Special Sub-Topic: Wars - 19th and 20th Centuries Click Here To Play: Wars - 19th and 20th Centuries

Which war was fought between Russia and several European Powers in the mid 19th century? Hint: The camera was used for the first time to cover this conflict.

Crimean War. The Crimean War was fought between 1853 and 1856. It is remembered for being the first war where cameras where used to cover the events and also for one of the most heroic battles, the "Charge of Balaclava". In this war, Russia fought against a West European coalition headed by Britain. Also, the Crimean War was the first major conflict after the Napoleonic wars where new battle tactics such as artillery barrages were used.

The regions of Alsace and Lorraine were major military hot spots for the last third of the 19th century and for the first half of the 20th. When did France lose these two regions?

Franco-Prussian War. The Franco-Prussian War was fought in 1870-71; within six weeks of the start of the war, the Prussian army defeated France at the Battle of Sédan. Afterwards, France was forced to capitulate and amongst other things it had to hand over most of Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia. For France, this defeat was catastrophic: the Second Empire collapsed and it brought political turmoil for ten years after the Third Republic was created in 1871.

In 1898, the sinking of the USS Maine started the Spanish-American War; during this war, Spain was defeated and lost several of its remaining colonies. Which of these islands was lost by Spain?

Guam. The Spanish-American War started in 1898 due to the sinking of the Maine, an American ship anchored at Havana. Supposedly, Spanish forces sank the ship, killing a great number of sailors. Spain was defeated and had to hand over some of its colonies to the United States. Amongst these were the Phillipines and Guam, one of the two territories (the other being Puerto Rico) still under US control.

Name the treaty which ended the Boer War in 1902. This treaty was signed by Kitchener and Kruger.

Treaty of Vereeniging. The Boer War lasted from 1899 to 1902. In this war, the largest imperial war ever fought by Britain, several hundred thousand soldiers were deployed. After the Vereeniging Treaty three million pounds were paid to the Boers while Britain kept political control. According to historian Lawrence James, over 200 million pounds were spent in the war and 295,000 soldiers participated.* *Statistics taken from: "The Rise and Fall of the British Empire" by Lawrence James.

Name the Prime Minister of Italy in the last years of the WWI. (He was the Italian Prime Minister when the Treaty of Versailles was signed).

Orlando. Italy's prime minister during the final years of the war was Vittorio Orlando; he was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Versailles and he was a key player in Italy's entry into WWI.

If you like modern art you'll find this question easy. Name the town in northern Spain that was bombed by the Luftwaffe in the 1930's. This town is located in the Basque region.

Guernica. The small town of Guernica was attaked on a busy market day by a bomber squadron of the Luftwaffe in 1937. The event was so shocking for Picasso that he created one of his most famous paintings to serve as a memorial for the tragic event where several people were killed. The Luftwaffe ran some tests in Spain after Franco's government came to power. Since Germany had given aid to the Franco in the Spanish Civil War, Franco "returned the favor" by letting some commando squads of the Luftwaffe train and run military drills on Spanish territory.

In two days the troops of the United States shot down 53 of their own paratrooper planes in the invasion of Sicily in WWII.

t. During the two nights that preceded the Allied invasion of Sicily, the United States navy shot down over 53 of their own planes. Of course, it was a mistake, but nonetheless the planes were filled with paratropers of the 101st, 82nd, and British paratroopers divisions. However, after this incident, most of the troops safely landed and Sicily was be taken by Allied troops in a matter of days.

In the Korean War, US troops were accompanied by several batallions of the UN, amongst these batallions there was a batallion sent by Colombia.

t. As a matter fact, Colombia did send a batallion to Korea. Several different countries send batallions of their own to aid the US fight the North Koreans. Many of these batallions were distinguished in battle and several of their members received medals. About the Colombia Batallion, it was said to be one of the finest, and it was specially distinguished in the battle of Incheon.

Which of these was *not* a battle of the Vietnam War?

Rangoon. The Battle of Rangoon was not fought in Vietnam. In fact, Rangoon is not even located in Vietnam; it is the capital city of Burma. On the other hand, all of the other three battles were indeed fought in the Vietnam war. The Khe Sahn siege, was a great battle, it lasted for several months. The Bolo deception was an air battle that was planned in order for the Vietnamese airforce to believe that the F4 phantoms were actually bombers. Once the Migs approached the formation, they were devastated by the F4s.

Iraq fought a very long war (almost 10 years) against one of these countries in the 1980s. Which?

Iran. The Iran-Iraq war lasted alomst 10 years from 1980 to 1989. Although neither side won, both sides loss hundred thousands of men and up to the Gulf War there were still POWs of both countries held hostage. One interesting fact about this war is that the U.S actually helped Iraq against Iran by giving it weapons and technology. Funny how things turn out!