Give An Inch, You're a Ruler! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cardinal

Armand Jean du Plesis de Richelieu or Cardinal Richelieu (1555-1642) was a French clergyman and statesman who was the chief advisor of Louis XIII, the King of France from 1624 through 1642. Thomas Wolsey (or Woolsey) was an English political figure and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church after Henry VIII became King of England in 1509. Wolsey served as Henry's chief minister from 1515 to 1529.

Answer: Generalissimo

Generalissimo is an Italian term for 'generale', with the Latin 'issimo' added to indicate the 'superlative', the 'utmost', 'supreme'. Francisco Franco (1892-1975) was the dictator of Spain from 1939, when he won the Spanish Civil War, until his death.

He ruled as "El Caudillo" (the Chief) with an 'iron hand' and Spain became a fascist autocracy under his rule. Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) was a Chinese military leader who led the Republic of China from 1928 until 1975 and, like Franco, he created an authoritarian government. Apparently, 1975 was a bad year for despots!

Answer: Kaiser

Wilhelm I (1797-1888), known as Kaiser Wilhelm, was the King of Prussia from 1861 till his death, the first German Emperor (from 1871) and the first Head of State of a united Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) was the grandson of Wilhelm I and the son of Kaiser Frederick III and Victoria (daughter of England's Queen Victoria). Wilhelm II ruled from 1888 until 1918; during his reign, Germany's relations with Britain, France and Russia were strained, and then the war broke out.

When he realized that Germany was going to lose World War I, Wilhelm II abdicated the throne and fled to the Netherlands.

Answer: Otto von Bismarck and Angela Merkel

Otto Leopold, Prince of Bismarck (1815-1898), was a conservative Prussian whose philosophy ruled Germany from the 1860s until 1890. He was the first chancellor of a united Germany and he was given the nickname of the "Iron Chancellor"; he held this position from 1871-1890. Angela Merkel (born in 1954) became the first female chancellor of Germany in 2005; prior to that she was a research scientist. Of the other choices: Solomon and Louis were kings, Modi and Meir were Prime Ministers and Khomeini and Ghadeeri were Ayatollahs.

Answer: Shah

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1878-1944) had the distinction of being called 'Shah' which is short for Shahanshah, the Persian word for King, from the Indo-European for "he who rules". In 1935, Shah Pahlavi sent a letter to the League of Nations insisting that the country be called Iran, the historical name going back thousands of years, instead of Persia (the Greek name for Iran).

He reigned from 1925 to 1941 making major reforms and improvements to the nation and also instituting a constitutional monarchy (of sorts).

When his son, Mohammed Reza Shah (1919-1980) took over in 1941, he continued a repressive regime until 1979 when he was overthrown by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Answer: Pharaoh

Pharaoh was the title given to the rulers of Ancient Egypt. Originally, pharaoh referred to the buildings of the palace but, during the reign of Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC) it became the form of address for the ruler. Ramesses II (aka Ramesses the Great) was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt and perhaps the most powerful of all the pharaohs. Cleopatra VII Philopater (69-30 BC), known only as Cleopatra, was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, which later became part of the Roman Empire. (There is one more, called 'American Pharoah' [sic], but he is a Triple Crown winning horse.)

Answer: Dag Hammarskjold and Kofi Annan

The United Nations, created in October 1945 to replace the League of Nations, is an international, intergovernmental agency whose aims are to maintain international peace, promote human rights, protect the environment and provide aid in cases of "famine, natural disaster and armed conflict".

The U.N. is headquartered in New York City and among its Secretaries-General were: Trygve Lie from Norway (the first), Dag Hammarskjold (1953-1961), U Thant (1961-1971), Kurt Waldheim (1972-1981), Javier Perez de Cuellar (1982-1991), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992-1996), Kofi Annan (1997-2006) and Ban Ki-Moon whose term began in 2007; he was re-elected for a second term in 2011.

Answer: Chief

Chief Powhatan (1545-1618), aka Wahunsenacawh, was the main chief of an alliance of Native American Indians in the Tidewater area of Virginia, at the time the English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607. His daughter was Pocahontas, which was actually a nickname meaning 'playful one'; she was later known as Rebecca Rolfe. Chief Joseph or Young Joseph (1840-1904) succeeded his father as leader of a band of Nez Perce, an American Tribe native to the Wallowa Valley in Oregon.

In 1873, Joseph negotiated a treaty with the U.S. government to ensure that his people could stay on their land; the treaty was abrogated in 1877.

It was said Joseph later died of a broken heart.

Answer: Emperor

The term emperor originated from the Latin 'imperator'. It describes a male monarch who is the sovereign ruler of an empire. Throughout history there have been a number of rulers who have assumed this title. Emperor Hirohito (aka Emperor Showa) was Japan's longest reigning monarch from 1926 to his death in 1989.

At the start of his reign, Japan was the third largest naval power and, by the end of his term (despite WW II), Japan had become the world's second largest economy. Haile Selassie I (1892-1975) was Ethiopia's regent in 1916 until 1930 when he assumed the role of emperor.

He was one of the most influential African leaders of his time.

Answer: Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great

No matter how you spell it, Czar (from 'caesar') was the title of the ruler of Russia prior to 1917. The first Russian ruler to be formally crowned as 'Tsar of all Russias' was Ivan IV (1530-1584), previously called the 'Grand Prince of Russia'. He was crowned in 1547, at the same time Moscow became the official capital of the Russia Tsardom. Ivan the Terrible was known for his ruthlessness; his power became absolute and, after conquering everything in sight, he sowed the seeds of serfdom. Peter the Great (1672-1725) was the first tsar to declare himself 'emperor' during his second coronation in 1724. Nicholas II was the last, abdicating his throne in 1917.