History 2

6 - History
1 -

Named after a French minister of the 20th century, what effort is considered one of the great failures of military history, and is now used as a metaphor for something that is confidently relied upon but which ended up being ineffective?

Answer

The Maginot Line
The Maginot Line named after French minister of defence André Maginot was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along its borders with Germany and with Italy, in the light of experience from World War I, and in the run-up to World War II. However, the fortification system utterly failed to contain the invading German forces in World War II, who largely manuevered around it.

2.

The name of which symbol means 'well-being' in Sanskrit, though it became associated with men of dubious repute in history?

Answer

The Swastika (from Sanskrit 'svasti')
The use of the swastika was associated by Nazi theorists with their conjecture of Aryan cultural descent of the German people. Following the Nordicist version of the Aryan invasion theory, the Nazis claimed that the early Aryans of India, from whose Vedic tradition the swastika sprang, were the prototypical white invaders.



3 - The current queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom belongs to which royal house?

Answer

The House of Windsor
The name of the house was originally the House of Wettin but in 1917, during World War I, anti-German feeling among the people resulted in the Royal Family exchanging use of all of their German titles and house names for English-sounding versions.



4 -.

If 'Little Boy-Enola Gay' is to Hiroshima, what is to Nagasaki?

Answer

Fatman - Bockscar
An implosion-type weapon with a plutonium core, 'Fat Man' was detonated at an altitude of about 1,800 feet (550 m) over the city, and was dropped from a B-29 bomber Bockscar, piloted by Major Charles Sweeney. Because of Nagasaki's hilly terrain, the damage was somewhat less extensive than that in relatively flat Hiroshima. An estimated 40,000 people were killed outright by the bombing ,and about 25,000 were injured. Many thousands more would die later from related injuries, and radiation sickness from nuclear fallout.


5 - One of the mottos of which lethal 20th century regime was "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss." in reference to civilian Cambodians?

Answer

Khmer Rouge
It was the ruling political party of Cambodia -- which it renamed to Democratic Kampuchea -- from 1975 to 1979. The Khmer regime is remembered mainly for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people (estimates range from 850,000 to 3 million) under its regime, through execution, starvation and forced labor.



6.

Julius Caesar crossed this river in 49 BC as an act of war where he supposedly said "the die is cast", giving rise to a popular idiom. Which river?

Answer

The Rubicon
"Crossing the Rubicon" is a popular idiom meaning to go past a point of no return because it was an ancient boundary between Gaul and Italy. The river is notable as Roman law forbade any general from crossing it with an army.
.

7 After hearing what news did Winston Churchill write "Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful."?

Answer

Attack on Pearl Harbor drawing the US into WWII

This battle has had history-altering consequences. It only had a small strategic military effect because the Japanese Navy failed to sink U.S. aircraft carriers or destroy the Submarine Base, but even if this had been achieved, it would not have helped Japan in the long term. The attack firmly drew the United States and its massive industrial and service economy into World War II.



8.

What name was given to the man-portable anti-tank rocket launcher which saw widespread use during World War II?

Answer

Bazooka

It was nicknamed "bazooka" from a vague resemblance to the musical instrument of the same name invented and used by Bob Burns. The word "bazooka" is often incorrectly used to refer to any shoulder-launched missile weapon.



9.

Which city in central Spain was renowned throughout the middle ages as an important center for the production of swords and other bladed instruments?

Answer

Toledo





10 - The transfer of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997 from Great Britian is well-known. But at around the same time (in 1999), which country relinquished its claim on Macau and handed it over to China?

Answer

Portugal

Portugal and China agreed in 1979 to regard Macau as "a Chinese territory under (temporary) Portuguese administration". Negotiations between the Chinese and Portuguese governments on the question of Macau started in June 1986. In 1987, an international treaty, known as the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration, was signed to make Macau a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The Chinese government assumed sovereignty over Macau on December 20, 1999, ending 329 years of Portuguese rule.