The October Manifesto was the tsar's answer to the Revolution of 1905. What did it concede?Wikipedia, "October Manifesto". DSST outline area The Russian Empire (10%), A. Governing institutions
Russia's defeat in which war of 1904 and 1905 shook the monarchy and fed the Revolution of 1905?Wikipedia, "Russo-Japanese War". DSST outline area The Russian Empire (10%), D. Foreign affairs
Sergei Witte, finance minister from 1892 to 1903, is linked above all with which policy?Wikipedia, "Sergei Witte". DSST outline area The Russian Empire (10%), B. Economics
What did Alexander II's reform of 1861 do?Wikipedia, "Emancipation reform of 1861". DSST outline area The Russian Empire (10%), C. Culture and society
What was a zemstvo, first set up under Alexander II in 1864?Wikipedia, "Zemstvo". DSST outline area The Russian Empire (10%), A. Governing institutions
Which revolutionary organization assassinated Alexander II in 1881?Wikipedia, "Narodnaya Volya". DSST outline area The Russian Empire (10%), E. Revolutionary movements
Show all 60 questions (54 more)
Russia in war and revolutions, 1914-1922 7
"Dual power" in 1917 describes the uneasy sharing of authority between which two bodies?Wikipedia, "Dual power". DSST outline area Russia in War and Revolutions (12%), C. Provisional Government / Dual Power
Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet, issued in March 1917, told soldiers and sailors what?Wikipedia, "Order No. 1". DSST outline area Russia in War and Revolutions (12%), C. Provisional Government / Dual Power
What did Soviet Russia give up in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed in March 1918?Wikipedia, "Treaty of Brest-Litovsk". DSST outline area Russia in War and Revolutions (12%), E. Civil war
What happened to the Russian Second Army at Tannenberg in August 1914?Wikipedia, "Battle of Tannenberg". DSST outline area Russia in War and Revolutions (12%), A. The First World War
What was the outcome of the February Revolution of 1917?Wikipedia, "February Revolution". DSST outline area Russia in War and Revolutions (12%), B. February revolution
Who rose against Bolshevik rule at the Kronstadt naval base in March 1921?Wikipedia, "Kronstadt rebellion". DSST outline area Russia in War and Revolutions (12%), E. Civil war
Whose government did the Bolsheviks overthrow in Petrograd in the October Revolution?Wikipedia, "October Revolution". DSST outline area Russia in War and Revolutions (12%), D. October revolution
Early Soviet history, 1922-1928 3
How did the New Economic Policy of 1921 change Bolshevik economic practice?Wikipedia, "New Economic Policy". DSST outline area Early Soviet History (5%), A. New Economic Policy (NEP) and 5-Year State Plan of Action
What did Germany and Soviet Russia agree to in the Treaty of Rapallo, signed on April 16, 1922?Wikipedia, "Treaty of Rapallo (1922)". DSST outline area Early Soviet History (5%), C. Foreign relations
Which four republics signed the treaty that created the Soviet Union in December 1922?Wikipedia, "Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". DSST outline area Early Soviet History (5%), B. Nationalities
Early Stalinism, 1929-1939 6
After whose assassination in 1934 did Stalin launch the Moscow show trials?Wikipedia, "Great Purge". DSST outline area Early Stalinism (10%), C. The Great Terror
The first five-year plan was launched in 1928. What did Stalin announce about it at the beginning of 1933?Wikipedia, "First five-year plan". DSST outline area Early Stalinism (10%), B. Industrialization
The Stakhanovite movement of the 1930s took its name from a worker in which trade?Wikipedia, "Stakhanovite movement". DSST outline area Early Stalinism (10%), B. Industrialization
What was a kolkhoz, the form of farming imposed on the Soviet countryside from 1929?Wikipedia, "Collectivization in the Soviet Union". DSST outline area Early Stalinism (10%), A. Collectivization
What was the Holodomor?Wikipedia, "Holodomor". DSST outline area Early Stalinism (10%), E. Nationalities
Which doctrine became the required style for Soviet writers and artists in the 1930s?Wikipedia, "Socialist realism". DSST outline area Early Stalinism (10%), D. Culture
