nationalist wind and on May 28, allowed Armenians to unfurl the red-blue-gold First Armenian Republic flag for the first time in almost 70 years. On June 15, 1988, the Armenian Supreme Soviet adopted a resolution formally approving the idea of Nagorno Karabakh joining Armenia. Armenia, formerly one of the most loyal Republics, had suddenly turned into the leading rebel republic. On July 5, 1988, when a contingent of troops was sent in to remove demonstrators by force from Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport, shots were fired and one student protester was killed. In September, further large demonstrations in Yerevan led to the deployment of armored vehicles. In the autumn of 1988 almost all the 200,000 Azerbaijani minority in Armenia was expelled by Armenian Nationalists, with over 100 killed in the process – this, after the Sumgait pogrom earlier that year carried out by Azerbaijanis against ethnic Armenians and subsequent expulsion of all Armenians from Azerbaijan. On November 25, 1988, a military commandant took control of Yerevan as the Soviet government moved to prevent further ethnic violence.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who banned the Azerbaijani people from Armenia?
A: Nationalists', '
Q: How many protesters died in the airport violence?
A: one', '
Q: Who had been previously removed from Azerbaijan?
A: Armenians', '
Q: Who took charge of Yerevan in November of 1988?
A: a military commandant']
Beginning in February 1988, the Democratic Movement of Moldova (formerly Moldavia) organized public meetings, demonstrations, and song festivals, which gradually grew in size and intensity. In the streets, the center of public manifestations was the Stephen the Great Monument in Chişinău, and the adjacent park harboring Aleea Clasicilor (The "Alee of the Classics [of the Literature]"). On January 15, 1988, in a tribute to Mihai Eminescu at his bust on the Aleea Clasicilor, Anatol Şalaru submitted a proposal to continue the meetings. In the public discourse, the movement called for national awakening, freedom of speech, revival of Moldavian traditions, and for attainment of official status for the Romanian language and return to the Latin alphabet. The transition from "movement" (an informal association) to "front" (a formal association) was seen as a natural "upgrade" once a movement gained momentum with the public, and the Soviet authorities no longer dared to crack down on it.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did the Democratic Movement of Moldova start operating?
A: February 1988', '
Q: Which monument was a popular meeting place?
A: Stephen the Great Monument', '
Q: Where was the Stephen the Great Monument located?
A: Chişinău', '
Q: What did the movement seek to make the official language of Moldova?
A: Romanian', "
Q: What was Moldova's previous name?
A: Moldavia"]
On April 26, 1988, about 500 people participated in a march organized by the Ukrainian Cultural Club on Kiev's Khreschatyk Street to mark the second anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, carrying placards with slogans like "Openness and Democracy to the End." Between May and June 1988, Ukrainian Catholics in western Ukraine celebrated the Millennium of Christianity in Kievan Rus' in secret by holding services in the forests of Buniv, Kalush, Hoshiv, and Zarvanytsia. On June 5, 1988, as the official celebrations of the Millennium were held in Moscow, the Ukrainian Cultural Club hosted its own observances in Kiev at the monument to St. Volodymyr the Great, the grand prince of Kievan Rus'.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What group was responsible for the April 25, 1988 protest?
A: Ukrainian Cultural Club', "
Q: Where did the march happen?
A: Kiev's Khreschatyk Street", '
Q: What did the marchers wish to commemorate? 
A: Chernobyl nuclear disaster,', '
Q: Which group held secret Milleneum of Christianity celebrations?
A: Ukrainian Catholics', '
Q: In what city did the Ukrainian Cultural Club have its Millennium celebration?
A: Kiev']
On June 16, 1988, 6,000 to 8,000 people gathered in Lviv to hear speakers declare no confidence in the local list of delegates to the 19th Communist Party conference, to begin on June 29. On June 21, a rally in Lviv attracted 50,000 people who had heard about a revised delegate list. Authorities attempted to disperse the rally in front of Druzhba Stadium. On July 7, 10,000 to 20,000 people witnessed the launch of the Democratic Front to Promote Perestroika. On July 17, a group of 10,000 gathered in the village Zarvanytsia for Millennium services celebrated by Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk. The militia tried to disperse attendees, but it turned out to be the largest gathering of Ukrainian Catholics since Stalin outlawed the Church in 1946. On August 4, which came to be known as "Bloody Thursday," local authorities violently suppressed a demonstration organized by the Democratic Front to Promote Perestroika. Forty-one people were detained, fined, or sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. On September 1, local authorities violently displaced 5,000 students at a public meeting lacking official permission at Ivan Franko State University.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How many people attended the Lviv rally?
A: 50,000', '
Q: Where was the dispersal attempt made?
A: in front of Druzhba Stadium', '
Q: Who tried to stop the rally?
A: Authorities', '
Q: Who led the Millennium celebration in Zarvanytsia?
A: Pavlo Vasylyk', '
Q: Who wanted to break up the celebration?
