War History Trivia

1. Who launched the Crusades?

From Quiz We Go On, Fighting With Each Other

Answer: Pope Urban II

The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started by the Roman Catholic Church with the dual aims of securing control of holy sites considered sacred by both parties and wiping out competing religions. The first Crusade was launched by Pope Urban II in response to a request from Emperor Alexius I of Byzantium. There were eight major Crusade expeditions between 1096 and 1291, comprised of bloody, violent, and ruthless conflicts. The judgment of history is that they were unsuccessful, but only after they had claimed an estimated 3,000,000 lives.

From Quiz Night Falls When The Knight Falls

Answer: France

The Battle of Blenheim marked the beginning of the end for the French in their plans to eliminate Holy Roman Emperor Leopold from the War of the Spanish Succession by seizing the Habsburg capital of Vienna. Commander of the allied forces, the Duke of Marlborough realised that although his men were vastly outnumbered, the battlefield positioning of the French cavalry did not allow them easy manoeuvrability. The French cavalry were routed by the allied cavalry, who then wheeled left and before the French could regroup, joined forces with the infantry, forcing the French into the Danube. The French losses at this battle were huge, with almost 30,000 troops drowned, killed, wounded and captured but even greater was the loss of the reputation as an invincible army.

From Quiz Sites of Conflict and Combat

Answer: The Korean Demilitarized Zone

The Korean Demilitarized Zone roughly followed the northern 38th parallel, which was the dividing line between North and South Korea at the end of World War II. As fighting between the two sides came to an end in 1953, both armies moved their troops back by 2 km. The zone stretched for 240 km from one side of the Korean Peninsula to the other. Although there was an agreed limit on the number of military personnel and types of weapons allowed in the zone, there have still been conflicts and a number of deaths there since its creation.

From Quiz Metal is My Teacher

Answer: Turkey

The "Cliffs of Gallipoli" are a strategic location within the nation of Turkey (Ottoman Empire at the time of WWI). The Gallipoli peninsula is located at the Dardanelles, one of two straits that provide access to the Black Sea from the Aegean Sea. The Battle of Gallipoli was fought during World War I from April 25, 1915-January 9, 1916 and ended as a victory for the Ottoman Empire.

From Quiz History Mysteries Part 3

Answer: Trojan War

Legend has it that Paris of Troy, in return for choosing Aphrodite to receive a golden apple, was offered the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife. He subsequently met the beautiful Helen of Sparta, wife of King Menelaus, and eloped with her. This led to a confederation of Greek states uniting to attack Troy to get her back. There were ten years of fighting, known as the Trojan War. The result was the total destruction of the city of Troy, the deaths of some of the great Greek heroes, while the fate of Helen is uncertain. Some say she returned to Menelaus, others that she ascended to Olympus while it is also said that she ended in hell. In fact, it is more likely that Troy was attacked and destroyed in one of the many trade wars between the Greek states and those of Asia Minor. In 1868, ruins, thought to be those of Troy, were discovered in modern day Turkey by Heinrich Schliemann, a German archaeologist. Question by Calpurnia09

From Quiz I Give Up!

Answer: Thermopylae

The Greek troops under the leadership of the king of Sparta, Leonidas, numbered at most 7,000. Xerxes I of Persia's army had between 100,000 and 300,000 men. The engagement took place at a narrow coastal passage named the hot gates,or Thermopylae. Initially, this location neutralized the huge Persian advantage. In ferocious fighting, Leonidas held off the Persians for two days. The Spartan king was betrayed by a Greek who told Xerxes of passage that allowed the Persians to outflank the Greeks. Leonidas responded by dismissing all but 1,500 men. Though the small army was annihilated during the battle, it allowed the majority to regroup to fight another day.

From Quiz In the Zone

Answer: Crimean War

Russell reported on the conditions faced by the Allied forces in the Crimea and the public in Britain was horrified. His reporting on the care of the wounded reached Florence Nightingale who took 38 women volunteer nurses to the region to care for them. Her work revolutionized nursing and the treatment of battlefield casualties. His article "The Charge of the Light Brigade" was the basis for Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem of the same name. The charge took place on Oct. 25 as part of the Battle of Balaclava. The article was published on Nov. 14 and Tennyson's poem was published on Dec. 9.

From Quiz Ten Famous Military Commanders

Answer: Persia

Cyrus the Great's birth date is unknown. He died, however, in 530 BC. He was the founder of the First Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, which lasted until 330 BC when it eventually fell to Alexander the Great. Under the leadership and great military prowess of Cyrus the Great, the Persian Empire conquered much of the known ancient world until it grew to become the largest and most powerful empire the world had known up until that time. It included lands we know today as Bulgaria, Macedon, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Azerbaijan, Armenia and parts of Central Asia, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and India. How astonishing is that? In every land Cyrus the Great conquered, he respected that country's culture and religion and established a form of government in each that worked to the best advantage of its people. What an amazing historical figure!

