European History MCQs - 2025

The French Revolution (1789–1799) was primarily triggered by France's severe financial crisis due to excessive spending by the monarchy, costly wars (including support for the American Revolution), and an unfair taxation system that burdened the Third Estate (commoners). Social inequality and Enlightenment ideas further fueled revolutionary sentiments.

Mussolini's fascism (1922–1943) promoted ultranationalism, dictatorship, and state control, rejecting democracy and communism.

The Napoleonic Code (1804) was a major legal reform under Napoleon Bonaparte that abolished feudal privileges, established equality before the law, and secured property rights. It became a model for legal systems worldwide but also restricted women's rights.

The 1919 treaty ended WWI, imposing harsh terms on Germany and creating the League of Nations (precursor to the UN) to prevent future conflicts.

The Crimean War (1853–1856) between Russia and an alliance (Ottoman Empire, Britain, France) ended with the Treaty of Paris in February 1856, weakening Russia and modernizing warfare (e.g., Florence Nightingale’s nursing reforms).

The 1992 Maastricht Treaty created the EU, introducing the euro and political union.

De Gaulle withdrew France from NATO’s military command (1966), seeking autonomy while remaining politically aligned.

East and West Germany reunified on October 3, 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and Soviet collapse.

The Industrial Revolution (18th–19th century) shifted economies from agrarian to industrial, creating capitalism, urbanization, and class struggles.

Italy was divided into small states controlled by Austria, Spain, and the Pope. Leaders like Cavour and Garibaldi unified Italy by 1871, overcoming regionalism and foreign influence.

Napoleon's Continental System (1806) aimed to weaken Britain by banning European trade with it. However, it backfired by harming European economies and increasing resentment against French rule.

Prussia's victory (1870–1871) led to the proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles (1871), humiliating France and establishing Germany as a dominant European power.

The EEC (1957 Treaty of Rome) aimed for economic integration (tariff reductions, common market), not military or Cold War goals.

The Cold War (1947–1991) was a struggle between capitalist democracy (U.S.) and communist authoritarianism (USSR), fought via proxy wars, espionage, and arms races.

The USSR established the Warsaw Pact (1955) as a military alliance countering NATO’s (1949) influence in Eastern Europe.

Romanticism (late 18th–19th century) rejected Enlightenment rationalism, celebrating emotion, nature, folklore, and national identity. Key figures included Goethe, Wordsworth, and Beethoven.

Hitler's 1938 demand for Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland (with ethnic Germans) led to the Munich Agreement. His subsequent invasion of Poland (1939) triggered WWII.

The U.S.-funded Marshall Plan (1948–1951) provided $12 billion to rebuild postwar Western Europe, countering poverty and Soviet influence.

After Napoleon's defeat (1815), the Concert of Europe (Congress System) was established by major powers (Austria, Prussia, Russia, Britain) to prevent revolutions and preserve monarchies through diplomatic cooperation.

Nationalism emerged from collective identity based on language (e.g., German, Italian), historical narratives, and cultural movements, fueling unification struggles in Germany and Italy.