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Russian History A-Z

Can you guess these people, places, and things from Russian history starting with each letter of the alphabet?
Quiz by Aaron197
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Last updated: February 12, 2021
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First submittedOctober 8, 2019
Times taken15,165
Average score65.4%
Rating4.20
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Hint
Answer
A
Territory that Russia sold to the United States in 1867 for just $7.2 million
Alaska
B
Communist faction that came to power in 1917
Bolsheviks
C
Federal subject of Russia that tried to break away in the 1990s
Chechnya
D
Author who said "If there is no God, everything is permitted"
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
E
Churchill described Russia as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an _____"
Enigma
F
The first of the two 1917 revolutions
February Revolution
G
Siberian prison system during the reign of Joseph Stalin
Gulag
H
One of the items on the Soviet flag
Hammer
I
The first Tsar of Russia
Ivan the Terrible
J
Russia nearly lost its entire Pacific fleet in a disastrous war with
this country in 1904-05
Japan
K
Soviet leader who de-Stalinized the country in the 1950s
Nikita Khrushchev
L
Space dog who became the first animal to orbit Earth in 1957
Laika
M
Foreign minister who signed a non-aggression pact with Germany in 1939
Vyacheslav Molotov
N
The last tsar of Russia, executed in 1918
Nicholas II
O
The second of the two 1917 revolutions
October Revolution
P
Mendeleev published the first version of this "table" in 1860
Periodic Table
Q
Contemporary term for tsar Alexis
(like Alexander the Great, Suleiman the Magnificent etc, in this case Alexis the ...)
Quiet
R
Royal house that ruled Russia from 1613 to 1917
Romanov
S
Former name of Volgograd
Stalingrad
T
This writer died in 1910 having never won a Nobel Prize, considered to be
one of the greatest omissions in its history
Leo Tolstoy
U
In an event called the Holodomor, Soviet leaders inflicted a terrible famine
on this country, killing millions
Ukraine
V
Group of northern people who ruled over the Kievan Rus'
Vikings
W
Army that fought against the Communists from 1917-1921
White Army
X
Princess consort of Tver who is counted as a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church
Xenia of Tarusa
Y
The first democratically-elected leader in Russian history
Boris Yeltsin
Z
Most-decorated Soviet general of WWII
Georgy Zhukov
+2
Level 80
Oct 10, 2019
A quibble: weren't the Rus Norse to begin with, rather than being ruled over by them? Weren't the Rus Norse migrants? Although I don't know for sure, just a vague memory.
+1
Level ∞
Oct 26, 2019
According to Wikipedia, the Rus were a loose confederation of Slavic and Finnic people ruled over by the Varangians (Norse).
+1
Level 56
Aug 6, 2021
Well, whether they were originally Norse is doubtful, they were and are eastern Slavs. And the city of Novgorod "invited the vikings to rule over them" as they say in Russian textbooks.
+1
Level 86
Oct 11, 2019
Well now I will know what is a federal subject. I had no clue what the C question was about... As for X, no wonder why I tried Xena, but it was close ^^.
+2
Level 82
Oct 11, 2019
Mostly easy. Missed W and Q. Should have guessed W. The gulag system was used before Stalin's time as leader. Stalin was sent in to it multiple times himself as a younger man. Nikolai ought to be accepted for Nicholas.
+1
Level 72
Oct 12, 2019
I almost missed Khrushchev because in the Cyrillic alphabet his name starts with an X which corresponds to the Latin letter H. I am happy it came to my mind in the last about 20 seconds.
+1
Level 87
Oct 13, 2019
Ukraine was not technically a country at the time.
+5
Level 78
Oct 23, 2019
There is not a technical definition of country. :)
+3
Level 56
Dec 14, 2019
who cares people which died horribly were mostly Ukrainians, and now the country is called Ukraine
+2
Level 53
Sep 8, 2021
there's also not great evidence to show the famine was "inflicted," most of it comes from nazi propaganda.
+1
Level 94
Oct 26, 2019
It should be Xenia of Tarusa, not Xenia the Tarusa.
+1
Level ∞
Oct 26, 2019
Fixed
+1
Level 48
Dec 13, 2019
The hardest part was the translation of the Dutch names Chroesjtsjov, Dostojevski and Bolsjewiek.
+1
Level 47
Dec 13, 2019
Not a bad quiz. You should accept "Xsenia" for Xenia however.
+1
Level 67
Dec 13, 2019
Please accept Varyag for Varangians/Vikings.
+1
Level 68
Dec 13, 2019
I thought I did pretty good, but my score was below average. Does that mean only the really brainy ones took this quiz?
+1
Level 79
Dec 14, 2019
I should think so (I got 23 by the way)
+2
Level 79
Dec 14, 2019
For G, it should be 'during the reign of Joseph Stalin'. ('of' is missing)
+1
Level 67
Mar 23, 2020
+1
+1
Level ∞
Mar 24, 2020
Ok, fixed
+1
Level 79
Dec 14, 2019
For 'M', I tried to think of a Russian-sounding word starting with 'M', and tried 'Molotov' - surprised it was correct!
+2
Level 68
Dec 19, 2019
Technically, que last tsar of Russia was Peter the Great back in early 1700’s. He has changed his (and sucessors) title to Emperor
+1
Level 79
Aug 17, 2023
Interesting, I didn't know that Russia only became an empire in 1721 after the Great Northern War until your comment prompted some research. Though it seems too precise for the clue given that subsequent emperors are often referred to as tsars.
+1
Level 75
Feb 12, 2021
I have no clue what the Q question or answer is about.
+1
Level 79
Aug 17, 2023
There doesn't seem to be much explanation online. From the little I found, Alexei was called 'quiet' because he was kind and learned, and apparently because he disliked music. Curious if anyone knows more.
+1
Level 65
Sep 7, 2022
V: pls add "varyags".
+2
Level 43
May 21, 2023
Find a way to incorporate Ukraine into the quiz without making sweeping claims about an open question and subject of scholarly debate. For example, historians J. Arch Getty, Wheatcroft, Davies, and Tauger convincingly argue against the notion that the famine was inflicted against Ukraine by the Soviet leadership.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor_genocide_question