I Give Up! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thermopylae

The Greek troops under the leadership of the king of Sparta, Leonidas, numbered at most 7,000. Xerxes I of Persia's army had between 100,000 and 300,000 men. The engagement took place at a narrow coastal passage named the hot gates,or Thermopylae. Initially, this location neutralized the huge Persian advantage.

In ferocious fighting, Leonidas held off the Persians for two days. The Spartan king was betrayed by a Greek who told Xerxes of passage that allowed the Persians to outflank the Greeks. Leonidas responded by dismissing all but 1,500 men. Though the small army was annihilated during the battle, it allowed the majority to regroup to fight another day.

Answer: Gallipoli

At the time, Churchill was the First Lord of the Admiralty. The objective of the eight month, unsuccessful campaign was to take the Dardanelles Strait, giving Russia access to the Mediterranean Sea. Both Allied and Turkish forces had 250,000 casualties.

The ANZAC forces had particularly heavy losses. Failure resulted in the fall of Prime Minister Asquith's Liberal government and Churchill's demotion to a minor cabinet post. The Dardanelles Commission was formed in 1916 to investigate the reasons for the loss.

The report of 1919 found the campaign to be somewhat of a stalemate and critisized military leaders for lack of coordination.

Answer: Austerlitz

Fought on 2 December 1805, Napoleon engaged the armies of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II. By perfect execution of a bold, risky battle plan, Napoleon defeated the far larger armies of his opponents. The victory and subsequent Treaty of Pressburg, dissolved the Holy Roman Empire into the Austrian Empire and the Confereration of the Rhine.

The Confederation states were comprised of various German states. With Napoleon as their "Protector", all were required to furnish goods and troops to the French.

It remained in existence until Napoleon was defeated at Leipzig in 1813 by Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Bohemia.

Answer: Culloden

The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 ended with the defeat of Charles Edward Stuart and his Jacobite forces by Royalist forces under the command of the Duke of Cumberland at Culloden, 16 April 1746, near Inverness, Scotland. The Young Pretender, as Stuart was known, while defeated, managed to escape capture and fled back to France.

Answer: Gettysburg

In three days of bloody fighting at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1-3 July, 1863, Confederate forces led by Robert E. Lee were crushed by the Union forces led by George G. Meade. It was the one of the costliest engagements of the war with both sides (combined) losing over 23,000 soldiers dead, wounded and taken prisoner.

Answer: Waterloo

British and Prussian forces, led by the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshall Von Blücher crushed Napoleon's French army in a single day's fighting on 18 June 1815. Napoleon lost 25,000 men to death, wounds and capture in addition to 15,000 men who deserted. "Meeting one's Waterloo" has become the byword for (final) defeat.

Answer: Hastings

On 14 October 1066, William, Duke of Normandy defeated the Anglo-Saxon King, Harold Godwinson near Hastings in East Sussex. After the death of the childless Edward the Confessor in January 1066, wars began between rival claimants to the English throne. King Harold of Norway was defeated by Godwinson at Stamford Bridge 25 September 1066. William and his army landed in East Sussex three days later and were able to take the advantage against a battle weary opponent.

It was a staggering victory for the Normans. Harold was killed during the battle.

While conflicts with the native English continued for several months, William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066 in Westminster Abbey.

Answer: Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad is considered to have been the bloodiest battle in World War 2. The campaign goal of the Germans was to destroy the industry of the city, cut the Soviet supply line on the Volga river and also reach the oilfields in the Caucasus. Fighting began with the intensive aerial bombing of the civilian target by the Germans and its subsequent partial occupation by the German 6th Army.

In the counter offensive starting in November 1942 and the Soviet army succeeded in achieving the double envelopment of the Axis forces.

This conflict became notorious for its hand-to-hand combat in the city streets and the enormous civilian casualties. The Soviet victories in the Battle of Moscow (2 October 1941-7 January 1942), at Stalingrad and Kursk (5 July-23 August 1943) ensured the defeat of Germany on the Eastern Front.

Answer: False

At 7:46am Sunday, 7 December 1941, Japanese bombers caused over 3,600 casualties and crippled the American naval and air fleets in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In the month prior to the attack, Secty. Hull was in active negotiations with the Japanese attempting to avoid war. Several proposals and counter-proposals occurred in November as the Japanese had stated that on 29 November, all negotiations would cease.

The Hull Note was presented to the Japanese ambassador by Secty. Hull on 26 November 1941. It was conveyed to Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and the Japanese cabinet. Japan had sent their attack fleet the day before receiving the missive, but could have recalled it at any time. Because the Japanese never made a declaration of war nor gave explicit advance warning of the attack, the Battle of Pearl Harbor was considered a war crime at the Tokyo Trials in April 1946.

Answer: Hannibal

Hannibal Barca (247-183 or 181 BC) was a Carthaginian commander and admired as one of the greatest military leaders in history. His bold movement of troops with their attendant elephants occurred in 218 BC and commenced the Second Punic War. Hannibal smashed the Romans in several decisive battles in 218-216 BC and subsequently occupied most of the Italian peninsula for the next 15 years. Ultimately betrayed to the Romans, he chose to take poison rather than be captured.