The Second World War 7
How did the Battle of Stalingrad end in February 1943?Wikipedia, "Battle of Stalingrad". DSST outline area The Second World War (12%), B. The course of the war
The siege of which city, cut off by German and Finnish forces from September 1941 to January 1944, lasted 872 days?Wikipedia, "Siege of Leningrad". DSST outline area The Second World War (12%), C. The impact and experience of the war
What did Stalin agree to at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 regarding the Pacific war?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Yalta Conference, 1945". DSST outline area The Second World War (12%), D. Wartime diplomacy and conclusion of the war
What did the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 arrange?Wikipedia, "Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact". DSST outline area The Second World War (12%), A. Prewar foreign relations
What happened to the Soviet Union's standing abroad after it attacked Finland in November 1939?Wikipedia, "Winter War". DSST outline area The Second World War (12%), A. Prewar foreign relations
What was Operation Barbarossa?Wikipedia, "Operation Barbarossa". DSST outline area The Second World War (12%), B. The course of the war
Why is the Battle of Kursk, in July 1943, a turning point?Wikipedia, "Battle of Kursk". DSST outline area The Second World War (12%), B. The course of the war
Postwar Stalinism 6
George F. Kennan's writings of 1946 and 1947 gave American policy toward the Soviet Union which guiding idea?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Kennan and Containment, 1947". DSST outline area Postwar Stalinism (10%), B. Origin of the Cold War
How did the Western powers answer the Soviet blockade of land routes to West Berlin in June 1948?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949". DSST outline area Postwar Stalinism (10%), B. Origin of the Cold War
What was the "Doctors' Plot" announced in January 1953?Wikipedia, "Doctors' plot". DSST outline area Postwar Stalinism (10%), C. Reconsolidation
Which country's communist party was declared outside the Cominform in June 1948 after its leader defied Stalin?Wikipedia, "Tito–Stalin split". DSST outline area Postwar Stalinism (10%), D. Foreign relations
Why did the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites stay out of the Marshall Plan?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Marshall Plan, 1948". DSST outline area Postwar Stalinism (10%), A. Reconstruction
The Zhdanov Doctrine of 1946 tightened party control over which field?Wikipedia, "Zhdanov Doctrine". DSST outline area Postwar Stalinism (10%), C. Reconsolidation
The Khrushchev years 7
How did the Soviet Union respond to the Hungarian Revolution of autumn 1956?Wikipedia, "Hungarian Revolution of 1956". DSST outline area The Khrushchev Years (12%), E. Foreign relations and proxy wars
The Sino-Soviet split deepened after 1956. What was a main Chinese objection to Khrushchev's line?Wikipedia, "Sino-Soviet split". DSST outline area The Khrushchev Years (12%), D. Rift with China
Some advisers urged an air strike on the Soviet missile sites in Cuba, others only warnings. Which middle course did Kennedy order on October 22, 1962?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962". DSST outline area The Khrushchev Years (12%), C. Relations with U.S.
What did Khrushchev do in his "Secret Speech" to the Twentieth Party Congress in February 1956?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Khrushchev and the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party, 1956". DSST outline area The Khrushchev Years (12%), B. De-Stalinization and rehabilitation
What was Khrushchev's Virgin Lands campaign of the 1950s?Wikipedia, "Virgin Lands campaign". DSST outline area The Khrushchev Years (12%), F. Economy and social change under Khrushchev
What wrecked the Paris summit planned for May 1960?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "U-2 Overflights and the Capture of Francis Gary Powers, 1960". DSST outline area The Khrushchev Years (12%), C. Relations with U.S.
