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 1853–1856 conflict exposed Russia's military backwardness and prompted Alexander II's reforms?

    • Napoleonic War
    • Russo-Turkish War
    • Russo-Japanese War
    • 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 Russian Marxist party split into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions at its 1903 congress?

    • RSDLP
    • Octobrists
    • Kadets
    • Socialist Revolutionaries

  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 Siberian event saw Tsarist troops shoot striking miners, sparking widespread industrial protest?

    • Bloody Sunday
    • Potemkin mutiny
    • Lena goldfields massacre
    • Decembrist revolt

  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. What fundamental political system did Alexander II refuse to alter during his 1861–1881 reforms?

    • Tsarist autocracy
    • Serfdom
    • Peasant communes
    • The Zemstva

  18. Which critical decision by Nicholas II in 1915 tied his authority directly to military failures?

    • Emancipating the serfs
    • Taking military command
    • Signing Brest-Litovsk
    • Dissolving the Duma

  19. Which elected assembly created after the 1905 Revolution had its power severely restricted by Nicholas II?

    • Zemstvo
    • Supreme Soviet
    • State Duma
    • Constituent Assembly

  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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