ACTUAL 2025 AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY Component 1H Tsarist
and Communist Russia, 1855 1964
Exam
Emancipation of the Serfs (1861) - answerSerfs gained personal freedom but had to pay redemption
dues for land (often poor quality and insufficient).
Military Reforms (1860s-70s) - answerReduced service terms, modern weaponry, improved officer
training, abolition of corporal punishment.
Judicial Reforms (1864) - answerEquality before the law, public trials, jury system, independent judiciary.
Local Government Reforms (Zemstva, 1864) - answerElected local councils with responsibilities for
education, healthcare, infrastructure.
Education Reforms (1860s-70s) - answerExpansion of primary and secondary education, greater
autonomy for universities.
Censorship Reforms (Relaxation) - answerReduced restrictions on publications.
Populists (Narodniks) - answer"Going to the people," aimed to incite peasant revolution, but largely
unsuccessful.
Emergence of Revolutionary Groups - answer"Land and Liberty," later splitting into "The People's Will"
(advocating terrorism) and "Black Repartition" (more Marxist).
Assassination of Alexander II (1881) - answerMarked the end of the reform era and a shift towards
reaction.
, Increased Autocratic Control - answerReduced zemstva powers, increased state control over education,
strengthened the police and secret police (Okhrana).
Russification - answerImposition of Russian language, culture, and Orthodoxy on non-Russian ethnic
groups within the empire.
Economic Development - answerContinued industrialization, encouraged foreign investment (e.g., under
Vyshnegradsky and Witte), focus on railway construction (Trans-Siberian Railway).
Suppression of Opposition - answerCrackdown on revolutionary groups, censorship tightened.
Nicholas II - answerTsar of Russia from 1894 to 1917, characterized as weak-willed and clinging to
autocratic principles.
Industrialization - answerContinued industrialization led to a growing urban working class with poor
living and working conditions.
Land Hunger - answerA major issue for peasants in Tsarist Russia, reflecting their need for land.
Social Revolutionaries (SRs) - answerPolitical group focused on peasant issues, advocating land
redistribution and using terrorism.
Social Democrats (SDs) - answerMarxist ideology group split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, differing in
approach to revolution.
Bolsheviks - answerA faction of the Social Democrats led by Lenin, advocating for a revolutionary,
centralized party.
Mensheviks - answerA faction of the Social Democrats led by Martov, advocating for a gradualist and
broader party approach.
and Communist Russia, 1855 1964
Exam
Emancipation of the Serfs (1861) - answerSerfs gained personal freedom but had to pay redemption
dues for land (often poor quality and insufficient).
Military Reforms (1860s-70s) - answerReduced service terms, modern weaponry, improved officer
training, abolition of corporal punishment.
Judicial Reforms (1864) - answerEquality before the law, public trials, jury system, independent judiciary.
Local Government Reforms (Zemstva, 1864) - answerElected local councils with responsibilities for
education, healthcare, infrastructure.
Education Reforms (1860s-70s) - answerExpansion of primary and secondary education, greater
autonomy for universities.
Censorship Reforms (Relaxation) - answerReduced restrictions on publications.
Populists (Narodniks) - answer"Going to the people," aimed to incite peasant revolution, but largely
unsuccessful.
Emergence of Revolutionary Groups - answer"Land and Liberty," later splitting into "The People's Will"
(advocating terrorism) and "Black Repartition" (more Marxist).
Assassination of Alexander II (1881) - answerMarked the end of the reform era and a shift towards
reaction.
, Increased Autocratic Control - answerReduced zemstva powers, increased state control over education,
strengthened the police and secret police (Okhrana).
Russification - answerImposition of Russian language, culture, and Orthodoxy on non-Russian ethnic
groups within the empire.
Economic Development - answerContinued industrialization, encouraged foreign investment (e.g., under
Vyshnegradsky and Witte), focus on railway construction (Trans-Siberian Railway).
Suppression of Opposition - answerCrackdown on revolutionary groups, censorship tightened.
Nicholas II - answerTsar of Russia from 1894 to 1917, characterized as weak-willed and clinging to
autocratic principles.
Industrialization - answerContinued industrialization led to a growing urban working class with poor
living and working conditions.
Land Hunger - answerA major issue for peasants in Tsarist Russia, reflecting their need for land.
Social Revolutionaries (SRs) - answerPolitical group focused on peasant issues, advocating land
redistribution and using terrorism.
Social Democrats (SDs) - answerMarxist ideology group split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, differing in
approach to revolution.
Bolsheviks - answerA faction of the Social Democrats led by Lenin, advocating for a revolutionary,
centralized party.
Mensheviks - answerA faction of the Social Democrats led by Martov, advocating for a gradualist and
broader party approach.