From Quiz Love of Country

Answer: The Revolutionary War

George Washington ignored a Continental Congress resolution that barred Americans of African descent from the Continental Army. More than 5,000 Americans of African descent fought for in the Continental Army or in State Militias during the course of the conflict.

From Quiz Sally Forth

Answer: Persia

After a failed first attempt at conquest, the Persian king Xerxes led what Herodotus estimated at 1.2 million men in an invasion of the Greek peninsula. That number has been lowered by modern historians, down to a more reasonable 60,000 men. Greece was divided at this time, and the militarily strong Greek city of Sparta only sent 300 of their men, led by King Leonidas to help Athens and the other states to hold off the invading Persians. A religious Spartan festival was occurring at the same time of the invasion, and it was believed if Spartans were to miss the festival, they would feel the wrath of God. This festival is believed to have coincided with the invasion, though the Persians did not know about the festival. Though the Persians won at Thermopylae, the Greeks responded with wins at Salamis and Plateca, pushing the Persians back out of Greece.

From Quiz History of the World STOP By Telegram STOP

Answer: Ottoman Empire

According to military historian Michael Lee Manning, Austria and its allies took advantage of an unusually wet year to prepare Vienna for the advance of the Ottoman Turks under the sultan Suleiman II, and their success proved that Suleiman's famous Janissaries could be defeated. Slaves captured in childhood from Christian countries and trained to be fighting machines, Janissaries were feared as fierce, highly-disciplined warriors. After his failure to take Vienna, Suleiman turned his attention elsewhere, and the threat to Western Europe from outside was eliminated, leaving its nations, in the words of Manning, "to fighting among themselves along Catholic and Protestant lines."

From Quiz All You Need is Relief

Answer: They completely destroyed the city

The siege of Carthage took place during the Third Punic War and lasted from c.149-146 BC. Taking the city was difficult for the Romans because during the three year siege every building in the city had been fortified resulting in hours of house to house fighting. Once they had taken the city the Romans completely destroyed the city, and enslaved or killed the entire population. Some more recent historians have claimed that the Romans ploughed salt into the earth round the city so that nothing could grow but ancient sources do not support this view. It would have been impossible for them to have renamed it in honour of the Roman Emperor as Rome was a republic at this time and did not have an emperor. (The first emperor was Augustus in 27BC)

From Quiz They Shall Not Pass

Answer: Holy Roman Empire

Although now viewed as ceremonial, the Swiss Guards were originally recruited by Pope Julius II in 1506 to act as his personal bodyguards. They were designated as 'Defenders of the Church's Freedom'. His successor, Pope Clement VII, had given his support to the kingdom of France, who were fighting Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor's army had been fighting in Italy, but had not been paid. This led the troops to mutiny and head to the rich pickings to be found in Rome. On 6 May 1527, the forces of the Holy Roman Empire attacked Rome, and 189 Swiss Guards made a last stand against them. Their heroism gave Clement time to escape via a secret passageway, but only forty two Guards survived. The Emperor's army proceeded to sack Rome with their commanders, and the Emperor himself, unable to exert any control over them for several days.

From Quiz "By God Sir, I've Lost My Leg!" - Military Quotes

Answer: Balaklava

After the 93rd Regiment of Foot, the Sutherland Highlanders, had broken the Russian cavalry charge at Balaklava, many of its soldiers were eager to pursue the retreating Russians. Aware of the dangers to the British line should the Russians turn and mount a further attack, Sir Colin shouted this order to the troops lined up to his front. This action at Balaklava was one of a number that took place on that day, the most famous of which was the Charge of the Light Brigade, a disaster for all those cavalrymen that took part. The action by the Sutherland Highlanders was reported by the correspondent William H. Russell writing for his newspaper 'The Times', his report leading to the adoption of the name that the British Army has been known by ever since - 'The Thin Red Line'.

From Quiz Famous Horses and Their Riders

Answer: Ox Head

The literal translation of the name Bucephalus is 'ox head'. Antiquity states that he was a rather large black horse with a massive head. Records furher state that the horse died after the battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC.

From Quiz Insurgents and Insurgencies

Answer: The sympathy of the populace

In order to successfully combat an insurgency, the occupying army should strive to gain the support of the populace. This is the number one goal. Defeating the insurgents is secondary and unnecessary if you gain popular support. This is a lesson that has rarely been heeded, much less learned.

From Quiz Sharpshooters and Sniping

Answer: a bird

A snipe is a long billed bird known for its swift and erratic flight patterns as well as its ability to camouflage itself. Hunters who could expertly find and shoot these birds became known as snipers.

