Down Goes The Empire Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1453

The Roman Empire was so big that it was split into two, with one emperor ruling in Rome while another one ruling in Constantinople. After the Western Roman Empire was overrun by Germanic tribes, the Eastern Roman Empire lived on and changed its name to the Byzantine Empire. Constantine I the Great (a Roman Emperor) is considered the first emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

The empire flourished under Justinian I the Great, whose name is considered as one of the great emperors throughout history. Eventually, the empire started declining. During the Crusades, Constantinople was attacked frequently.

This weakened the empire greatly. In 1453, Ottoman Turks sacked Constantinople. Emperor Constantine XI was killed in battle and the empire fell, beginning a period of dominance for the Ottoman Empire.

Answer: 1922

Many people think that the Ottoman Empire was formed in 1453 after taking over Constantinople. However, the empire was formed in 1299. In 1453, the Ottoman Empire conquered the faltering Byzantine Empire. They moved the capital to Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul.

After this, the empire went through lots of expansion under many effective sultans, one of whom were Suleiman the Magnificent. After Suleiman's death, the empire's decline started. Revolts and other skirmishes resulted in a declining empire. Soon, it was just a shadow of its former self.

After participating in and losing World War I, the sultan, Mehmed VI, was deposed in 1922. The sultanate was abolished and a republic was set up.

Answer: British

After World War I, the empires on the losing sides were overthrown by the people. Germany and Austria-Hungary lost the war and their economies were ruined. Russia was also among the losers.

Answer: 1945

Towards the end of the Vietnamese empire, the French colonized it, as well as other bordering countries such as Laos and Cambodia (collectively known as French Indochina). Even though Vietnam had a king, the king was a puppet of the French government.

The last monarch, Bao Dai, ruled from 1926 to 1945. During World War II, French influence in Vietnam weakened. By this time, many groups were formed to oppose the French. Led by Ho Chi Minh, a group of Communists overthrew the weak emperor and defeated the French in a war.

Answer: Korea

The modern day countries of North Korea and South Korea used to be one country. The emperor of Korea had been ruling for hundreds of years, ruling as a king (not emperor). In the 1800s and 1900s, both the Russian Empire and the Japanese Empire were trying to annex Korea.

They fought in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, which resulted in Korea coming under Japanese domination. Emperor Sunjong was forced to abdicate in 1910 ending the Korean Empire and starting an era of Japanese rule that lasted until the end of World War II.

Answer: False

Akihito is the emperor of Japan. Traditionally, Emperor Jimmu was the first emperor of Japan. He was a legendary emperor who ruled from 660 BC to 585 BC. Since then, the emperors have claimed descent from Jimmu.

Answer: 1870

The last reigning monarch of France was Napoleon III. After King Louis XVI was overthrown in 1793, the Reign of Terror began. Napoleon Bonaparte eventually seized control and declared himself emperor. He was defeated and sent to Elba in 1814. The Sixth Coalition against Napoleon restored Louis XVI's brother as king under the name Louis XVIII (Louis XVI's son was known as Louis XVII even though he never officially reigned). Napoleon Bonaparte returned to France and became the emperor again.

After he was defeated in the famous Battle of Waterloo, he was exiled to St.

Helena, this time for good. Louis XVIII returned to the throne again. He reigned until his death and was succeeded by Charles X, his brother. He reigned until 1830 when the people revolted.

This was known as the July Revolution. Charles X abdicated and the crown was passed to his son Louis XIX. Louis XIX was not officially crowned and ruled for about 20 minutes before he was overthrown. After the revolution, the people put Louis Philippe (cousin of Charles X) on the throne. Louis Philippe ruled until 1848 before a republic was declared with Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (nephew of the first Napoleon) as the president.

In 1851, Bonaparte organized a coup d'etat. He crowned himself emperor and became Napoleon III (like Louis XVI's son, Napoleon II was Napoleon I's son who was never crowned). In the Franco-Prussian war between France and Germany, the French were defeated. Napoleon was captured and went into exile in England, where he died. The monarchy was abolished and a new republic was formed.

Answer: 1857

The British started having significant influence in India in the 1700s. The East India Company was set up and soon the Indian shah was a puppet of the British Empire. Bahadur Shah II was the final Mughal emperor. In 1857, Bahadur led a series of rebellions against the British known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

After the failed revolt, Bahadur was exiled to Rangoon (present-day Yangon, Myanmar). The British took control of India and in 1876 Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India.

Answer: 1806

The Holy Roman Empire was a group of territories in Europe during the imperial age. Elected by many royal members in Europe (and approved by the pope), the Holy Roman Emperor had a lot of influence over Europe. In Germany and Italy Otto I (crowned in 962) is regarded as the first Holy Roman Emperor. Many popular reference works in the English-speaking countries give Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor. However, the designation "Holy Roman Empire" is first recorded in 1254 though it had been in existence as a political entity before that. The case against projecting it back to 800 is that Charlemagne's empire fell apart soon after his death and lacks continuity with the later Holy Roman Empire.

The Holy Roman emperors were elected by the princes of the empire but it became de facto hereditary in the 15th century. In 1806, the empire was dissolved by Francis II after his devastating defeat at Austerlitz.

Answer: 1565

After Hernan Cortes took over the Aztecs and killed Montezuma II, he set up puppet rulers in the empire. Cuauhtemoc was the last Aztec EMPEROR. His reign ended in 1521. Later, there were other rulers of the Aztecs and Tenochtitlan. They were very ineffective. Eventually, in 1565 the Spanish removed the last ruler (tlatoani) of the Aztecs, Luis de Santa Maria Nanacacipactzin.