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. Which of the following factors resulted in the outbreak of World war II?
1) Growth of Militarism in Japan.
2) The French search for security.
3) The rise of communism and its propaganda machinery.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
[A] Only 1 & 2
[B] Only 1 & 3
[C] Only 2 & 3
[D] 1, 2 & 3
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [1, 2 & 3]
Notes:
There were many factors that resulted in the outbreak of the Second World War. some of which were:
1) Growth of Militarism in Japan.
2) The French search for security.
3) The rise of communism and its propaganda machinery.
22. Hitler invaded the Soviet Union due to which of the following reasons?
[A] He wanted more land for the Germans to live on
[B] He wanted control of Moscow
[C] He wanted control of the country’s oil and wheat fields
[D] None of the above
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [He wanted control of the country’s oil and wheat fields ]
Notes:
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. It started on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. It is considered as the largest German military operation of World War II.
23. The “War of the First Coalition” was fought by a group of European powers against which country?
[A] Russia
[B] Turkey
[C] France
[D] Germany
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [France]
Notes:
The War of the First Coalition is the traditional name of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 against initially the Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succeeded it. They were only loosely allied and fought without much apparent coordination or agreement, each power had its eye on a deficient part of France it wanted to appropriate after a French defeat, which never occurred.
24. Which are the countries involved in the “Triple Entente”?
[A] Russia, France, Great Britain
[B] Italy, Austria-Hungary, Germany
[C] United States of America, Canada, Great Britain
[D] Russia, Italy, Germany
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Russia, France, Great Britain ]
Notes:
The Triple Entente describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic and Great Britain. It built upon the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894, the Entente Cordiale of 1904 between Paris and London, and the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907. It formed a powerful counterweight to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The Triple Entente, unlike the Triple Alliance or the Franco-Russian Alliance itself, was not an alliance of mutual defence.
25. Which revolution was the theme for the famous painting “Liberty Leading the People”?
[A] Russian Revolution, 1917
[B] French Revolution, 1789
[C] French Revolution, 1830
[D] American Revolution, 1783
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [French Revolution, 1830]
Notes:
Liberty Leading the People is a painting by Eugene Delacroix commemorating the French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X of France. A woman of the people with a Phrygian cap personifying the concept of Liberty leads a varied group of people forward over a barricade and the bodies of the fallen, holding the flag of the French Revolution – the tricolour, which again became France’s national flag after these events – in one hand and brandishing a bayonetted musket with the other. The figure of Liberty is also viewed as a symbol of France and the French Republic known as Marianne.
26. Which country was the location of the “August Uprising”?
[A] Greece
[B] Germany
[C] Georgia
[D] Gabon
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Georgia]
Notes:
The August Uprising was an unsuccessful insurrection against Soviet rule in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic from late August to early September 1924. Aimed at restoring the independence of Georgia from the Soviet Union, the uprising was led by the Committee for Independence of Georgia, a bloc of anti-Soviet political organisations chaired by the Georgian Social Democratic (Menshevik) Party. It represented the culmination of a three-year struggle against the Bolshevik regime that Soviet Russia’s Red Army had established in Georgia during a military campaign against the Democratic Republic of Georgia in early 1921. The result of this uprising was decisive Soviet government victory.
27. Which country passed the “Enabling Act of 1933” that gave formal legal sanction to dictatorship?
[A] Germany
[B] France
[C] Italy
[D] Russia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Germany]
Notes:
Germany passed the “Enabling Act of 1933” that gave formal legal sanction to dictatorship. The Enabling Act of 1933, was a law that gave the German Cabinet—in effect, the Chancellor—the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag and to override fundamental aspects of the Weimar Constitution. The Enabling Act gave Hitler plenary powers and followed on the heels of the Reichstag Fire Decree, which had abolished most civil liberties and transferred state powers to the Reich government. The combined effect of the two laws was to transform Hitler’s government into a legal dictatorship.
28. Which two countries fought the “Battle of the Metaxas Line”?
[A] Greece Vs. Nazi Germany
[B] Greece Vs. Fascist Italy
[C] Greece Vs. Ottoman Turkey
[D] Greece Vs. USSR
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Greece Vs. Nazi Germany]
Notes:
The Battle of the Metaxas Line, also known in Greece as the Battle of the Forts, was the first battle during the German invasion of Greece in World War II. The Germans succeeded in capturing several individual forts but failed to breach the fortified Metaxas Line in general. The capture of Thessaloniki forced the Greek East Macedonia Army Section to surrender on the 10th of April and the Metaxas Line battle was over.
29. Which country was the location of the party “New Jewel Movement”?
[A] Trinidad and Tobago
[B] Grenada
[C] Barbados
[D] Dominica
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Grenada]
Notes:
The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement (NJM), was a Marxist–Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada that was led by Maurice Bishop. Established in 1973, the NJM issued its manifesto prior to the granting of Independence to Grenada in 1974. The movement took control of the country with a successful revolution in 1979 and ruled by decree as the People’s Revolutionary Government until 1983. In 1983, Bishop was killed by paramilitaries affiliated with hard-liners in his own party. This led to a military government, which was deposed by the US military in a 1983 invasion.
30. Who was the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution?
[A] Toussaint Louverture
[B] Jean-Jacques Dessalines
[C] Alexandre Petion
[D] Jean-Pierre Boyer
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Jean-Jacques Dessalines]
Notes:
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution. Under Dessalines, Haiti became the first country to permanently abolish slavery. Initially regarded as governor-general, Dessalines was later named Emperor of Haiti as Jacques I (1804–1806) by generals of the Haitian Revolution Army and ruled in that capacity until being assassinated in 1806. He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of Haiti.