Russia topic key infotrmation

Question 1

Tsarist Autocracy

Answer 1

Policy: Absolute power vested in the Tsar; no political opposition allowed.
Impact: Created social tensions; peasantry held no rights or political power.

Question 2

Emancipation of the Serfs (1861)

Answer 2

Policy: Serfs freed and given land but had to make payments over 49 years (redemption payments).
Statistics: 50 million serfs freed, but many remained poor due to high payments and limited land.

Question 3

1905 Revolution

Answer 3

Policies Resulting from the Revolution: Creation of Duma (parliament), limited civil liberties.
Statistics: Thousands killed on Bloody Sunday, sparking nationwide strikes.

Question 4

February and October Revolutions (1917)

Answer 4

Policy: Provisional Government introduces reforms, fails to address war.
Statistics: 1.5 million soldiers desert the Russian army by early 1917.

Question 5

Russian Civil War (1918-1921)

Answer 5

Policy: War Communism, state control of all industry and food distribution.
Statistics: 7-10 million casualties (famine and conflict); widespread suffering.

Question 6

Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP)

Answer 6

Policy: Partial retreat from communism; allows small businesses and private trade.
Impact: Improves economy but causes debate within Communist Party.

Question 7

Stalin’s Rise to Power

Answer 7

Policy: Centralized power; implemented totalitarian control over the state.
Impact: Established single-party rule, purged rivals.

Question 8

Collectivization and the Famine

Answer 8

Policy: Forced consolidation of small farms into collective farms.
Statistics: 5-7 million people died in Ukraine famine (Holodomor).

Question 9

The Great Purge

Answer 9

Policy: Political purges targeting perceived enemies of the state, particularly within the Communist Party.
Statistics: Estimated 1 million executed; 1.5 million imprisoned.

Question 10

Soviet Role in WWII

Answer 10

Policy: Scorched earth tactics; mass mobilization of industry.
Statistics: 27 million Soviet casualties, largest death toll of any country.

Question 11

Gorbachev’s Reforms (1980s)

Answer 11

Policies: Glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) for economic and political liberalization.
Impact: Led to more freedom but economic instability, ultimately contributing to Soviet collapse.

Question 12

Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)

Answer 12

Policy: Decentralization of power to republics; failed economy and independence movements.
Statistics: 15 republics gained independence, USSR dissolved officially on December 26, 1991.