History for grades 11–12: questions with answers

The History questions for grades 11–12 from the game, with the correct answers and an explanation for each.

  1. Which Persian king did Alexander the Great defeat at Gaugamela in 331 BC?

    • Cyrus the Great
    • Darius I
    • Xerxes
    • Darius III

    Correct answer: Darius III — Darius III fled the field at Gaugamela and was murdered by his own satrap the next year.

  2. Which caliphate fell when the Mongols sacked Baghdad in 1258?

    • Umayyad
    • Abbasid
    • Fatimid
    • Ottoman

    Correct answer: Abbasid — Hulagu's Mongols killed the caliph and destroyed the city's libraries; the Abbasids had ruled from Baghdad since 762.

  3. Who became the world's first female prime minister in 1960?

    • Sirimavo Bandaranaike
    • Indira Gandhi
    • Golda Meir
    • Margaret Thatcher

    Correct answer: Sirimavo Bandaranaike — Bandaranaike became prime minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1960 after her husband's assassination.

  4. In which city did European powers meet in 1884–85 to divide Africa?

    • Vienna
    • Paris
    • London
    • Berlin

    Correct answer: Berlin — Bismarck hosted the conference; European powers set the rules for carving up Africa without a single African present.

  5. Which war of 1899–1902 was fought between Britain and the Afrikaner republics?

    • the Opium War
    • the Crimean War
    • the Zulu War
    • the Boer War

    Correct answer: the Boer War — Britain defeated the Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State; the war became notorious for concentration camps in which tens of thousands of civilians died.

  6. Who was emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974?

    • Tewodros II
    • Menelik II
    • Haile Selassie
    • Idi Amin

    Correct answer: Haile Selassie — Haile Selassie was deposed in 1974 by a military junta; Rastafarians regard him as divine.

  7. Which battle of 732 halted the Muslim advance into France?

    • Tours
    • Hastings
    • Lepanto
    • Vienna

    Correct answer: Tours — Charles Martel's Frankish army defeated the Umayyad forces near Tours (Poitiers) in 732.

  8. Who was the first emperor of a unified China, in 221 BC?

    • Qin Shi Huang
    • Han Wudi
    • Kublai Khan
    • Sun Yat-sen

    Correct answer: Qin Shi Huang — He unified the warring states in 221 BC, standardised writing and weights and was buried with the Terracotta Army.

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