20th-Century World Leaders Part 5 Quiz

Answer: Sir Robert Borden

Sir Robert Borden (1854-1937) was the last Canadian prime minister to be knighted, which took place in 1915. During the First World War, his government passed the War Measures Act and established the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The introduction of the compulsory military service started the conscription crisis.

In 1917, he had to deal with the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion. In 1919, he ordered North-West Mounted Police to stop the Winnipeg general strike, which brought the economy of Winnipeg to a standstill for six weeks.

Answer: Konrad Adenauer

The biggest achievement of Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) was to lead his country from the ruins of the Second World War to become a productive and prosperous industrialized country. His leadership enabled the nation to achieve democracy, stability and earn international respect again. West Germany achieved an economic miracle to become one of the largest economies in Europe.

Answer: Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee (1883-1967) led the opposition Labour Party to a landslide victory at the 1945 general election to form the first Labour majority government. His government implemented economic policies to maintain full employed and expanded the system of social services. Public utilities and major industries were nationalized. In 1946, the National Insurance Act and National Assistance Act were introduced. In 1948, the National Health Service was established.

Answer: Kim Il Sung

Kim Il-sung (1912-1994) came to power after the end of the Second World War. In 1950, he authorized the invasion of South Korea, which started the Korean War. He established a communist state with state-owned enterprises and planned economy. From the late 1950s to 1970s, the country enjoyed a higher standard of living than the south, which was suffering from political instability and economic crisis. By 1980s, the situation was reversed as South Korea emerged to become an economic power aided by Japanese and American investments.

After his death in 1994, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Kim Jong-il. In 1998, he was declared "Eternal President of the Republic".

Answer: Anwar Sadat

Anwar Sadat (1918-1981) was a senior member of the military coup who overthrew King Farouk in the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. After the death of President Nasser, he became the third Egyptian president from 1970 until he was assassinated in 1981. He was jointly awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for signing a peace treaty with Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, with the backing from President Jimmy Carter.

As part of the treaty, Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt. However, he was strongly opposed by the Arab world and PLO for signing the treaty which eventually led to his assassination by the militants on October 1981.

Answer: Lyndon Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) aka LBJ served as the American president from 1963 to 1969. Under his administration, he implemented domestic policies known as "Great Society" and "War on Poverty". His domestic policies were rated highly by the historians, as poverty was alleviated and civil right bills were put in place to ban racial discrimination.

However in foreign policies, he was criticized for the escalation of the Vietnam War.

Answer: Park Chung-hee

Park Chung-hee (1917-1979) led the military coup which ended the interim government of the Second Republic. During his presidency in the 1960s, South Korea experienced a rapid economic growth from industrialization. In 1972, he declared martial law to suppress the political opposition and to repress dissent. On October 1979, he was assassinated by his close friend Kim Jae-gyu who was then the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.

In 2013, his eldest daughter, Park Geun-hye became the first female president of South Korea. However she was impeached and removed from office on March 2018 and was sentenced to 24 years in prison in April 2018.

Answer: Yitzhak Rabin

Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995) served two terms as the Israeli prime minister from 1974 to 1977 and from 1992 until his assassination in 1995. He was the ambassador to the United States from 1968 to 1973. In 1974, he succeeded Golda Meir after she resigned from the post. During his first term, he signed the Sinai Interim Agreement and ordered the Entebbe raid to rescue hostages held by hijackers in Uganda.

During his second term in 1992, he signed several agreements with the Palestinian leadership as part of the Oslo Accords. In 1994, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Shimon Peres and PLO leader Yasser Arafat for peace efforts in the Middle East. In November 1995, he was assassinated by an extremist who opposed the terms of the Oslo Accords.

Answer: Frederik Willem de Klerk

Frederik Willem de Klerk (born 1936) also served as the Deputy President from 1994 to 1996 under Nelson Mandela. He was best remembered for ending apartheid for which he was jointly awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela.

Answer: Suharto

After ousting the former president Sukarno from power in 1967, Suharto (1921-2008) started a campaign known as "de-Sukarnoization" to reduce the influence of the former president. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a popular leader due to economy generated by the rapid development of the oil industries.

In the 1990s, he implemented "New Order" administration to establish a strong and centralized and military-dominated government, resulting in an authoritarian rule which caused constant public protest and discontentment.

The 1997 Asian financial crisis devalued the Indonesian currency by about 42% had a drastic negative effect on the economy. In 1998, he resigned in the midst of widespread rioting in the country and was succeeded by his vice president, B.J. Habibie.