Standard accounts of the Cold War's end emphasize American economic pressure and the spread of liberal democratic ideas. Historian Sergei Volkov argues that this picture is missing a critical actor: ordinary citizens within the Eastern Bloc whose decades of unofficial cultural networks gradually eroded the legitimacy of state institutions before any Western pressure became decisive.
Which choice best describes the function of the second sentence in the text?
- A
It defines the term 'Eastern Bloc'.
- B
It restates the standard account in different words.
- Ccheck_circle
It complicates the standard account by introducing an additional, internally generated cause.
- D
It refutes the role of American pressure entirely.
Explanation
Volkov adds an internal actor without flatly denying external causes. B captures this complicating function.