World History MCQs

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After having conquered about the whole of Western Europe, Germany now planned the invasion of Britain. This plan was given the code name of ‘Sea-Lion’. German bombers and fighters started the bombing of British ports, airfields, aircraft factories, etc. But, as a result of the British resistance, operation ‘Sea-Lion’ was indefinitely put off and, by November 1940, the German air raids on London had more or less stopped.

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The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was the third event of this opening stage of the revolution. The first had been the revolt of the nobility, refusing to aid King Louis XVI through the payment of taxes. The second had been the formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath.

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The policy of racial discrimination followed in South Africa was called Apartheid.

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Axis Powers was the coalition headed by Germany, Italy, and Japan that opposed the Allied Powers in World War II. The alliance originated in a series of agreements between Germany and Italy, followed by the proclamation of an “axis” binding Rome and Berlin (October 1936), followed by The German-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact against the Soviet Union (November 1936).

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The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the communist government. The Emperor was forced to abdicate and replaced by a provisional government during the first revolution of February 1917. In the second revolution, during October, the Provisional Government was replaced with a Bolshevik (Communist) government.

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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 States General consisted of three Estates Chambers. The first Estate was represented by the nobles, the second the clergy and the third by the common people. When the king called for its meeting, each Estate sat separately. However, the members of the third estate demanded a joint sitting and one vote for each member. As the first and second Estates did not concede to this demand, there was a deadlock. On 17th June 1789, the third Estate declared itself as the National Assembly.

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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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The unemployment problem, poverty and inflation helped the spread of Socialism. The believers in Marxism had a political party called Social Democrats of Italy.

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After the 1970s, the friction between the Soviet Union and Communist China led to Sino-Soviet rift. The People’s Republic of China was admitted into the UN. President Nixon of U.S.A. visited Moscow in May 1972 and concluded the SALT -I Treaty (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty). In June 1973, Brezhnev paid a nine-day visit to the United States and further progress was made in the direction of strategic arms limitation. This reduction of tension between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. is known as era of détente.