From Quiz Don't Stop Besieging

Answer: Nebuchadnezzar II

Nebuchadnezzar had taken control of Jerusalem following an earlier siege in 597 BC and installed Zedekiah as king. Zedekiah had rebelled against Babylon and formed an alliance with Egypt, leading to a siege lasting around eighteen months. Most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were taken to Babylon as captives while Zedekiah himself, having tried to escape, was forced to watch the execution of his sons before being blinded and taken captive himself. The destruction of Jerusalem is described in the Bible, in Jeremiah 52: 12- 14.

From Quiz Real Escapes

Answer: World War II

The movie "The Great Escape" is the dramatized version of a personal account of the same name. This book, written by Australian journalist Paul Brickhill, was a first-hand account of the mass escape of 76 Allied soldiers from the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp located near the town of Sagan, Poland. The movie, however, is a different matter ... Of the 76 who escaped from the camp, 73 were recaptured. The scale of the escape was such that it was reported to Hitler, who responded by ordering all the 73 recaptured prisoners be shot. In the end the number was reduced to 50. The matter of these illegal executions was raised at Nuremberg as a serious war crime.

From Quiz Key of Valor

Answer: For Valour

The honour was introduced in 1856 and the first medals were cast in bronze from a Russian gun captured during the Crimean War. It is awarded for "conspicuous bravery" or devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.

From Quiz The Dogs of War

Answer: Marathon

The Battle of Marathon saw the Athenians rout invaders from Persia. If the most often cited sources are to be believed, the Athenian victory was spectacular, with the Greeks losing only 203 soldiers against 6,400 Persian dead. In the mural at Stoa Poikile, students of the stoic philosopher Zeno could see the graven image of a dog rushing to his master's side to fight the Persian line.

From Quiz Burnt Toast and Lumpy Gravy

Answer: World War I

Three different kinds of prepackaged rations were used during World War I: reserve rations, trench rations, and emergency rations. According to the US Army Quartermaster Foundation, a World War I reserve ration (meant to provide a complete food allowance for one man for one day) included "a one-pound can of meat (usually corned beef), two 8-ounce tins of hard bread, 2.4 ounces of sugar, 1.12 ounces of roasted and ground coffee, and 0.16 ounce of salt. It weighed about 2-3/4 pounds and contained about 3300 calories."

From Quiz The Greatest (but not about Ali)

Answer: Struck by a roofing tile in the city of Argos.

It may seem amazing but the man who inspired the term "Pyrrhic victory" died after being hit in the head by a roofing tile in the streets of Argos. He and his men had entered the city by stealth, in the confusion an old woman hurled a roofing tile at Pyrrhus stunning him. An Argive soldier then finished the job in 272 BC. Plutarch can give you a much more detailed account.

From Quiz Military Miscellany

Answer: Mimi and Toutou

Their commander - Lt Commander Spicer Simpson - originally called them "Cat" and "Dog", but the Admiralty objected. The journey started in July and ended in October, though the vessels were not launched until December 1915. They sank one of the German vessels and captured another, though Spicer Simpson appears to have carefully avoided the third and major warship. Spicer Simpson appears to have been a very odd fellow. His insistence on wearing a skirt was only part of it!

From Quiz Twice the Service

Answer: General James Doolittle

James "Jimmy" Doolittle spent World War I as a flight instructor throughout the United States. The man who received the Medal of Honor for the 1942 raid on Tokyo kept the U.S. Army supplied with fresh, trained pilots.

From Quiz Chieftain MBT: 2

Answer: T72

The T72 was the main MBT of the Warsaw Pact forces facing NATO although other versions such as the T54 and T62 were still around in smaller numbers.

From Quiz American Urban Legends Warfare

Answer: He writes a message under the stamp and asks her to save it for his collection.

This legend dates back to the American Civil War, and made appearances in both world wars as well as Vietnam. A POW writes to his mother saying he is fine and will be released when the war is over. He asks his mother to save the stamp for his collection. When she steams off the stamp, she finds his real message: 'They have cut out my tongue' (or, 'they are starving us,' or 'they have cut off my hands,' etc). This story is sometimes called the 'Little Alf' story, as the soldier sometimes tells his mother to save the stamp for Little Alf, who doesn't exist. This horrifying story never actually happened. The Red Cross delivers POW mail for free, and a prisoner wouldn't stamp their own mail at any rate. The families of POWs go through hell waiting and not knowing. In the absence of news, people tend to assume the worst.

From Quiz They Fell at ...?

Answer: Carthage

It was sacked by the Romans in the Third Punic War. Out of 700,000 inhabitants only 50,000 survived. They were sold into slavery and the city burned for ten days. Many believe this massacre was the worst systematic slaughter of non-combatants until WW2.

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