2024 AQA A-Level HISTORY 7042/1H Component 1H Tsarist and
Communist Russia, 1855–1964
Verified Question paper and Marking Scheme Attached
A-level
HISTORY
Component 1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964
Thursday 23 May 2024 Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have:
• an AQA 16-page answer book.
Instructions
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
• Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7042/1H.
• Answer three questions.
In Section A answer Question 01. In
Section B answer two questions.
Information
• The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
• You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
– organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Advice
• You are advised to spend about:
– 1 hour on Question 01 from Section A
– 45 minutes on each of the two questions answered from Section B.
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Extract A
In its early years, the new Communist state brought relative social freedom. The revolution was liberating,
furthering the personal freedom of the individual. After 1929, however, everything changed. Individuality
disappeared and the ‘good times under Lenin’ were remembered nostalgically, especially by the embittered
peasants in the countryside who were being forced into the new collective farms. Those living in towns also
suffered at the hands of the state. Housing was in desperately short supply and not high on the order of 5
official priorities. Hours of work were long and discipline stringent. Almost all women worked and the state
assumed responsibilities for their children. When the working day was over, the political obligations started:
meetings of factory groups, trade unions and other party activities. Informal social life virtually disappeared.
People lived with the fear of the secret police. The class enemy, they were told, was lurking everywhere.
Surveillance of neighbours was deemed a social duty and Russians learnt to maintain their distance and be 10
careful about what they said.
Adapted from J P Nettl, The Soviet Achievement, 1967
Extract B
The Communist state brought some impressive social changes. In the 1920s, there was an attack on
‘bourgeois’ attitudes everywhere, from within the state to the family. ‘The League of the Godless’ launched a
full-blooded assault on the Orthodox Church,
so-called comrades’ courts took over criminal cases, educational opportunities expanded and barriers
between white-collar and manual labour were broken down. In the early 1930s, some of the more extreme 5
social experimentation was curbed, which helped make life more settled, but society continued to progress.
Industrialisation came as a blessing, bringing jobs for all, including women. Factory canteens were built,
which guaranteed everyone basic rations. Health services improved. Millions benefited from the adult
literacy campaign of the 1930s. The educational opportunities open to children expanded swiftly. What is
more, in 1936, Stalin proudly introduced the ‘only thoroughly democratic constitution in the world’, with 10
universal, direct, secret and equal suffrage together with a guarantee of civil liberties.
Adapted from E Acton, Russia: The Tsarist and Soviet Legacy, 1995
IB/M/Jun24/G4006/7042/1H
, 3
Extract C
The October Revolution launched a transformation of Russian society. By 1921, revolution and civil war had
removed the tsarist upper classes. Most of the landed nobility, bourgeoisie and clergy had vanished, through
emigration, expropriation or death. Yet there remained a large class of small property-owners, Nepmen and
kulaks. In 1929, the Soviet government launched an assault on these remnants of capitalism; no one would
be allowed to live off the ownership of property. All should now live by manual labour. However, the society 5
that emerged was very different from the socialist ideals of the October Revolution. A distinct social group
evolved as the privileges of party leaders, industrial managers, shock workers, army officers, police officials
and intellectuals rose sharply. By 1941, at least half a million people of working class origin had moved into
white-collar and managerial jobs. These favoured individuals had access to better housing, cars, luxury
goods and special stores. Instead of a classless society, a hierarchical society dominated by a privileged 10
elite had developed.
Adapted from D Christian, Imperial and Soviet Russia, 1986
0 1 Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the arguments in these three
extracts are in relation to social change in Communist Russia in the years 1917 to 1941.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/M/Jun24/G4006/7042/1H Turn over ►
Communist Russia, 1855–1964
Verified Question paper and Marking Scheme Attached
A-level
HISTORY
Component 1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964
Thursday 23 May 2024 Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have:
• an AQA 16-page answer book.
Instructions
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
• Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7042/1H.
• Answer three questions.
In Section A answer Question 01. In
Section B answer two questions.
Information
• The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
• You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
– organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Advice
• You are advised to spend about:
– 1 hour on Question 01 from Section A
– 45 minutes on each of the two questions answered from Section B.
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Extract A
In its early years, the new Communist state brought relative social freedom. The revolution was liberating,
furthering the personal freedom of the individual. After 1929, however, everything changed. Individuality
disappeared and the ‘good times under Lenin’ were remembered nostalgically, especially by the embittered
peasants in the countryside who were being forced into the new collective farms. Those living in towns also
suffered at the hands of the state. Housing was in desperately short supply and not high on the order of 5
official priorities. Hours of work were long and discipline stringent. Almost all women worked and the state
assumed responsibilities for their children. When the working day was over, the political obligations started:
meetings of factory groups, trade unions and other party activities. Informal social life virtually disappeared.
People lived with the fear of the secret police. The class enemy, they were told, was lurking everywhere.
Surveillance of neighbours was deemed a social duty and Russians learnt to maintain their distance and be 10
careful about what they said.
Adapted from J P Nettl, The Soviet Achievement, 1967
Extract B
The Communist state brought some impressive social changes. In the 1920s, there was an attack on
‘bourgeois’ attitudes everywhere, from within the state to the family. ‘The League of the Godless’ launched a
full-blooded assault on the Orthodox Church,
so-called comrades’ courts took over criminal cases, educational opportunities expanded and barriers
between white-collar and manual labour were broken down. In the early 1930s, some of the more extreme 5
social experimentation was curbed, which helped make life more settled, but society continued to progress.
Industrialisation came as a blessing, bringing jobs for all, including women. Factory canteens were built,
which guaranteed everyone basic rations. Health services improved. Millions benefited from the adult
literacy campaign of the 1930s. The educational opportunities open to children expanded swiftly. What is
more, in 1936, Stalin proudly introduced the ‘only thoroughly democratic constitution in the world’, with 10
universal, direct, secret and equal suffrage together with a guarantee of civil liberties.
Adapted from E Acton, Russia: The Tsarist and Soviet Legacy, 1995
IB/M/Jun24/G4006/7042/1H
, 3
Extract C
The October Revolution launched a transformation of Russian society. By 1921, revolution and civil war had
removed the tsarist upper classes. Most of the landed nobility, bourgeoisie and clergy had vanished, through
emigration, expropriation or death. Yet there remained a large class of small property-owners, Nepmen and
kulaks. In 1929, the Soviet government launched an assault on these remnants of capitalism; no one would
be allowed to live off the ownership of property. All should now live by manual labour. However, the society 5
that emerged was very different from the socialist ideals of the October Revolution. A distinct social group
evolved as the privileges of party leaders, industrial managers, shock workers, army officers, police officials
and intellectuals rose sharply. By 1941, at least half a million people of working class origin had moved into
white-collar and managerial jobs. These favoured individuals had access to better housing, cars, luxury
goods and special stores. Instead of a classless society, a hierarchical society dominated by a privileged 10
elite had developed.
Adapted from D Christian, Imperial and Soviet Russia, 1986
0 1 Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the arguments in these three
extracts are in relation to social change in Communist Russia in the years 1917 to 1941.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/M/Jun24/G4006/7042/1H Turn over ►
