ACTUAL 2025 AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY Component 2N Revolution and Dictatorship: Russia, 1917–1953
Question Paper & Mark Scheme (Merged) Friday 6 June 2025 [VERIFIED]
IB/G/Jun25/G4007/V3 7042/2N
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From a report to the Tsar’s government written by the Okhrana, the Tsarist secret police, October 1916.
Source A cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions Source A argues
that it was restrictions on the liberties of the working classes
which have caused greater hostility to the government.
Source B
From a speech to the Duma by Pavel Milyukov, November 1916. Milyukov was a leader
of the ‘Progressive Bloc’ in the Duma, which wanted a constitutional monarchy.
The Tsar’s Government has neither the knowledge nor the ability which are necessary at this
moment of war, and now the gulf between the Duma and the Government has grown wider and
impassable. Today we see and understand that with this Government we cannot lead Russia to
victory. The Duma keeps insisting that the country must be organised for a successful war effort.
However, the Tsarist regime persists in claiming that organising the country would lead to 5
revolution and, therefore, it deliberately allows chaos and disorganisation. Is this stupidity or
treason? You may ask, “How can we, the Duma, start a confrontation while the war is on?” But,
gentlemen, the Tsar’s Government is a menace to the war effort, and it is precisely for this
reason that we are now confronting them. And, therefore, gentlemen, for the sake of the
10
millions of victims and the torrents of blood poured out, for the sake of our national interests,
we shall fight on until we achieve that genuine responsibility of government.
IB/G/Jun25/7042/2N
, 3
Source C
From the memoirs of Sir George Buchanan, 1923. Buchanan was the British
Ambassador to Russia from 1910 to 1917.
Nicholas II loved his country. He had its welfare and greatness at heart. Yet it was he who was to
cause the catastrophe, which has brought Russia to utter ruin and misery. The Emperor’s
marriage with Princess Alexandra of Hesse was an unfortunate one. She was a good woman,
determined to help her husband’s interests, but she was to prove the instrument of his ruin. The
shy and indecisive Emperor was bound to fall under the influence of a will stronger than his. 5
Nicholas had not inherited his father’s commanding personality, nor the strong character and
prompt decision making, which are so essential to an autocratic ruler. The burden of his
inheritance grew heavier as his reign progressed. Russia was a vast Empire in which the Church
was rapidly losing its hold on the people owing to the scandalous appointments made through
10
Rasputin’s influence.
Nearly every branch of the administration was as incompetent as it was corrupt; and then, on
the top of all this, a world war!
0 1 With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess
the value of these three sources to an historian studying the collapse of Nicholas II’s
political authority.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/G/Jun25/7042/2N Turn over ►
Question Paper & Mark Scheme (Merged) Friday 6 June 2025 [VERIFIED]
IB/G/Jun25/G4007/V3 7042/2N
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From a report to the Tsar’s government written by the Okhrana, the Tsarist secret police, October 1916.
Source A cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions Source A argues
that it was restrictions on the liberties of the working classes
which have caused greater hostility to the government.
Source B
From a speech to the Duma by Pavel Milyukov, November 1916. Milyukov was a leader
of the ‘Progressive Bloc’ in the Duma, which wanted a constitutional monarchy.
The Tsar’s Government has neither the knowledge nor the ability which are necessary at this
moment of war, and now the gulf between the Duma and the Government has grown wider and
impassable. Today we see and understand that with this Government we cannot lead Russia to
victory. The Duma keeps insisting that the country must be organised for a successful war effort.
However, the Tsarist regime persists in claiming that organising the country would lead to 5
revolution and, therefore, it deliberately allows chaos and disorganisation. Is this stupidity or
treason? You may ask, “How can we, the Duma, start a confrontation while the war is on?” But,
gentlemen, the Tsar’s Government is a menace to the war effort, and it is precisely for this
reason that we are now confronting them. And, therefore, gentlemen, for the sake of the
10
millions of victims and the torrents of blood poured out, for the sake of our national interests,
we shall fight on until we achieve that genuine responsibility of government.
IB/G/Jun25/7042/2N
, 3
Source C
From the memoirs of Sir George Buchanan, 1923. Buchanan was the British
Ambassador to Russia from 1910 to 1917.
Nicholas II loved his country. He had its welfare and greatness at heart. Yet it was he who was to
cause the catastrophe, which has brought Russia to utter ruin and misery. The Emperor’s
marriage with Princess Alexandra of Hesse was an unfortunate one. She was a good woman,
determined to help her husband’s interests, but she was to prove the instrument of his ruin. The
shy and indecisive Emperor was bound to fall under the influence of a will stronger than his. 5
Nicholas had not inherited his father’s commanding personality, nor the strong character and
prompt decision making, which are so essential to an autocratic ruler. The burden of his
inheritance grew heavier as his reign progressed. Russia was a vast Empire in which the Church
was rapidly losing its hold on the people owing to the scandalous appointments made through
10
Rasputin’s influence.
Nearly every branch of the administration was as incompetent as it was corrupt; and then, on
the top of all this, a world war!
0 1 With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess
the value of these three sources to an historian studying the collapse of Nicholas II’s
political authority.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/G/Jun25/7042/2N Turn over ►
