Y210: Russia 1645-1741 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y210: Russia 1645-1741

80 questions
8 subtopics
Non-British period study, one of twenty-four
Y201 to Y224

Russia 1645–1741 is unit Y210 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-four options in unit group 2, the non-British period study; a student sits one of them.

Its four key topics are Russia 1645–1698, the reforms of Peter the Great 1698–1725, foreign Relations 1645–1725, opposition and reaction 1645–1741. 80 recall questions across 8 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y210: Russia 1645-1741

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

Russia 1645–1698: Russia in 1645, personality and rule of Alexis

State what the Law Code of 1649 did to the Russian peasantry.

Show the answer
The Ulozhenie abolished the time limit on recovering runaways, so peasants and their descendants were tied permanently to their landlord's estate; serfdom became hereditary and legally complete.
Russia 1645–1698: Feodor, Sophia’s regency and Peter’s early reign

What part did the Streltsi play in 1682?

Show the answer
The Moscow musketeers, angry over pay and their officers and stirred up by the Miloslavskys, stormed the Kremlin and murdered leading Naryshkins, forcing the compromise by which Peter and Ivan were proclaimed joint tsars with Sophia as regent.
The reforms of Peter the Great 1698–1725: consolidation of power, social change and government reform

What changes did Peter make to the calendar?

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From 1700 Russia counted years from the birth of Christ rather than from the supposed creation of the world and began the year on 1 January instead of 1 September, bringing dating into line with European practice.
The reforms of Peter the Great 1698–1725: taxation, the Church, the armed forces, the economy and St Petersburg

How did Peter recruit and organise his army?

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From 1705 he imposed regular conscription levies, taking roughly one recruit from every twenty peasant households for lifetime service, and built a standing force of uniformed, drilled regular regiments with standardised artillery and Russian-made muskets, numbering some 200,000 men by the end of the reign.
Foreign Relations 1645–1725: Alexis’s relations with Zaporozhian Cossacks and war against Sweden

What happened to Golitsyn's expeditions to the Crimea?

Show the answer
The campaigns of 1687 and 1689 both failed without a major battle; the huge armies were defeated by distance, thirst, disease and the burning of the steppe grass, and the humiliation fatally weakened Sophia's regency.
Foreign Relations 1645–1725: the Swedish invasion, Poltava, Nystadt and the Persian campaign

What were the consequences of Poltava?

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Denmark and Saxony rejoined the war, Russia occupied the Baltic provinces and Finland, Peter's prestige in Europe was transformed, and Russia rather than Sweden became the dominant power of northern Europe.
Opposition and reaction 1645–1741: Revolt of Stenka Razin and Old Believers

How was Razin's revolt defeated?

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After taking Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan he failed to storm Simbirsk in October 1670 and was beaten by regular troops with artillery; he was handed over by the Cossack elders and executed in Moscow in 1671, and the rebellion was followed by mass reprisals and tighter control of the frontier.
Opposition and reaction 1645–1741: provincial revolts, Tsarevitch Alexis and the reigns after Peter

How did Catherine I come to the throne, and how was Russia governed in her reign?

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Peter died in 1725 without naming an heir, and the guards regiments and Menshikov secured the throne for his widow; real power then lay with Menshikov and the Supreme Privy Council created in 1726, which cut spending and reduced the poll tax but attempted no new reform.

The 8 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Russia 1645–1698: Russia in 1645, personality and rule of Alexis	Recall questions on Russia in 1645, social and economic backwardness, problems with the Tsar, personality and rule of Alexis.	9
Russia 1645–1698: Feodor, Sophia’s regency and Peter’s early reign	Recall questions on mestnichestvo and Feodor III, the crisis of 1682 and the Streltsi, Sophia’s regency and Golitsyn, Peter’s upbringing and character, his seizure of power in 1689, the Azov campaigns and the Grand Embassy.	11
The reforms of Peter the Great 1698–1725: consolidation of power, social change and government reform	Recall questions on Peter’s consolidation of power, beards and dress, the Table of Ranks, the calendar and alphabet, the Senate and central departments, local and town government, and the poll tax.	10
The reforms of Peter the Great 1698–1725: taxation, the Church, the armed forces, the economy and St Petersburg	Recall questions on the census of 1719 and revenue, Church reform, recruitment of the army, the new navy, education, industry and agriculture, the peasants and the building of St Petersburg.	10
Foreign Relations 1645–1725: Alexis’s relations with Zaporozhian Cossacks and war against Sweden	Recall questions on Alexis’s relations with Zaporozhian Cossacks and Poland, influence of Golitsyn and expedition to Crimea, relations with China and Treaty of Nerchinsk, Peter’s aims in the Baltic, war against Sweden, defeat at Narva, invasion of Ingria and Livonia.	10
Foreign Relations 1645–1725: the Swedish invasion, Poltava, Nystadt and the Persian campaign	Recall questions on Charles XII’s invasion and Mazeppa, Poltava and its consequences, the Turkish war of 1711, the naval victories and Treaty of Nystadt, Russian success in the Great Northern War and the Persian campaign.	10
Opposition and reaction 1645–1741: Revolt of Stenka Razin and Old Believers	Recall questions on revolt of Stenka Razin, resistance to westernisation, revolt and destruction of the Streltsi, the Old Believers.	8
Opposition and reaction 1645–1741: provincial revolts, Tsarevitch Alexis and the reigns after Peter	Recall questions on provincial revolts and Mazeppa, the affair of Tsarevitch Alexis, westernisation by 1725, the reigns of Catherine I and Peter II, Anne’s accession crisis and the German period.	12

Y210: Russia 1645-1741 is 80 of the 6,240 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

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.