Nineteenth-Century Treaties Trivia Quiz

Answer: Greek War of Independence

Greece was, in the early nineteenth century, part of the Ottoman Empire but still retained its own language and customs. The war for independence began with an excursion into neighbouring Moldova to attack the Turks, which met with defeat but became the catalyst for other uprisings. On 25 March 1821, further rebellions took place in several parts of Greece and the war for independence had begun in earnest.

By 1822, the Ottoman Empire had lost control of the Peloponnese and the Greeks declared their independence. Internal conflicts meant there was no smooth progression and by 1827 most of Greece had been reclaimed. However, the major powers of Europe threw their might behind Greece, with Russia, Britain and France sending warships to the region. In 1830, Greece was declared an independent state under the protection of the three powers mentioned in the previous sentence.

The Treaty of Constantinople brought the conflict to an end with the Ottoman Empire recognising Greece's independence. Greece still celebrates its independence day on 25 March, the day the war began in earnest.

Answer: First Opium War

The first of the two Opium Wars took place between 1839 and 1842 and involved Britain and China. Foreign traders, including the British, had been importing opium into China, causing huge problems with addiction rife and economic difficulties arising as a result. China destroyed over 1.000 tons of the drug in 1839 and hostilities broke out when British warships destroyed a Chinese blockade on the Pearl River, Hong Kong. Further raids involved the capture of Canton (Guangzhou) and then Nanking (Nanjing) itself.

The Chinese were unable to continue resistance and the Treaty of Nanking was agreed in August 1842. This gave merchants a virtual carte blanche to continue selling opium and also ceded Hong Kong to Britain, with the Chinese regaining Hong Kong only in 1997.

Answer: Crimean War

Lasting from October 1853 until April 1856, the Crimean War was fought between the Ottoman Empire, supported by France and Britain, against the Russian Empire. As the name implies, most of the battles took place on the Crimean Peninsula, including the Battles of Balaclava (1856), Alma River (1854) and Inkerman (1854). The war is remembered for the work carried out by two British nurses, Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, which paved the way for better treatment for injured soldiers and improvements in nursing.

The Treaty of Paris brought an end to the war, lost by Russia which had to cede land, opening up the Danube for other countries to use.

Answer: Austro-Sardinian War

This relatively short war lasted from 29 April 1859 until 11 July 1859 and is also known as the Second Italian War of Independence, which tells you what was at stake. Austria had won the First Italian War of Independence, lasting from 1848 until 1849, giving them control of Piedmont and Lombardy. The Piedmontese managed to form an alliance with France with the latter country provoking the Austrian Empire to attack Sardinia thus giving France the excuse it needed to become involved.

With the French army's support, the Piedmontese defeated Austria with an armistice being agreed in July 1859. The Treaty of Zurich, actually a series of three treaties, initially saw Lombardy pass from Austria to France, who then ceded it to Sardinia, with a final treaty being a peace treaty between Austria and Sardinia.

Answer: Second Schleswig War

The two wars bearing the name of Schleswig were a result of what was called the Schleswig-Holstein Question. Schleswig was a region in the southern part of Denmark with a large German population in the south, mixed Danish and German in the middle and mostly Danish in the north. Holstein was primarily German speaking and Denmark considered it part of Schleswig The regions were disputed by Denmark and Prussia, supported by the Austrian Empire.

Denmark was no match for the combined armies and the King of Denmark, Christian IX, surrendered Schleswig and Holstein to Austria and Prussia under the Treaty of Vienna.

Answer: Seven Weeks' War

Prussia was becoming the dominant state under the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, and was looking for freedom from the terms of the 1815 Congress of Vienna. This had created a German Confederation, dominated by the Austrian Empire. Although allies in the wars to claim Schleswig-Holstein, Bismarck turned on Austria using the former Danish territories as the excuse. Although Austria had the support of other states, such as Bavaria and Hanover, Prussia had formed an alliance with Italy, meaning Austria had to fight on two fronts. The war lasted from June to August 1866 with the decisive battle being the Battle of Königgrätz which Prussia won.

The Peace of Prague was signed between Austria and Prussia. By this treaty Austria acknowledged the dissolution of 'the Germanic Confederation and would no longer be considered part of the states which would later become Germany. Full control of Schleswig-Holstein was ceded to Prussia and Venetia, a region that included parts of north-eastern Italy and western Slovenia, was given to Italy.

Answer: Franco-Prussian War

Prussian, and Bismarck's, ambitions continued to grow during this period of European history and Bismarck's attempts to put a Prussian prince on the throne of Spain provoked France, led by Napoleon III, into action - they would have had enemies to the north and south if Bismarck's plan had succeeded. France declared war in July 1870, but had miscalculated the support Prussia had from other German states meaning their army was heavily outnumbered. The Battle of Sedan was decisive. Fought in September 1870, it led to the capture of Napoleon III and victory for Prussia.

The Prussians pushed on into Paris and France surrendered in January 1871. The Prussians rubbed salt into the wounds by crowning Wilhelm as the first emperor, or kaiser, of Germany in the Palace of Versailles.

A peace treaty was concluded at Frankfurt am Main in May 1871, with Prussia gaining most of the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. France had to pay a large indemnity with the Germans still occupying parts of France until this had been paid in full. The seeds for the Great War had already been sown.

Answer: Paraguayan War

While Europe went through turmoil, South America was also having its own problems with the War of the Triple Alliance, also called the Paraguayan War, taking place between 1864 and 1870. Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay formed an alliance against Paraguay with the borders between the countries having been set by the Europeans, mostly Spain and Portugal, rather than on traditional tribal boundaries. Hostilities broke out in earnest in 1864 when Paraguay launched the Matto Grosso campaign, invading the Brazilian region of that name, as well as attacking in the south of Brazil and regions of Argentina.

Counter-offensives drove them back, but the war swung back and forth with Asunción, Paraguay's capital, being captured by Brazilian forces in January 1869. Earlier treaties had been concluded with Brazil and the Machain - Irigoyen Treaty, named for the main signatories for each side, settled matters between Argentina and Paraguay.

The war was extremely costly, not least in loss of life, for all participants and Paraguay lost much of its original territory. The war is classed as the deadliest fought in Latin America between neighbouring countries.

Answer: Russo-Turkish War

This was another war involving the Ottoman Empire, with a coalition between Russia, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria opposing them. The Balkan states were fighting for independence from the Ottomans while Russia wished to regain territory lost in the Crimean War. The war lasted just over ten months, with the Russian coalition prevailing. It took the intervention of the western powers, including Britain, to bring matters to an end.

Under the terms of the Treaty of San-Stefano, the Ottoman sultan recognized the complete independence of Serbia, Montenegro and Romania with increased territories. An autonomous principality of Bulgaria was to be created, bounded by the Danube, the Black Sea, the Aegean and Albania. The Treaty of Berlin superseded the original treaty very soon as the west felt that Russia had gained too much under the terms of the first treaty.

Answer: First Sino-Japanese War

Lasting from August 1894 until April 1895, this war between Japan and China was essentially a fight for control of Korea. Japan had its eye on Korea's natural resources, and encouraged Korea to declare itself independent of China. Matters escalated, especially when a Korean leader, who favoured Japan, was assassinated in Shanghai and full scale war broke out in 1894. Although China had greater manpower, Japan had modernised itself and was soon on the offensive, invading Manchuria and the province of Shandong.

China was defeated and the Treaty of Shimonoseki formally ended the war. China had to recognise Korea as an independent nation, cede Taiwan to Japan and open certain ports to trade with Japan. The two countries would fight again, but not until 1937 and overlapping with World War II.