CHAPTER-02: SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Part A – 40 MCQs with Answers

1. Who was the leader of the Bolshevik Party in Russia?
a) Stalin
b) Lenin
c) Trotsky
d) Kerensky
👉 Answer: b) Lenin

2. What was the slogan of the Bolsheviks during the October Revolution?
a) Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
b) Peace, Bread and Land
c) Work, Food and Shelter
d) Justice, Equality and Freedom
👉 Answer: b) Peace, Bread and Land

3. Karl Marx believed that the condition of workers could improve only by:
a) Reforms by the government
b) Overthrowing capitalism
c) Charity by the rich
d) Industrial growth
👉 Answer: b) Overthrowing capitalism

4. Who wrote the Communist Manifesto?
a) Lenin and Stalin
b) Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
c) Trotsky and Lenin
d) Marx and Lenin
👉 Answer: b) Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

5. The Russian Revolution of 1917 began in which month?
a) February
b) March
c) October
d) December
👉 Answer: a) February

6. What does the word “Soviet” mean?
a) Army group
b) Council of workers and soldiers
c) Communist book
d) Russian parliament
👉 Answer: b) Council of workers and soldiers

7. The Tsar of Russia at the time of the Revolution was:
a) Nicholas I
b) Nicholas II
c) Alexander II
d) Alexander III
👉 Answer: b) Nicholas II

8. The secret police of Tsarist Russia was called:
a) Gestapo
b) Okhrana
c) Cheka
d) Red Army
👉 Answer: b) Okhrana

9. The Bolsheviks were opposed to:
a) Socialism
b) Marxism
c) Autocracy and capitalism
d) Workers’ unity
👉 Answer: c) Autocracy and capitalism

10. The Duma was:
a) Russian parliament
b) Russian army
c) Communist party
d) Workers’ council
👉 Answer: a) Russian parliament

11. When did the October Revolution take place?
a) 1917 (October)
b) 1905
c) 1914
d) 1919
👉 Answer: a) 1917 (October)

12. Who were the ‘Mensheviks’?
a) Majority group of Russian Socialists
b) Minority group of Russian Socialists
c) Tsarist supporters
d) Workers’ unions
👉 Answer: b) Minority group of Russian Socialists

13. What was Russia’s main occupation before the Revolution?
a) Industry
b) Trade
c) Agriculture
d) Banking
👉 Answer: c) Agriculture

14. Lenin returned to Russia from exile in which country?
a) Germany
b) Switzerland
c) France
d) Britain
👉 Answer: b) Switzerland

15. What was ‘Bloody Sunday’?
a) Day Tsar abdicated
b) Massacre of workers in 1905 during a protest
c) Start of the February Revolution
d) Bolshevik attack on Tsar’s palace
👉 Answer: b) Massacre of workers in 1905 during a protest

16. What type of ideology did Socialists support?
a) Private property
b) Equality and collective ownership
c) Feudal system
d) Capitalism
👉 Answer: b) Equality and collective ownership

17. Who was the German philosopher who inspired socialism?
a) Hegel
b) Karl Marx
c) Kant
d) Nietzsche
👉 Answer: b) Karl Marx

18. The Bolsheviks believed in:
a) Gradual reforms
b) Immediate revolution
c) Supporting the Tsar
d) Slow parliamentary democracy
👉 Answer: b) Immediate revolution

19. The First World War was fought between:
a) Allies and Axis
b) Allies and Central Powers
c) Russia and Germany alone
d) Britain and Russia
👉 Answer: b) Allies and Central Powers

20. What did socialism oppose?
a) Equality
b) Class division and private property
c) Collective ownership
d) Workers’ rights
👉 Answer: b) Class division and private property

21. The Communist Party of Russia was earlier called:
a) Social Democratic Party (Bolshevik faction)
b) Menshevik Party
c) Soviet Party
d) Labour Party
👉 Answer: a) Social Democratic Party (Bolshevik faction)

22. Who among the following was NOT a socialist thinker?
a) Karl Marx
b) Friedrich Engels
c) Lenin
d) Adam Smith
👉 Answer: d) Adam Smith

23. Which treaty ended Russia’s participation in World War I?
a) Treaty of Paris
b) Treaty of Versailles
c) Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
d) Treaty of Moscow
👉 Answer: c) Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

