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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which group of soldiers turned on the Russian church, demanding all its money?

2. Which of the following groups of prisoners was NOT sent to its own secret prisons in Gulag?

3. Which of the following activities could get a person sent to the punishment camps in TON?

4. How old was Solzhenitsyn when he used to listen to the "boring, pallid daily records" of the trials?

5. In what year did the new era of executions start in the Gulag prison systems?

Short Essay Questions

1. What surprises in the camps did prisoners remember that shocked their systems upon arrival?

2. What were stolypins?

3. How did the public react to Vlasov's sentencing at his trial?

4. What changed about capital punishment after the revolt of 1952 in the Gulag prisons?

5. Why were six peasants shot in Tsarskoe Selo, and what was the response from the public?

6. What major change did Lenin make to the law right before he suffered his first stroke?

7. For what offenses could prisoners be sent to the punishment cells?

8. Why did the Bolshevik Army turn on the church, and what do it get in return?

9. What happened in the trial of Shakhty?

10. Which prisons in the Gulag network does Solzhenitsyn remember living in as a prisoner?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When the war broke out in the Soviet Union in 1941, many things about camp life in Gulag were changed. First, explain why it took so long for WWII to reach Russia. Next, explain how the onset of war fighting altered the conditions for prisoners within the camp. Why were more prisoners dying during wartime than any other time in Gulag history?

Essay Topic 2

When the widespread arrests started sweeping through Russia, few political prisoners fought against their arrests. First, explain why many men didn't fight against their arrests, and what they thought would happen to them in their first days within the camp. Next, explain how hope was slowly dashed, and why many prisoners refused to commit suicide or attempt escape.

Essay Topic 3

Joseph Stalin was, perhaps, the strongest force in keeping the Gulag prison system in effect for as long as it was. First, explain why Stalin created Gulag to begin with and how he fought to keep the camp system running alongside his vision. Next, explain the reaction to Stalin's death in the camps and what changes were made in Gulag following Stalin's passing.

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