Treaties, Pacts and Agreements Quiz

Answer: England v France

This treaty was signed between Edward III of England and John II of France and marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War. It followed the Battle of Poitiers (1356) during which the French king had been captured. The French paid a high ransom for the release of their king and gave control of a large part of northwest France to England.

In return, Edward III gave away his claim to the French throne. The peace didn't last, with hostilities breaking out again in 1369.

Answer: Spain & Portugal

This agreement essentially carved up the Americas between Spain and Portugal with results which can still be seen today. An imaginary line was drawn to the west of the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands, with Spain receiving all lands discovered to the west, and Portugal those to the east.

The Portuguese part included the eastern coast of what is now Brazil, which is why Portuguese is the language of Brazil and Spanish that for most of the rest of South America. Of course, the treaty totally ignored the indigenous peoples already living in these regions, and brought an end to civilisations which were well established, such as the Aztecs and the Incas.

Answer: France and Spain

Between 1494 and 1559, France and Spain (the Habsburg Empire) fought for control of what is now Italy. By 1558, France had lost major battles against Spain and both countries were suffering financially. France had domestic problems too, including the Huguenots (Protestants) disturbing the Catholic status quo. Under the agreement, Spain remained the dominant nation in the area, although France retained some toeholds, in the form of fortresses, in Turin and other places which are now Italian.

Answer: Jacobites and England

The war in Ireland could be described as an overspill of the removal of James II from the English throne and his replacement by Mary II and her husband, William III. This was driven by religion, with James being Catholic and William and Mary being Protestant.

As Ireland was, and still is, a mainly Catholic country, the supporters of James, the Jacobites. used Ireland as a means of attacking England. The major battle, won by the English, was the Battle of the Boyne, in 1690, which was followed by a siege of Limerick.

The Jacobites surrendered and the terms of the treaty allowed them to leave for France, an event known as the 'Flight of the Wild Geese'.

Answer: Austria and France

This was one of the treaties which led to the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. Charles VI, the (Austrian) Holy Roman Emperor had been pursuing his claim to the Spanish throne, which was opposed by France. A series of treaties signed at Utrecht had led to the end of much of the fighting, but Charles had been reluctant to relinquish his claim.

Under the Treaty of Rastatt, he ceded his personal claim and a further treaty was signed at Baden a year later in the name of the Holy Roman Empire. Technically, these still didn't end the war as Charles still refused to acknowledge Philip V, of Bourbon, as the king of Spain and the war between the two countries was not officially over until 1720.

Answer: Sweden and Russia

Sweden's expansion into the Baltic area had caused friction with Russia, who had lost access to the Baltic Sea since Sweden controlled Karelia and the Baltic regions which are now Lithuania and Estonia. Denmark-Norway also had issues with Sweden while Saxony-Poland had lost territory to Sweden. These problems led to the outbreak of the Great Northern War in 1700 and the aggrieved countries joined forces against Sweden.

The death of Charles II of Sweden in 1718, which may have been an assassination or due to enemy fire, left Sweden without effective leadership and the hostilities were ended by the Treaty of Nystad. Russia gained the part of Karelia it needed to access the Baltic and the states on the eastern part of the Baltic also passed to Russia, allowing them to grow in power in the region while Sweden declined.

Answer: Prussia and Austria

This is the treaty which brought the Second Silesian War to an end although the peace was relatively short-lived as the Third Silesian War broke out in 1756 as part of the Seven Years War. The bone of contention in all three conflicts was the region of Silesia, which is now part of Poland. Austria, led by Archduchess Maria Theresa, considered Silesia to be part of their territory which was occupied by Prussia.

Although three wars were fought, Prussia, with Frederick the Great in control, came out victorious in all three. The Treaty of Dresden confirmed Silesia as Prussian while Prussia agreed to adopt a neutral position in the War of the Austrian Succession.

Answer: Russia and China

Russia was keen to expand its borders to gain access to the River Amur and had encouraged Russian people to settle in the region, which was officially part of China. Between 1850 and 1864, China was dealing with the Taiping Rebellion, and Russia took advantage of this by moving vast numbers of troops into the region.

The assumption was that China would not have the resources to fight on another front, which proved to be the case. Following negotiations, a treaty was signed between Russia and China at the port of Aigun in China on the Amur River.

The left bank was ceded to Russia, giving it the access that they wanted, while China could also use the river for their shipping.

Answer: Russia and Japan

US president Theodore Roosevelt was the mediator in this peace treaty which ended the Russo-Japanese War, which had been going on since February 1904. Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, had intended to expand his country's borders even further into China, which threatened the Japanese interests on the Korean peninsula. Japan reacted by opening hostilities, catching Russia ill-prepared. The relatively brief war led to a series of defeats for Russia, and both sides agreed to the American President's offer to negotiate between them.

The treaty was signed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with Russia giving up the lease of Port Arthur, relinquishing its control of parts of Manchuria and recognising Japan's claim to Korea. The disasters of the war, and the Tsar's perceived weakness, were to lead to the Russian Revolution only a few years later.

Answer: Ireland and UK

Also known as the Belfast Agreement, this complex set of agreements brought an end to the period of discord generally known as 'The Troubles'. The problems of Ireland are complicated and too difficult to go into in depth but centre around religious differences (Catholic and Protestant) and political differences - should Northern Ireland be part of the UK or united with the Republic of Ireland. Thirty years of bloodshed, much of it in Belfast but also in the Republic and on the British mainland, had caused the deaths of many innocent people on both sides of the divide.

The agreement has, for the most part, stopped the violence but not solved the underlying issues.