24. The Russian Civil War (1918–20) was fought between:
a) Red Army and White Army
b) Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
c) Russia and Germany
d) Workers and peasants
👉 Answer: a) Red Army and White Army

25. Who founded the Bolshevik Party?
a) Stalin
b) Trotsky
c) Lenin
d) Kerensky
👉 Answer: c) Lenin

26. In socialist ideology, resources should be owned by:
a) Kings
b) Private businessmen
c) Society collectively
d) Army
👉 Answer: c) Society collectively

27. When was the First International formed?
a) 1864
b) 1871
c) 1889
d) 1905
👉 Answer: a) 1864

28. The Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party was founded in:
a) 1898
b) 1905
c) 1917
d) 1920
👉 Answer: a) 1898

29. Who was Kerensky?
a) Leader of Bolsheviks
b) Head of the Provisional Government in 1917
c) Tsarist officer
d) German revolutionary
👉 Answer: b) Head of the Provisional Government in 1917

30. The immediate cause of the February Revolution was:
a) Peasants’ revolt
b) Workers’ strike and food shortage
c) Tsar’s abdication
d) Lenin’s return
👉 Answer: b) Workers’ strike and food shortage

31. What did Marx call the working class?
a) Bourgeoisie
b) Proletariat
c) Soviets
d) Serfs
👉 Answer: b) Proletariat

32. What was the New Economic Policy (NEP)?
a) Lenin’s plan allowing some private trade and ownership
b) Stalin’s industrialization plan
c) Tsar’s reform plan
d) Menshevik program
👉 Answer: a) Lenin’s plan allowing some private trade and ownership

33. Which party came to power in Russia after October 1917?
a) Bolsheviks
b) Mensheviks
c) Liberals
d) Tsarists
👉 Answer: a) Bolsheviks

34. When did Tsar Nicholas II abdicate the throne?
a) February 1917
b) October 1917
c) 1905
d) 1920
👉 Answer: a) February 1917

35. Which international body was formed in 1919 to promote world socialism?
a) First International
b) Second International
c) Third International (Comintern)
d) Soviet Union
👉 Answer: c) Third International (Comintern)

36. The White Army in the Russian Civil War was supported by:
a) Workers and peasants
b) Foreign powers and monarchists
c) Bolsheviks
d) Soviets
👉 Answer: b) Foreign powers and monarchists

37. Which city was renamed Petrograd in 1914?
a) Moscow
b) St. Petersburg
c) Kiev
d) Leningrad
👉 Answer: b) St. Petersburg

38. Who was the leader of the Red Army?
a) Lenin
b) Stalin
c) Trotsky
d) Kerensky
👉 Answer: c) Trotsky

39. Which year is known as the ‘Year of Revolution’ in Europe?
a) 1848
b) 1917
c) 1789
d) 1905
👉 Answer: a) 1848

40. Which event is considered the beginning of the Russian Revolution?
a) Bloody Sunday (1905)
b) October Revolution (1917)
c) February Revolution (1917)
d) Civil War (1918)
👉 Answer: a) Bloody Sunday (1905)

41. What does USSR stand for?
👉 Answer: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

42. In which year was the USSR formed?
👉 Answer: 1922

43. Who succeeded Lenin as the leader of the USSR?
👉 Answer: Joseph Stalin

44. Which group represented the landlords and nobles in Russia?
👉 Answer: The aristocracy

45. The Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communist Party in:
👉 Answer: 1918

46. Which country encouraged Lenin to return to Russia during WWI?
👉 Answer: Germany

47. Which industry was the most developed in Russia before the Revolution?
👉 Answer: Textiles and iron/steel

48. Who was Rasputin?
👉 Answer: A mystic who influenced the Tsar’s family

49. Which political party in Britain supported socialism?
👉 Answer: Labour Party

50. Who said: “Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains”?
👉 Answer: Karl Marx

Part B – 30 Short Answer Questions with Answers

Q1. What was socialism?
👉 A political and economic system advocating collective ownership of resources and equality in society.

Q2. Name two early socialist thinkers before Marx.
👉 Robert Owen, Louis Blanc.

Q3. What was the immediate cause of the 1905 Revolution in Russia?
👉 The Bloody Sunday massacre.

