Lesson 2

2 The use of terror in the 1930s Quiz: Pearson Edexcel History, Unit 14

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 2, The use of terror in the 1930s: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel GCSE History (1HI0), Unit 14: Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What was the name of the Soviet secret police active in the 1930s?

    • Okhrana
    • Gestapo
    • NKVD
    • Cheka

  2. Whose assassination in December 1934 triggered the Great Purge?

    • Nikolai Bukharin
    • Sergei Kirov
    • Vladimir Lenin
    • Leon Trotsky

  3. What were the major 1936 trials of former Bolshevik leaders called?

    • Petrograd hearings
    • Nuremberg trials
    • Moscow show trials
    • Supreme tribunal

  4. Which military leader was executed in 1937 after a secret trial?

    • Marshal Budyonny
    • General Denikin
    • Marshal Tukhachevsky
    • General Brusilov

  5. What was the primary purpose of the Gulag system?

    • Forced labour
    • Religious reform
    • Military training
    • Agricultural education

  6. Which year saw the purge of the armed forces at its peak?

    • 1937
    • 1941
    • 1924
    • 1929

  7. What term describes the system of unfair arrests and rigged court cases under Stalin?

    • Show trials
    • Parliamentary justice
    • Trial by jury
    • Habeas corpus

  8. What does the term 'Yezhovshchina' refer to in Soviet history?

    • Military demobilisation
    • Agricultural collectivisation
    • The Great Purge
    • Economic recovery

  9. How were many ordinary Soviet citizens drawn into participating in purges?

    • Denunciations by neighbours
    • Mandatory military service
    • Voluntary confessions
    • Electoral campaigns

  10. Why did purging Red Army commanders weaken the Soviet Union by 1941?

    • Outdated tanks
    • Lack of weapons
    • Soldier mutinies
    • Loss of experience

  11. Which security organ did Stalin use to enforce mass terror across the USSR?

    • The NKVD
    • The Comintern
    • The Red Army
    • The Politburo

  12. What did the Soviet Constitution of 1936 officially promise citizens?

    • Freedom of speech
    • Multi-party democracy
    • Private property rights
    • Universal suffrage

  13. Which period is usually dated as the Great Purge’s peak?

    • 1928–30
    • 1936–38
    • 1917–20
    • 1945–50

  14. Why were forced confessions crucial in Stalin’s show trials?

    • Military strategy
    • Legal justification
    • Foreign alliances
    • Economic planning

  15. What was a primary outcome of Stalin’s purges in the 1930s?

    • Military strengthening
    • Enormous widespread suffering
    • Democratic reform
    • Religious freedom

  16. What was a key economic use of Soviet labour camps?

    • Farming private plots
    • Exporting luxury goods
    • University research
    • Forced industrial projects

  17. Which 1937 order set quotas for arrests and executions?

    • Order No. 227
    • The Decree of 1918
    • Order No. 1
    • Order No. 00447

  18. Why did the 1930s purges create intense fear within the Communist Party?

    • Sudden demotions
    • Universal vulnerability
    • Mandatory voting
    • Regular pay cuts

  19. How did Stalin’s regime typically label purged political opponents?

    • Lazy workers
    • Capitalist sympathisers
    • Foreign spies
    • Enemies of the people

  20. What change did Lavrentiy Beria bring to the NKVD after late 1938?

    • Abolished secret police
    • Curbed mass purges
    • Increased executions
    • Expanded gulag camps

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