German History in Roman Numerals Quiz

Answer: Arminius

The date IX corresponds to the year 9 AD.
Arminus was the chieftain of the Cherusci tribe and the leader of the confederation that defeated Rome's legions at the Teutoburg Forest. The battle has been called "Rome's greatest defeat" and it caused the stalling of Roman expansionism for a while. The Romans lost up to 20,000 legionaries and many others were taken as slaves.

Answer: Holy Roman Empire

The date CMLXII correpsonds to the year 962.
Otto I was the founder of the Holy Roman Empire. His son, Otto II, wedded a Byzantine princess, Theophano, and their marriage resulted in Byzantine culture spreading into the Empire. The Empire lasted for many centuries, until its dissolution, in 1806, after Napoleon's successful campaign against Prussia.

(Note: English-language encyclopedias often give AD 800 - the coronation of Charlemagne - as the date for the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire, a view *not* shared by German or Italian historians or by professional British or American historians of the period. The point is that Charlemagne's empire fell apart soon after his death and there is a lack of continuity between his empire and the Holy Roman Empire).

Answer: Concordat of Worms

The date MCXXII corresponds to the year 1122.
The Investiture Controversy was a dispute between the Roman Catholic Popes and the Holy Roman Emperors about which of those two would name high-ranking church officials, like monastery abbots and bishops. The Concordat was signed by Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. As a result, Emperors had the right to appoint only officials with secular authority.

Answer: Wittenberg

The date MDXVII corresponds to the year 1517.
Martin Luther's 95 theses were, in fact, a protest against many abuses perpetrated by the clergy. The theses are regarded as the catalyst that triggered the Protestant Reformation, which further divided the Christendom between Catholics and Protestants. The Reformation was, at that time, also widely associated with the struggle of the common people against the feudal system.

Answer: Treaty of Westphalia

The date MDCXLVIII corresponds to the year 1648.
The Treaty of Westphalia was, in fact, a series of peace treaties which ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the wars between Spain and the United Provinces. Spain was forced to recognize the independence of the Netherlands, which along with Switzerland was removed from the Holy Roman Empire. France also gained much from the Treaty, while the economy of much of the Holy Roman Empire was ruined. The Empire itself did not record any particular gains and the population was struggling with disease.

Answer: Battle of Koniggratz

The date MDCCCLXVI corresponds to the date 1866.
The Battle of Koniggratz was, perhaps, the most decisive battle of the war and ended with a Prussian victory. The war had its causes in the desires of Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to unite the German states that arose after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire under the banner of Prussia, an effort in which Austria was an obstacle. After the Prussian victory, Prussia annexed some territories that were allied to Austria (such as Hanover and Frankfurt), and Austria was excluded from Germany.

Answer: Versailles

The date MDCCCLXXI corresponds to the year 1871.
The coronation of Wilhelm II took place in Versailles after the Prussian victory at the Franco-Prussian War. As was the case with the Austro-Prussian War, the cause of the Franco-Prussian War was Bismarck's ambitions concerning German unification. France, politically isolated and hostile to the Germans, posed an ideal target. Prussia defeated France and soon the German states flocked to the Prussian banner.

Answer: Nazi Party

The year MCMXXXIII corresponds to the date 1933.
Adolf Hitler and his Party came to power on 30 January 1933 having emerged as the largest party in the German election of November, 1932. Hitler soon became an absolute dictator and assumed the title of "Führer". His reign was one of blood and terror, since he and his collaborators practised the infamous Holocaust and initiated World War Two, which saw countless victims in the whole globe. Hitler's régime ended in 1945 and Germany was afterwards divided into four zones of occupation, the American, British, French and Soviet zones.

Answer: No

The date MCMLXI corresponds to the date 1961.
The Head of State of East Germany that year was Walter Ulbricht. Ulbricht had been Head of State of East Germany since the early 1950s and he was strictly following the Soviet model of régime. At the time the Berlin Wall was built, Ulbricht denied that there was a 'plan' behind the building of the Wall.

Answer: Helmut Kohl

The date MCMXC corresponds to the year 1990.
Helmut Kohl became Chancellor of Germany in 1982 and kept this position until 1998. His stay in office for sixteen years was the longest tenure of any German chancellor throughout the 20th century.