World History MCQs

Notes:

The War of the Second Coalition, which was fought from 1798 to 1802 was the second war on revolutionary France by most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria, and Russia and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples, various German monarchies, and Sweden, though Prussia did not join this coalition and Spain supported France. Their goal was to contain the expansion of the French Republic and to restore the monarchy in France. They failed to overthrow the revolutionary regime and French territorial gains since 1793 were confirmed. 

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Belle Epoque or La Belle Epoque is the term used to define a period of French history from 1880 to 1914 until the outbreak of World War I. This marked the era of the French Third Republic. This period was characterized by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, colonial expansion, and technological, scientific, and cultural innovations.

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The Potsdam Conference was held in Potsdam, Germany, from July 17 to August 2, 1945. The participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, represented respectively by Premier Joseph Stalin, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee, and President Harry S. Truman. They gathered to decide how to administer Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier on the 8th of May (Victory in Europe Day). The goals of the conference also included the establishment of the postwar order, peace treaty issues, and countering the effects of the war.

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Germany was the location of the military attack “Occupation of the Ruhr”. The Occupation of the Ruhr happened as part of the Aftermath of World War I and political violence in Germany (1918–33), was a period of military occupation of the Ruhr region of Germany by France and Belgium between 11 January 1923 and 25 August 1925. France and Belgium occupied the heavily industrialized Ruhr Valley in response to Germany defaulting on reparation payments dictated by the victorious powers after World War I in the Treaty of Versailles. Occupation of the Ruhr worsened the economic crisis in Germany, and German civilians engaged in acts of passive resistance and civil disobedience, during which 130 were killed. France and Belgium, facing economic and international pressure, accepted the Dawes Plan to restructure Germany’s payment of war reparations in 1924 and withdrew their troops from the Ruhr by August 1925. The Occupation of the Ruhr contributed to German re-armament and the growth of radical right-wing movements in Germany.

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Indonesia was the location of the event “Transition to the New Order”. Indonesia’s transition to the New Order in the mid-1960s, ousted the country’s first president, Sukarno, after 22 years in the position. One of the most tumultuous periods in the country’s modern history was the commencement of Suharto’s 31-year presidency.

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In the past, voting in the Estates General had been conducted according to the principle that each estate had one vote. Louis XVI was determined to continue the same practice. But members of the third estate demanded that voting now be conducted by the assembly as a whole, where each member would have one vote. When the king rejected this proposal, members of the third estate walked out of the assembly in protest. On 20 June, 1789, they assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles. They declared themselves a National Assembly and swore not to disperse till they had drafted a constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch. So, statement 1 is incorrect. The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in 1791. Its main object was to limit the powers of the monarch. These powers instead of being concentrated in the hands of one person, were now separated and assigned to different institutions – the legislature, executive and judiciary. This made France a constitutional monarchy. So, statement 2 is correct. The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly, which was indirectly elected. That is, citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly. Not all citizens, however, had the right to vote. Only men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a laborer’s wage were given the status of active citizens, that is, they were entitled to vote. The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens. So, statement 3 is incorrect.

Notes:
By the mid-nineteenth century in Europe, socialism was a well-known body of ideas that attracted widespread attention. Socialists were against private property, and saw it as the root of all social ills of the time. Socialists had different visions of the future. Some believed in the idea of cooperatives. Robert Owen (1771-1858), a leading English manufacturer, sought to build a cooperative community called New Harmony in Indiana (USA). In France, for instance, Louis Blanc (1813-1882) wanted the government to encourage cooperatives and replace capitalist enterprises. Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) added other ideas to this body of arguments. Immanuel Kant was a German enlightenment thinker of the previous century.

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In March 1918, despite opposition by their political allies, the Bolsheviks made peace with Germany at Brest Litovsk. However, this peace treaty was very humiliating as Germany annexed almost one third of the total European territories of Soviet Russia in this treaty. Lenin agreed to this treaty so that the Bolshevik party could focus on internal consolidation and winning the civil war. So, statement 1 is correct. Soviet Russia soon became a one-party state as all the parties, other than the Bolshevik Party, were banned. Trade unions were kept under strict party control. The secret police (called the Cheka first, and later OGPU and NKVD) punished those who criticised the Bolsheviks. So, the statement 2 is correct.

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The growing tension during the cold war was worsened by the formation of military alliances globally. Apart from Europe centric NATO and WARSAW pact, there were SEATO and Baghdad Pact. The Baghdad Pact was signed in 1955 between Britain, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran and USA. These military alliances were seen as a danger to the peace and harmful for the independence of its smaller members. For example, after a revolution in Iraq in 1958, it withdrew from the pact. Then, the Baghdad pact was renamed as the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO).

Notes:
As Hitler was committing acts of aggression one after another in Rhineland, Sudetenland, Austria, etc. Britain and France were accepting them one after another. This policy was called the policy of appeasement. Hitler’s next demand was to annex entire Czechoslovakia. The worst act of appeasement and shameful betrayal took place when Czechoslovakia was handed over to Germany. In September 1938, a meeting was held in Munich, and it was decided to hand over Czechoslovakia to Germany. In March 1939, Germany marched its troops into the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia and occupied it. So, option c is the correct answer.