World History and Politics Quiz: Prelims

QUESTION HOUR: THE WORLD
HISTORY AND POLITICS QUIZ
RESEARCHED AND CONDUCTED BY
KRISHNADEV ROY & RITWIK GHOSH
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
SCHOLASTIC CONCLAVE 2015
PRESENTS

Question 1
This term originated in the first World War and
was used to describe the trauma suffered by some
soldiers due to the intensity of bombardment
around them.
Now replaced by ‘combat stress reaction’ in
medical lingo, identify this term which has
entered into common parlance, albeit in lesser
traumatic situations.

Question 2
Xs have been used since 1921 to commemorate soldiers
who have died in war. Inspired by the World War I poem "In
Flanders Fields", after the first public use, and campaign for
their use, by Moina Michael, they were initially adopted by
the American Legion to commemorate American soldiers
killed in that war (1914–1918). Today, they are mainly used
in the UK and throughout the Commonwealth. Small
artificial _______ are often worn on clothing for a few days,
prior to Remembrance Day/Armistice Day (11 November).
What is X ?

Question 3*
Wallis Simpson was a double divorcee, and since her ex
husbands were still alive, religious, legal, political and
moral objections were raised in the British
Commonwealth when X expressed his interest in her.
Despite the opposition from the government, X
declared that he loved Simpson and intended to marry
her whether his governments approved or not.
What constitutional crisis did this create in 1936 that
changed the British line of succession? Who is X?

Answer
King Edward VIII abdicating his throne to marry
socialite Wallis Simpson

Question 4
Throughout his life, it was doubted if X ever fell in
love or got married. A certain Chinese girl named
Zeng Xueming did surface, and future Chinese
emperor Zhou Enlai’s wife is said to have been a
witness to Zeng’s and X’s marriage in 1926. Soon after
the marriage, X left Zeng and ran away never to
return. Zeng’s attempts to reunite with X were
thwarted by the Communist officials who wanted X to
remain married only to the people.
ID X.

Question 5
“X: Dark Servant of Destiny” is a biographical
1996 TV film which chronicles the last four years
of X’s life during which he acted as a healer of
sorts.
Identify X, portrayed by Alan Rickman in the
poster in the next slide.

Answer
Alaska Purchase, 1867: The US $7.2 million
cheque used to pay for Alaska

Question 7
In November 2006, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) noted
that, "an evening that had started with massive security
arrangements in the sombre UN setting, concluded in a festive
atmosphere in the lounge of the UN with diplomats from other
tables joining in raising a toast for the film.” Introduced by Shashi
Tharoor, it was the first Hindi film to be screened at the UN. Taran
Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama observed that, "there was
thunderous clapping at the high points of the film... the applause
at the end of the screening was unending.” Boman Irani, who was
present during the event was quoted saying, “This was one film
about feeling good and not about making money.”
What is the film in question ?

Question 8
X died in January 2014 after being in a coma for eight
years.
Such was the hatred for him, that for many years a
household product was the subject of boycott in many
parts of the Middle East, with some groups asking people
to shun it because it was supposedly named after him.
Who is X ?

Question 9
2007- Vladimir Putin
2008- Nicolas Sarkozy
2009- Nursultan Nazarbayev
2010- Lee Myung Bak
2011- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
2012- Yingluck Shinawatra
2013- Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk
2014- Shinzo Abe
2015- X
What is this list about? (inexhaustive)

Answer
Chief Guests at India’s Republic Day Parade
at New Delhi
X: Barack Obama

Question 10
John F. Kennedy said in reference to the photograph, “No
news picture in history has generated so much emotion
around the world as that one.”
On 10 June 1963, U.S. correspondents were informed that
“something important" would happen the following
morning on the road outside the Cambodian embassy in
Saigon. Malcolm Browne won a Pulitzer Prize for this
photograph.
What photograph did Browne manage to capture that fiery
June Morning of 1963?

Answer
Thic Quang Duc protesting the persecution of
Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government

Answer
Countries that celebrate their
Independence Day on 15th August

Question 12*
What does Urban Dictionary define as the
following ?
“The tale of how many different nations, from
all across the world, gained their independence
from Great Britain.”

Question 13
In India, if someone were to ask you to produce
your EPIC document, then what exactly do you
need to show them?

Answer
Voter ID Card aka Electoral Photo ID Card

Question 14*
The 5th episode of Season 16 of The Simpsons has a
title that is very pertinent to this quiz.
According to Matt Groening, one half of the title is
in reference to Bart Simpson and the other half of
the title is in reference to Homer Simpson. Before
the episode first aired, Matt Groening also bought
the domain www.nuclear-secrets.com but never
created a website.
What was the episode titled?

Question 15
In the book Canto General (1950), Pablo Neruda
denounced foreign multinational corporate
political dominance of Latin American countries
with the four-stanza poem "La United Fruit Co.“
FITB with a term quite pertinent to Political Science
*Second-stanza excerpts next slide

. . . The Fruit Company, Inc.
Reserved for itself the most succulent,
The central coast of my own land,
The delicate waist of the Americas.
It rechristened its territories
As the “______ _________",
And over the sleeping dead,
Over the restless heroes
Who brought about the greatness,
The liberty and the flags,
It established a comic opera. . . .

Question 16
“I had just entered the kitchen when I heard the first shots – there
were eight. I knew that it was an Iver Johnson revolver. I knew the
caliber of the gun, because I was a hunter, I had been in Vietnam, and
had been shot at many times. I was 12 feet behind him. People were
going down in front of me. I thought they were diving for cover, they
weren’t; they were being shot. The busboy, Juan Romero, was still
holding _______, and I took one frame, which was totally out of focus.
The second frame, I made sure he was in focus, but Romero was
looking down at him. I took the third as quickly as I could, and Romero
looked up towards me with a look of “Help me” in his face.”
First person witness account of what?

Answer
Robert F Kennedy’s Death

Question 17*
Despite being hugely successful in his own field, X joined the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1984. After his
retirement in 2005, X turned to politics and created the United Civil
Front, a social movement whose main goal is to "work to preserve
electoral democracy in Russia.” An outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin,
X entered the Russian Presidential race, receiving 379 of 498 votes at
a congress held in Moscow by The Other Russia. In October 2007, X
announced his intention of standing for the Russian presidency as
the candidate of the Other Russia coalition and vowed to fight for a
"democratic and just Russia“. However, on 12 December 2007, X
withdrew his presidential candidacy due to inability to rent a
meeting hall where at least 500 of his supporters could assemble to
endorse his candidacy, as is legally required. Identify X.

Question 18
Narendra Modi had contested from two Lok Sabha
constituencies during the general elections of
2014. Both cities begin with the same letter.
For full points, name both.

Question 19
After graduating with a BSc degree in Economics, X
attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst,
USA and earned an MSc in Business Management,
attained in 2002. X has held the office of Minister of
Foreign Affairs as well as Minister of State for Finance
and Economics Affairs in her home country. X is also a
co-owner of a restaurant chain named the ‘Polo
Lounge’ in Lahore. In 2015, American magazine Bustle
ranked her as the “4th Most Stylish Woman in Politics”.
Identify X.

Question 20
What incident from modern Indian history is this
song alluding to in the lines played?

Answer
Pokhran-I Nuclear testing

World History and Politics Quiz: Prelims

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