O Level History: Depth Study C, Russia 1905-41 — Practice Questions (Cambridge 2147)

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions. The wording below is invented for practice purposes, but the structure follows the syllabus’s own: Depth Studies are examined only on Paper 1, Section B, which sets two questions on each Depth Study (candidates answer one), each a three-part structured essay split (a), (b), (c). Depth Studies are not set on Paper 2, so this page contains no source questions. Cambridge International holds copyright in its own papers; use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or Cambridge directly.

Related: Depth Study C revision notes | Depth Study C study guide

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Cambridge O Level History 2147 examines Depth Study C in Paper 1, Section B, where you choose one of two questions on it. Each is worth 20 marks: (a) 4, (b) 6, (c) 10. The four questions below cover all four key questions of the Depth Study – more than one exam would set, so you can practise every area.

Question 1: The fall of the Tsar (key question 1)

(a) Describe the events of Bloody Sunday, January 1905. [4]

(b) Explain why the Tsar survived the 1905 Revolution. [6]

(c) “The First World War was the main reason for the collapse of the Tsarist regime.” How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [10]

Worked answer

(a) A peaceful march of workers and their families led by Father Gapon; they marched to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg; they carried a petition and icons and portraits of the Tsar; they asked for better conditions and an elected assembly; troops opened fire; many were killed; it destroyed trust in the Tsar as the “Little Father”.

(b) The October Manifesto promised a Duma and civil rights, satisfying liberals and splitting them from socialists; peace with Japan (1905) allowed loyal troops to return and crush the St Petersburg Soviet and the Moscow rising; the opposition had no single leader or aim; and Stolypin’s harsh repression afterwards ended peasant revolts.

(c) War: defeats and massive losses turned soldiers against the regime; the Tsar became personally responsible after 1915; shortages and inflation in the cities caused the protests of March 1917; the army’s refusal to fire was decisive. Other causes: the autocracy’s refusal to reform (dissolving Dumas); poverty and repression; the Rasputin scandal; the growth of revolutionary parties; discontent shown in 1905 and the Lena strikes of 1912. Judgement: the regime was already weak, but the war turned weakness into collapse by destroying the army’s loyalty.

Question 2: The Bolsheviks (key question 2)

(a) What was the Kornilov affair? [4]

(b) Explain why the Kronstadt Rising led to the New Economic Policy. [6]

(c) “The weaknesses of the Whites were the main reason why the Bolsheviks won the Civil War.” How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [10]

Worked answer

(a) In September 1917 General Kornilov, commander-in-chief, appeared to move troops towards Petrograd; Kerensky feared a military coup; he released Bolsheviks from prison and armed the Red Guards to defend the city; Kornilov’s troops were persuaded not to fight; the Bolsheviks were seen as defenders of the revolution and their support grew.

(b) The Kronstadt sailors had been strong Bolshevik supporters in 1917, so their revolt in March 1921 showed how unpopular War Communism had become; they demanded free elections to the soviets and an end to grain requisitioning; at the same time peasant risings and famine showed the economy was collapsing; Lenin realised that he needed to win back peasant support, so he replaced requisitioning with a tax in kind and allowed private trade.

(c) White weaknesses: divided leaders (Kolchak, Denikin, Yudenich) who never co-ordinated; different aims, from restoring the Tsar to a democratic republic; long supply lines; brutality and links with landlords lost peasant support; foreign help let the Reds call them puppets of foreigners. Red strengths: Trotsky’s Red Army and use of political commissars; control of the central industrial area and railways; War Communism to supply troops; propaganda and Cheka terror; unity under Lenin. Judgement: Red strengths and White weaknesses worked together; the Reds’ central position meant they could exploit White divisions.

Question 3: Stalin’s power (key question 3)

(a) Describe Stalin’s position in the Communist Party when Lenin died. [4]

(b) Explain why Stalin launched the Purges. [6]

(c) “Terror was the most important method Stalin used to control the Soviet Union.” How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [10]

Worked answer

(a) He was General Secretary from 1922; he controlled appointments and promotions, so many officials owed him their jobs; he was a member of the Politburo; he had a reputation as a dull administrator, so rivals underestimated him; Lenin’s Testament had criticised him and suggested his removal.

(b) To remove possible rivals such as the old Bolsheviks Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin; Kirov’s murder (1934) gave him an excuse and suggested a plot; he feared the army leadership might oppose him; economic failures needed scapegoats (“wreckers”); and fear made the whole population obedient during rapid change.

(c) Terror: millions arrested; show trials; the Gulag; the army purged; denunciations made everyone afraid. Other methods: the cult of personality in posters, statues and renamed towns; censorship and rewritten history; socialist realism in the arts; education and youth organisations; genuine belief among some workers that Stalin was building a modern socialist state. Judgement: terror removed opposition, but propaganda gave the regime support; most answers argue terror was essential but not sufficient.

Question 4: The economy (key question 4)

(a) What was collectivisation? [4]

(b) Explain why Stalin introduced the Five-Year Plans. [6]

(c) “Stalin’s economic policies were a success.” How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [10]

Worked answer

(a) The joining together of individual peasant farms into large collective farms (kolkhozes); land, animals and tools were shared; the state set grain quotas; begun on a mass scale in 1929; kulaks were removed; machinery was supplied through Machine Tractor Stations.

(b) To modernise the USSR rapidly and catch up with the West; to build heavy industry to defend against attack from capitalist countries; to create a larger working class, which communists saw as the base of socialism; to end the NEP’s private trade; and to strengthen Stalin’s own authority as leader of a great project.

(c) Success: coal, steel, oil and electricity output rose dramatically; new cities, dams and canals were built; unemployment ended; by 1941 the USSR had the industrial base to fight Germany. Failure: famine in 1932-33 killed millions; agriculture recovered only slowly and livestock numbers collapsed; consumer goods and housing were poor; forced labour and terror; quality often low. Judgement: a success in Stalin’s aim of rapid industrial power, a failure measured by human cost and living standards.

Where marks are usually lost

• In (a), giving one detailed point instead of several separate ones.
• In (b), explaining what happened rather than why.
• In (c), failing to define “success” or “main reason” before judging.

Frequently asked questions

Should I learn production figures? A few approximate comparisons (for example, coal and steel output rising several times over between 1928 and 1940) help, but explanation matters more.

Which questions overlap with Germany? Methods of control (terror and propaganda) appear in both Depth Studies B and C, but answer with Soviet evidence here.

Official syllabus

Cambridge O Level History (2147) syllabus for examination in 2024, 2025 and 2026 – cambridgeinternational.org (Depth study C; Details of the assessment, Paper 1).