World History MCQs
World History Multiple Choice Quiz Questions (MCQs) on Ancient World History, Medieval World History and Modern World History for various UPSC, PCS and other Competitive Examinations.
1. Territorial claims and disputes over navigation rights of which of the following territories between Iran and Iraq was the main factor for the Iraq-Iran War?
[A] Abu Musa
[B] Zubarah
[C] Murair
[D] Shatt al-Arab
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Shatt al-Arab]
Notes:
The Shatt al-Arab waterway was the main factor in the Iran-Iraq War. The Shatt al-Arab is formed by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The southern end of the river forms the border between Iran and Iraq. The Shatt al-Arab was an important channel for oil exports for both countries. The dispute over the Shatt al-Arab lasted from 1936 until 1975. Iran rejected the demarcation line established in the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of Constantinople of November 1913. Iran wanted the border to run along the thalweg, the deepest point of the navigable channel. The Iran-Iraq War lasted from September 1980 until August 1988. The war was also called the First Persian Gulf War or the Imposed War in Iran.
2. During the World War -II which among the following was not a major Axis Power?
[A] Germany
[B] Japan
[C] Hungary
[D] France
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [France]
Notes:
The Axis powers during the World War-II included Italy, Germany and Japan. They were also known collectively as “Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis”. These three nations fought the WW-II against the allies but without any strong coordination between three of them. The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, and the United States. Thus, France was an allied power and not axis power.
3. Which nation’s economic and social campaign was the “Great Leap Forward”?
[A] India
[B] Japan
[C] China
[D] Russia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [China]
Notes:
Great Leap Forward was an economic and social campaign of China launched by Mao Zedong, the Chairman. It was developed by the Communist Party of China. This campaign was from 1958 to 1962. This campaign leads to the formation of people’s communes so as to develop a communist society and to transform China’s agrarian economy. But this campaign was a disaster and lead to Great Chinese Famine.
4. Who said “Egypt is the gift of Nile”?
[A] Herodotus
[B] Sallust
[C] Aristotle
[D] Arrian
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Herodotus]
Notes:
Herodotus had said that “Egypt is the gift of the Nile.” The Egyptian Civilization began to flourish almost about 10,000 B.C. in the fertile valley of river Nile. The Egyptians worshiped Nile as God.
5. Which Pharaoh of Egypt is credited with construction of Great Pyramid of Giza?
[A] Unas
[B] Khufu
[C] Khafre
[D] Sahure
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Khufu]
Notes:
Pyramids were royal tombs with four triangle-shaped sides that meet in a point on top. The largest Pyramid was constructed for Pharaoh Khufu at Gizeh which is 481 feet in height and made of 23,00,000 blocks of limestone.
6. Which of the following was a central part of the Egyptian religion?
[A] the pharaohs
[B] the afterlife
[C] the pyramids
[D] the heavens
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [the afterlife]
Notes:
The concept of afterlife was a central part of the Egyptian religion. The Egyptian religious doctrines contained three afterlife ideologies, i.e., belief in an underworld, eternal life, and rebirth of the soul.
7. Which of the following are also known as “farmers of forty centuries”?
[A] Romans
[B] Greeks
[C] Chinese
[D] Mesopotamian’s
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Chinese]
Notes:
The yellow river cause devastating floods in china and thus Chinese conditioned themselves well to meet this annual calamity. They used the dykes, canals, etc to control the floods and became good farmers. They came to be known as “farmers of forty centuries”.
8. Which of the following codified laws of the Greeks?
[A] Draco
[B] Solon
[C] Pisistratus
[D] Cleisthenes
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Draco]
Notes:
Draco codified laws of the Greek Civilization whereas Solon introduced reforms in the economy and in political affairs. Pisistratus introduced land reforms whereas Cleisthenes put into practice the idea of Ostracism.
9. Which of the following made the Islamic religion Militant?
[A] Ali
[B] Abu Bakr
[C] Husayn
[D] Omar
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Omar]
Notes:
In 634 A. D. The Caliph Omar succeeded Abu Bakr. Omar made Islam militant by offering the non-Islam’s the three alternatives of accepting the Koran, paying tribute, or facing the sword.
10. Which of the following provided hope of opening trade with the Indies by rounding the Cape of Good Hope?
[A] Bartholomew Diaz
[B] Abdul Majid
[C] Seleucus Nicator
[D] Vasco da Gama
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Bartholomew Diaz ]
Notes:
Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese explorer. He sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, the first European to do so, setting up the route from Europe to Asia and provided hope of opening trade with the Indies.