Lesson 1H.1.1

1H.1.1 Autocracy, reform and revolution in Russia, 1855–1917 Quiz: AQA History, Unit 8

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 1H.1.1, Autocracy, reform and revolution in Russia, 1855–1917: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA History (7042), Unit 8: 1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which war of 1853 to 1856, fought against Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire, exposed the weakness of Russia's military and economy?

    • The Great Northern War
    • The Russo-Japanese War
    • The Russo-Turkish War of 1877
    • The Crimean War

  2. Which Tsar, who ruled from 1855 to 1881, issued the Emancipation Edict freeing the serfs in 1861?

    • Nicholas I
    • Alexander II
    • Nicholas II
    • Alexander III

  3. Which elected local government bodies, introduced by Alexander II in 1864, gained responsibility for education and local services?

    • The Mirs
    • The Dumas
    • The zemstvos
    • The Soviets

  4. Which policy of the 1880s and 1890s, pursued by Alexander III, aimed to impose Russian language and culture on minorities?

    • Westernisation
    • Collectivisation
    • Russification
    • Industrialisation by decree

  5. Which group of revolutionaries of the 1870s, who sought to mobilise the peasantry, was prominent in the populist movement?

    • The Octobrists
    • The Kadets
    • The Narodniks
    • The Mensheviks

  6. Which revolutionary group, active from 1879, was responsible for assassinating Alexander II in 1881 and used terrorism to challenge autocracy?

    • The Kadets
    • The People's Will
    • The Octobrists
    • The Decembrists

  7. Which Tsar, who ruled from 1894 to 1917, was overthrown in the February Revolution of 1917?

    • Alexander II
    • Nicholas II
    • Alexander III
    • Nicholas I

  8. Which 1905 manifesto, issued by Nicholas II under pressure, promised civil liberties and an elected Duma?

    • The October Manifesto
    • The Fundamental Laws
    • The Emancipation Edict
    • The Stolypin Reforms

  9. Which Prime Minister, who served from 1906 to 1911 and carried out agrarian reforms, was assassinated in 1911?

    • Ivan Goremykin
    • Vladimir Kokovtsov
    • Sergei Witte
    • Pyotr Stolypin

  10. Which bloody incident of January 1905 in St Petersburg, when troops fired on a peaceful petition march, triggered the 1905 Revolution?

    • The Kronstadt rising
    • The Lena massacre
    • Red Thursday
    • Bloody Sunday

  11. Which party, founded in 1898 and split at its 1903 congress into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions, was the Marxist party of Russia?

    • The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
    • The Kadet Party, a liberal party that demanded a constitutional monarchy and a democratic Duma after 1905
    • The Socialist Revolutionary Party, a populist party that focused on land redistribution to the peasantry
    • The Octobrist Party, a moderate party that supported the October Manifesto and the reforms of 1905

  12. Which Tsarist-era parliament, the first of four, met in 1906 and was dissolved after only a few months?

    • The Fourth Duma
    • The First Duma
    • The Provisional Government
    • The Constituent Assembly

  13. Which 1912 massacre of striking gold miners in Siberia increased workers' unrest in the years before the First World War?

    • The Bloody Sunday shootings
    • The Kronstadt rising
    • The Lena goldfields massacre
    • The Sevastopol mutiny

  14. How many years separated the Crimean War ending in 1856 and the October Manifesto of 1905?

    • 49 years
    • 39 years
    • 69 years
    • 59 years

  15. How many years separated the Emancipation Edict of 1861 and the February Revolution of 1917?

    • 46 years
    • 76 years
    • 56 years
    • 66 years

  16. How many years separated the assassination of Alexander II in 1881 and the Bolshevik takeover in November 1917?

    • 36 years
    • 30 years
    • 42 years
    • 48 years

  17. Which statement best explains why Alexander II's reforms failed to resolve Russia's political problems by 1881?

    • Reforms were partial and the autocracy was not willing to share power, so liberal demands for a constitution remained unmet
    • Reforms gave the peasants full land ownership and political representation, which were granted by the Tsar in 1861
    • Reforms ended all opposition and produced a stable constitutional monarchy, which lasted until the First World War
    • The Tsar abolished the autocracy and established a republic, which was declared in St Petersburg in 1905

  18. Which statement best evaluates the effects of the First World War on Tsarist authority by 1917?

    • The war had no effect on social conditions or on the army, which was largely unaffected by the fighting
    • Military failures and economic hardship weakened the Tsar's authority and gave opposition groups a greater chance to act
    • The war led to a peaceful transfer of power to the Duma without unrest, which was agreed by all parties in advance
    • The war strengthened the Tsar's authority and removed all opposition, which rallied the whole country behind the throne

  19. Which judgement best explains why the Tsarist regime faced revolution in 1917 despite the reforms of 1905 to 1914?

    • The war had strengthened the army and ended all political opposition, which allowed the Tsar to rule without the Duma
    • The peasantry had received sufficient land from Stolypin's reforms by 1914, which ended all rural unrest
    • The Dumas had limited power, the peasantry remained discontented and the war exposed the regime's weaknesses
    • The Dumas controlled the government and granted full democracy, which was in place from the first sitting in 1906

  20. Which statesman negotiated Russia's peace with Japan at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1905, ending the Russo-Japanese War?

    • Ivan Goremykin
    • Sergei Witte
    • Pyotr Stolypin
    • Vladimir Kokovtsov

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