[Topic wise IAS World History Question Bank (1979-2015)]: (7) World Wars

World Wars
(i) 1st and 2nd World Wars as Total Wars: Societal implications
(ii) World War I: Causes and consequences
(iii) World War II: Causes and consequence
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1. Account for the rise of militarism in Japan between the two World Wars. How did it affect the peace of the world? [1979, 60 Marks]

2. Critically examine the main features of the foreign policy of Nazi Germany. [1982, 60 marks]

3. What led to the formation of the Berlin-Rome Tokyo axis? Indicate its impact on international politics. [1986, 60 Marks]

4. Critically examine the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Did he want to introduce a sort of socialism? [1987, 60 Marks]

5. “The international situation that confronted the peacemakers in Paris was in the brutal realities of history, the result of a temporary redistribution of the balance of power in the world.” Comment. [1987, 60 Marks]

6. “The Anglo-Japanese Treaty (1902) marks a milestone in the development of Japan as an Asiatic power.” [1988, 20 Marks]

7. The treaties made at the Paris Peace conference in 1919-20 were replete with unstable compromises, reflecting more materialism than idealism. Elucidate. [1990, 60 Marks]

8. Show how the Spanish Civil War a prelude to World War II. [1991, 60 Marks]

9. “Thus the League sought to achieve to profoundest of all psychological revolutions to transform the war mentality of man into a peace mentality.” Comment. [1992, 20 Marks]

10. “The Treaty of Versailles was merely an armistice for twenty years.” Comment. [1993, 20 Marks]

11. “The Manchurian crisis decided the fate of the league of Nations.” Comment. [1993, 20 Marks]

12. “The countries in the Middle East became, after 1919, the scene of constant effervescence and some striking changes.” Comment. [1994, 20 Marks]

13. “The perpetuation of the economic malaise was the main cause of the political instability of Europe during the next two decades (1919-1939).” Explain. [1994, 60 Marks]

14. Show how the presence of a weak and helpless China next dooe brought aboit the rise of militarism and collapse of democracy in Japan. [1994, 60 Marks]

15. “The Communist international and the League of Nations both announced the end of the Balance of Powet.” Comment. [1996, 20 Marks]

16. The Great Depression (1928 – 34) was “attended by momentous consequences in the economic as well as in the political sphere.” Comment. [1996, 20 Marks]

17. Trace the growth of militarism in Japan in the inter-war years. What international reaction did it provoke? [1997, 60 Marks]

18. President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal “had the wit to start the political economy in a fresh, more promising direction.” Do you agree? [1997, 60 Marks]

19. One of the most important impacts of the Second World War was the “division of Europe”, eastern and western. Comment.[1998, 20 Marks]

20. Trace the rise and growth of the New European Society in the inter-war period. [1999, 60 Marks]

21. “Until December 1941 the battlefield of the Second World War was exclusively European and Atlantic; thereafter it became also Asiatic and Pacific.” Comment. [2000, 20 Marks]

22. Analyze the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 and examine the validity of Germany’s objections to the Treaty. [2000, 60 Marks]

23. “There was not only a difference of principles at Paris (Peace Conference) but a clash of personalities.” Comment. [2001, 20 Marks]

24. One of the most important consequences of the Second World War was “division of Europe”, eastern and western. Comment. [2002, 20 Marks]

25. The Great Depression (1928 – 34) was “attended by momentous consequences in the economic as well as in the political sphere.” Comment. [2002, 20 Marks]

26. “The most important single factor … in the year following 1919 was the French demand for security.” Comment. [2004, 10 Marks]

27. “Treaty of Versailles contained the seeds of future conflicts.” Comment. [2006, 10 Marks]

28. “A clever conqurer will always impose his demands on the conquered by installments.” Comment. [2006, 10 Marks]

29. “The War’s (First World War’s) most permanent contribution to the spirit or the post-War years was disillusion.” Comment.  [2007, 60 Marks]

30. “In the long run, the Locarno Treaty (December 1925) was descriptive both of the Treaty of Versailles and of the Covenant.” [2008, 20 Marks]

31. “Hitler did not really want a world War. His intention was only a short war with Poland.” (A. J. P. Taylar). Comment. [2009, 20 Marks]

20. “The peace of Versailles lacked moral validity from the start.” Critically evaluate. [2011, 20 Marks]

32. “By 2014, the sick man of Europe was no longer just Turkey: it was Europe itself.” Explain. [2011, 20 Marks]

33. “Any single explanation for the outbreak of the First World War likely to be too simple. An amalgam of factors intellectual, social, economic as well as political and diplomatic contributed to this horrifying conflict of monumental propositions.” – Explain. [2012, 30 Marks]

34. “The Russo-Japanese War helped in the rise of Japan as a great power.” [2014, 10 Marks]

35. “The Berlin Congress failed to unlock the Eastern Question. Though there was no longer major war in Europe for nearly three decades after the Treaty of Berlin, it contained the seeds of many future wars.” Critically Evaluate. [2015, 20 Marks]

36. How far is it correct to say that the First World War was fought essentially for the preservation of the balance of power? [2015, 20 Marks]