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.
21. The 18th century French society was divided into which of the following?
[A] Castes
[B] Two states
[C] Three states
[D] Four states
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Three states]
Notes:
The 18th century French society was divided into three groups. These groups were referred to as estates. The three types of groups were – First estate, Second estate and Third estate.
22. Which of the following was the first Axis power to surrender in World War II?
[A] Germany
[B] Italy
[C] Japan
[D] None of the above
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Italy]
Notes:
Italy was the first Axis power which give up in World War II. It surrendered to the Allies on September 8, 1943, six weeks after leaders of the Italian Fascist Party deposed Benito Mussolini who was Fascist leader and Italian dictator.
23. Which were the two foreign countries fought each other in the Finnish Civil War by supporting Finnish Whites and Finnish Reds respectively?
[A] German Empire and Soviet Russia
[B] Ottoman Empire and Soviet Russia
[C] Ottoman Empire and German Empire
[D] Habsburg Empire and Soviet Russia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [German Empire and Soviet Russia]
Notes:
Finnish Civil War was a civil war fought in Finland from 27 January 1918 to 15 May 1918 between Finnish Reds, supported by Soviet Russia, and Finnish Whites, supported by the German Empire to take leadership and control of Finland during the country’s transition from a Grand Duchy of the Russsian Empire to an independent state. Finally, Finnish Whites were victorious and lead to the hegemony of the German Empire over Finland which further leads to the division in Finnish society.
24.
Which of the following was also known as the “July Revolution”?
[A] French Revolution of 1789
[B] French Revolution of 1830
[C] Russian Revolution of 1917
[D] American Revolution of 1775
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [French Revolution of 1830]
Notes:
The July revolution, also known as the French Revolution of 1830 or the Second French Revolution, happened from 26 July to 29 July 1830 in France. This led to the overthrow of King Charles X, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would be overthrown in 1848. It marked the shift from one constitutional monarchy, under the restored House of Bourbon, to another, the July Monarchy; the transition of power from the House of Bourbon to its cadet branch, the House of Orléans; and the replacement of the principle of hereditary right by popular sovereignty. Supporters of the Bourbon would be called Legitimists, and supporters of Louis Philippe Orléanists.
25. Which country was the location of “May 68 Events”?
[A] United States of America
[B] France
[C] Canada
[D] United Kingdom
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [France]
Notes:
Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, and the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which have since become known as May 68, the economy of France came to a halt. The protests reached such a point that political leaders feared civil war or revolution; the national government briefly ceased to function after President Charles de Gaulle secretly fled France to Germany at one point. The protests spurred movements worldwide, with songs, imaginative graffiti, posters, and slogans.
26. Which country was the location of the “Peaceful Revolution”?
[A] France
[B] Denmark
[C] Germany
[D] Netherlands
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Germany]
Notes:
Germany was the location of the “Peaceful Revolution”. The Peaceful Revolution was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany’s borders with the west, the end of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the transition to a parliamentary democracy, which enabled the reunification of Germany in October 1990. This happened through non-violent initiatives and demonstrations. These events were closely linked to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s decision to abandon Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe as well as the reformist movements that spread through Eastern Bloc countries.
27. Which country’s political history is connected to “Schicksalstag” events?
[A] Austria
[B] Germany
[C] Czech Republic
[D] Italy
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Germany]
Notes:
Germany’s political history is connected to “Schicksalstag” events. November 9 has been the date of several important events in German history. The term Schicksalstag or the Day of Fate has been occasionally used by historians and journalists since shortly after World War II, but its current widespread use started with the events of 1989 when virtually all German media picked up the term. There are six notable events in German history that are connected to 9 November: the execution of Robert Blum, the leader of the Vienna Revolts, in 1848; the end of the monarchies through the November Revolution in 1918; the naming of Albert Einstein as the winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”; Hitler putsch attempt in 1923 which marked an early emergence and provisional downfall of the Nazi Party as an important player on Germany’s political landscape; the Nazi antisemitic pogroms in 1938 known in Germany as the Reichspogromnacht (Kristallnacht) and the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 which ended German separation and started a series of events that ultimately led to German reunification.
28. Who was Karl Marx?
[A] A French Philosopher
[B] An English Philosopher
[C] A Polish Philosopher
[D] A German Philosopher
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [A German Philosopher]
Notes:
Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. Born in Trier, Germany, Marx studied law and philosophy at university. He married Jenny von Westphalen in 1843. Due to his political publications, Marx became stateless and lived in exile with his wife and children in London for decades, where he continued to develop his thought in collaboration with German thinker Friedrich Engels and publish his writings, researching in the reading room of the British Museum. His best-known titles are the 1848 pamphlet The Communist Manifesto and the three-volume Das Kapital (1867–1883). Marx’s political and philosophical thought had enormous influence on subsequent intellectual, economic and political history. His name has been used as an adjective, a noun and a school of social theory.
29. Which three countries assisted the Greeks in the Greek War of Independence/Greek Revolution?
[A] Great Britain, France and Russia
[B] Great Britain, France and Italy
[C] United States of America, Great Britain and France
[D] United States of America, Great Britain and Russia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Great Britain, France and Russia]
Notes:
Great Britain, France and Russia assisted the Greeks in the Greek War of Independence/Greek Revolution. The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution, was a successful war of independence waged by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1830. The Greeks were later assisted by Great Britain, France and Russia, while the Ottomans were aided by their North African vassals, particularly the eyalet of Egypt. The war led to the formation of modern Greece. The revolution is celebrated by Greeks around the world as independence day on 25 March.
30. The “Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive, 1943” was a joint effort of Hungary and Italy, as part of World War II, against which country?
[A] Germany
[B] Soviet Union
[C] France
[D] United Kingdom
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Soviet Union]
Notes:
The “Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive, 1943” was a joint effort of Hungary and Italy, as part of World War II, against the Soviet Union. The Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive was an offensive of the Voronezh Front on the Eastern Front of World War II against the Hungarian 2nd Army and partially Italian 8th Army as part of the Voronezh–Kharkov Offensive. The offensive is better known as part of Operation Little Saturn.