Q4. What was the Duma?
👉 The elected parliament of Russia set up after 1905.

Q5. What did Lenin’s April Theses demand?
👉 Peace, Bread, Land, and transfer of power to Soviets.

Q6. What was the significance of the February Revolution of 1917?
👉 It ended Tsarist autocracy in Russia.

Q7. Who were the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks?
👉 Factions of the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party; Bolsheviks were majority, Mensheviks minority.

Q8. What was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
👉 Peace treaty signed by Bolsheviks with Germany in 1918 to end Russia’s participation in WWI.

Q9. What was the role of peasants in the Russian Revolution?
👉 They seized land from landlords and supported Bolsheviks.

Q10. Why did workers form Soviets?
👉 To organize strikes and assert control over factories.

Q11. What was the Provisional Government?
👉 Government formed after Tsar’s abdication in February 1917.

Q12. What was the slogan of Karl Marx?
👉 “Workers of the world unite!”

Q13. What was the Red Army?
👉 Bolshevik military force led by Trotsky during the Civil War.

Q14. What was the impact of WWI on Russia?
👉 Heavy casualties, economic crisis, food shortages, discontent.

Q15. What was the Comintern?
👉 Communist International set up in 1919 to spread socialism worldwide.

Q16. What reforms did the Tsar introduce after 1905?
👉 Created Duma, some civil liberties, but retained autocratic powers.

Q17. What is meant by collective farms?
👉 Large state-controlled farms combining land and labor.

Q18. Who were the kulaks?
👉 Rich peasants in Russia.

Q19. What was Lenin’s NEP?
👉 New Economic Policy allowing limited private trade to revive economy.

Q20. Name two countries where socialism spread after 1917.
👉 China, Cuba.

Q21. What was the impact of the Russian Revolution on the world?
👉 Inspired socialist movements worldwide, rise of communist parties.

Q22. What was the White Army?
👉 Anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian Civil War.

Q23. Who succeeded Lenin?
👉 Joseph Stalin.

Q24. What was the role of women in the Russian Revolution?
👉 Women workers participated in strikes, led demonstrations in 1917.

Q25. What was the impact of industrialization in Russia?
👉 Created poor working conditions, strikes, rise of socialist ideas.

Q26. Name one liberal thinker in 19th-century Europe.
👉 John Stuart Mill.

Q27. What was the role of students and soldiers in the Revolution?
👉 They joined Soviets and participated in protests.

Q28. What was Bloody Sunday?
👉 Massacre of peaceful protestors by Tsar’s soldiers in 1905.

Q29. Which system did the Bolsheviks want to abolish?
👉 Capitalist and autocratic system.

Q30. What was the USSR?
👉 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics formed in 1922.


20 Long Answer Questions (in 5 important points each)

Q1. Features of Socialism

  1. Collective ownership of means of production.

  2. Emphasis on equality and social justice.

  3. Opposition to private property and exploitation.

  4. Planning for welfare of workers and peasants.

  5. Promotion of cooperation over competition.

Q2. Karl Marx’s Theory of Socialism

  1. History shaped by class struggle.

  2. Capitalists (bourgeoisie) exploit workers (proletariat).

  3. Workers’ revolution necessary to overthrow capitalism.

  4. Establishment of socialism with common ownership.

  5. Ultimate aim → communism (classless, stateless society).

Q3. Impact of First World War on Russia

  1. Huge military losses and casualties.

  2. Economic collapse and industry breakdown.

  3. Food shortages and starvation in cities.

  4. Inflation and strikes among workers.

  5. Loss of faith in Tsarist regime → revolutions.

Q4. Causes of 1905 Revolution

  1. Defeat in Russo-Japanese War (1904–05).

  2. Poor working conditions and low wages.

  3. Peasant demand for land reforms.

  4. Bloody Sunday massacre triggered protests.

  5. Tsar’s refusal to share power → unrest.

Q5. Bolsheviks vs Mensheviks

  1. Bolsheviks wanted immediate revolution; Mensheviks gradual reforms.

  2. Bolsheviks = small, disciplined party; Mensheviks = broad membership.

  3. Bolsheviks rejected cooperation with liberals; Mensheviks accepted it.

  4. Bolsheviks demanded power for Soviets; Mensheviks for parliamentary democracy.

  5. Bolsheviks succeeded in October 1917 due to radical approach.

Q6. Significance of February Revolution (1917)