Which rival for power, the head of the security services, was arrested in June 1953 and shot that December?Wikipedia, "Lavrentiy Beria". DSST outline area The Khrushchev Years (12%), A. Succession struggle
The Brezhnev era 7
The economic reform of 1965 is usually named for which Soviet premier?Wikipedia, "1965 Soviet economic reform". DSST outline area The Brezhnev Era (11%), A. Reforms and "Stagnation"
How did the Soviet Union and its allies end the reform movement in Czechoslovakia known as the Prague Spring?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1968". DSST outline area The Brezhnev Era (11%), A. Reforms and "Stagnation"
In the Angolan civil war of 1975, which movement did the Soviet Union arm and Cuban troops fight for?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Angola Crisis 1974-75". DSST outline area The Brezhnev Era (11%), D. Proxy wars in the Third World
What was samizdat?Wikipedia, "Samizdat". DSST outline area The Brezhnev Era (11%), B. Ideological dissent
Which of these was part of the Carter administration's response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. Response, 1978-1980". DSST outline area The Brezhnev Era (11%), E. War in Afghanistan
Which physicist, who had overseen the development of Soviet thermonuclear weapons, became a leading dissident and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975?Wikipedia, "Andrei Sakharov". DSST outline area The Brezhnev Era (11%), B. Ideological dissent
Which two agreements did Nixon and Brezhnev sign in Moscow in May 1972 to conclude the first round of SALT?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Strategic Arms Limitations Talks/Treaty (SALT) I and II". DSST outline area The Brezhnev Era (11%), C. Détente
Reform and collapse under Gorbachev 11
How did the Russian constitutional crisis of autumn 1993 end?Wikipedia, "1993 Russian constitutional crisis". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), E. Post-Soviet Russia
The leaders of which three republics signed the Belovezha Accords on December 8, 1991, declaring that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist?Wikipedia, "Belovezha Accords". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), D. End of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party in March 1985. Whom did he succeed?Wikipedia, "Mikhail Gorbachev". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), B. Perestroika and glasnost
On which date did Gorbachev resign as president of the Soviet Union, after which the Soviet flag over the Kremlin was lowered?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Collapse of the Soviet Union". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), D. End of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Reactor 4 of which nuclear power plant, at Pripyat in Soviet Ukraine, was destroyed in the accident of April 26, 1986?Wikipedia, "Chernobyl disaster". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), B. Perestroika and glasnost
What did Reagan and Gorbachev agree to in the INF Treaty, signed in December 1987?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "U.S.-Soviet Relations, 1981-1991". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), A. Foreign policy and external pressures
What does glasnost mean?Wikipedia, "Glasnost". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), B. Perestroika and glasnost
What was perestroika?Wikipedia, "Perestroika". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), B. Perestroika and glasnost
What was the Baltic Way of August 23, 1989?Wikipedia, "Baltic Way". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), C. Reemergence of the nationalities issue
What was the result of the August 1991 coup attempt by hard-line communists?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "The Collapse of the Soviet Union". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), D. End of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Why did the communist governments of Eastern Europe fall so quickly in 1989?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, 1989". DSST outline area Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev (18%), A. Foreign policy and external pressures
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the exam content outline in the DSST fact sheet for History of the Soviet Union (Prometric, Rev 1/2026, https://getcollegecredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/History-of-the-Soviet-Union-1.pdf, read 2026-10-13): The Russian Empire (1860-1914) 10%, Russia in War and Revolutions, 1914-1922 12%, Early Soviet History from 1922-1928 5%, Early Stalinism 1929-1939 10%, The Second World War 12%, Postwar Stalinism 10%, The Khrushchev Years 12%, The Brezhnev Era 11%, Reform and Collapse Under Gorbachev 18%. This bank holds 60: 6, 7, 3, 6, 7, 6, 7, 7 and 11, the same shares to the nearest question. Every fact was read on 2026-10-13 on the public page named under its question: the State Department's Office of the Historian and Wikipedia. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This DSST History of the Soviet Union practice test has 60 questions of our own, spread over the fact sheet's nine areas. It is unofficial and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Prometric, which owns the DSST exams.
Read the full guide
What the exam covers
The fact sheet (Rev 1/2026) lists nine areas: the Russian Empire, 1860 to 1914, 10%; war and revolutions, 1914 to 1922, 12%; early Soviet history, 1922 to 1928, 5%; early Stalinism 10%; the Second World War 12%; postwar Stalinism 10%; the Khrushchev years 12%; the Brezhnev era 11%; reform and collapse under Gorbachev 18%. The bank holds 6, 7, 3, 6, 7, 6, 7, 7 and 11.
Gorbachev's years are the largest area at 18%: glasnost, perestroika, the nationalities and the end of the Union in 1991.
A tenth of the exam is Russia before 1914: the emancipation of the serfs, Witte's industrialization, the war with Japan and 1905.
Questions and answers
Is the DSST History of the Soviet Union the same as Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union?
Yes. Prometric's fact sheet gives Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union as the exam's former title, so a study guide under that name is for this exam. Check its chapters against the outline revised 1/2026, which runs from 1860 to post-Soviet Russia.
How many questions are on the DSST History of the Soviet Union exam?
The fact sheet states 100 questions to be answered in 2 hours. In exam mode this page draws 50 of its 60 questions and gives you 60 minutes.
What score do you need on the DSST History of the Soviet Union exam?
A score of 400 is where the American Council on Education's recommendation of 3 semester hours of lower-level baccalaureate credit begins. Each school sets its own policy on the score it accepts.
Are these real DSST History of the Soviet Union questions?
No. All 60 are our own work from the outline's lines and public sources, with nothing lifted or adapted from an exam form or the fact sheet's samples. Doing well here shows you know these facts and no more.