World History MCQs

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John Wycliffe (1330-1384) from England criticized the Pope for his authority and misdeeds. He translated the Bible into English. He is considered “the Morning Star of the Reformation. Erasmus (1466-1536) attacked the superstitions followed by the clergy in his book In Praise of Folly. It was published in 1509.

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The immediate cause was the assassination of Arch Duke Francis Ferdinand who was heir to the Austrian throne. Arch Duke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by Serbians in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo when they paid a visit to this city on 28th June 1914. The news of this murder shocked many countries. Austria-Hungary was already sick of Serbia and she decided to take advantage of the new situation to crush her. The murder of their crown prince and his wife resulted in an ultimatum being sent to Serbia for immediate compliance of certain terms. Serbia’s reply did not pacify Austria-Hungary. Hence, Austria-Hungary backed by Germany declared war on Serbia. Russia mobilised her forces in favour of Serbia.

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On 12th March, 1917 the capital city of Petersburg (renamed Petrograd and now Leningrad) fell into the hands of the revolutionaries. Soon the revolutionaries took Moscow, the Tsar Nicholas II gave up his throne and the first provisional Government was formed on 15 March.

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The first Soviet constitution was adoped on July 10, 1918. It created the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.

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Mussolini, who was a staunch opponent of Bolshevism, decided to start a new party to fight Communism. In march 1919 the Fascist Party was established under his leadership. The members wore black shirts and were equipped with arms. The party had its own flag. The members were well disciplined and Mussolini was their chief commander.

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Mao established the People’s Republic of China in October 1949. Chinag Kai Shek fled to Taiwan, which is known as Nationalist China. During the Cold War Era the USA supported the Nationalist China .

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After the end of the First World War, Palestine had been handed over to Great Britain under the mandate system. But the struggle arose between the Arabs and the Jews which created disturbance and tension in Palestine. After the Second World War U.N.O. appointed a special committee to study the problem of Palestine. The Committee recommended immediate partition of Palestine into three parts – an Arab State, a Jewish State and the City of Jerusalem which was to be governed by the Trusteeship Council of the U.N.O. Thus, an independent state of Israel was established for the Jews in 1948.

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After 1960, the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. had developed equality in nuclear weapons. Thus any nuclear war would lead to co-destruction. This awareness led both the super powers to believe in the inevitability of peaceful co-existence. They were, therefore, prompted to conclude the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. This treaty was followed by a ‘Hot Line Agreement’ between Washington and Kremlin.

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With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe occurred. The bipolar world became unipolar world. On 31st July 1991, American President George Bush and Soviet leader Michael Gorbachev signed the ‘historic’ START – I Treaty in the Moscow Summit. This marks the end of the Era of Cold War.

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Mikhail Gorbachev became the President of the Soviet Union in March 1985. He instituted a number of political reforms under the name of “glasnost”.