A LEVEL AQA RUSSIA 1894-1917 Exam Questions with
100% Correct Answers Latest Update 2025 Already
Graded A+
How did students act in the 1890s under Nicholas II?
Ans: A protest that started against government restrictions on universities
turned into huge demonstrations in 1891, as students were beat with whips by
police, arrested their leaders, and drafted some into the army
Middle classes were horrified by the brutality, many students were radicalised
Thousands joined the Social Revolutionaries
What state was Russia in as it began to enter the 1900s?
Ans: Unstable and volatile
1898-9 Famine in Central Volga
International recession after 1900, which caused a deep depression - affected all
of the economy, workers hit by falling wages and unemployment, widespread
industrial action
Workers returned to villages to stir up peasant revolt(there was already huge
anger about taxes and high rents)
Poltava province saw the first wave of peasant violence in 1902 - caused by
landlords withdrawing land used to feed families or renting at exploitative rates
Peasant revolts throughout the countryside in 1902-3, an air of internal disorder
,spread
Government responded with repression, prisons filled with political prisoners
Leo Tolstoy wrote his famous open letter, the regime faced growing opposition
and some turned to ideas of revolution
Who was Sergei Zubatov and how did he respond to problems in the cities?
, Ans: Head of the Moscow Okhrana, Zubatov believed repression could not
combat militancy alone; workers had to be convinced their lives could be
improved within the system
Thought to achieve this with trade unions and self help organisations, supervised
and partially funded by the police
1901- Zubatov set up 3 unions in Moscow, submitted demands to their employers
who were pressured by police representatives into making concessions
Zubatov movement spread RAPIDLY, across south and west of Russia
Many in government and business feared the unions would politicise workers and
harm the economy
1903 - a strike organised by police unions in Odessa escalated into a general
strike, resulting in Zubatov's dismissal
How do historians view Zubatovs programme?
Ans: Christopher Read - it was a self inflicted blow that caused the 1905
revolution, "Wherever they were set up, Zubatov unions became a cover for
radicals and blew up in the face of their sponsors"
Jeremiah Scheidermann - it was the only coherent labour policy coming from
government quarters
What was the 1905 Revolution?
, Ans: January 1905, workers on strike in St Petersburg and Warsaw; textiles
workers followed in May, crew of the Battleship Potemkin mutinied in June, in
October general strike supported by 2 million workers and railways shut down
Nicholas turned to Sergei Vitter, who persuaded him that political concessions
couldn't be avoided
October Manifesto was drafted by Vitter and signed by Nicholas, promised new
civil liberties, including freedom of speech, assembly, and association
Creation of new national assembly, the Duma
Unrest only grew, the only province with order was Saratov; Nicholas summoned
it's governor, Stolipin, to St Petersburg; Nicholas realised he could pull Russia out
of revolt, not Vitter
How did economic discontent in the countryside and towns cause the 1905
Revolution?
100% Correct Answers Latest Update 2025 Already
Graded A+
How did students act in the 1890s under Nicholas II?
Ans: A protest that started against government restrictions on universities
turned into huge demonstrations in 1891, as students were beat with whips by
police, arrested their leaders, and drafted some into the army
Middle classes were horrified by the brutality, many students were radicalised
Thousands joined the Social Revolutionaries
What state was Russia in as it began to enter the 1900s?
Ans: Unstable and volatile
1898-9 Famine in Central Volga
International recession after 1900, which caused a deep depression - affected all
of the economy, workers hit by falling wages and unemployment, widespread
industrial action
Workers returned to villages to stir up peasant revolt(there was already huge
anger about taxes and high rents)
Poltava province saw the first wave of peasant violence in 1902 - caused by
landlords withdrawing land used to feed families or renting at exploitative rates
Peasant revolts throughout the countryside in 1902-3, an air of internal disorder
,spread
Government responded with repression, prisons filled with political prisoners
Leo Tolstoy wrote his famous open letter, the regime faced growing opposition
and some turned to ideas of revolution
Who was Sergei Zubatov and how did he respond to problems in the cities?
, Ans: Head of the Moscow Okhrana, Zubatov believed repression could not
combat militancy alone; workers had to be convinced their lives could be
improved within the system
Thought to achieve this with trade unions and self help organisations, supervised
and partially funded by the police
1901- Zubatov set up 3 unions in Moscow, submitted demands to their employers
who were pressured by police representatives into making concessions
Zubatov movement spread RAPIDLY, across south and west of Russia
Many in government and business feared the unions would politicise workers and
harm the economy
1903 - a strike organised by police unions in Odessa escalated into a general
strike, resulting in Zubatov's dismissal
How do historians view Zubatovs programme?
Ans: Christopher Read - it was a self inflicted blow that caused the 1905
revolution, "Wherever they were set up, Zubatov unions became a cover for
radicals and blew up in the face of their sponsors"
Jeremiah Scheidermann - it was the only coherent labour policy coming from
government quarters
What was the 1905 Revolution?
, Ans: January 1905, workers on strike in St Petersburg and Warsaw; textiles
workers followed in May, crew of the Battleship Potemkin mutinied in June, in
October general strike supported by 2 million workers and railways shut down
Nicholas turned to Sergei Vitter, who persuaded him that political concessions
couldn't be avoided
October Manifesto was drafted by Vitter and signed by Nicholas, promised new
civil liberties, including freedom of speech, assembly, and association
Creation of new national assembly, the Duma
Unrest only grew, the only province with order was Saratov; Nicholas summoned
it's governor, Stolipin, to St Petersburg; Nicholas realised he could pull Russia out
of revolt, not Vitter
How did economic discontent in the countryside and towns cause the 1905
Revolution?
