You Owe Me Restitution! Trivia Quiz

Answer: War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

The War of Austrian Succession in part flowed out of the controversy of the Pragmatic Succession as the authority of Charles VI of the Holy Roman Empire would pass to his daughter Maria Theresa. She would succeed directly to Austria (the personal domain of the Habsburgs--her family). Maria Theresa's husband would be elected Holy Roman Emperor.

In North America, the conflict was sometimes known as King George's War. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) was the conclusion of two years of negotiations. Several of the issues of the war were unresolved and most participants were generally dissatisfied, leading to the Seven Years War (1756-1763) beginning less than a decade later.

Answer: War of the First Coalition (1792-1797)

The War of the First Coalition was an early segment of the Napoleonic Wars. The Dutch Republic, the UK, and the Holy Roman Empire (among others), united to try to limit the spreading influence of French revolutionary ideals. During this, Napoleon would first rise to prominence. France was generally successful as members of the coalition other than the UK dropped out before the end.

The Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) transferred several Austrian territories to France. In addition, Austria secretly promised help to France in some of its other goals.

The peace would not last long as fighting would soon start again.

Answer: Greek War of Independence (1821-1829)

The Greek War of Independence was what it sounded like--Greece gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire during the 1820s after being under Ottoman control since the 1400s. Greece had allies including the UK, France, and Russia. The Kingdom of Greece that was established in the the 1830s roughly corresponded with the mainland portions of the 21st country of Greece.

The delay in the writing of the treaty came from the refusal of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (later King Leopold I of Belgium) to become King of Greece. Otto of Bavaria would eventually become King of Greece. (Since Otto was later deposed, other 19th and 20th century Kings of the Greeks were not related to him.)

Answer: War of 1812 (1812-1815)

The War of 1812 involved the US versus the UK and Canada with various Native American nations involved on either side. On the US side, there were claims that the British were interfering with the rights of trade by a neutral nation (the US) as well as British impressment of sailors from US ships. On the British side, there was resentment of another nation trading with the enemy and attempts to draft individuals who may have been British subjects.

The Treaty of Ghent (1814) largely restored the status quo of before the war.

However, the US and the UK did not go to war with each other in the remainder of the 19th and the 20th centuries with one exception. The final battle of the War of 1812 took place in New Orleans, LA, in January of 1815 after the peace treaty had been signed but before word reached there.

Answer: Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

The Mexican-American was was caused in part by the US annexation of Texas (at that time an independent country). Within Mexico, the independent status of Texas (formerly part of Mexico) was somewhat controversial as was where the southern border of Texas lie (the Nueces or Rio Grande Rivers). Within the US, the war was also controversial as some in the US were concerned about slavery expanding into a US-controlled Texas.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) led to the US claiming what would become the US states of California, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and most of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado in return for a $15 million payment.

Answer: First Balkan War (1912-1913)

In the First Balkan War, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro were united (as the Balkan Alliance) against the Ottoman Empire. All of those nations had previously been part of the Ottoman Empire. The war ended with a general gain of territory for those nations and the Ottoman influence in Europe nearly eliminated.

The 1913 Treaty of London would be signed by the members of the Balkan Alliance and several other nations, but strangely not the Ottoman Empire. Among its clauses, it established an independent Albania.

The peace established by the treaty was not long lasting as the Second Balkan War soon followed due to fallout over which nation would claim which territory.

Answer: Crimean War (1853-1856)

The Crimean War involved Russia fighting a coalition of France, the UK, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia. An underlying cause of the war was Russian attempts to gain territory from the then-declining Ottoman Empire. Religious differences also played a role.

The war may be best known in later decades for the Charge of the Light Brigade and Florence Nightingale. The Treaty of Paris (1856) declared the Black Sea (which lay between Russia and the Ottoman Empire) neutral territory. In the decades after the Crimean War, nationalism became a more powerful force in Europe and the Middle East.

Answer: Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

The Russo-Japanese War began, in part, because of desires by both nations to expand their areas of control in northeastern China and Korea. Japan offered to divide the areas of influence, but Russia thought its military would easily route Japan's. In actuality, Japan had the upper hand in many of the battles. President Theodore Roosevelt of the US offered his services as intermediary. (He had initially be pro-Japanese at the beginning of the war but later was concerned that Japan would affect US involvement in the Pacific). Under the Treaty of Portsmouth (1905), Russia agreed to Japan's claim of Korea and withdrew from its sphere of influence in China.

The treaty led to Theodore Roosevelt being awarded the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.

Answer: War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)

The War of the Spanish Succession came about in part because the childless Charles II of Spain planned to pass the throne to his great-nephew, Philip of Anjou. The difficulty was that Philip was also the grandson of Louis XIV of France, who it was thought would eventually inherit the French throne.

Many other nations were opposed to the idea of France and Spain (each with its own significant empire) being ruled by the same person. The Treaty (or Peace) of Utrecht was actually a set of agreements between 1713 and 1715. Philip (by then, the V) was allowed to remain King of Spain in return to renouncing any claim to the French throne.

Other features of the treaty include Britain gaining control of Gibraltar from Spain and Nova Scotia from France.

Answer: World War One (1914-1918)

The long-term causes of World War One can be largely summed up in four words: alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism. Many of the nations of Europe were involved (in addition to the US and Japan) and through them their colonies in much of the rest of the world.

The Treaty of Versailles (1919) between Germany and most of the Allies (US, UK, France, Italy, and Japan) has received a great deal of criticism since its issuance. The War Guilt cause placed the full blame for the war on Germany.

The other terms that came out of that--including reparations to the Allies, the shrinking of the German armed forces, and changes to territorial control--helped to set the conditions that would lead to World War Two.