romikgosai/squad_modified_2 huggingface dataset:
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.

Q1: Who did Gorbachev make First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party in 1988?
A1: Abdulrahman Vezirov
Q2: Who was First Secretary prior to Vezirov?
A2: Kamran Baghirov
Q3: How many soldiers died on September 17?
A3: two
Q4: People of what ethnicity were thrown out of Shusha?
A4: Armenian
Q5: How long did the Lenin Square protest last?
A5: 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.

Q1: Where were the first demonstrations in Armenia?
A1: Yerevan
Q2: What is the capitol of Armenia?
A2: Yerevan
Q3: How many people protested on February 23?
A3: 300,000,
Q4: What sort of strike was called?
A4: transport
Q5: What percentage of Armenia's total population protested on February 25?
A5: 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.

Q1: Who banned the Azerbaijani people from Armenia?
A1: Nationalists
Q2: How many protesters died in the airport violence?
A2: one
Q3: Who had been previously removed from Azerbaijan?
A3: Armenians
Q4: Who took charge of Yerevan in November of 1988?
A4: 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.

Q1: When did the Democratic Movement of Moldova start operating?
A1: February 1988
Q2: Which monument was a popular meeting place?
A2: Stephen the Great Monument
Q3: Where was the Stephen the Great Monument located?
A3: Chişinău
Q4: What did the movement seek to make the official language of Moldova?
A4: Romanian
Q5: What was Moldova's previous name?
A5: 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'.

Q1: What group was responsible for the April 25, 1988 protest?
A1: Ukrainian Cultural Club
Q2: Where did the march happen?
A2: Kiev's Khreschatyk Street
Q3: What did the marchers wish to commemorate?
A3: Chernobyl nuclear disaster,
Q4: Which group held secret Milleneum of Christianity celebrations?
A4: Ukrainian Catholics
Q5: In what city did the Ukrainian Cultural Club have its Millennium celebration?
A5: 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.

Q1: How many people attended the Lviv rally?
A1: 50,000
Q2: Where was the dispersal attempt made?
A2: in front of Druzhba Stadium
Q3: Who tried to stop the rally?
A3: Authorities
Q4: Who led the Millennium celebration in Zarvanytsia?
A4: Pavlo Vasylyk
Q5: Who wanted to break up the celebration?
A5: 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.

Q1: What is the English translation of Zelenyi Svit?
A1: Green World
Q2: What sort of issues were Zenlenyi Svit and Noosfera concerned with?
A2: ecological
Q3: What sort of organization is Spadschnyna?
A3: cultural heritage
Q4: What did people gather to observe on December 10th?
A4: 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.

Q1: When did The Partyja BDF start?
A1: 1988
Q2: Who found mass graves?
A2: Zianon Pazniak
Q3: What is Pazniak's occupation?
A3: historian
Q4: Where were the graves found?
A4: Kurapaty
Q5: In addition to the police who did the BDF often have conflicts with?
A5: 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.

Q1: What was elected in 1989?
A1: new Congress of People's Deputies
Q2: Who was questioned on live TV?
A2: Communist leadership
Q3: Where was the Communist government overthrown first?
A3: Warsaw
Q4: When did the Berlin Wall get torn down?
A4: 1989
Q5: What did Eastern European people want to do with communism?
A5: 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.

Q1: What percentage of people voted on March 26?
A1: 89.8%
Q2: How many constituencies had run-off elections?
A2: 76
Q3: How many CPSU endorsement having candidates lost to independents?
A3: 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.

Q1: Who used the legislative session to debate and criticize?
A1: reformers
Q2: Who made up the Inter-Regional Deputies Group?
A2: Russian nationalists and liberals.
Q3: When did Yeltsin acquire a seat on the Supreme Soviet?
A3: 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.

Q1: What did the Communist Party lose on October 25, 1989 with regards to elections?
A1: special seats
Q2: Who voted to get rid of the special seats?
A2: the Supreme Soviet
Q3: When did congress meet to ratify the amendment to remove special election seats?
A3: December 12–25
The six Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe, while nominally independent, were widely recognized in the international community as the Soviet satellite states. All had been occupied by the Soviet Red Army in 1945, had Soviet-style socialist states imposed upon them, and had very restricted freedom of action in either domestic or international affairs. Any moves towards real independence were suppressed by military force – in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Prague Spring in 1968. Gorbachev abandoned the oppressive and expensive Brezhnev Doctrine, which mandated intervention in the Warsaw Pact states, in favor of non-intervention in the internal affairs of allies – jokingly termed the Sinatra Doctrine in a reference to the Frank Sinatra song "My Way".

