History Guild General History Quiz 151
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The stories behind the questions
1. Which was the first country to be ruled by a Fascist government?
Italy – The original fascist ideology was developed in Italy by the Fascist Revolutionary Party (PFR), founded in 1915. The Fascists under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943.
2. In which conflict did Leo Tolstoy serve in an artillery unit?
Crimean War – In addition to his well known War and Peace and Anna Karenina Tolstoy also wrote Sevastopol Sketches, based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. He fought in the siege of Sevastopol and the Battle of the Chernaya.
3. Which country was previously known as Abyssinia?
Ethiopia – Known as Abyssinia or the Ethiopian Empire until the revolution in 1974, the country is now officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
4. Who wrote The Grapes of Wrath?
John Steinbeck – Published in 1939, it follows the Joad family as they leave their Oklahoma dust bowl farm and move to California during the Great Depression.
5. Which was the first country to recognise the People’s Republic of China?
USSR – 1949. One day after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.
India – 1950
Spain – 1973
USA – 1979
6. Who was the last Catholic monarch of England?
James II – He ruled from 1685 to 1688, when he was deposed by William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution.
7. Which armies fought against each other during the Battle of the Marne?
French and British vs German – Fought in September 1914, the battle followed on from the French and British retreat from the French and Belgian frontiers at the beginning of WW1. Is saw the German advance stopped on the eastern outskirts of Paris, frustrating the German Schlieffen Plan.
8. When was pasta introduced to Italy?
1150 CE – In 1154 a text written for the King of Sicily, Roger II, describes how ‘they make vast quantities of itriyya (string-like shapes made of semolina and dried before cooking) which is exported everywhere; to Calabria, to Muslim and Christian countries. Very many shiploads are sent.’
9. When did Napoleon invade Russia?
1812 – Read more about this disastrous campaign.
10. Who was the first person to sail solo around the world?
Joshua Slocum – He circumnavigated the globe in Spray, a 36′ gaff rigged sloop oyster boat. It took him from 1895 to 1898, with many stops along the way.
