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AQA A Level History Russia: Unit 2 The Collapse of
Autocracy 1894-1917 Questions and Correct Answers/
Latest Update / Already Graded
When was Nicholas II regin
Ans: 1894-1917
What was Nicholas II personality like
Ans: He was weak and unintelligent meaning he could not properly run the
country but was fully committed to autocracy causing lots of opposition
What were the effects of the Great Famine 1891-1892
Ans: The famine showed how inefficient the civil service of Russia was and
people were questioning whether it was time for more people to play a greater
role in government at all levels
The Zemstva, with a huge amount of support, pushed for more autonomy with
liberal zemstvo men like Prince Lvov calling for a national assembly
They presented these ideas to the Tsar but he denounced them as 'senseless
dreams'
Famine shows limitations of the power of the Zemstva
When was the Great Famine
Ans: 1891-1892
Opposition from workers between 1894-1904
Ans: As the 1890s progressed workers became more militant and went on
strike more with support from the Marxist Social Democrats with textile workers
in St Petersburg (mainly women) mounting strikes of 30,000 workers in 1896-
1897 and the peak for strikes being in 1899 and involved 100,000 workers
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
How did the government respond to strikes between 1894-1904
Ans: The government was scared of strikes and dealt with strikes by police
repression, arrests, imprisonment, exile and even execution with the government
setting up a special factory police force in 1899 with its units stationed
permanently near large industrial work
What was the government policy towards workers between 1894-1904
Ans: The Textile workers strikes of 1896-1897 forced the government to pass
an 11h 30 min work day
The introduction of Zubatov Unions
What were Zubatov Unions
Ans: They were police run trade unions which allowed workers to make
demands to employers and legally go on strike
Who was Zubatov
Ans: The head of the Moscow Okhrana who believed that repressive measures
alone could not combat the strikes and thought that workers needed to believe in
the system
When were Zubatov Unions set up
Ans: They started in 1901 in Moscow and spread among the south and west
When were Zubatov unions shut down
Ans: In 1903 after a strike organised by Zubatov unions in Odessa broke out
into a general strike leading to Zubatov being sacked
Opposition from students between 1894-1904
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
Ans: The turn of the century saw serious disturbances involving students
In 1891 there was protests against government control of university university
which mushroomed into huge demonstrations where police beat students with
whips, arrested their leaders and drafted some into the army
Middle classes were horrified by the police brutality and many students were
radicalised with thousands joining the Socialist Revolutionaries
Why were peasants angry between 1894-1904
Ans: There was another famine in the Central Volga region in 1898-9 and an
international recession after 1900 caused a depression in Russia
This lead to falling wages, unemployment and widespread industrial action and
then these workers returned to their villages to stir up peasant revolts as there
was already lots anger about taxes and higher rents
Opposition from peasants between 1894-1904
Ans: The Poltava province saw the first wave of peasant violence in 1902
because landlords were withdrawing land needed to feed families or renting it out
at more exploitative rent
Peasant revolts increased in 1902 and 1903 with the government doing nothing to
solve it other than repression with prisoners filling up with political prisoners
The regime now faced growing opposition and some people were turning to ideas
of revolution
What were the causes of the 1905 Revolution
Ans: Economic discontent in the countryside
Living conditions in the touns
Working conditions in the touns
Political opposition
Russo-Japanese war
Bloody sunday
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 4 | Page
How did economic discontent in the countryside cause the 1905 Revolution
Ans: Redemption payments meant peasants did not have lots of money and
some peasants had worse land meaning they did not have enough food or money
to live
Policy of high grain export meant that peasants did not have enough food
Nobles were scared of uncontrolled influx into cities so only did partial
emancipation and tied peasants to the Mir
The Great Famine between 1891-1892 and a famine in the Central Volga between
1998-9
How did living conditions in the towns cause the 1905 revolution
Ans: They lived in poor conditions with disease (cholera and other diseases
flourished and syphilis became rampant as their were more prostitutes),
overcrowding (up to 10 people in a room in St Petersburg) and starvation with
the Zemstvo controlled by central government and were unable to provide
adequate transport, drainage and sewage or pure water supplies
How did working conditions in the towns cause the 1905 revolution
Ans: Labour conditions were awful with them getting paid more than rural
workers but having more expenses, worked for long hours with arbitrary fines
and no ways to change their conditions due to Zubatov unions being banned
causing lots of unrest
How did political opposition cause the 1905 revolution
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