Q1: What year did the Prague Spring take place?
A1: 1968
Q2: What happened to Prague and Hungary's attempts at independence?
A2: suppressed by military force
Q3: Under what doctrine was the Soviet Union required to intervene in the Warsaw Pact states?
A3: Brezhnev Doctrine
Q4: Other than being expensive what was wrong with the Brezhnev Doctrine?
A4: oppressive
Q5: What is the nickname for Gorbachev's new doctrine?
A5: Sinatra Doctrine
The Baltic Way or Baltic Chain (also Chain of Freedom Estonian: Balti kett, Latvian: Baltijas ceļš, Lithuanian: Baltijos kelias, Russian: Балтийский путь) was a peaceful political demonstration on August 23, 1989. An estimated 2 million people joined hands to form a human chain extending 600 kilometres (370 mi) across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which had been forcibly reincorporated into the Soviet Union in 1944. The colossal demonstration marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence and led to the occupation of the Baltic states in 1940.

Q1: How many people were involved in the Baltic Chain?
A1: estimated 2 million
Q2: How long was the chain?
A2: 600 kilometres
Q3: What states did the chain extend over?
A3: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
Q4: What anniversary did the chain take place on?
A4: 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
Q5: What part of Europe was split up by the pact?
A5: Eastern
On December 7, 1989, the Communist Party of Lithuania under the leadership of Algirdas Brazauskas, split from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and abandoned its claim to have a constitutional "leading role" in politics. A smaller loyalist faction of the Communist Party, headed by hardliner Mykolas Burokevičius, was established and remained affiliated with the CPSU. However, Lithuania’s governing Communist Party was formally independent from Moscow's control – a first for Soviet Republics and a political earthquake that prompted Gorbachev to arrange a visit to Lithuania the following month in a futile attempt to bring the local party back under control.

Q1: Who was in charge of Lithuania's Communist Party in 1989
A1: Algirdas Brazauskas
Q2: What party did  Lithuania's Communist Party break apart from?
A2: Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Q3: Who was in charge of the loyalist faction?
A3: Mykolas Burokevičius,
Q4: What place's control was the Communist Party of Lithuania out from under after the split?
A4: Moscow's
Q5: Who visited with the hope of bringing back the Communist Party of Lithuania to the Soviet Party?
A5: Gorbachev
On July 16, 1989, the Popular Front of Azerbaijan held its first congress and elected Abulfaz Elchibey, who would become President, as its Chairman. On August 19, 600,000 protesters jammed Baku’s Lenin Square (now Azadliq Square) to demand the release of political prisoners. In the second half of 1989, weapons were handed out in Nagorno-Karabakh. When Karabakhis got hold of small arms to replace hunting rifles and crossbows, casualties began to mount; bridges were blown up, roads were blockaded, and hostages were taken.

Q1: When was Abulfaz Elchibey elected to Chairman of the Popular Front?
A1: July 16, 1989
Q2: How many protesters filled Lenin Square on August 19th?
A2: 600,000
Q3: What did the protesters want?
A3: release of political prisoners
In a new and effective tactic, the Popular Front launched a rail blockade of Armenia, which caused petrol and food shortages because 85 percent of Armenia's freight came from Azerbaijan. Under pressure from the Popular Front the Communist authorities in Azerbaijan started making concessions. On September 25, they passed a sovereignty law that gave precedence to Azerbaijani law, and on October 4, the Popular Front was permitted to register as a legal organization as long as it lifted the blockade. Transport communications between Azerbaijan and Armenia never fully recovered. Tensions continued to escalate and on December 29, Popular Front activists seized local party offices in Jalilabad, wounding dozens.

Q1: What did the Popular Front do to Armenian railways?
A1: blockade
Q2: What shortages were caused by the blockade?
A2: petrol and food
Q3: How much freight into Armenia originated in Azerbaijan?
A3: 85 percent
Q4: When was the sovereignty law passed?
A4: September 25
Q5: What in Jalilibad was taken over by the Popular Front?
A5: local party offices
On April 7, 1989, Soviet troops and armored personnel carriers were sent to Tbilisi after more than 100,000 people protested in front of Communist Party headquarters with banners calling for Georgia to secede from the Soviet Union and for Abkhazia to be fully integrated into Georgia. On April 9, 1989, troops attacked the demonstrators; some 20 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. This event radicalized Georgian politics, prompting many to conclude that independence was preferable to continued Soviet rule. On April 14, Gorbachev removed Jumber Patiashvili as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party and replaced him with former Georgian KGB chief Givi Gumbaridze.

