What's the Deal, My Globe Has West Germany On It? Quiz

Answer: Federal Republic of Germany

The official name of Germany is the Federal Republic of Germany. At the end of World War II, Germany was divided into four military occupation zones administered by the allied nations of United States, UK, France and the USSR. The area within the USSR zone included the capital city of Berlin. In 1949, the three "Western" zones combined to from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with the city of Bonn as a temporary or provisional capital. The Soviet controlled "Eastern" zone became a separate country named the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Berlin was split between the west and east, with East Berlin becoming the GDR capital.

Between 1949 and 1989, Cold War tensions between the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact and the US-led NATO focused around on the two German countries and the city of Berlin in particular. Efforts within Germany to arrive at a peaceful reunification gathered momentum in the late 1980s, brought about by economic problems in the GDR and the lessening of Soviet support to the GDR as the USSR focused on internal issues. The reunification of Germany was finalized on October 3, 1990 when the former territory of East Germany became part of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist.

Answer: The country split into two separate nations

Czechoslovakia (Czechs and Slovaks) was established in 1918 at the end of World War I when the former lands of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the adjacent lands of Slovakia merged to form a single, independent country. The country was a democratic republic until the outbreak of World War II. Germany annexed the traditional Czech areas of Bohemia and Moravia that had heavy German ethnic minorities. Poland and Hungary soon annexed the remaining areas including Slovakia. After the war, Czechoslovakia was re-established under the control of the USSR and allied communist parties. Czechoslovakia was an uneasy member of the Warsaw Bloc. In 1968, liberalization policies by the government known as the Prague Spring caused Warsaw Bloc countries to invade the country and quash any reforms.

In 1989, as much of the former Warsaw Pact reformed their political system, so did Czechoslovakia. This period known as the Velvet Revolution saw an orderly change in political power from a single party communist state to a democratic republic. During the post-war period, the Czech lands had industrialized and prospered, while much of Slovakia remained underdeveloped and agricultural. As a result, in 1993, the country split into two entities creating the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. This peaceful split is sometimes called the Velvet Divorce.

Answer: South Yemen

In 1918, the area around the city of Sana'a in Yemen's north split from the Ottoman Empire and created the Yemen Arab Republic. Much of the southern area of the country, including the important port city of Aden, remained controlled by the British. In 1967, the British retreated from their Arabian colonies and a Marxist group called the National Liberation Front took control of the Aden colony, creating an independent state called the People's Republic of Yemen (later changed to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen). Between 1967 and 1990, the nominally Western-allied North Yemen and the Soviet supported South Yemen coexisted in an uneasy and frequently violent fashion.

In 1986, South Yemen erupted into an internal war for political control. Thousands of South Yemenis left the country for the safer region of the North. Later in 1980s when the Soviet Union withdrew economic and political support the South Yemeni economy floundered. In 1990, the two countries came to a mutual and peaceful determination to merge and on May 22, 1990 created a united country named the Republic of Yemen, with a capital in Sana'a.

Answer: Kosovo

As early as 1991, the region of Kosovo broke apart from the Republic of Serbia and sought autonomy. This brought about a decade long bloody conflict in Kosovo between ethnic Serbians who are primarily Orthodox, and the mostly Muslim ethnic Albanians. The UN stepped in and essentially administered the area until 2008 when Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. While the US, EU member countries, and over 100 other nations quickly recognized the new country, Serbia, Russia and China did not.

The total disintegration of the former Yugoslavia was inevitable and simply the case of history repeating itself. The region had spawned the term for the process of taking a large multi-ethnic country and breaking it up into a smaller pieces - Balkanization. The first wave of Balkanization occurred when the Ottoman Empire lost its grip on the Balkans in the 19th century. After World War II, deep-seated ethnic and religious animosities were submerged when the modern Yugoslavia was cobbled together into a Communist collection of unified republics that barely lasted past the death of Josef Broz (Tito). The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1990 sounded the death knell for preserving a unified Balkan country.

Answer: South Sudan

Like much of central Africa, the post colonial history of the Sudan has been replete with civil war and tribal violence. Sudan was a British protectorate after World War II but also claimed by Egypt. In exchange for the removal of colonial control over the Sudan, Egypt renounced its claim in 1953, paving the way for an independent Sudan in 1956. However, all was not well in the new nation. The northern part of the country was almost exclusively Muslim and of Arab descent, while the Southern portion was largely indigenous Central African tribes and non-Muslim. Tensions between the Arab north and the African south spilled into violence. The First Sudanese Civil War lasted from 1956-1972 and claimed civilian and military causalities in the hundreds of thousands. A brokered peace treaty granted South Sudan greater autonomous rights within Sudan.

