World History MCQs

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.

Notes:
Jean-Pierre Boyer was one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution and President of Haiti from 1818 to 1843. He reunited the north and south of the country into the Republic of Haiti in 1820 and also annexed the newly independent Spanish Haiti (Santo Domingo), which brought all of Hispaniola under one Haitian government by 1822. Boyer managed to rule for the longest period of time of any of the revolutionary leaders of his generation.

Notes:
Indonesia invaded East Timor through “Operation Lotus”. The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, also known as Operation Lotus, began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-communism to overthrow the Fretilin regime that had emerged in 1974. The overthrow of the popular and briefly Fretilin-led government sparked a violent quarter-century occupation.

Notes:
Iraq gained independence in 1932 from the United Kingdom. In April 1920 the British Mandate of Mesopotamia was created under the authority of the League of Nations. A British-backed monarchy joining the vilayets into one Kingdom was established in 1921 under Faisal I of Iraq. The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from the UK in 1932.

Notes:
The infant Weimar Republic was being made to pay for the sins of the old empire. In the Treaty of Versailles, Weimar Republic was compelled to accept the ‘war guilt’ clause, meaning that it unwillingly accepted that the Germany alone was to be blamed for the WWI. The republic carried the burden of national humiliation and was financially crippled by being forced to pay compensation. Those who supported the Weimar Republic, mainly Socialists, Catholics and Democrats, became easy targets of attack in the conservative nationalist circles. They were mockingly called the ‘November criminals’. This mindset had a major impact on the political developments of the early 1930s, as we will soon see. So, option ‘a’ is the correct answer.

Notes:
During the WWI, Britain and France, were fomenting the dormant Arab nationalism in West Asia, which was under the control of Ottoman Turks at the time. They made promises that if the Arabs helped in war, they will be rewarded with a separate nation of their own. But, Britain and France arrived at a secret arrangement between themselves regarding the future division of Ottoman West Asia territories between themselves after the war. This arrangement is known as the Sykes-Picot agreement which was decided in 1916. So, statement 1 is correct. Under this agreement, Transjordan, Iraq and Palestine were to go to Britain and Syria and Lebanon were to be awarded to France under the guise of ‘Mandate’ system. So, statement 2 is also correct. In a separate case, British government also committed itself to the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. This pledge was contained in a letter famously known as the ‘Balfour Declaration.’ So, statement 3 is incorrect.

Notes:
The end of the First World War, as already mentioned, was accompanied by the emergence of a number of European nations as independent states. These included Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland and Czechoslovakia by merging new territories with an already existing state. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland were created out of the territory annexed by Germany from Russia. Poland was created out of German and Russian territories. Czechoslovakia was carved out of Austria-Hungary. Serbia had already existed before the WWI. In fact, WWI started with the attack of Austria-Hungary on Serbia.

Notes:
After the Japanese occupation of Korea ended as a result of the defeat of Japan, Korea had been divided into two occupation zones- the northern zone under the Soviet Union and the southern zone under the USA. The division was along the 38th parallel. Both these powers set up friendly regimes within their occupation zones in the North and South Korea respectively. The Korean War could also not change this boundary. So, the correct answer is option ‘b’.

Notes:
Spain planned to reach the east by sailing westwards. On August 10, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan had sailed with five Spanish ships – namely, Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria, and Santiago- from the port of Sevilla.

Notes:
In 1773, a new Tea Act was passed imposing a tax on import of tea. It was a symbol to show that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. But Americans showed their protest. A group of Americans dressed as Red Indians, climbed on the ships and threw away the tea bundles into the sea at the Boston harbour. This event took place on 16th December 1773 and it was known as the Boston Tea Party. The offenders were punished. In 1774, the British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts against the Americans in order to prevent such protests.