Q1: What did the protesters want Georgia to leave?
A1: Soviet Union
Q2: What did the protesters hope to see become a part of Georgia?
A2: Abkhazia
Q3: Who attacked the protest?
A3: troops
Q4: How many people died in the April 9 attack?
A4: 20
Q5: What happened to Georgian politics as a result of the attack?
A5: radicalized
In Ukraine, Lviv and Kiev celebrated Ukrainian Independence Day on January 22, 1989. Thousands gathered in Lviv for an unauthorized moleben (religious service) in front of St. George's Cathedral. In Kiev, 60 activists met in a Kiev apartment to commemorate the proclamation of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1918. On February 11–12, 1989, the Ukrainian Language Society held its founding congress. On February 15, 1989, the formation of the Initiative Committee for the Renewal of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was announced. The program and statutes of the movement were proposed by the Writers Association of Ukraine and were published in the journal Literaturna Ukraina on February 16, 1989. The organization heralded Ukrainian dissidents such as Vyacheslav Chornovil.

Q1: What is commemorated on January 22 in Ukraine?
A1: Ukrainian Independence Day
Q2: What is a moleben?
A2: religious service
Q3: Where was the moleben held?
A3: in front of St. George's Cathedral.
In late February, large public rallies took place in Kiev to protest the election laws, on the eve of the March 26 elections to the USSR Congress of People's Deputies, and to call for the resignation of the first secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Volodymyr Scherbytsky, lampooned as "the mastodon of stagnation." The demonstrations coincided with a visit to Ukraine by Soviet President Gorbachev. On February 26, 1989, between 20,000 and 30,000 people participated in an unsanctioned ecumenical memorial service in Lviv, marking the anniversary of the death of 19th Century Ukrainian artist and nationalist Taras Shevchenko.

Q1: What were people protesting in Kiev during the last part of February?
A1: election laws
Q2: Who did the protesters want to resign?
A2: Volodymyr Scherbytsky
Q3: What was Scherbytsky's nickname?
A3: the mastodon of stagnation
Q4: Who visited the Ukraine while the protests were taking place?
A4: Gorbachev
Q5: How many people attended the service in Lviv?
A5: between 20,000 and 30,000
On March 4, 1989, the Memorial Society, committed to honoring the victims of Stalinism and cleansing society of Soviet practices, was founded in Kiev. A public rally was held the next day. On March 12, A pre-election meeting organized in Lviv by the Ukrainian Helsinki Union and the Marian Society Myloserdia (Compassion) was violently dispersed, and nearly 300 people were detained. On March 26, elections were held to the union Congress of People's Deputies; by-elections were held on April 9, May 14, and May 21. Among the 225 Ukrainian deputies, most were conservatives, though a handful of progressives made the cut.

Q1: What ideology's victims were being honored by the Memorial Society?
A1: Stalinism
Q2: How many people from the pre-election meeting in Lviv were detained?
A2: nearly 300
Q3: Members of what ideology were more heavily elected to the union Congress of People's Deputies?
A3: conservatives
Q4: How many deputies were elected?
A4: 225
From April 20–23, 1989, pre-election meetings were held in Lviv for four consecutive days, drawing crowds of up to 25,000. The action included an one-hour warning strike at eight local factories and institutions. It was the first labor strike in Lviv since 1944. On May 3, a pre-election rally attracted 30,000 in Lviv. On May 7, The Memorial Society organized a mass meeting at Bykivnia, site of a mass grave of Ukrainian and Polish victims of Stalinist terror. After a march from Kiev to the site, a memorial service was staged.

Q1: How many people attended the Lviv pre-election meetings?
A1: 25,000
Q2: How long did the warning strike last?
A2: one-hour
Q3: Where did the strike take place?
A3: eight local factories and institutions
Q4: Prior to the warning strike when was the last labor strike in Lviv?
A4: 1944
Q5: At what sight was the Bykivnia meeting held?
A5: mass grave