What Changed after October?

Land policy was linked with peasants and noble landlords. Exam tip: connect land policy with rural society.

Industrial policy was linked with factories and production. Exam tip: connect industry with state control.

The correct answer is state planning. After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks aimed to replace the old capitalist order with a socialist economy in which the state had a leading role in ownership, production and distribution. In the later Soviet system, economic plans set targets for industries and agriculture, and major resources were directed according to government priorities rather than only private profit. The Tsar’s private property was abolished, foreign companies did not rule the economy, and a church-based market was not the governing principle. State planning therefore best expresses the major economic change associated with post-October Russia.

The correct answer is the First World War. The Bolsheviks had opposed the continuation of Russia’s participation in the war because it caused enormous casualties, shortages and economic hardship. After taking power in October 1917, they opened peace negotiations with Germany and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918. This formally removed Russia from the conflict, though the terms were harsh. The Second World War had not yet begun, while the Crimean War and American Civil War belonged to earlier periods and different regions. Thus, option A correctly identifies the war from which Russia withdrew.

Bolsheviks took steps to leave the war for peace. Exam tip: remember the result of the peace slogan.

The correct answer is peasants. Land was a central issue in revolutionary Russia because many peasants wanted the estates of landlords to be redistributed. The Bolsheviks issued measures supporting the transfer of land to those who cultivated it, which helped them attract or retain peasant support during the revolution and Civil War. Their policy did not aim to restore the royal court, strengthen foreign traders or place land under church officials. Although the relationship between the Bolshevik state and peasants later became tense, the immediate land policy clearly addressed peasant demands. Therefore, option A is correct.

Bolshevik economic policy was linked with state control. Exam tip: connect it with socialist aims.

Control over press and opposition increased under Bolshevik rule. Exam tip: remember political control.

In Russia power became concentrated in the hands of the Communist Party. Exam tip: understand the meaning of one-party rule.

Land and grain policies were important for peasants. Exam tip: connect peasant role with economic interests.

In Russia, collective farms were called kolkhozes. In these farms, land and resources were used collectively by peasants. The Duma was a legislative body, whereas the Cheka was the secret police. Exam tip: remember ‘kolkhoz’ for collective farming and ‘sovkhoz’ for a state farm.

Kolkhoz was the Soviet term for a collective farm, where farmers worked jointly in agricultural production. Therefore, it is related to agriculture. The navy, courts, and foreign trade belong to different administrative or economic fields. Exam tip: remember kolkhoz as the Soviet system of collective farming.

State control was a key part of socialist change. Exam tip: pay attention to the words production and resources.

The conflict between old and new forces appeared in the Civil War. Exam tip: understand Civil War as a power struggle.

After October power came into Bolshevik hands. Exam tip: connect political change with transfer of power.

After October there were major changes in land banks and power. Exam tip: identify the correct group of changes.

Dissolving the Constituent Assembly concentrated power more in Bolshevik hands. Exam tip: connect it with political centralisation.

Land policy was linked with the main demand of peasants. Exam tip: remember it as a rural change.

After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik government issued a decree on land, ending private ownership of large estates and making land available for peasants’ use. Therefore, it first addressed the land demand of the peasants. Landowners were not beneficiaries of redistribution; they were the group that lost their estates. Exam tip: link post-October land policy with peasant support for the Bolsheviks.

The Bolsheviks nationalised large industries. Exam tip: connect nationalisation with socialist economy.