AQA A Level History Russia: Unit 2 The Collapse of
Autocracy 1894-1917 Questions and Correct Answers/
Latest Update / Already Graded
When was Nicholas II regin
Ans: 1894-1917
What was Nicholas II personality like
Ans: He was weak and unintelligent meaning he could not properly run the
country but was fully committed to autocracy causing lots of opposition
What were the effects of the Great Famine 1891-1892
Ans: The famine showed how inefficient the civil service of Russia was and
people were questioning whether it was time for more people to play a greater
role in government at all levels
The Zemstva, with a huge amount of support, pushed for more autonomy with
liberal zemstvo men like Prince Lvov calling for a national assembly
They presented these ideas to the Tsar but he denounced them as 'senseless
dreams'
Famine shows limitations of the power of the Zemstva
When was the Great Famine
Ans: 1891-1892
Opposition from workers between 1894-1904
Ans: As the 1890s progressed workers became more militant and went on
strike more with support from the Marxist Social Democrats with textile workers
in St Petersburg (mainly women) mounting strikes of 30,000 workers in 1896-
1897 and the peak for strikes being in 1899 and involved 100,000 workers
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
How did the government respond to strikes between 1894-1904
Ans: The government was scared of strikes and dealt with strikes by police
repression, arrests, imprisonment, exile and even execution with the government
setting up a special factory police force in 1899 with its units stationed
permanently near large industrial work
What was the government policy towards workers between 1894-1904
Ans: The Textile workers strikes of 1896-1897 forced the government to pass
an 11h 30 min work day
The introduction of Zubatov Unions
What were Zubatov Unions
Ans: They were police run trade unions which allowed workers to make
demands to employers and legally go on strike
Who was Zubatov
Ans: The head of the Moscow Okhrana who believed that repressive measures
alone could not combat the strikes and thought that workers needed to believe in
the system
When were Zubatov Unions set up
Ans: They started in 1901 in Moscow and spread among the south and west
When were Zubatov unions shut down
Ans: In 1903 after a strike organised by Zubatov unions in Odessa broke out
into a general strike leading to Zubatov being sacked
Opposition from students between 1894-1904
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
Ans: The turn of the century saw serious disturbances involving students
In 1891 there was protests against government control of university university
which mushroomed into huge demonstrations where police beat students with
whips, arrested their leaders and drafted some into the army
Middle classes were horrified by the police brutality and many students were
radicalised with thousands joining the Socialist Revolutionaries
Why were peasants angry between 1894-1904
Ans: There was another famine in the Central Volga region in 1898-9 and an
international recession after 1900 caused a depression in Russia
This lead to falling wages, unemployment and widespread industrial action and
then these workers returned to their villages to stir up peasant revolts as there
was already lots anger about taxes and higher rents
Opposition from peasants between 1894-1904
Ans: The Poltava province saw the first wave of peasant violence in 1902
because landlords were withdrawing land needed to feed families or renting it out
at more exploitative rent
Peasant revolts increased in 1902 and 1903 with the government doing nothing to
solve it other than repression with prisoners filling up with political prisoners
The regime now faced growing opposition and some people were turning to ideas
of revolution
What were the causes of the 1905 Revolution
Ans: Economic discontent in the countryside
Living conditions in the touns
Working conditions in the touns
Political opposition
Russo-Japanese war
Bloody sunday
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 4 | Page
How did economic discontent in the countryside cause the 1905 Revolution
Ans: Redemption payments meant peasants did not have lots of money and
some peasants had worse land meaning they did not have enough food or money
to live
Policy of high grain export meant that peasants did not have enough food
Nobles were scared of uncontrolled influx into cities so only did partial
emancipation and tied peasants to the Mir
The Great Famine between 1891-1892 and a famine in the Central Volga between
1998-9
How did living conditions in the towns cause the 1905 revolution
Ans: They lived in poor conditions with disease (cholera and other diseases
flourished and syphilis became rampant as their were more prostitutes),
overcrowding (up to 10 people in a room in St Petersburg) and starvation with
the Zemstvo controlled by central government and were unable to provide
adequate transport, drainage and sewage or pure water supplies
How did working conditions in the towns cause the 1905 revolution
Ans: Labour conditions were awful with them getting paid more than rural
workers but having more expenses, worked for long hours with arbitrary fines
and no ways to change their conditions due to Zubatov unions being banned
causing lots of unrest
How did political opposition cause the 1905 revolution
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
