Russia and the USSR Trivia Quiz

Answer: Little Father of Russia

Crowds flocked to St. Petersburg to see Nicholas crowned. There were so many people, that a police report said 1,200 people were crushed to death as the gathering surged forward to see the Tsar, whom they called 'Little Father of Russia'. He was the last Emperor of Russia.
Nicholas II abdicated following the revolution of February, 1917. During his period as Tsar, he was known for regularly rejecting requests for reform. He was an autocrat - there were no limits on his power.

Answer: Father Gapon

On January 22nd, 1905, otherwise known as Bloody Sunday, Orthodox priest Father Gapon led a crowd of 200,000 protesters to the Winter Palace to give the Tsar a petition for reform. However, the Tsar was not at the palace. He had fled St.Petersburg in fear. Instead, the protesters met with a regiment of soldiers, who opened fire on the crowd.

Answer: True

Although the Russian public demanded reforms and a break from autocracy, they still accepted Nicholas II as Tsar. Nicholas promised reforms. He offered the people the right to free speech and the right to form political parties. He announced concessions and financially aided peasants.

He set up the Duma, which was an elected parliament. However, after 1907 he did not see himself as bound by its decisions.

Answer: 1911

In 1906, the Tsar appointed a new, tough, prime minister, Peter Stolypin. Stolypin used the carrot and stick method, to punish revolutionaries, strikers, protesters and win over peasants by offering them land. He tried to boost industrial growth and he did so.

There was impressive change between 1908 and 1911. He was assassinated by Dmitri Bogrov, which worked well for the Tsar as he was planning to sack him anyway. The Tsar thought Stolypin was trying to change Russia too much and blocked many of his ideas for reforms.

The Tsar's thoughts on Stolypin were influenced by the thoughts of many others. People saw Stolypin's reforms as a threat to the traditional Russian society where everyone knew their place. They felt he was trying to take them away from the Russia they knew as Peter hoped to industrialize and modernize Russia.

He was of administrative background.

Answer: disreputable

Grigori Yefimovich had influence over the Tsar and Tsarina. After 'miraculously' healing the Tsar's son and possible heir apparent, Alexis, of haemophilia, he began to give the Tsarina advice on how to run the country. He was said to be a drinker and womanizer. The public disliked him and he was eventually murdered by a group of six.

Answer: No

Despite what they claimed, the Bolsheviks didn't have the support of the majority of Russians. In fact, they only came into power because people were tired of the inefficient provisional government and of Russia's involvement in World War I. Also, the Bolsheviks seems disciplined and dedicated to to revolution. They also had some powerful personalities, such as Trotsky and Lenin.

Answer: Socialist Revolutionaries

Elections were held in late 1917. The Bolsheviks' rivals, the peasant-based Socialist Revolutionaries, were the biggest party when the Assembly opened on January 18th, 1918, gaining 370 votes. The Bolsheviks gained 175 votes, the Left-wing Socialist Revolutionaries won 40 seats and the Mensheviks had 17 seats, while the Constitutional Democrats managed only 16. The remaining 89 seats were distributed among minor parties.

There was civil war in Russia from 1918-1921.

Answer: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The harsh Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed in 1918 between Communist Russia and Germany. This treaty determined Russia's exit from World War I and forced Russia to sacrifice large areas of land. Lenin was convinced that Communism would spread to the rest of the world; this was the main belief behind signing such a harsh treaty.
The other treaties were all signed after the war. Saint Germain was between the Allies and Austria, Neuilly between the Allies and Bulgaria and Sevres with Turkey.

Answer: 1929

When Lenin died in 1924, there were several possible candidates who could take his place. There were two leading figures in the fight for control- Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Stalin won, through political scheming. He focused on industrializing Russia and did little to promote communism internationally.
Trotsky was ordered to be deported from the Soviet Union and was exiled. He stayed in Turkey for the first four years.

Answer: GOSPLAN

TOS and PELSCO don't exist. NEP stands for Lenin's 'New Economic Policy.' The GOSPLAN was created by Lenin in 1921. They set ambitious targets for production in the vital heavy industries (coal, iron, electricity generating). They were a set of business objectives that gave industries direction and targets.