Contextualizing Cold War and Contemporary Europe Practice Test

By the late 1980s, the Soviet Union faced economic stagnation, a costly arms race, and declining legitimacy in Eastern Europe. Mikhail Gorbachev introduced perestroika and glasnost and signaled reduced willingness to use force to sustain allied regimes. In 1989, communist governments across Eastern Europe fell rapidly, though outcomes varied by country. Which development most directly explains why Poland’s transition differed from the violent overthrow seen in Romania?

After the 2008 global financial crisis, several eurozone countries faced soaring borrowing costs, banking instability, and pressure to reduce budget deficits. EU institutions and the IMF supported rescue packages, but often required austerity measures that provoked protests and fueled new populist parties. In this context, which statement best explains a major structural challenge of the eurozone revealed by the crisis?