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Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964

  • 11 subtopics
  • 31 things to know
  • Unit group 3
  • Thematic study and interpretations, one unit of twenty-one

What Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964 covers

Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964 is unit Y318 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-one options in unit group 3, the thematic study and historical interpretations; a student sits one of them. Its four key topics and three depth studies are the nature of government, the impact of dictatorial regimes on the economy and society of Russia and the USSR, impact of war and revolution on the development of Russia and the USSR, the impact of Russia and the USSR on nationalities and satellite states, Alexander II’s domestic reforms, the Provisional Government, Khrushchev in power 1956–1964. 387 recall questions across 11 subtopics.

Where it is assessed

Unit group 3

Thematic study and historical interpretations, one unit of twenty-one.

Check the OCR specification ↗

The 11 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

How far did the Duma limit the tsar's power?

Numbers

Describe central administration under the tsars.

Key term

How was central administration organised after the Bolshevik seizure of power?

Key term

How extensive was reform under the tsars?

Key term

Describe the main forms of opposition before 1917.

Numbers

Contrast the attitudes of the tsars, the Provisional Government and the Communists to political change.

Evaluation

Why did emancipation disappoint the peasants?

Who and when

How did the New Economic Policy affect industrial workers?

Evaluation

What effect did the Second World War have on living and working conditions?

Numbers

What military reform followed the Crimean War?

Who and when

How did the First World War damage the Russian economy?

Process

How did the Second World War reshape the Soviet economy?

Process

How did the First World War affect the borderland nationalities?

Key term

Describe the judicial reform of 1864.

Numbers

Summarise the military reforms.

Numbers

What form did opposition to Alexander II take?

Who and when

What happened during the July Days?

Numbers

What did de-Stalinisation actually involve?

Numbers

How was opposition repressed under Khrushchev?

Numbers

How did Khrushchev deal with unrest in the satellites?

Numbers

How successful were his economic reforms?

Process

How did urban living conditions change under Khrushchev?

Numbers

How did the Cold War affect Khrushchev's position?

Numbers

How did the Russo-Polish War end?

Evaluation

Why did the delay to the Constituent Assembly matter so much?

Key term

How mixed was the population of the Russian Empire?

Key term

What caused the Polish Revolt of 1863?

Key term

What were living and working conditions like in the cities in 1917?

Key term

What was Russification?

Who and when

What did the Bolsheviks promise the nationalities in 1917?

Key term

What was the effect of continuing the war?

Take Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Zemstva vs Nomenklatura

    Zemstva: the elected local councils created in 1864 for roads, schools and public health. Nomenklatura: the list of posts filled only with party approval, and the privileged group who held them.

  • Russification vs Virgin Lands scheme

    Russification: the policy of imposing Russian language, law and religion on the non-Russian peoples. Virgin Lands scheme: the campaign to bring the grasslands of Kazakhstan and Siberia under grain.

  • Loris-Melikov plan vs Peasant Land Bank

    Loris-Melikov plan: the proposal to bring elected representatives into the drafting of legislation. Peasant Land Bank: the institution created to lend peasants money to buy land.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define autocracy as the tsars practised it.

    Model answer

    Rule in which the tsar held unlimited sovereign power by divine right, unchecked by constitution, parliament or law and answerable only to God.

  2. 2

    What did the Fundamental Laws of 1906 establish?

    Model answer

    They created an elected Duma but restated that the tsar was autocrat, kept ministers, the armed forces and foreign policy under his sole control, and allowed him to legislate by decree when the Duma was not sitting.

  3. 3

    How far did the Duma limit the tsar's power?

    Model answer

    Very little: the first two Dumas were dissolved within months, the franchise was altered in 1907 to guarantee a conservative majority, and ministers remained answerable to the tsar alone.

  4. 4

    Describe central administration under the tsars.

    Model answer

    Government was carried on by appointed ministers, the Committee of Ministers and the advisory State Council, with no prime minister co-ordinating policy until 1905 and no body the tsar could not bypass.

  5. 5

    Distinguish between dictatorship and totalitarianism.

    Model answer

    A dictatorship concentrates political power in one leader or party, while a totalitarian regime goes further and attempts to control the economy, culture, belief and private life as well.

  6. 6

    How was central administration organised after the Bolshevik seizure of power?

    Model answer

    Sovnarkom, the council of people's commissars, was the formal government, but real authority lay with the Party's Politburo and Secretariat, so state bodies executed decisions already taken inside the Party.

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Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964 revision questions

What does Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
11 subtopics: the nature of government: autocracy, methods of repression and enforcement, the nature of government: extent and impact of reform, attitude of the tsars, extent of political change, the impact of dictatorial regimes on the economy and society of russia and the ussr, impact of war and revolution on the development of russia and the ussr, the impact of russia and the ussr on nationalities and satellite states: poland, asia, russification and the jews, the impact of russia and the ussr on nationalities and satellite states: finland, the baltic, soviet nationalities and satellites, depth study: alexander ii’s domestic reforms — the crimean war, the great reforms and their limits, depth study: the provisional government — formation, reforms and living conditions in 1917, depth study: the provisional government — the crises of 1917 and the government’s fall, depth study: khrushchev in power 1956–1964 — aims, de-stalinisation and reform and depth study: khrushchev in power 1956–1964 — opposition and khrushchev’s fall. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964 organised?
By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

Every question in Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

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