World History MCQs

Notes:
Hungary’s variant of communism policy followed was “Goulash Communism”. Goulash Communism, also commonly called Kadarism or the Hungarian Thaw, refers to the variety of communism in Hungary following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Janos Kadar and the Hungarian People’s Republic imposed policies with the goal to create high-quality living standards for the people of Hungary coupled with economic reforms. These reforms fostered a sense of well-being and relative cultural freedom in Hungary with the reputation of being “the happiest barracks” of the Eastern Bloc during the 1960s to the 1970s. With elements of regulated market economics as well as an improved human rights record, it represented a quiet reform and deviation from the Stalinist principles applied to Hungary in the previous decade.

Notes:
Indonesia was declared independent in 1945 from the Netherlands. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power for almost 200 years. Only in the early 20th century did the Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia’s current boundaries. The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule and encouraged the previously suppressed independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, influential nationalist leaders, proclaimed Indonesian independence and were appointed president and vice-president respectively.

Notes:
Indonesia invaded East Timor through “Operation Lotus”. The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, also known as Operation Lotus, began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-communism to overthrow the Fretilin regime that had emerged in 1974. The overthrow of the popular and briefly Fretilin-led government sparked a violent quarter-century occupation.

Notes:
Iran was the location of the Shah and People Revolution. The White Revolution or the Shah and People Revolution was a far-reaching series of reforms in Iran launched in 1963 by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which lasted until 1979. He reformed the program which was built specially to weaken those classes that supported the traditional system. It consisted of several elements, including land reform, sale of some state-owned factories to finance the land reform, construction of an expanded road, rail, and air network, a number of dam and irrigation projects, the eradication of diseases such as malaria, the encouragement and support of industrial growth, enfranchisement of women, nationalization of forests and pastures, formation of literacy and health corps for rural isolated areas, and the institution of profit-sharing schemes for workers in the industry.

Notes:
Iran was the target location of the “Operation Eagle Claw” ordered by the United States of America in 1980. Operation Eagle Claw, known as Operation Tabas in Iran, was a United States Armed Forces operation ordered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis by rescuing 52 embassy staff held captive at the Embassy of the United States, Tehran on 24 April 1980.

Notes:
Iraq gained independence in 1932 from the United Kingdom. In April 1920 the British Mandate of Mesopotamia was created under the authority of the League of Nations. A British-backed monarchy joining the vilayets into one Kingdom was established in 1921 under Faisal I of Iraq. The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from the UK in 1932.

Notes:
After the WWI was over, the question of dividing the colonies and territories of defeated parties arose. It was solved by the ‘Mandate’ system which was devised in the charter of League of Nations. Theoretically, these mandate holders were supposed to oversee a transition to ‘responsible governments’ in their mandated countries. But, imperial powers had secretly divided these areas between themselves as spoils of war. So, statement 1 is correct. The Ottoman Empire had lost in the WWI. Previously, it had controlled a large area in the West Asia, which was to be taken away. Britain and France decided to split these areas among themselves. Consequently, Britain took Transjordan, Iraq and Palestine under its ‘Mandate’; France received ‘Syria’ and ‘Lebanon’. Elsewhere, Japan, South Africa, Portugal, etc. benefited from the ‘Mandate’ system. So, statement 2 is correct.

Notes:
At the end of 19th century, the British Empire was the biggest in the world, both in terms of the number of people over whom it rules and the area under its rule. The population of her colonial possessions extending over an area of 23 million square kilometer was about 400 millions. France ruled over an empire of over 10 million square kilometer inhabited by over 50 million people. So, statement 1 is incorrect. Within a short period of time after the beginning of  ‘Scramble for Africa’, European imperial powers had carved it out among themselves. In the Berlin Congress, entire Africa was divided between different European powers. At the end of WWI, only Liberia and Ethiopia were free from any sort of colonial control. So, statement 2 is incorrect.

Notes:
Even though the Soviet Union- which was already directly fighting the Nazi Germany across Eastern Europe- had been demanding opening of a second front against the Nazi Germany in the Western Europe, allied powers did not agree to it for a few years. Eventually, in June 1944, the Allied troops opened the ‘Second Front’ in Western Europe. On 6th June 1944, known as the ‘D Day’, the first allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, on the north coast of France. By the end of June, the number of the Allied troops which had landed in France had gone up to 1600000. So, option c is the correct answer.

Notes:
In 1529, when Emperor Charles V revoked the decision to the princes to choose their own religion, the German princes drew up a protest and they came to be known as “Protestants”.