World History MCQs

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Spain planned to reach the east by sailing westwards. On August 10, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan had sailed with five Spanish ships – namely, Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria, and Santiago- from the port of Sevilla.

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The members of the National Assembly went to a nearby Tennis Court and took an oath to frame a new constitution. This is known as Tennis Court Oath.

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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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In 1912 Benito Mussolini started the editing of Avanti!, a socialist journal. He was a bitter opponent of the Church.

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Thus, the western countries established their supremacy in China. China was partitioned into many economic zones controlled by western powers. This is known as “the cutting of the Chinese Melon” (ie., cutting China into many pieces). The failure of Manchu dynasty led to the Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) in China. It was led by Hung Hsiu-chüan.

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In response to the western military pacts, the Soviet Union concluded the Warsaw Pact on 14th May 1955 with her satellite powers. During this phase a number of military pacts were concluded, but the tension between East and West was somewhat reduced.

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Cold War was extended to Vietnam also. The fall of Dien Bien Phu on 7th May 1954 brought the final collapse of France in Indo-China. By Geneva Agreement, Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. A conflict developed between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The U.S.A. entered the war supporting South Vietnam. Further, in order to contain Communism in South East Asia, the South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was formed in 1954.

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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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The origin of World Trade Organization could be traced from the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944. In this conference, it was proposed for the creation of an International Trade Organization to establish rules and regulations for trade between countries. It finally succeeded in creating the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

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Following World War II, Poland found itself within the Soviet sphere of influence, leading to the establishment of a communist state. This period, lasting until 1989, was characterized by Soviet dominance in Polish political affairs, shaping the country’s governance and international relations during the Cold War era.