Lesson 1E.2.1

1E.2.1 Enlightenment Russia, 1725–1796 Quiz: AQA History, Unit 5

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 1E.2.1, Enlightenment Russia, 1725–1796: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA History (7042), Unit 5: 1E Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682–1796, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which ruler, Peter the Great's widow, became tsarina in 1725 and was the first of several rulers in the 'epoch of palace coups'?

    • Catherine II
    • Catherine I
    • Anna Ivanovna
    • Elizabeth Petrovna

  2. Which body, created in 1726 to govern Russia during the disputed successions, was dominated by the leading noble families?

    • The Supreme Privy Council
    • The Holy Synod
    • The Senate
    • The Preobrazhensky Guards

  3. Which Russian empress, who reigned from 1741 to 1762, was the daughter of Peter the Great and was proclaimed by the Preobrazhensky Guards?

    • Catherine II, who seized power in 1762 and ruled Russia for the next thirty-four years
    • Elizabeth Petrovna
    • Catherine I, who succeeded Peter the Great in 1725 and reigned until her death in 1727
    • Anna Ivanovna, who ruled from 1730 to 1740 and relied heavily on her German favourite Biron

  4. Which Russian ruler, who was the niece of Peter the Great and ruled from 1730 to 1740, relied heavily on her German favourite Biron?

    • Elizabeth Petrovna
    • Anna Ivanovna
    • Catherine II
    • Catherine I

  5. Which war, in which Russia fought against Prussia and Austria between 1756 and 1763, saw Russian forces occupy Berlin in 1760?

    • The Great Northern War
    • The Seven Years War
    • The Russo-Turkish War of 1768
    • The War of the Polish Succession

  6. Which tsar, who succeeded Elizabeth in 1762, made peace with Prussia and was overthrown in the same year?

    • Paul I
    • Peter III
    • Peter II
    • Ivan VI

  7. Which document of 1767, drawing on Montesquieu and Beccaria, was Catherine's major statement of Enlightenment ideas for the Legislative Commission?

    • The Charter to the Nobility
    • The Nakaz
    • The Pugachev Manifesto
    • The Table of Ranks

  8. Which rebellion of 1773 to 1775 was led by a Don Cossack who claimed to be the late Tsar Peter III?

    • The Decembrist revolt
    • The Kronstadt rising
    • The Bashkir Revolt
    • The Pugachev Revolt

  9. Which charter of 1785 granted the nobility exemption from compulsory state service and guaranteed their property rights?

    • The Charter to the Towns
    • The Table of Ranks
    • The Nakaz
    • The Charter to the Nobility

  10. Which 1774 treaty ended a Russo-Turkish war and gave Russia greater influence in the Crimea and the Black Sea region?

    • The Treaty of Jassy, which ended a different Russo-Turkish war and gave Russia control of Bessarabia
    • The Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War and gave Russia the Baltic provinces of Livonia
    • The Treaty of Belgrade, which ended a war with Austria and gave Russia a protectorate over Serbia
    • The Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji

  11. Which state did Russia partition with Prussia and Austria in 1772, the first of three partitions that removed Poland from the map?

    • Poland
    • Bohemia
    • Hungary
    • Sweden

  12. Which Russian province, annexed by Catherine in 1783, gave Russia control of the northern Black Sea coast?

    • Finland
    • Crimea
    • Bessarabia
    • Georgia

  13. How many years separated Catherine II's accession in 1762 and the Pugachev Revolt in 1773?

    • 13 years
    • 11 years
    • 9 years
    • 15 years

  14. How many years separated the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji in 1774 and the annexation of Crimea in 1783?

    • 9 years
    • 11 years
    • 13 years
    • 7 years

  15. How many years did Catherine the Great reign, from her accession in 1762 until her death in 1796?

    • 34 years
    • 28 years
    • 38 years
    • 42 years

  16. Which statement best explains the limits of Catherine's Enlightenment reforms for Russian society?

    • Serfdom was abolished in every province by 1780, which Catherine ordered in the Charter to the Towns
    • Serfdom persisted and the nobility's landownership and privileges were strengthened, so reform did not change the social order
    • The Nakaz gave the peasants the vote in local government, which was extended to every village in the empire
    • The Charter to the Nobility removed all noble privileges, which were handed to the new urban councils

  17. Which statement best evaluates Catherine's response to the Pugachev Revolt?

    • She ended all peasant restrictions to win back the rebels, which allowed the serfs to leave the estates freely
    • She combined military repression with reforms to provincial government, reducing the risk of similar revolts
    • She withdrew from all territory in the Russian Empire, which she handed back to the Cossack leaders
    • She disbanded the army and ended all military action, which left the provinces to govern themselves

  18. Which judgement best explains why Catherine's foreign policy in the 1780s and 1790s was shaped by the French Revolution?

    • She allied with Britain to overthrow the French republic in 1790, which led to a joint invasion of France
    • She supported the French Revolution and ended her Turkish wars, which led to an alliance with the new republic
    • She feared revolutionary ideas and became more repressive at home, while her foreign aims stayed focused on Poland and the Black Sea
    • She abandoned all territorial gains after 1789, which returned Crimea to the Ottoman Empire by treaty

  19. Which statement best assesses the economic effects of serfdom in Catherine's Russia?

    • Serfdom ended the role of landowners in agriculture, which passed farm management to state officials
    • Serfdom limited labour mobility and agricultural improvement, which restrained economic development
    • Serfdom had no effect on the economy or the rural population, since serfs were paid wages like free labourers
    • Serfdom increased the mobility of labour across the empire, which let peasants move freely between estates

  20. Which grandson of Peter the Great reigned from 1727 until his death from smallpox in 1730?

    • Paul I
    • Peter II
    • Peter III
    • Ivan VI

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