European History - A Miscellany: 1 Quiz

Answer: In order to overthrow the Provisional Government, which was based there

The notion that Lenin and the Bolshevists deposed Nicholas II is an urban legend. He'd been forced to abdicate after the February Revolution (1917) - at a time when Lenin wasn't even in Russia. That earlier Russian Revolution had been much more broadly based. At the time of the storming of the Winter Palace the Provisional Government was headed by Kerensky.

Answer: False

"Manifest Destiny" is only used in the context of American history. That said, similar notions of cultural, moral and racial superiority were used to justify the expansion of the European empires.

Answer: There was no reference to any successor

It is absolutely standard practice for an oath of loyalty to a head of state to contain a reference to his or her "lawful successors". This omission is not without irony.

Answer: There is no agreement on the date

Many members of the "High Church" party regard 597, the conversion of Kent by St. Augustine and the establishment of the diocese of Canterbury, as the date of foundation. On the whole, other groups don't regard the date as a matter of importance.

Answer: They were all reimposed

Revolutionary France was the first country in Europe to give its Jews full citizenship and remove all civil disabilities on them (1791). Somewhat later, Napoleon became well known for his generally enlightened attitude towards the Jews. Venice is the only place in Europe with an architecturally intact ghetto. (There are guided tours).

When Napoleon entered Ancona in 1797 at the head of the French Revolutionary Army he noticed small groups of people wearing red stars. He was unaware of the meaning of this badge and asked what it signified. When told, he was appalled and ordered an immediate end to obligation for Jews to wear distinguishing badges and live in ghettos.

Answer: True

Early in 1814 the combined armies of Austria, Prussia and Russia advanced into France. As they approached Paris the Russians and Prussians were particularly keen to take the French capital by force, possibly in order to avenge Napoleon's entry into Moscow (1812) and Berlin (1806).

The city was taken by the Coalition armies on 30-31 March 1814. The keys of the city were formally handed to Alexander I, and the victory parade was headed by the Cossacks.

Answer: Sicily

Sicily, the biggest island in the Mediterranean, has had an often turbulent history. On acccount of its strategic importance it has often been fought over, most recently in 1943. Sicily preserves elements of its very diverse cultural heritage.

Answer: Proudhon

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-65) published a book in 1840 entitled "What is property?" and concluded that it is theft. He called for the abolition of money and also of all government above the level of the local "community assembly". He clashed with the "authoritarian Left", especially with Marx, and many of his ideas appealed to anarchists rather than socialists.

Answer: Warsaw

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April-May 1943 is widely known. However, the Warsaw Uprising of August-October 1944 by the Polish Home Army is generally acknowledged as the biggest single uprising against Nazi rule in occupied Europe in World War II. The Soviet Army was on the outskirts of the city during the latter part of the uprising and did nothing whatsoever to help.

Indeed, when some members of the Polish Home Army established face-to-face contact with the Soviet Army on 10 September 1944 they were seized by the Soviet secret police and sent to Siberia.

It is clear that the Soviet leaders had their own plans for postwar Poland and were glad to see the slaughter of so many Polish patriots.

Answer: 1990

There was an exceptionally long interval between the end of the fighting and the signing of a peace treaty. The Cold War and the division of Germany made it impossible to reach agreement. The treaty signed on 12 September 1990, which gave the green light for German reunification, was also a peace treaty. Among other things, reunited Germany undertook never to question its borders.

In 1946 and 1947 the Allied nations had issued declarations to the effect that there were no longer at war with Germany.