A Level History MCQs with answers
Practise A Level History (9489) with 326 exam-style MCQs, each with the answer and a short explanation. Every test is marked the moment you finish and shows your score chapter by chapter, so you know what to revise next. It is free and needs no sign-up.
326 questions · 8 chapters
What each chapter covers 8 chapters
The questions follow the syllabus chapter by chapter. You can test the whole subject or one chapter at a time.
- AS: France, 1774-1814 49 questionsThe causes and immediate outcomes of the 1789 Revolution, Why French governments were unstable, 1790-1795, Why Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory in 1799, Napoleon's domestic aims and achievements, 1799-1814
- AS: The Industrial Revolution in Britain, 1750-1850 (exams to Nov 2026) 44 questionsThe causes of the Industrial Revolution, The rapid growth of industrialisation after 1780, Urbanisation and its consequences, Popular protest and political change
- AS: Liberalism and nationalism in Germany, 1815-1871 39 questionsThe causes of the Revolutions of 1848-49, The consequences of the 1848-49 Revolutions, Bismarck's intentions for Prussia and Germany, 1862-1866, How and why German unification was achieved by 1871
- AS: The Russian Revolution, 1894-1921 44 questionsThe causes and outcomes of the 1905 Revolution up to 1914, The February Revolution of 1917, How and why the Bolsheviks gained power in October 1917, Bolshevik consolidation of power, 1917-1921
- A Level: The origins and development of the Cold War, 1941-1950 46 questionsTensions in the wartime alliance and peace-making, 1941-1945, Increasing tensions in a divided Europe, 1945-1947, The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Blockade, Historians' approaches to the origins of the Cold War
- A Level: The globalisation of the Cold War, 1950-1975 (exams to Nov 2026) 39 questionsThe death of Stalin and peaceful coexistence, Crises in Europe: Hungary, Berlin and the Prague Spring, The Cold War in Asia: Korea and Vietnam, The Cuban Missile Crisis
- A Level: The nuclear arms race, 1945-1991 (exams to Nov 2026) 28 questionsThe development of the nuclear arms race, The impact of the arms race on US-Soviet relations, Attempts to control nuclear weapons
- A Level: The end of the Cold War, 1975-1991 (exams to Nov 2026) 37 questionsDétente and the outbreak of the Second Cold War, Problems facing the USSR, The impact of Reagan and Gorbachev, The collapse of the Soviet system, 1989-1991
Sample A Level History MCQs with answers 12 questions
12 questions from the test, one or two from each chapter. Try each one, then open the answer.
1. Why was the flight to Varennes (June 1791) so damaging to the constitutional monarchy?
- A
it led directly to the king's trial and execution in the summer of 1791
- B
it destroyed trust in Louis XVI and strengthened republican feeling
- C
it caused Austria to declare war immediately
- D
it ended the power of the Jacobin Club
Show answer
Answer: B. The attempted escape suggested the king rejected the Revolution, which undermined the 1791 constitution before it began. Louis was not executed until January 1793.
2. Why was Abraham Darby's use of coke in smelting iron so important?
- A
it freed iron production from dependence on scarce charcoal
- B
it made iron production cheaper than steel for the first time
- C
it allowed iron to be imported from Sweden
- D
it removed the need for blast furnaces
Show answer
Answer: A. Charcoal came from woodland, which was limited. Coke made from Britain's plentiful coal let iron output grow rapidly.
3. What was the kleindeutsch solution debated at Frankfurt?
- A
a united Germany including Austria
- B
a Germany under Austrian leadership
- C
a united Germany excluding Austria, likely led by Prussia
- D
a loose league of independent states with no central power
Show answer
Answer: C. Kleindeutsch meant 'small Germany' without Austria; grossdeutsch meant including German Austria. Austria's refusal to split its empire pushed Frankfurt towards the small solution.
4. What did the Fundamental Laws of April 1906 establish?
- A
that ministers were answerable to the Duma, which could dismiss them
- B
that the Tsar kept 'supreme autocratic power' and could rule by decree
- C
that all adult men would have an equal and secret vote in Duma elections
- D
that land would be redistributed to the peasants
Show answer
Answer: B. Issued just before the First Duma met, the Laws reasserted the Tsar's authority, and Article 87 let him rule by decree between sessions.
5. Why is the Truman Doctrine seen as a turning point in US foreign policy?
- A
it committed the USA to opposing communism well beyond the Americas
- B
it set up the United Nations with the USA as a permanent member
- C
it ended US wartime aid to Britain and France
- D
it was the first peacetime US military alliance with Western European states
Show answer
Answer: A. It broke with the tradition of avoiding peacetime commitments outside the Americas and set the framework of containment.
6. What was the 'domino theory'?
- A
the idea that if one state fell to communism, its neighbours would follow
- B
a plan to unite South-East Asia under a UN mandate
- C
the Soviet plan for spreading revolution through Asia by armed uprisings
- D
a French plan to hold Indochina by building a chain of fortified bases
Show answer
Answer: A. Eisenhower popularised the idea in 1954. It was used to justify US involvement in Vietnam.
7. What did the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963 ban?
- A
all nuclear tests, including those carried out underground
- B
nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and underwater
- C
the building of new missiles
- D
the spread of nuclear weapons to states that did not have them
Show answer
Answer: B. Underground tests were still allowed, and France and China did not sign. Non-proliferation was the aim of the 1968 NPT.
8. What is meant by the 'era of stagnation' in the USSR?
- A
the period of Stalin's Five-Year Plans and collectivisation in the 1930s
- B
the Brezhnev years, when growth slowed and leaders aged
- C
the Civil War years under War Communism
- D
the years after 1991 under Yeltsin's reforms
Show answer
Answer: B. Under Brezhnev (1964-82) the planned economy lost momentum, living standards lagged and reform was avoided.
9. What was the levée en masse of August 1793?
- A
the conscription of the whole nation for the war effort
- B
a forced loan on the wealthy
- C
the mass arrest of suspected counter-revolutionaries in Paris
- D
the recall of émigré officers to the army
Show answer
Answer: A. The levée en masse mobilised all citizens, with unmarried men aged 18-25 conscripted, producing a huge army that turned the war in France's favour.
10. Which machine, patented by Richard Arkwright in 1769, spun strong thread using water power?
- A
the spinning jenny
- B
the mule
- C
the water frame
- D
the flying shuttle
Show answer
Answer: C. The water frame was too large for a cottage and led to water-powered mills. The jenny was Hargreaves's hand machine; the mule was Crompton's.
11. What was the effect of the Indemnity Bill of 1866?
- A
it made Prussia pay Austria's war costs after the peace
- B
it gave the Landtag full control over army spending from then on
- C
it abolished the three-class franchise in Prussian elections
- D
it approved past spending after the event and split the liberals
Show answer
Answer: D. After victory over Austria, many liberals voted to approve Bismarck's past spending and formed the National Liberal Party.
12. Who was the first head of the Provisional Government?
- A
Prince Lvov
- B
Kerensky
- C
Milyukov
- D
Rodzianko
Show answer
Answer: A. Prince Georgy Lvov led it until July 1917, when Kerensky took over. Milyukov was foreign minister and Rodzianko was chairman of the Duma.
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