Q 01/05

The city where Russia's 1917 revolutions played out regained which name in 1991?

A) Volgograd

B) Saint Petersburg

C) Nizhny Novgorod

D) Kaliningrad

Answer · why

B) Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg. Its German-sounding name gave way to Petrograd when war broke out in 1914, it became Leningrad in 1924, and residents voted the orig...

Q 02/05

Why is the March 1917 uprising called the February Revolution?

A) It began on 28 February in Kiev

B) It was named after a February manifesto

C) The Bolsheviks backdated it for propaganda

D) Russia still used the Julian dates

Answer · why

D) Russia still used the Julian dates

Russia still used the Julian dates, by then 13 days behind the West's Gregorian calendar; the Bolsheviks made the switch in 1918, when 31 January was ...

Q 03/05

Lenin was a revolutionary alias; what surname was the Bolshevik leader born with?

A) Bronstein

B) Ulyanov

C) Dzhugashvili

D) Rozenfeld

Answer · why

B) Ulyanov

Ulyanov. He adopted the alias Lenin in 1901, and his birthplace Simbirsk, also the home town of Kerensky, the man he overthrew, was later renamed Ulya...

Q 04/05

What did Nicholas II's own generals press him to do in March 1917?

A) Abdicate

B) Flee abroad

C) Sue for peace

D) Storm Petrograd

Answer · why

A) Abdicate

Abdicate. With the rail line to the capital blocked, the imperial train was diverted to Pskov, where his generals and two envoys from the capital pres...

Q 05/05

Nicholas II nominated which relative to succeed him, who then declined the throne?

A) His son Alexei

B) His brother Michael

C) His cousin Nicholas

D) His uncle Vladimir

Answer · why

B) His brother Michael

Nicholas first meant to pass the crown to his young son Alexei, then named his brother Michael instead; Michael declined within a day, ending three ce...