← History syllabus

Northern IrelandHistory

Unit 1 Section A: Russia 1914 to 1941

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did Stalin win the power struggle, and how did he transform the Soviet economy?

Stalin's rise and the Soviet economy: the power struggle after Lenin, the defeat of Trotsky, the Five-Year Plans for industry and the collectivisation of agriculture.
A focused CCEA GCSE History guide to Stalin's rise and economic policy. Covers the power struggle after Lenin's death, Stalin's defeat of Trotsky, the Five-Year Plans that drove rapid industrialisation, and the collectivisation of agriculture with its human cost.
14 min answer →

How did Stalin use terror, propaganda and the cult of personality to control Soviet society?

Terror, propaganda and society under Stalin: the Great Purges and show trials, the secret police and Gulag, the cult of personality and the use of propaganda and censorship.
A focused CCEA GCSE History guide to Stalin's control of Soviet society. Covers the Great Purges and show trials, the secret police (NKVD) and the Gulag labour camps, the cult of personality around Stalin, and the use of propaganda and censorship to control what people knew and believed.
13 min answer →

How did the Bolsheviks hold on to power through the Civil War?

The Civil War and Bolshevik consolidation: the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Reds against the Whites, War Communism and the Terror, and the move to the New Economic Policy.
A focused CCEA GCSE History guide to how the Bolsheviks kept power. Covers the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Russian Civil War between Reds and Whites, the role of Trotsky and the Red Army, War Communism and the Cheka, and the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1921.
13 min answer →

Why did Tsarism collapse in February 1917, and how did the Bolsheviks seize power in October?

War and the revolutions of 1917: the impact of the First World War, the fall of the Tsar in February 1917, the Provisional Government, and the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917.
A focused CCEA GCSE History guide to the Russian revolutions. Covers the impact of the First World War on Russia, the February Revolution and the fall of the Tsar, the weaknesses of the Provisional Government, the role of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, and the October Revolution of 1917.
14 min answer →