2012
To what extent was it military defeat rather than the actions of the Bolsheviks that brought about the downfall of the Provisional Government?
How far was Red victory in the Civil War due to superior economic resources?
How significant was the Kronstadt Rebellion in bringing about the end of War Communism?
“Federalism was nothing but a cover for a centralised dictatorship based in Moscow.” How valid is this view of Soviet policy regarding national minorities 1917–1924?
To what extent were the Purges prompted mainly by social and economic factors?
2011
How far is it true to say that the February Revolution was “born in the bread queues” of Petrograd?
“No Russian government had ever been more responsive to pressure from below or less able to impose its will on society.” How accurate is this assessment of Bolshevik economic policy 1917–1921?
To what extent was Stalin’s success in the leadership struggle due to his opponents underestimating him?
How effective was Stalin’s policy of industrialisation in achieving its aims by 1941?
How significant was the contribution of the Soviet generals to victory in the Great Patriotic War?
2010
To what extent was October a “proletarian revolution” rather than a “coup d’état”?
How far was the outcome of the Civil War determined by the actions of the Allies rather than the policies of the Bolsheviks?
Was the NEP anything more than a desperate response to desperate economic and political circumstances?
How valid is the view that Stalin emerged as the leader of Russia mainly because he was able to present himself as the true heir of Lenin?
What factors best explain why the Soviet Union’s wartime alliance with UK and the USA developed into the hostility of the Cold War after 1945? 2009
To what extent was the collapse of Tsarist autocracy by February 1917 due to social and economic, rather than military, factors?
How far were Bolshevik ideals sacrificed in the pursuit of power by 1921?
How important was the issue of leadership in determining the outcome of the Civil War, 1917–1921?
How effective was the policy of collectivisation in achieving its aims?
To what extent was the mobilisation of economic resources the key factor leading to Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War?
2008
“A revolution that no-one expected, planned or controlled.” How valid is this view of the February Revolution?
To what extent was Bolshevik foreign policy between 1917–1924 faithful to the ideology of international revolution?
How successful was NEP in tackling the economic and political problems facing the Bolsheviks in the 1920s?
To what extent was Trotsky responsible for his own downfall in the 1920s?
Were the Purges and the Terror no more than a product of Stalin’s paranoia?
What factors best explain the Soviet Union’s recovery from its initial defeat by Nazi Germany in 1941–1942?
2007
Why were so few Russians prepared to defend Tsarism in February 1917?
What were the most significant factors which led to the emergence of a one-party dictatorship between 1917 and 1921?
How successful was Lenin’s foreign policy 1917–1924?
How important were policy issues in Stalin’s rise to power?
How successful were the Five Year Plans, 1928–1941?
What were the main issues which influenced Soviet foreign policy in the post-war period 1945–1953?