How to answer factor-based questions in history?

The best way to explain factor-based questions is to split up the essay into paragraphs explaining different factors whilst linking these factors together throughout the essay. Do not be afraid to emphasise a certain factor but you shouldn’t ignore other factors which would lead to an imbalanced essay. At the end of the essay, it helps to acknowledge the importance of other factors and to show that you are aware of the linkages between them to the examiner.

To get the top marks, you should also be able to give examples to back up the factors that you have mentioned - ideally 2 per factor/paragraph. You don’t necessarily have to remember the dates of every single event. It certainly helps to remember them to give you a better chronological order and understanding of the topic but if you are unsure about a date, it is better to be vague than to give a wrong year. For example if you forgot that the Bolsheviks split in 1903, but still remember that it was before the 1905 Revolution, you can say that the Bolsheviks split in the years before the 1905 Revolution.

It is fairly common for questions like these to be linked to some other event. For the question below, the question could also have been "Why did the Tsar survive the 1905 Revolution but not the 1917?" so it helps to draw parallels between the two events. Similarly, the question could give you a factor to discuss such as "The 1905 Revolution failed due to ineffective opposition. Discuss." in which case you would deal with the given factor at the start and go on to explore other factors that led to the failure of the 1905 Revolution.