Smaller 19th and 20th Century Wars Quiz

Answer: San Jacinto

After driving the Mexican Army out of Texas during the initial stages of the revolt, the Texas army suffered several defeats and was in retreat. However, Texas General Sam Houston attacked and routed Santa Anna's overextended army at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, leading to a treaty granting independence to Texas.

Not long after, Texas became part of the USA, and border disputes led to the U.S.-Mexican War, in which Mexico lost a third of its territory.

Answer: First Balkan War

Using the May, 1912 Albanian revolt as a pretext, the Balkan League of Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire in October, 1912. By May of 1913, they had defeated the disorganized Turkish forces and divided the provinces of Eastern Rumelia, Thrace, and Macedonia between them, while Albania also declared independence. Dissension among the allies led to the Second Balkan War from June to August,1913, where Bulgaria fought Serbia, Greece, Romania, and the Ottomans, losing territory to all four countries.

Answer: 1866

The rivalry between Austria and Prussia for dominance in the affairs of Germany, which in 1866 was still a conglomeration of mostly small states, came to war between the two powers and their allies in the summer of 1866. The immediate cause was over the administration of Schleswig-Holstein, which had been taken from Denmark by Austria and Prussia in 1864.

The major results of the war were the end of the German Confederation, the creation of the Prussian-dominated North German Confederation, the seizure of Venezia by Italy, and the 1867 formation of the Dual Monarchy by Austria and Hungary.

Answer: Great Britain

When the Chinese government attempted to curb the traffic in opium, which was Britain's most profitable trading commodity at the time, the British attacked Chinese coastal forts in Dinghai, in the northeastern part of the country. British troops also captured Canton and destroyed most of the Chinese navy.

The 1842 Treaty of Nanking ceded Hong Kong to Britain, opened more ports to European trade, and began the period of "unequal treaties" which gave extraterritorial status to foreign nationals in China.

Answer: Eight months

By 1898, American public opinion, fueled by both yellow journalism and an expansionist foreign policy, was firmly in favor of independence for Cuba. Stories of Spanish atrocities, as well as the explosion of the American battleship "Maine" in Havana harbor, led to an American declaration of war against Spain in April, 1898. American troops and naval forces fought Spanish forces in both Cuba and the Philippines, winning a decisive victory by December, 1898.

Answer: Second Boer War

The First Boer War was fought in 1880-1881, and led to the independence of the South African Republic. Tensions mounted as more foreigners moved into South Africa following a gold rush in 1886. The newcomers were mostly British, and were denied voting rights by the Boers. Fighting broke out in October, 1899, and the Boers were finally defeated in May, 1902.

The war was mostly fought by small units on both sides, with the British also putting Boer women and children into concentration camps to cut off support for the Boers.

Answer: Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

Fought mostly in the Chinese province of Manchuria and the surrounding seas, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 was fought over each country's desire to colonize both Chinese and Korean territory. Japan, while not having near the resources of Russia, took advantage of the fact that Russia had to ship supplies and men from European Russia to the battlefields in Asia and inflicted a decisive defeat on them, paving the way for the emergence of Japan as a world power.

Answer: Napoleon III

Following the Prussian victory over Austria in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, France was concerned about the rise in Prussian power and influence in Europe. German chancellor Bismarck goaded the French into war over the possible succession of a Prussian prince to the Spanish throne. War began in July, 1870, and the French were soon defeated and the emperor captured. Napoleon III was deposed in favor of a republic, and Germany was unified under Prussian king Wilhelm I in 1871.

Answer: April 1895

By the early 1890s, both Japan and China were importing technology from the West, trying to keep up with the European powers to keep from being divided and colonized. A dispute concerning Korea led to war, where it was shown without doubt that Japanese efforts to modernize were more successful than the Chinese program. Upon her defeat in April, 1895, China lost all influence in Korea, and was also forced to cede Japan the Liaodong Peninsula, which the Western powers later nullified. Japan was on her way to becoming the most powerful Asian nation.

Answer: The Boxer Rebellion

By 1899, most of China was effectively under the control of a group of European nations, as well as Japan and the USA. A Chinese peasant movement, known as the "Boxers", sought to expel the "foreign devils" and restore the glory of Imperial China. Attacking foreign religious missions and commercial interests, the Boxers were joined by regular Chinese forces, but an eight-nation alliance of the USA, Japan, and several European powers landed troops and fought their way into Beijing and ended the uprising.

The weakened Chinese imperial state was overthrown in 1912 by Sun Yat-Sen's revolt.