About this quiz
Key dates and events of world history including the World Wars, major revolutions, independence movements and the founding of the UN.
This Lok Sewa practice set has 20 multiple-choice questions (Subject: General Knowledge · For: Kharidar, Nayab Subba, Section Officer · Level: Medium). Take the quiz above first; after that, use the study list below to revise every question with its correct answer and a short explanation.
Study list: all 20 questions with answers and explanations
In which year did the First World War begin?
- A) 1912
- B) 1918
- C) 1914 ✔
- D) 1939
Why: The First World War began in 1914 and lasted until 1918.
Whose assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 triggered the First World War?
- A) Archduke Franz Ferdinand ✔
- B) Tsar Nicholas II
- C) Kaiser Wilhelm II
- D) Otto von Bismarck
Why: Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo in June 1914.
Which treaty, signed in 1919, formally ended the First World War with Germany?
- A) Treaty of Paris
- B) Treaty of Westphalia
- C) Treaty of Tordesillas
- D) Treaty of Versailles ✔
Why: The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 between the Allied Powers and Germany.
Which international body was set up after the First World War to maintain world peace?
- A) United Nations
- B) League of Nations ✔
- C) Commonwealth of Nations
- D) NATO
Why: The League of Nations was founded in 1920 after the First World War; it was later replaced by the United Nations.
The Second World War began in 1939 when Germany invaded which country?
- A) France
- B) Poland ✔
- C) Belgium
- D) Austria
Why: Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, leading Britain and France to declare war.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought which country into the Second World War?
- A) Soviet Union
- B) China
- C) United Kingdom
- D) United States ✔
Why: Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, after which the United States entered the war.
On which Japanese city was the first atomic bomb dropped in August 1945?
- A) Tokyo
- B) Nagasaki
- C) Hiroshima ✔
- D) Osaka
Why: The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945; the second fell on Nagasaki three days later.
In which year did the Second World War end?
- A) 1945 ✔
- B) 1944
- C) 1946
- D) 1947
Why: The Second World War ended in 1945 with the surrender of Germany in May and Japan in August/September.
The French Revolution began in which year?
- A) 1776
- B) 1789 ✔
- C) 1799
- D) 1815
Why: The French Revolution began in 1789; the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 is its symbolic start.
The American Declaration of Independence was adopted in which year?
- A) 1776 ✔
- B) 1789
- C) 1783
- D) 1812
Why: The Declaration of Independence of the United States was adopted on 4 July 1776.
Who was the first President of the United States?
- A) Thomas Jefferson
- B) Abraham Lincoln
- C) John Adams
- D) George Washington ✔
Why: George Washington served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797.
Who led the Bolsheviks in the Russian (October) Revolution of 1917?
- A) Joseph Stalin
- B) Leon Trotsky
- C) Vladimir Lenin ✔
- D) Karl Marx
Why: Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik Party, which seized power in Russia in the October Revolution of 1917.
In which year was the Soviet Union dissolved?
- A) 1989
- B) 1990
- C) 1993
- D) 1991 ✔
Why: The Soviet Union formally dissolved in December 1991, giving rise to 15 independent states.
The United Nations was officially established on 24 October of which year?
- A) 1945 ✔
- B) 1919
- C) 1948
- D) 1950
Why: The UN Charter came into force on 24 October 1945, which is celebrated every year as UN Day.
The Berlin Wall fell in which year?
- A) 1961
- B) 1985
- C) 1991
- D) 1989 ✔
Why: The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, and Germany was reunified in 1990.
India gained independence from British rule on which date?
- A) 26 January 1950
- B) 15 August 1947 ✔
- C) 15 August 1950
- D) 26 January 1947
Why: India became independent on 15 August 1947; 26 January 1950 is when its constitution came into force.
Bangladesh became independent from which country in 1971?
- A) India
- B) Myanmar
- C) Pakistan ✔
- D) United Kingdom
Why: Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, won independence from Pakistan in 1971 after the Liberation War.
Who proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949?
- A) Mao Zedong ✔
- B) Sun Yat-sen
- C) Chiang Kai-shek
- D) Deng Xiaoping
Why: Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949.
In which country did the Industrial Revolution begin in the 18th century?
- A) France
- B) Germany
- C) Great Britain ✔
- D) United States
Why: The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the second half of the 18th century.
In which year did Nelson Mandela become the first black President of South Africa?
- A) 1990
- B) 1994 ✔
- C) 1999
- D) 1984
Why: Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa in 1994 after the country's first fully democratic elections.