AQA A LEVEL HISTORY COMPONENT 1H
TSARIST AND COMMUNIST RUSSIA 2026
EXAM SCRIPT COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉ Military Reforms (1860s-70s). Answer: Reduced service terms,
modern weaponry, improved officer training, abolition of corporal
punishment.
◉ Judicial Reforms (1864). Answer: Equality before the law, public
trials, jury system, independent judiciary.
◉ Local Government Reforms (Zemstva, 1864). Answer: Elected
local councils with responsibilities for education, healthcare,
infrastructure.
◉ Education Reforms (1860s-70s). Answer: Expansion of primary
and secondary education, greater autonomy for universities.
◉ Censorship Reforms (Relaxation). Answer: Reduced restrictions
on publications.
, ◉ Populists (Narodniks). Answer: "Going to the people," aimed to
incite peasant revolution, but largely unsuccessful.
◉ Emergence of Revolutionary Groups. Answer: "Land and Liberty,"
later splitting into "The People's Will" (advocating terrorism) and
"Black Repartition" (more Marxist).
◉ Assassination of Alexander II (1881). Answer: Marked the end of
the reform era and a shift towards reaction.
◉ Increased Autocratic Control. Answer: Reduced zemstva powers,
increased state control over education, strengthened the police and
secret police (Okhrana).
◉ Russification. Answer: Imposition of Russian language, culture,
and Orthodoxy on non-Russian ethnic groups within the empire.
◉ Economic Development. Answer: Continued industrialization,
encouraged foreign investment (e.g., under Vyshnegradsky and
Witte), focus on railway construction (Trans-Siberian Railway).
◉ Suppression of Opposition. Answer: Crackdown on revolutionary
groups, censorship tightened.
TSARIST AND COMMUNIST RUSSIA 2026
EXAM SCRIPT COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉ Military Reforms (1860s-70s). Answer: Reduced service terms,
modern weaponry, improved officer training, abolition of corporal
punishment.
◉ Judicial Reforms (1864). Answer: Equality before the law, public
trials, jury system, independent judiciary.
◉ Local Government Reforms (Zemstva, 1864). Answer: Elected
local councils with responsibilities for education, healthcare,
infrastructure.
◉ Education Reforms (1860s-70s). Answer: Expansion of primary
and secondary education, greater autonomy for universities.
◉ Censorship Reforms (Relaxation). Answer: Reduced restrictions
on publications.
, ◉ Populists (Narodniks). Answer: "Going to the people," aimed to
incite peasant revolution, but largely unsuccessful.
◉ Emergence of Revolutionary Groups. Answer: "Land and Liberty,"
later splitting into "The People's Will" (advocating terrorism) and
"Black Repartition" (more Marxist).
◉ Assassination of Alexander II (1881). Answer: Marked the end of
the reform era and a shift towards reaction.
◉ Increased Autocratic Control. Answer: Reduced zemstva powers,
increased state control over education, strengthened the police and
secret police (Okhrana).
◉ Russification. Answer: Imposition of Russian language, culture,
and Orthodoxy on non-Russian ethnic groups within the empire.
◉ Economic Development. Answer: Continued industrialization,
encouraged foreign investment (e.g., under Vyshnegradsky and
Witte), focus on railway construction (Trans-Siberian Railway).
◉ Suppression of Opposition. Answer: Crackdown on revolutionary
groups, censorship tightened.
