World History MCQs

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Rousseau was the author of the famous book, Social Contract, which was considered the Bible of the French Revolution. He said that the real sovereignty rests with the people. His famous statement, “Man is born free and is everywhere in chains” kindled the revolutionary spirit of the masses.

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In the 16th and 17th centuries, the practice of enclosure was denounced by the Church, and legislation was drawn up against it. However, the mechanization of agriculture during the 18th century required large, enclosed fields. This led to a series of government acts, culminating finally in the General Enclosure Act of 1801. By the end of the 19th century the process of enclosure was largely complete.

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England entered into an alliance with Japan in 1902. In 1904, they made alliance with France. In 1907 Russia joined this alliance. This had resulted in Triple Entente. Thus Europe was divided into two camps. The secret nature of these alliances brought about the war of 1914.

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The unpopularity of the Kerensky’s government led to its collapse on 7th November 1917, when a group of soldiers occupied the Winter Palace, the seat of the Kerensky Government. An All-Russian Congress of Soviets met on the same day and assumed full political power. This event which took place on 7 November is known as the October Revolution because of the corresponding date of the old Russian calendar, 25 October.

Notes:
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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The number of members in Fascist Party increased very rapidly. In 1919 there were only seventeen thousand members in the party. The number increased to 3 lakhs in 1922. The Fascists captured the offices of the Socialist and the Communist parties by force.

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Japan followed a policy of militarism and imperialism. Japan defeated China in 1894-95. Subsequently, it defeated the biggest European country Russia in 1904-05. During the First World War Japan captured the Chinese territory of Shantung which was leased to Germany. It also imposed the 21 Demands on 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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Between 1955 and 1958, West Asia remained the centre of the Cold War. In the series of western military pacts, the Baghdad Pact was concluded in 1955, later known as Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).

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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.