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Quiz about European History  A Miscellany 2
Quiz about European History  A Miscellany 2

European History - A Miscellany: 2 Quiz


Another ten questions on Europe, mainly in 19th century and mainly on Continental Europe. Players are likely to find some of the questions unusual (and not very easy), so please treat this as a learning experience.

A multiple-choice quiz by bloomsby. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
bloomsby
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
191,101
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
2080
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 92 (7/10), Guest 149 (3/10), Guest 142 (5/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Despite being decisively defeated in the Napoleonic Wars, France emerged from the Congress of Vienna (1815) slightly bigger than it had been on the eve of the French Revolution.


Question 2 of 10
2. Long after England had ceased to have any territory in France, the titles of the monarchs of England (and later Great Britain) included that of "King [or Queen] of France". When was this dropped? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. When was that greatly admired, much feared and widely imitated military planning machine - the Prussian General Staff (later known as the "Grosse Generalstab") founded? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In Paris it's the name of a square not far from the Arc de Triomphe and also a Metro station, in Britain it's sometimes used as the name of cinemas - but in fact Trocadero first became well known as the name of a battle. In which country was the battle fought? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. In 1825 work began on a very ambitious engineering project in Continental Europe - the construction of a railway, about 100 km (60 miles) long, linking two cities of some importance. What were the two cities? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. After the Napoleonic Wars Britain became the international political "top dog". However, for most of the rest of the 19th century, it saw another great power as a potential threat to its interests. Which was it? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. In the last third of the 19th century there occurred what is sometimes described as a "silent revolution". Gradually, secondary schools (up to age 18+) for girls were founded and women were allowed to study at university. Which was the first European university to admit women students on an ongoing basis? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. After 1815, at the latest, one might have assumed that the days when kings and emperors were actually present with their armies on battlefields was a thing of the past. However, the unpredictable Napoleon III was not only present on the battlefield in person in the Franco-Prussian War, he was also taken prisoner. Where? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The words of this song were written in 1871 immediately after the Paris Commune and were set to music in 1888. As far as is known it was first sung at an international meeting in 1896 but within a mere 10-15 years it became *the* battle hymn of socialism (except in the English-speaking lands). By 1918-19, however, it was associated more specifically with the radical Left. Which of these is it? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In 1900 Kaiser Wilhelm II harangued the German troops before they were sent to China to suppress the Boxer Rebellion against Europeans. In the course of his speech, he urged the soldiers to establish a reputation for the Germans comparable to that of the Huns.



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Despite being decisively defeated in the Napoleonic Wars, France emerged from the Congress of Vienna (1815) slightly bigger than it had been on the eve of the French Revolution.

Answer: True

It retained its pre-Revolutionary territory (apart from a few villages) and added Avignon and the surrounding area, the Venaissin (or Comtat), which had been Papal territory from the Middle Ages till 1791.
2. Long after England had ceased to have any territory in France, the titles of the monarchs of England (and later Great Britain) included that of "King [or Queen] of France". When was this dropped?

Answer: 1802 (Peace of Amiens)

In 1802 the Peace of Amiens temporarily ended the war between Britain and France and Britain recognized the French Republic. The following year, however, disagreement over Malta led to a resumption of the war.

George III (reigned 1760-1820) had stopped using the title 'King of France' in the 1790s out of respect to the Bourbons after the execution of Louis XVI.
3. When was that greatly admired, much feared and widely imitated military planning machine - the Prussian General Staff (later known as the "Grosse Generalstab") founded?

Answer: 1808

Its function was the rational, systematic planning of war. It was established in aftermath of Prussia's defeat by Napoleon, and the first Chief of the General Staff was Gerhardt von Scharnhorst. With the appointment of Helmut von Moltke, Senior (1800-91) as Chief of Staff in 1857 it became an immensely effective military planning apparatus.

Its detailed war games, including the thorough study of the rail networks and timetables of possible future enemies, and its ability to predict probable troop movements partly on the basis of these, became almost legendary.
4. In Paris it's the name of a square not far from the Arc de Triomphe and also a Metro station, in Britain it's sometimes used as the name of cinemas - but in fact Trocadero first became well known as the name of a battle. In which country was the battle fought?

Answer: Spain

In 1820 Spain erupted into civil war as troops stationed at Cadiz and Madrid mutinied and forced the absolute monarch, Ferdinard VII, to restore the constitution of 1812, which provided for a limited monarchy. Austria, Prussia and Russia were alarmed and in 1822 requested France to restore Ferninand VII (by then a prisoner) to the throne.

