Consider the following statements about international events : 1. The First Gulf War was related to the Iraq invasion of Kuwait. 2. Mikhail Gorbachev was the President of the Soviet Union at the time of its disintegration. 3. Boris Yeltsin was the first elected President of Russia. How many of the statements given above are correct?

Correct — D, 3. All three statements hold. The First Gulf War is the standard name for the conflict that followed Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait in August 1990, when a coalition authorised by the United Nations Security Council expelled Iraqi forces in early 1991 in what the United States called Operation Desert Storm — statement 1 is correct. Mikhail Gorbachev held the office of President of the Soviet Union, created in 1990, and resigned it on 25 December 1991 as the Union dissolved, so he was indeed President at the time of disintegration and statement 2 is correct. Boris Yeltsin won the first direct popular election for the presidency of the Russian republic in June 1991 and continued as President of the Russian Federation after independence, so statement 3 is correct as well. The count is three.

• (a)Nil — Nil would require every statement to be false, when each of the three is a standard fact of the period.
• (b)1 — One would require two of the three to be false. All three are separately verifiable.
• (c)2 — Two is the tempting answer for a candidate who doubts one statement. The doubt usually attaches to the naming of the First Gulf War, since some writers count the Iran–Iraq war of the 1980s as the first Persian Gulf conflict — but in standard Indian textbook usage the First Gulf War is the 1990-91 Kuwait conflict.

Three events of 1990 and 1991 mark the end of the bipolar order. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait produced the first large post-Cold-War military coalition acting with Security Council authorisation, and its ease was read at the time as a demonstration of American primacy. The Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991 after the failed August coup, with Gorbachev resigning and the constituent republics becoming independent states. Russia, the largest successor, had already elected Boris Yeltsin in June 1991, which gave him a democratic mandate the Soviet leadership lacked and made him the decisive figure in the collapse.

How-many-are-correct items are harder than ordinary statement sets because you cannot answer by identifying one false statement; you have to judge each one. The usual failure here is over-scepticism. A candidate who half-remembers that the Iran–Iraq war is sometimes called the first Gulf war may knock out statement 1 and answer two. Indian textbook usage is settled: the First Gulf War is the 1990-91 conflict over Kuwait. Read statements 2 and 3 carefully as well — statement 2 does not claim Gorbachev caused the dissolution, only that he held the office at the time, and statement 3 says first elected President of Russia, which is precisely what Yeltsin was.

• Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990; the coalition operation to expel Iraqi forces ran in early 1991.
• The office of President of the Soviet Union was created in 1990 and Mikhail Gorbachev was its only holder.
• Gorbachev resigned on 25 December 1991 and the Soviet Union ceased to exist the next day.
• Boris Yeltsin won the first direct presidential election of the Russian republic in June 1991.
• The August 1991 coup attempt against Gorbachev accelerated the dissolution and strengthened Yeltsin's position.

• Doubting the name First Gulf War because the Iran–Iraq war is occasionally called that.
• Reading statement 2 as a claim about who caused the dissolution rather than who held office.
• Confusing the presidency of the Soviet Union with the office of General Secretary of the Communist Party.

Asked as a how-many-are-correct item on the end of the Cold War, where every statement is true and the risk is over-scepticism rather than ignorance.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Soviet Union formally ceased to exist in which month and year?

  • (a)August 1991
  • (b)October 1990
  • (c)December 1991
  • (d)March 1992

  Answer(c) December 1991 — Gorbachev resigned on 25 December and the Union dissolved the next day.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which operation expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991?

  • (a)Operation Desert Storm
  • (b)Operation Enduring Freedom
  • (c)Operation Iraqi Freedom
  • (d)Operation Provide Comfort

  Answer(a) Operation Desert Storm — the coalition campaign authorised by the Security Council.