History of Russia Questions

These six words were less a challenge to the person being addressed than a fervid request for him to continue his policies of liberalization. The words were spoken at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate in 1987. With what six words did a U.S. president ask the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party to destroy a symbol of divided Germany?

This man was responsible for the de-Stalinization campaign and for backing the Soviet space program in its initial stages. He was the first secretary of the Communist Party, and had supported Joseph Stalin's purges while they were going on. Who was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the successor of Joseph Stalin?

A succession of state security services in the Soviet Union began with the establishment of the Cheka in 1917. Which of the following security services was founded in 1954 and lasted until the end of the Soviet Union?

A brief period of liberalization that began in April 1968 ended in August when Soviet tanks poured into an Eastern bloc country to restore hardline Communism. What is the name of this country, led by Alexander Dubček during that period?

U.S. and British fears that the Soviets intended to spread communism led to the unraveling of the alliance of World War Two. Instead of direct warfare, the East and West supported opposing sides in proxy wars around the world. By what name was this period, which began in 1948, known?

The first round of these talks between the United States and the Soviet Union started in November 1969, and lasted more than two and a half years. The second round started in November 1972, and lasted until Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev [LAY-uh-nid BREZH-neff] signed the agreement in Vienna on June 18, 1979. What talks were designed to limit the nuclear weapons of the United States and the Soviets during the Cold War?

Who was the Russian Emperor during the Napoleonic Wars?

Dzhokhar Dudayev ousted the local communist government in August 1991 and declared independence from Russia in November. In which Caucasus area did Dudayev's actions lead to a civil war between Russian-backed opposition groups and the Dudayev government?

This successor of Constantin Chernenko referred to one of his policies as the "Sinatra Doctrine." This man removed his troops from Afghanistan, and this leader implemented policies of "restructuring" and "openness" called perestroika [peh ruh STROY kuh] and glasnost [GLAZ nowst]. Name this man, the final leader of the Soviet Union.

Occurring October 25, 1854, during the Battle of Balaklava [bal-uh-KLAH-vuh], this British war effort resulted in a devastating loss as a much larger, well-defended Russian army easily defeated the cavalry's advances. What was this highly unsuccessful military attack, commemorated in an 1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson?

He joined the Bolshevik party in 1906, and became head of the Moscow Party Committee in the 1920s. Named minister of foreign affairs in 1939, he lost all of his high party offices when he turned against Khrushchev in 1957. What Soviet politician gave his name to gasoline-filled bottles used as incendiary "cocktails"?

Who lead the Swedish Empire during the Great Northern War?

This phrase may have been used before, but a speech by former British prime minister to a small Missouri college on March 5, 1946, brought it into popular usage. While the U.S. and Britain were working on their post-World War Two economies, Churchill warned of this -- quote -- "descending across the continent" and dividing Europe. What figurative phrase did Churchill give to the heavily patrolled division between Communist countries in the east and free countries in the west?

During the Cold War, President Nixon used it to ease geo-political tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Which piece of American foreign policy, whose name is French for "an easing of tension," led to the treaties known as SALT I and SALT II?

The Great Game was the name given to the rivalry between Great Britain and Russia during the 19th century for influence over and control of much of which area?

The leader of this rebellion against Catherine the Great, claimed to be Tsar Peter the Thirdnand gathered a force of 20,000 Cossacks in southeastern Russia. Despite the size of its forces, the rebellion failed and its leader was taken to Moscow in a cage and later executed. What rebellion led Catherine the Great to strengthen provincial government and negated her plans to emancipate the serfs?

What ruler overthrew her husband, Peter the Third, to become empress of Russia?

Believing it might become a British colony, which Russian Tsar sold Alaska to the United States?

Which event was the most instrumental in the abolition of serfdom in Russia during the 1860s?

This English social reformer was born in 1820 to an upper-class family living in a villa in Italy. This woman was a prominent figure in upgrading healthcare throughout Britain and learned her nursing skills at a medical institution in Germany in 1850. Who famously led a group of nurses during the Crimean War and gained the nickname "the Lady with the Lamp" in an article written by the Times of London?