The Making of Modern Russia, 1855-1991 | Edexcel A-Level History (9HI0)

The Making of Modern Russia, 1855-1991

188 questions
19 subtopics
Paper 3: themes in breadth with aspects in depth, one option of sixteen
Paper 3

A Paper 3 option combining aspects in breadth on agriculture, living standards and feeding the population across 136 years with aspects in depth on the Great Reforms of Alexander II, the revolutions of 1905 and 1917, and the reform attempts of Khrushchev and Gorbachev..

It covers changes in government policy, 1855-1991, living standards and leaving the land, 1855-1991, reform, innovation and productivity, 1861–1991, feeding the population, 1861–1991, the Crimean War and army reform, legal and local government reform, freedom of expression, universities and the press, the Russo-Japanese War as a stimulus to reform, bloody Sunday 1905, repression of opposition in town and countryside, impact of defeat and suffering, 1916–17, reasons for the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks in power, 1917–18, khrushchev and the impetus to reform, de-Stalinisation, administrative reforms, gorbachev and the impetus to reform, impacts of glasnost and perestroika and divisions in the reformist camp, conservative opposition.

Sample questions from The Making of Modern Russia, 1855-1991

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Changes in government policy, 1855-1991

What was the New Economic Policy (NEP), introduced in 1921?

Show the answer
It let peasants sell surplus grain on the open market after paying a fixed tax in kind, replacing forced grain requisitioning.
Reform, innovation and productivity, 1861–1991

What was 'maize mania'?

Show the answer
Khrushchev's campaign to grow maize (corn) widely across the USSR, often in unsuitable climates, which largely failed.
The Crimean War and army reform

Why was defeat in the Crimea such a shock?

Show the answer
Russia had seen itself as the gendarme of Europe since 1815, so losing on its own soil to an expeditionary force forced a reappraisal of the whole system.
Freedom of expression, universities and the press

What happened to the journal The Contemporary in 1866?

Show the answer
The radical journal edited by Nekrasov, which had published Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, was closed permanently after Karakozov's attempt on the tsar.
Bloody Sunday 1905

Why was Bloody Sunday such a turning point?

Show the answer
Firing on a loyal, peaceful petition destroyed the image of the Tsar as the little father protecting his people from bad officials.
Impact of defeat and suffering, 1916–17

How did the war affect the Russian economy?

Show the answer
Inflation, transport breakdown and requisitioning of horses and men caused urban food shortages despite adequate harvests.
The Bolsheviks in power, 1917–18

What were the first Bolshevik decrees?

Show the answer
The Decree on Peace calling for an immediate end to the war and the Decree on Land abolishing private ownership and legitimising peasant seizures.
De-Stalinisation

Why did Khrushchev deliver the speech?

Show the answer
To free the party from Stalinism, to establish his own authority against rivals implicated in the terror, and to make reform possible.

The 19 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Changes in government policy, 1855-1991	Recall questions on the abolition of serfdom, Stolypin's reforms, the Land Decree, the New Economic Policy, collectivisation, and the kolkhoz and sovkhoz.	10
Living standards and leaving the land, 1855-1991	Recall questions on redemption payments, rural overpopulation, why peasants left the land, the internal passport system, and the relief given after 1953.	10
Reform, innovation and productivity, 1861–1991	Recall questions on the backwardness of peasant farming, the effect of railways, Stolypin's success, Lysenkoism, the Virgin Lands scheme, and why output stayed low.	10
Feeding the population, 1861–1991	Recall questions on the famine of 1891, grain procurement in the 1930s, wartime shortages, private plots, the scale of grain imports, and the Food Programme.	10
The Crimean War and army reform	Recall questions on what defeat revealed, why it was such a shock, Milyutin's reforms, the conscription statute of 1874, and how effective the reforms proved.	10
Legal and local government reform	Recall questions on the zemstva and who dominated them, why they mattered politically, their limits, the legal reforms of 1864, and the municipal statute of 1870.	9
Freedom of expression, universities and the press	Recall questions on the university statute of 1863, the press regulations of 1865 and their limits, the counter-reforms of the 1880s, and samizdat under Soviet rule.	10
The Russo-Japanese War as a stimulus to reform	Recall questions on why Russia went to war, Port Arthur and Tsushima, why it lost, how defeat contributed to revolution, and why 1905 differed from 1917.	10
Bloody Sunday 1905	Recall questions on Gapon's petition, why the shooting was a turning point, the Union of Unions, the October strike and Manifesto, and the peasant risings.	9
Repression of opposition in town and countryside	Recall questions on the soviets of 1905 and their closure, the Moscow rising, the punitive expeditions, Stolypin's field courts martial, and the change to the electoral law.	10
Impact of defeat and suffering, 1916–17	Recall questions on the economic effects of the war, why taking command was a mistake, ministerial leapfrog, Rasputin's murder, and the Progressive Bloc.	10
Reasons for the October Revolution	Recall questions on why the Provisional Government continued the war and delayed reform, the Petrograd Soviet, Lenin and Trotsky, and the effect of the Kornilov Affair.	10
The Bolsheviks in power, 1917–18	Recall questions on the first decrees, the early concessions, the closing of the Constituent Assembly, the Cheka, Brest-Litovsk, and the fate of the other parties.	10
Khrushchev and the impetus to reform	Recall questions on how he emerged as leader, his personality and aims, his view of the party, the housing programme, the Seven Year Plan, and why he was removed.	10
De-Stalinisation	Recall questions on what the Secret Speech alleged, why it was delivered, its effects at home and abroad, Hungary, the Anti-Party Group, and how complete de-Stalinisation was.	10
Administrative reforms	Recall questions on the sovnarkhoz reform and why it failed, the bifurcation of the party, the restructuring of the security apparatus, and the cultural Thaw and its limits.	10
Gorbachev and the impetus to reform	Recall questions on the state of the economy in 1985, the alcohol campaign, the Afghan war, Chernobyl, falling oil prices, uskorenie, and early nationalist unrest.	10
Impacts of glasnost and perestroika	Recall questions on what each involved, why perestroika worsened the economy, the release of Sakharov, the Congress of People's Deputies, and why glasnost proved uncontrollable.	10
Divisions in the reformist camp, conservative opposition	Recall questions on the split over the 500 Days plan, Ligachev, Yeltsin's rise, Russian sovereignty, the August coup and why it failed.	10

The Making of Modern Russia, 1855-1991 is 188 of the 6,832 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £9

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.