A: militia']
On November 13, 1988, approximately 10,000 people attended an officially sanctioned meeting organized by the cultural heritage organization Spadschyna, the Kyiv University student club Hromada, and the environmental groups Zelenyi Svit ("Green World") and Noosfera, to focus on ecological issues. From November 14–18, 15 Ukrainian activists were among the 100 human-, national- and religious-rights advocates invited to discuss human rights with Soviet officials and a visiting delegation of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the Helsinki Commission). On December 10, hundreds gathered in Kiev to observe International Human Rights Day at a rally organized by the Democratic Union. The unauthorized gathering resulted in the detention of local activists.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What is the English translation of Zelenyi Svit?
A: Green World', '
Q: What sort of issues were Zenlenyi Svit and Noosfera concerned with?
A: ecological', '
Q: What sort of organization is Spadschnyna? 
A: cultural heritage', '
Q: What did people gather to observe on December 10th?
A: International Human Rights Day']
The Partyja BPF (Belarusian Popular Front) was established in 1988 as a political party and cultural movement for democracy and independence, à la the Baltic republics’ popular fronts. The discovery of mass graves in Kurapaty outside Minsk by historian Zianon Pazniak, the Belarusian Popular Front’s first leader, gave additional momentum to the pro-democracy and pro-independence movement in Belarus. It claimed that the NKVD performed secret killings in Kurapaty. Initially the Front had significant visibility because its numerous public actions almost always ended in clashes with the police and the KGB.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did The Partyja BDF start?
A: 1988', '
Q: Who found mass graves?
A: Zianon Pazniak', "
Q: What is Pazniak's occupation?
A: historian", '
Q: Where were the graves found?
A: Kurapaty', '
Q: In addition to the police who did the BDF often have conflicts with?
A: KGB']
Spring 1989 saw the people of the Soviet Union exercising a democratic choice, albeit limited, for the first time since 1917, when they elected the new Congress of People's Deputies. Just as important was the uncensored live TV coverage of the legislature's deliberations, where people witnessed the previously feared Communist leadership being questioned and held accountable. This example fueled a limited experiment with democracy in Poland, which quickly led to the toppling of the Communist government in Warsaw that summer – which in turn sparked uprisings that overthrew communism in the other five Warsaw Pact countries before the end of 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell. These events showed that the people of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union did not support Gorbachev's drive to modernize Communism; rather, they preferred to abandon it altogether.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: What was elected in 1989?
A: new Congress of People's Deputies", '
Q: Who was questioned on live TV?
A: Communist leadership', '
Q: Where was the Communist government overthrown first?
A: Warsaw', '
Q: When did the Berlin Wall get torn down?
A: 1989', '
Q: What did Eastern European people want to do with communism?
A: abandon it']
In the March 26 general elections, voter participation was an impressive 89.8%, and 1,958 (including 1,225 district seats) of the 2,250 CPD seats were filled. In district races, run-off elections were held in 76 constituencies on April 2 and 9 and fresh elections were organized on April 20 and 14 to May 23, in the 199 remaining constituencies where the required absolute majority was not attained. While most CPSU-endorsed candidates were elected, more than 300 lost to independent candidates such as Yeltsin, physicist Andrei Sakharov and lawyer Anatoly Sobchak.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What percentage of people voted on March 26?
A: 89.8%', '
Q: How many constituencies had run-off elections?
A: 76', '
Q: How many CPSU endorsement having candidates lost to independents?
A: more than 300']
In the first session of the new Congress of People's Deputies, from May 25 to June 9, hardliners retained control but reformers used the legislature as a platform for debate and criticism – which was broadcast live and uncensored. This transfixed the population; nothing like this freewheeling debate had ever been witnessed in the U.S.S.R. On May 29, Yeltsin managed to secure a seat on the Supreme Soviet, and in the summer he formed the first opposition, the Inter-Regional Deputies Group, composed of Russian nationalists and liberals. Composing the final legislative group in the Soviet Union, those elected in 1989 played a vital part in reforms and the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union during the next two years.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who used the legislative session to debate and criticize?
A: reformers', '
Q: Who made up the Inter-Regional Deputies Group?
A: Russian nationalists and liberals.', '
Q: When did Yeltsin acquire a seat on the Supreme Soviet?
A: May 29']
On October 25, 1989, the Supreme Soviet voted to eliminate special seats for the Communist Party and other official organizations in national and local elections, responding to sharp popular criticism that such reserved slots were undemocratic. After vigorous debate, the 542-member Supreme Soviet passed the measure 254-85 (with 36 abstentions). The decision required a constitutional amendment, ratified by the full congress, which met December 12–25. It also passed measures that would allow direct elections for presidents of each of the 15 constituent republics. Gorbachev strongly opposed such a move during debate but was defeated.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What did the Communist Party lose on October 25, 1989 with regards to elections?
A: special seats', '
Q: Who voted to get rid of the special seats?
A: the Supreme Soviet', '
Q: When did congress meet to ratify the amendment to remove special election seats?
A: December 12–25']