Edexcel IGCSE History: Dictatorship and Conflict in the USSR, 1924–53 — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board. The extracts below are entirely invented for this exercise — none is a real historian’s work, and none should be treated or cited as one.

Related: USSR revision notes | USSR study guide

These questions practise the three Depth Study question types of Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History 4HI1 Paper 1 across all five key topics of “Dictatorship and conflict in the USSR, 1924–53”. Answer guidance follows.

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Question 1 — the leadership struggle and the economy

Extract A (invented for this exercise).

“Trotsky argued in public and lost; Stalin said little and counted votes. By the time his rivals understood what the General Secretary’s office could do, it had already done it.”

1(a) What impression does the author give about how Stalin defeated his rivals? You must use Extract A to explain your answer. [6]

1(b) Explain two effects of collectivisation on the Soviet countryside. [8]

1(c) “The Five-year Plans of 1928–41 were a success.” How far do you agree? [16]

You may use the following in your answer:

• the work of Gosplan and the Stakhanovites
• living and working conditions in the towns

You must also use information of your own.

Question 2 — terror and control

Extract B (invented for this exercise).

“The portrait on every wall and the knock on every door were two halves of the same system: the people were taught to love Stalin and reminded, every night, what happened to those who did not.”

2(a) What impression does the author give about how Stalin controlled the Soviet people? You must use Extract B to explain your answer. [6]

2(b) Explain two effects of the murder of Kirov (1934). [8]

2(c) “Terror was the main reason Stalin kept control of the USSR in the 1930s.” How far do you agree? [16]

You may use the following in your answer:

• the NKVD and the gulags
• the cult of personality

You must also use information of your own.

Question 3 — war and after, 1941–53

3(b) Explain two effects of the German invasion of 1941 on the Soviet Union. [8]

3(c) “War production was the main reason for the Soviet victory over Germany.” How far do you agree? [16]

You may use the following in your answer:

• the Battle of Stalingrad
• the relocation of industry

You must also use information of your own.

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Answers and mark guidance

1(a) [6]

The author suggests Stalin won through quiet control of the party machine rather than argument. The contrast between Trotsky who “argued in public and lost” and Stalin who “said little and counted votes” presents Stalin as a patient tactician. The final sentence implies his rivals underestimated him until too late.

1(b) [8]

• Famine: requisitioning continued while harvests fell, causing the famine of 1932–33, which killed millions, especially in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
• Destruction of the kulaks and loss of livestock: better-off peasants were deported or killed, and peasants slaughtered animals rather than surrender them, damaging farming for years.

Credit also: state control of the grain supply, mechanisation via Motor Tractor Stations, and migration of peasants to the new industrial towns.

1(c) [16]

Agree: Gosplan’s targets drove huge increases in coal, steel and electricity; projects such as Magnitogorsk and the Dnieper dam; Stakhanovite propaganda encouraged productivity; the industrial base made wartime production possible.

Disagree: targets encouraged false figures and poor-quality goods; consumer goods and housing were neglected; workers faced strict labour laws, low wages and overcrowding; forced labour in the gulags; the purges removed managers and engineers.

Judgement: success depends on the measure — a success for heavy industry and military power, a failure for living standards.

2(a) [6]

The author presents control as a combination of propaganda and fear. “The portrait on every wall” represents the cult of personality; “the knock on every door” represents NKVD arrests. Describing them as “two halves of the same system” suggests they worked together, while “every night” stresses constant fear.

2(b) [8]

• Mass arrests: a decree after the murder sped up trials of “terrorists”, and thousands were arrested in Leningrad and beyond.
• The show trials: Zinoviev and Kamenev were accused of involvement and later tried and executed (1936), beginning the Moscow Show Trials and the Great Terror.

2(c) [16]

Agree: the NKVD under Yezhov, the Great Terror, show trials and gulags removed opponents and silenced the population; the army purge eliminated any military threat.

Other factors: the cult of personality and propaganda; censorship and socialist realism; control of education and the rewriting of history; genuine support from those who gained through promotion, education or Stakhanovite rewards; patriotism.

Judgement: terror made opposition impossible, but propaganda and opportunity explain why many actively supported Stalin.

3(b) [8]

• Huge early losses: the Red Army lost millions of men captured or killed in 1941, and Germany occupied Ukraine and western Russia, besieging Leningrad.
• Economic reorganisation: factories were dismantled and moved east of the Urals, and the economy was turned over entirely to war production.

3(c) [16]

Agree: relocated factories and new plants produced vast numbers of tanks (such as the T-34), aircraft and guns, outproducing Germany by 1943.

Other factors: Stalingrad (1942–43) as the turning point; the defence of Moscow; the endurance of the population and patriotism; improved generalship (Zhukov); Allied Lend-Lease aid; German mistakes and over-extension; the Russian winter.

Judgement: production made victory possible, but Stalingrad showed that leadership and sacrifice decided where and when the war turned.

Where marks are usually lost

• Explaining effects of the wrong event (e.g. collectivisation instead of industrialisation).
• Making unsupported general claims about “terror” without named examples.
• Ending an essay without a clear judgement on the question’s factor.

Source: question patterns modelled on the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History (4HI1) specification, Issue 5, February 2026, Paper 1.

Frequently asked questions

How is each Paper 1 depth study question structured? Each 4HI1 Paper 1 question has three parts: (a) what impression an extract gives (6 marks), (b) explain two effects (8 marks) and (c) a ‘how far do you agree’ essay (16 marks), with bullet prompts and your own knowledge.

What do the extracts suggest about Stalin’s rise? That he won through quiet control of the party machine rather than public argument with Trotsky.

What is a common error in part (b)? Explaining the effects of the wrong policy, for example collectivisation when the question asks about industrialisation.

Are these real Edexcel past-paper questions? No. They are original questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History 4HI1; use them alongside the official past papers and mark schemes.