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. Which of the following country was annexed into the Greater Germany by Nazi regime through Anschluss?
[A] Austria
[B] Poland
[C] Italy
[D] Liechtenstein
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Austria]
Notes:
Austria was annexed into Nazi Germany in 1938, an event known as the Anschluss. The annexation lasted until 1945, when the Allied Powers removed Austria from the Third German Reich. The provisional Austrian government, led by Karl Renner, declared the country’s independence after the fall of the Third Reich.
3. Bandung Conference which was an important step toward the crystallization of the Non-Aligned Movement was organized by Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent. Which among the following participant of the Bandung Conference in 1955, was not an independent state at that time?
[A] Ceylon
[B] Cyprus
[C] Laos
[D] Liberia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Cyprus]
Notes:
Please note that Cyprus got independence in 1960, after an agreement in Zurich and London between the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey
4. The term “two-state solution", sometimes seen in news, would settle dispute between:
[A] India and Pakistan
[B] Israel and Palestine
[C] China and Taiwan
[D] Ukraine and Russia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Israel and Palestine]
Notes:
The two-state solution refers to a solution of Israeli-Palestinian conflict which calls for “two states for two groups of people.” The two-state solution envisages independent State of Palestine as a single democratic country alongside the State of Israel.
5. Who among the following wrote “The Communist Manifesto” along with Karl Marx?
[A] Emile Durkheim
[B] Friedrich Engeles
[C] Robert Owen
[D] Max Weber
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Friedrich Engeles]
Notes:
On February 21, 1848, The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels, is published in London by a group of German-born revolutionary socialists known as the Communist League.
6. Which among the following nations is mainly associated with the “Dirty War”?
[A] Uruguay
[B] Israel
[C] Iran
[D] Argentina
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Argentina]
Notes:
Dirty War was the term used by the then military dictatorship of Argentina to denote US-backed state-terrorism for the period from 1976-1983. Under Operation Condor, military and security forces and right-wing death squads in the form of Argentine Anti Communist Alliance destroyed any political dissidents associated with socialism and left-wing Peronism.
7. Which of the following was the major invention of the Sumerians which had a large impact on the forming of the first civilization?
[A] Writing
[B] Ziggurat
[C] Iron
[D] Chariot
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Writing ]
Notes:
The Sumerians made many inventions. They invented the following: the first form of writing, a number system, the first wheeled vehicles, sun-dried bricks, and irrigation for farming.
8. Which of the following is responsible for building a city-sized mausoleum for himself?
[A] Qin Shi Huang
[B] King Zhuangxiang
[C] Qin Er Shi
[D] None of the above
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Qin Shi Huang]
Notes:
Qin Shi Huang became China’s first emperor when he was 38 after conquering all of the other Warring States and unified all of China in 221 BC. He was also responsible for building a city-sized mausoleum for himself, guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army.
9. Caesar, Pompey, and Crasus in 60 B.C. formed a governing group which was called?
[A] the Republic
[B] a trimvirate
[C] a legion
[D] the Dictatorship
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [a trimvirate]
Notes:
Caesar, Pompey, and Crasus in 60 B.C. formed a governing group which was called a trimvirate. It was an informal alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic.
10. After the deaths of Ali and Husayn, Muslims split into which of the following branches:
- Umayyads
- Arabs
- Sunnis
- Shiites
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
[A] Only 1 & 2
[B] Only 2 & 3
[C] Only 3 & 4
[D] 1, 2, 3 & 4
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Only 3 & 4]
Notes:
The split between the two main branches within Islam, Sunni and Shiite, occurred around 1400 years ago, soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, but became more pronounced after the deaths of Ali and Husayn. The Umayyads are a dynasty, not a branch of Islam, and “Arabs” is a broad ethnic term that encompass Muslims of numerous sects.