The rebels were finally defeated in 1823 at Trocadero, near Cadiz. Ferdinand then ruthlessly hounded his adversaries, despite the fact that he had granted the rebels an amnesty.

Incidentally, this civil war did much to weaken yet further Spain's already wobbly hold over its remaining colonies in the Americas and prompted the declaration of the Monroe Doctrine. Britain, keen to prevent the revival of an empire comparable in size to its own, supported the Monroe Doctrine.
5. In 1825 work began on a very ambitious engineering project in Continental Europe - the construction of a railway, about 100 km (60 miles) long, linking two cities of some importance. What were the two cities?

Answer: Linz and Ceske Budejovice (Budweis)

The original scheme was for a canal linking the Danube with the Vltava, but as the route crosses very hilly terrain, it would have required 310 locks and have been uneconomical. The railway, completed in 1832, used horses before going over to steam traction. As is well known, the great majority of very early railways were in Britain.
6. After the Napoleonic Wars Britain became the international political "top dog". However, for most of the rest of the 19th century, it saw another great power as a potential threat to its interests. Which was it?

Answer: Russia

Successive British governments feared possible Russian expansion towards British India. They were also concerned about what appeared to be repeated Russian thrusts into the Balkans - towards the Bosporous and the Dardenelles and into the Eastern Mediterranean. It was for this reason that for much of the 19th century Britain propped up the Ottoman Empire (the "Sick Man of Europe"). Towards the very end of the century Anglo-Russian rivalry also extended to the Persian Gulf.
7. In the last third of the 19th century there occurred what is sometimes described as a "silent revolution". Gradually, secondary schools (up to age 18+) for girls were founded and women were allowed to study at university. Which was the first European university to admit women students on an ongoing basis?

Answer: Zurich

At the University of Zurich women were first admitted on an experimental basis in 1864. In 1868 this was made permanent and there was a steady intake every year. In Europe, universities were (and for the most part still are) subject to direct or indirect state regulation, which made the whole issue politically charged. Europe lacked anything comparable to Oberlin College or Mount Holyoke College in the United States. Before the regular admission of women to university, Bologna and a handful of the German universities had very occasionally awarded degrees to women, but they had had to study privately.

Moreover, the number was extremely small.
8. After 1815, at the latest, one might have assumed that the days when kings and emperors were actually present with their armies on battlefields was a thing of the past. However, the unpredictable Napoleon III was not only present on the battlefield in person in the Franco-Prussian War, he was also taken prisoner. Where?

Answer: Sedan

This happened within a mere six weeks of the start of the Franco-Prussian war. At Sédan, the French lost about 100,000 men and the emperor. The already fragile Second Empire shattered at once and two days later France was declared a republic. The hastily improvised government had the immensely difficult task of continuing the war. Fifteen days after Sédan the Prussians laid siege to Paris, which held out for four months.

When Paris finally fell, the Prussians only disarmed the regular French troops in the capital and left the reservists in possession of their weapons. Before long some of the latter rose in rebellion against the new French government - as the Paris Commune.
9. The words of this song were written in 1871 immediately after the Paris Commune and were set to music in 1888. As far as is known it was first sung at an international meeting in 1896 but within a mere 10-15 years it became *the* battle hymn of socialism (except in the English-speaking lands). By 1918-19, however, it was associated more specifically with the radical Left. Which of these is it?

Answer: The Internationale

The lyrics, by Eugene Pottier (1816-1887), are very uneven in quality and are best when at their most defiant. The first line, "Debout, les damnés de la terre!" (literally: "Arise, ye damned of the earth!") is very striking. The music, composed in 1888 by Pierre Degeyter (1848-1932), is a lively march. From 1923-43 the "Internationale" was used in the USSR in lieu of a national anthem and in 1928, the year of his 80th birthday, Degeyter was invited to Moscow, where he was given a hero's welcome.
10. In 1900 Kaiser Wilhelm II harangued the German troops before they were sent to China to suppress the Boxer Rebellion against Europeans. In the course of his speech, he urged the soldiers to establish a reputation for the Germans comparable to that of the Huns.

Answer: True

Oh, what a silly man! He hadn't shown the speech to any of his ministers, and the horrified Chancellor tried to prevent the speech from being published, but it had already got out. The speech later proved a gift to French and British propagandists in WWI.
Source: Author bloomsby

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