Paper 3 — Modern depth: Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41
Edexcel GCSE History revision on Paper 3 — Modern depth: Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41. Aligned to the Pearson Edexcel GCSE History 1HI0 specification. This bank has 80 practice questions on this topic.
Sample questions (3 of 80)
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Question 1
Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in which year?
Show answer
Answer: 1917
Two revolutions in 1917: February (forced Tsar's abdication, provisional government set up under Kerensky), and October (Bolsheviks under Lenin seized power). Nicholas + family executed July 1918 in Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks. End of the 300-year Romanov dynasty.
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Question 2
The political party that came to power in October 1917 was led by...
- A) Stalin
- B) Lenin (Bolsheviks)
- C) Trotsky alone
- D) Kerensky
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Answer: Lenin (Bolsheviks)
Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) led the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. The Bolsheviks (later renamed Communist Party) seized power in the October Revolution promising 'Peace, Land, Bread'. Withdrew Russia from WWI (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918, on harsh German terms).
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Question 3
The Russian Civil War (1918-21) was fought between the Bolshevik Reds and...
- A) The Mensheviks only
- B) The Whites (anti-Bolshevik forces, including ex-Tsarist officers + foreign troops)
- C) Germany
- D) China
Show answer
Answer: The Whites (anti-Bolshevik forces, including ex-Tsarist officers + foreign troops)
Reds: Bolsheviks under Lenin + Trotsky (commanded Red Army). Whites: ex-Tsarist officers, Mensheviks, foreign intervention (British, French, US, Japanese troops sent to topple Bolsheviks). Reds won by 1921: control of central Russia, unified command, propaganda, Whites' disunity. Cost: ~7 million dead, mostly from famine + disease.
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77 more questions on Paper 3 — Modern depth: Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41 — plus mistakes tracking and spaced repetition across the whole History spec.
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