  1. Ended Tsarist autocracy (Nicholas II abdicated).

  2. Provisional Government established.

  3. Soviets of workers and soldiers gained influence.

  4. Freedoms of speech, press, and association allowed.

  5. Failure to solve land/food issues → October Revolution.

Q7. Lenin’s April Theses

  1. End Russia’s involvement in World War I.

  2. Transfer all power to Soviets.

  3. Redistribution of land to peasants.

  4. Nationalisation of banks and industries.

  5. Overthrow of Provisional Government.

Q8. October Revolution 1917

  1. Led by Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky.

  2. Workers and soldiers captured key points in Petrograd.

  3. Winter Palace and government offices seized.

  4. Provisional Government overthrown.

  5. Power transferred to Soviets → Bolsheviks in control.

Q9. Russian Civil War (1918–20)

  1. Conflict between Red Army (Bolsheviks) and White Army (monarchists, foreign powers).

  2. Trotsky organized and strengthened Red Army.

  3. Whites supported by Britain, France, USA.

  4. Red Army won due to unity and discipline.

  5. Result: Bolsheviks consolidated power in Russia.

Q10. Lenin’s Economic Measures

  1. Nationalisation of banks and industries.

  2. Land distributed to peasants.

  3. Workers’ control over factories.

  4. Introduction of New Economic Policy (NEP).

  5. Encouragement of limited private trade.

Q11. Significance of Russian Revolution (world)

  1. End of autocracy and rise of communism.

  2. Inspired socialist and communist movements worldwide.

  3. Strengthened trade unions and labor rights.

  4. Spread of anti-colonial struggles in Asia/Africa.

  5. Formation of USSR in 1922.

Q12. Role of Women in Revolution

  1. Women workers started Petrograd strikes (Feb 1917).

  2. Demanded bread and better living conditions.

  3. Participated in demonstrations and Soviets.

  4. Joined Red Army during Civil War.

  5. Gained new rights in Soviet society.

Q13. Role of Soviets

  1. Councils of workers and soldiers formed in 1905 and 1917.

  2. Organised strikes and protests.

  3. Represented workers’ demands in factories.

  4. Gained more influence than Provisional Government.

  5. Became the basis of Bolshevik rule.

Q14. Failures of Provisional Government

  1. Continued Russia’s involvement in WWI.

  2. Did not implement land reforms.

  3. Failed to improve food supply.

  4. Weak authority compared to Soviets.

  5. Overthrown in October Revolution.

Q15. Stalin’s Policies

  1. Introduced collectivisation of agriculture.

  2. Implemented Five-Year Plans for industry.

  3. Rapid industrialisation of USSR.

  4. Political purges and suppression of opposition.

  5. Established a totalitarian regime.

Q16. Impact of 1905 Revolution

  1. Tsar forced to create Duma (parliament).

  2. Limited civil liberties granted.

  3. Rise of political parties and revolutionary groups.

  4. Workers and peasants gained political awareness.

  5. Autocracy continued → future revolutions inevitable.

Q17. Early Socialist Ideas in Europe

  1. Opposed private property and inequality.

  2. Supported welfare of workers and peasants.

  3. Believed in cooperative farming/production.

  4. Wanted society based on equality and justice.

  5. Inspired later thinkers like Karl Marx.

Q18. Causes of October Revolution (1917)

  1. Failure of Provisional Government.

  2. Continuation of World War I.

  3. Food shortages and economic crisis.

  4. Bolsheviks’ growing popularity.

  5. Lenin’s leadership and April Theses.

Q19. Global Impact of Russian Revolution

  1. Spread of socialist and communist ideas worldwide.

  2. Encouraged anti-colonial movements in Asia and Africa.

  3. Strengthened labor unions in Europe.

  4. Rise of communist parties in many countries.

  5. Emergence of USSR as socialist model.

Q20. Features of USSR (1922)

  1. Federation of Soviet republics (union state).

  2. One-party Communist rule.

  3. Planned economy and state control.

  4. Collective farming and industries nationalised.

  5. Aim of spreading socialism internationally.