A Second Sudanese Civil War raged for over twenty years and claimed over two million casualties across the Sudan. Both sides were accused of committing horrible human rights violations against the other. Tired of fighting, the Sudanese government permitted a referendum on secession by South Sudan that passed with a 98.7% yes vote. The new Republic of South Sudan was created on July 9, 2011 with its capital in the city of Juba.

Answer: Russian Federation

In 1989, the USSR consisted of 15 constituent republics that were banded together to form a single country. The USSR was created in 1922 when the Soviet Republics of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan executed the "Treat of Creation of the USSR". Between 1922 and 1940, nine additional Republics (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldavia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan) were added to the treaty. Economic and political tensions during the 1980s created extreme stress on the Union. Despite attempts to liberalize the political system and improve the economy under Mikhail Gorbachev, the USSR could not remain intact. On December 25, 1991 the USSR dissolved and each of the 15 constituent republics became independent countries.

During the Soviet period, the Russian republic accounted for over fifty percent of the population and was the largest in size. After the breakup of the USSR, the Russian Republic changed its name to the Russian Federation. Moscow remained the capital of the new Russian Federation and Boris Yeltsin was elected the first president of the new country.

Answer: East Timor

East Timor (Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste) was recognized by the UN as a country on May 20, 2002, culminating a long struggle for independence from Indonesia. The new country's capital is the city of Dili. Timor was originally colonized by the Portuguese, however, the Dutch seized control of the west side of the island in 1520. The east side remained a Portuguese colony (Portuguese Timor) until the early part of World War II when the Japan seized control of the Island. When the Republic of Indonesia was created in 1942 it claimed sovereignty over the entire island. However, from 1945-1975, control of the eastern part of Timor was returned to Portugal. In 1975, as Portugal was in the process of determining how to end its colonial involvement with Timor, Indonesia invaded and occupied the area. Despite opposition from the UN, East Timor was consolidated into the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.

Indonesia's annexation of East Timor sparked 25 years of continued violence. East Timorese separatists fought the Indonesians openly, resulting in over 100,000 causalities. In 1999, the success of a referendum supporting independence for East Timor caused a massacre of separatists in Dili and the forced the relocation of 300,000 East Timorese to West Timor. This prompted the UN to intercede and assume control of East Timor in October, 1999, leading to the 2002 creation of East Timor.

Answer: Namibia

Namibia (the Republic of Namibia) takes its name from the Namib Desert that dominates the country's western coastal region. The Namib Desert stretches for 1200 miles from the north of Angola to the tip of South Africa. The Namib is one of the oldest desert regions in the world with an estimated age of over 55 million years. The Namib is almost uninhabited by humans but does support a wide variety of both animal and plant life. A large part of the desert is contained within the Namib-Naukluft National Park, the largest game reserve in Africa.

The country of Namibia was created on March 21, 1990 after a long struggle with South Africa. Namibia was colonized by the Germans in the late 19th century when it was called German South-West Africa. In 1915, during World War I, South Africa defeated the Germans in battle and annexed the colony. South Africa was unsuccessful at integrating the former German lands into the country and was continually at odds with the international community over its occupation. From 1966 until 1989, the occupied region was the subject armed conflict between local tribes and the South Africans. In 1989, under a UN mandate, South Africa withdrew from the territory and sovereignty was turned over to the new nation in 1990.

Answer: USA

The Republic of Palau has a population of just only 21,000 people spread amongst over 250 islands. Ngerulmud on Palau's largest island, Babeldaob, is the capital. However, over seventy percent of the population live on the nearby island of Koror. Palau was governed by Spain until the late 19th century.

In 1889, Spain was saddled with debt from the Spanish-American War and sold its rights in Palau to Germany. During World War I, the Japanese captured Palau and governed the area until World War II when the Americans captured the island group during the bloody Battle of Peleliu.

The battle saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Pacific campaign for both sides. From 1947-1994, Palau was administered by the Americans as part the UN sponsored Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

Answer: Eritrea was formed

Historically, the Ethiopian Empire extended to lands that make up modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 1890, Italy annexed Eritrea from Ethiopia and ruled until being expelled by the British during World War II. The British administered the area until 1951 when the Federation of Eritrea and Ethiopia was established.

This arrangement lasted until 1962 when Ethiopia annexed Eritrea as its 14th province. This action started a thirty-year war for independence by the Eritreans. The war claimed over 250,000 lives. Faced with continuing hostilities, the Ethiopians allowed the matter of independence to be taken to a vote: 99.79% of the vote favored independence. Eritrea was recognized as a nation on May 28, 1993.