World History MCQs

Notes:
1944-1945 is the period of the “Battle of Budapest/Siege of Budapest”. The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was first encircled on 26 December 1944 by the Red Army and the Romanian Army. During the siege, about 38,000 civilians died through starvation or military action. The city unconditionally surrendered on 13 February 1945. It was a strategic victory for the Allies in their push towards Berlin.

Notes:
Indonesia was the location of the event “30 September Movement”. The Thirtieth of September Movement was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members who, in the early hours of 1 October 1965, assassinated six Indonesian Army generals in an abortive coup d’etat. Later that morning, the organisation declared that it was in control of media and communication outlets and had taken President Sukarno under its protection. By the end of the day, the coup attempt had failed in Jakarta. Meanwhile, in central Java, there was an attempt to take control of an army division and several cities. By the time this rebellion was put down, two more senior officers were dead.

Notes:
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, also known as Mohammad Reza Shah, was the last Shah (King) of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979. Due to his status as the last Shah of Iran, he is often known as simply the Shah.

Notes:
Iran was invaded by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in 1941 through “Operation Countenance”. The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran or the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia was the joint invasion of the neutral Imperial State of Iran by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in August 1941. The invasion, codenamed Operation Countenance, was largely unopposed by the numerically and technologically inferior Iranian forces.

Notes:
The 1941 Iraqi coup d’etat is also known as the “Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani coup or the Golden Square coup”. The 1941 Iraqi coup d’etat, also called the Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani coup or the Golden Square coup was a nationalist coup d’etat in Iraq on 1 April 1941 that overthrew the pro-British regime of Regent ‘Abd al-Ilah and his Prime Minister Nuri al-Said and installed Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister. The coup was led by four Iraqi nationalist army generals, known as “the Golden Square”, who intended to use the war to press for full Iraqi independence following the limited independence granted in 1932. To that end, they worked with German intelligence and accepted military assistance from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The change in government led to the British invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation until 1947.

Notes:
The Unification of Italy was an event of great importance in world history. Garibaldi was the prominent figure who paid contribution to the Italian Unification.

Notes:
The Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was founded in 1898 by socialists who respected Marx’s ideas.Some Russian socialists felt that the Russian peasant custom of dividing land periodically made them natural socialists. So peasants, not workers, would be the main force of the revolution, and Russia could become socialist more quickly than other countries. They formed the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1900. This party struggled for peasants’ rights and demanded that land belonging to nobles be transferred to peasants. The Social Democratic Workers Party disagreed with the Socialist Revolutionary Party about peasants. Lenin, a leader of the Social Democratic Workers Party, felt that peasants were not one united group. The Social Democratic Workers Party was also divided over the strategy of organisation. Vladimir Lenin (who led the Bolshevik group) thought that in a repressive society like Tsarist Russia the party should be disciplined and should control the number and quality of its members. So, statement 1 is incorrect. Others (Mensheviks) thought that the party should be open to all (as in Germany). Thus, statement 2 is incorrect.

Notes:
After the WWI was over, the question of dividing the colonies and territories of defeated parties arose. It was solved by the ‘Mandate’ system which was devised in the charter of League of Nations. Theoretically, these mandate holders were supposed to oversee a transition to ‘responsible governments’ in their mandated countries. But, imperial powers had secretly divided these areas between themselves as spoils of war. So, statement 1 is correct. The Ottoman Empire had lost in the WWI. Previously, it had controlled a large area in the West Asia, which was to be taken away. Britain and France decided to split these areas among themselves. Consequently, Britain took Transjordan, Iraq and Palestine under its ‘Mandate’; France received ‘Syria’ and ‘Lebanon’. Elsewhere, Japan, South Africa, Portugal, etc. benefited from the ‘Mandate’ system. So, statement 2 is correct.

Notes:
In a revolution in 1911, China was proclaimed a republic. Dr. Sun Yat Sen had played an important role in this revolution. After this revolution failed, he formed a party called Kuomintang (KMT) and led the nationalist struggle against foreign domination and internal divisive forces for a number of years. After him, the leadership of KMT was taken over by Chiang Kai Shek. So, statement 1 is correct. Communist Party of China was formed in 1924 CE. Mao was playing a very important role in it. For a long time, there was a civil war like situation between the communists and the KMT. But, in 1930, when the Japanese attacked China with the aim of subjugating the whole country, both sides agreed to work together to resist the Japanese aggression. Thus, statement 2 is correct.

Notes:
League of Nations had three constitutional organs- the Assembly, the Council and the Secretariat. But, it proved to be totally ineffective in maintaining peace and taking any effective steps against the aggressor countries that led the world towards WWII. Also, there could no progress towards the reduction of armaments. But, the two agencies created by the League did useful work. These were the Permanent Court of International Justice (popularly known as the World Court) and the International Labour Organisation. Both these bodies were later incorporated into the UNO system. So, option ‘c’ is the correct answer.