History GCSE
State terror
What State terror means in History GCSE, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definition of State terror
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain State terror in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: Pearson Edexcel
Enforcement through the secret police's surveillance, arrests, interrogations and executions, operating outside the law and using torture to extract false confessions.
Topics that use State terror
- Option 30: Key topic 3: Stalin’s rise to power and dictatorship, 1924–41 - 2 The use of terror in the 1930s (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
- Dictatorship and control
- Elimination of opposition
- Gulag
- Military vulnerability
- NKVD
- Political manipulation and propaganda
- Political terror
- The destruction of the Old Bolsheviks
Using State terror in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
Practise History questions
Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.
Start free
All History GCSE termsA week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge