Lesson 3

3 Moves towards totalitarianism Quiz: Pearson Edexcel History, Unit 14

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3, Moves towards totalitarianism: 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 Bolshevik secret police set up in December 1917?

    • KGB
    • NKVD
    • Okhrana
    • Cheka

  2. Who founded and led the Cheka?

    • Lavrentiy Beria
    • Felix Dzerzhinsky
    • Genrikh Yagoda
    • Nikolai Yezhov

  3. What name was given to the Bolshevik campaign of mass arrests and executions from 1918?

    • Red Terror
    • Class war
    • White purge
    • Great Purge

  4. Where did the Kronstadt Mutiny of March 1921 take place?

    • Railway junction
    • Naval base
    • Coal mine
    • Army garrison

  5. What became the Communist Party's top decision-making body in the 1920s?

    • Politburo
    • Duma
    • Comintern
    • Sovnarkom

  6. Which month and year saw the official creation of the USSR?

    • October 1917
    • March 1921
    • January 1924
    • December 1922

  7. What did the 10th Party Congress in 1921 ban within the party?

    • Organised factions
    • Public debates
    • Foreign travel
    • Trade unions

  8. What was the main effect of banning party factions on internal dissent?

    • Banned open opposition
    • Ended all strikes
    • Created new parties
    • Legalised protests

  9. What was the main official reason for setting up the Cheka in 1917?

    • Organise elections
    • Manage factories
    • Combat counter-revolution
    • Collect taxes

  10. Which body most helped Lenin centralise power during the Civil War?

    • Red Army
    • Politburo
    • Constituent Assembly
    • Zemstvos

  11. What core demand of the Kronstadt sailors directly challenged Bolshevik rule?

    • Free soviets
    • Higher wages
    • Land reform
    • War continuation

  12. Which term best describes the historical role of the Red Terror?

    • Economic failure
    • Democratic reform
    • Survival repression
    • Peaceful transition

  13. Who was explicitly denied voting rights under the 1918 RSFSR Constitution?

    • Peasants
    • Exploiters
    • Workers
    • Soldiers

  14. What right did the 1924 Soviet constitution grant to the Union republics on paper?

    • Right to secede
    • Taxation independence
    • Foreign policy control
    • Military command

  15. What was the name of the state security body that replaced the Cheka in 1922?

    • GPU
    • Okhrana
    • KGB
    • NKVD

  16. Where did real political power rest in Soviet Russia by 1922?

    • Party leadership
    • Constituent assembly
    • Trade unions
    • Local soviets

  17. Which method did the Bolsheviks use to limit local soviet independence?

    • Abolishing voting rights
    • Restricting newspaper sales
    • Appointing party secretaries
    • Holding open elections

  18. What major internal restriction was introduced by the 1921 ban on factions?

    • Ending secret ballots
    • Outlawing trade unions
    • Banning organised dissent
    • Dissolving local soviets

  19. Which group was the primary target during the Red Terror?

    • Foreign diplomats
    • Counter-revolutionaries
    • Industrial workers
    • Poor peasants

  20. Which feature was central to establishing totalitarian rule in Italy by 1922?

    • Military junta
    • Absolute monarchy
    • One-party state
    • Democratic coalition

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