World Events — Set 3

Correct Answer: C. South Africa

• **Apartheid** = racial segregation system enforced in **South Africa** by National Party from **1948**. • 'Apartheid' means **'separateness'** in Afrikaans — Blacks denied voting, movement, and equal rights. • Ended through negotiations between **Nelson Mandela** and President **F.W. de Klerk**; Mandela freed 1990. • 💡 Australia had racial policies but not 'Apartheid'; Germany had Nazism; USA had segregation — Apartheid = South Africa specifically.

Correct Answer: B. Mao Zedong

• **Mao Zedong** launched China's **Cultural Revolution** in **1966** to purge 'capitalist' elements. • **Red Guards** (youth militia) destroyed temples, books, and persecuted intellectuals and party rivals. • Lasted **10 years** (1966–76); caused millions of deaths and economic devastation in China. • 💡 Deng Xiaoping came after Mao and opened China's economy; Chiang Kai-shek = Nationalist rival; Sun Yat-sen = Republic founder.

Correct Answer: C. Gamal Abdel Nasser

• **Gamal Abdel Nasser** = Egyptian President who nationalized the **Suez Canal** in **1956**. • Britain, France, and Israel launched military attack; USA and USSR both pressured them to withdraw. • Suez Crisis marked decline of **British and French imperial power** globally; Nasser became Arab hero. • 💡 King Farouk = deposed Egyptian king; Mubarak = later president (1981–2011); Sadat = Nasser's successor — Nasser led 1956 crisis.

Correct Answer: D. Apollo 11

• **Apollo 11** = first crewed Moon landing mission on **July 20, 1969**. • **Neil Armstrong** stepped out first; said 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.' • Third astronaut **Michael Collins** orbited the Moon while Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on it. • 💡 Sputnik 1 = first satellite (USSR, 1957); Vostok 1 = Gagarin's space flight (1961); Apollo 13 = failed Moon mission (1970).

Correct Answer: A. 1453

• **Constantinople** captured by Ottoman Sultan **Mehmed II** in **1453**, ending Byzantine Empire. • Byzantine Empire = Eastern Roman Empire; fall ended **1,000 years** of continuous Roman rule. • Scholars fled to Western Europe with Greek manuscripts, helping fuel the **Renaissance** movement. • 💡 1492 = Columbus; 1215 = Magna Carta; 1066 = Norman Conquest — Constantinople fell to Ottomans in 1453.

Correct Answer: A. Johannes Gutenberg

• **Johannes Gutenberg** invented the movable-type printing press in Germany around **1440**. • **Gutenberg Bible** (1455) = first major book printed; made books affordable and widespread. • Printing press enabled the Protestant Reformation and Renaissance by spreading ideas rapidly. • 💡 Newton = laws of motion/gravity; da Vinci = artist/inventor; Galileo = astronomy — none invented the printing press.

Correct Answer: C. Martin Luther

• **Martin Luther** nailed **95 Theses** on Wittenberg church door on **October 31, 1517**. • Criticized selling of **indulgences** (pardons) by the Catholic Church for financial gain. • Led to creation of Protestant Christianity; Luther translated Bible into German for common people. • 💡 Pope Leo X = opposed Luther; John Calvin = another Reformer (not first); King Henry VIII = broke from Rome for personal reasons.

Correct Answer: B. Christopher Columbus

• **Christopher Columbus** reached the Americas in **1492**, funded by Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. • He landed in the **Bahamas** (thinking it was Asia); called the inhabitants 'Indians'. • Columbus's voyage opened the **Columbian Exchange** — transfer of crops, animals, diseases between continents. • 💡 Vasco da Gama = sea route to India (1498); Marco Polo = overland to China; Magellan = first circumnavigation (1519–22).

Correct Answer: B. Louis XVI

• **Louis XVI** = King of France during the Revolution; executed by **guillotine** on **January 21, 1793**. • Tried and convicted of **treason** by the National Convention; his wife Marie Antoinette executed in October 1793. • His death marked end of **Ancien Régime** (old monarchy); France became a Republic. • 💡 Charles X = later Bourbon king (post-Napoleon); Napoleon III = Second Empire; Louis XIV = 'Sun King', died 1715.

Correct Answer: D. World War I

• **Treaty of Versailles** (June 28, **1919**) = officially ended **World War I**. • Germany forced to pay **132 billion gold marks** in reparations; lost 13% of territory. • 'War Guilt Clause' (Article 231) blamed Germany solely for WWI — humiliation fuelled Hitler's rise. • 💡 Franco-Prussian War ended 1871; Crimean War ended 1856; WWII ended by different treaties — Versailles ended WWI.