Russia faced many problems in the years 1905 to 1917.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2023). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1-4] (a) e.g. 'It was mainly an agricultural country with little industry.'
2. '(a) Its industries were old fashioned and needed modernisation.'
3. '(a) Agriculture was outdated with no modern methods being used.'
4. '(a) Agriculture did not produce enough and there were famines.'
5. '(a) Investment was needed for industry to develop.'
6. '(a) More workers were needed if Russia was to industrialise.'
7. [4-5] (b) I think it was successful because of the First World War. Russia was doing very badly and casualties were very high. The Tsar had made the mistake of going to the Front to take personal charge of the Russian army and so when they failed disastrously he got the blame. He showed himself to be incompetent and this turned many people against him.
8. [2-3] (b) e.g. 'The war was going badly.'
9. '(b) The Tsar was blamed for the disasters in the war.'
10. '(b) The Tsarina and Rasputin were very unpopular.'
11. '(b) The Tsar's government had collapsed.'
12. '(b) There were shortages of food, wages were low and strikes and demonstrations were breaking out.'
13. '(b) The middle classes wanted a say in the government of the country.'
14. '(b) Members of the army joined the strikes.'
15. '(b) The army refused to put down the revolt.'
16. '(b) The army and demonstrators demanded that the Duma take over.'
17. '(b) The Petrograd Soviet took control of St Petersburg.'
18. [4-6] (c) 'I disagree with this statement. During this period there were Dumas which were elected and had a say in the government of the country. For most of this period, Stolypin was the Tsar's chief minister and he wanted moderate reform in agriculture, industry and in education. He created a peasants' land bank so that they could buy more land and make bigger farms.'
19. OR
20. '(c) I think this statement is right. The granting of the Dumas was made useless when the Tsar issued the ‘Fundamental Laws'. These gave the Tsar a veto over laws, the power to appoint and dismiss ministers and to dissolve the Duma when he saw fit. This meant that the Dumas were useless. Stolypin introduced many repressive measures. Strikers and protestors were exiled or executed. The number of secret police was increased to spy on people and find out who were opponents of the regime. They were then arrested.'
21. [2-3] (c) e.g. 'Stolypin introduced reforms in agriculture creating the kulaks.'
22. '(c) He introduced health and insurance schemes for workers.'
23. '(c) The October Manifesto granted the Duma which removed much opposition.'
24. '(c) The Fundamental Laws meant the early Dumas achieved very little.'
25. '(c) The Dumas were useless and did little.'
26. '(c) Stolypin used repression. Opponents of the regime were exiled or executed.'
27. '(c) He crushed opposition through 'Stolypin's necktie'.'
28. '(c) The Okhrana (secret police) were used against people.'