Russia and the Soviet Union, 1894–1945
What's covered
Key facts
The Bolsheviks succeeded where other parties failed because they were better organised, had a clear "Peace, Land, Bread" programme, and Trotsky planned the rising precisely.
From 1928 Stalin's collectivisation forced peasants to give up their individual farms and join state-controlled collective farms (kolkhozy) and state farms (sovkhozy).
In 1905 the Bloody Sunday massacre, mass strikes and the Potemkin naval mutiny shook the regime; Nicholas survived by issuing the October Manifesto promising a Duma and civil liberties.
The Bolsheviks won the Civil War because they held central Russia and the railway network, the Whites were geographically and politically disunited, and Trotsky disciplined the Red Army through harsh measures.
Stalin built a cult of personality through state propaganda: state media glorified him as Lenin's heir, history textbooks were rewritten, and the arts were required to praise the regime ("socialist realism").
Lenin's April Theses (1917) demanded immediate withdrawal from the war, all power to the Soviets, redistribution of land to the peasants, and nationalisation of banks — providing the Bolshevik platform that out-promised the Provisional Government.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918) was Lenin's peace with Germany; Russia gave up Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic states and Finland.
Stalin's Five Year Plans set ambitious state production targets, mainly for heavy industry — coal, steel, oil, and electricity.
After February 1917 Russia had a "Dual Power" problem: the liberal Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet of workers' and soldiers' deputies operated as rival authorities, paralysing decision-making.
The Cheka was the Bolsheviks' secret police, founded in December 1917 under Felix Dzerzhinsky.
Sample questions
A taste of the 35 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918)?
- •A secret agreement with Britain allowing British troops to stay in Archangel
- •A trade agreement allowing Russia to sell grain to Germany for manufactured goods
- ✓Lenin's peace with Germany — Russia gave up Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic states
- •The treaty that ended the Russian Civil War and set the borders of the new USSR
What was Stalin's collectivisation policy from 1928 onwards?
- •A programme to mechanise individual farms using state-supplied tractors
- •A voluntary scheme encouraging peasants to form cooperatives for efficiency
- •Allowing successful peasant farmers (kulaks) to expand and sell surplus grain
- ✓Forced peasants to give up individual farms and join state-run collective farms (kolkhozy)
In what year did the February Revolution overthrow Tsar Nicholas II?
- •1905
- •1914
- ✓1917
- •1918
Who were the 'Whites' in the Russian Civil War (1918–21)?
- ✓A loose coalition of Tsarist officers, foreign interventionists, and anti-Bolshevik socialists
- •Loyal Tsarist troops who fought to restore Nicholas II to the throne
- •Peasant armies who wanted land redistribution but opposed Bolshevik grain seizures
- •The military wing of the Provisional Government that refused to accept Lenin's coup
Who were the 'kulaks' and what happened to them under Stalin?
- ✓Better-off peasants labelled class enemies — millions arrested, sent to gulags, or shot
- •Factory managers who resisted the Five Year Plans — they were demoted to the floor
- •Former Tsarist landowners reclaiming their estates — they were compensated and resettled
- •Peasants who voluntarily joined collective farms early and received extra grain
Why did the February Revolution of 1917 succeed in bringing down the Tsar?
- ✓Bread riots in Petrograd spiralled; army units mutinied and refused to fire on protesters
- •Germany invaded Petrograd, forcing Nicholas II to abandon power and flee to Finland
- •The Bolsheviks organised a planned armed uprising and stormed the Winter Palace
- •The Duma voted to impeach the Tsar and declared a republic with broad popular support
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