Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
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Prologue
Imperialism and Colonization
Industrial Revolution
Socialism, Communism, Capitalism, Revolutions
France, America, Russia
China, Japan
Germany, Italy, World Wars
Decolonization Post WW2
Prologue
From 2013, UPSC has introduced world history as a syllabus topic for General
studies paper 1. There is lack of good quality mock questions on this topic for
practice. Therefore, Ive collected questions from following previous exams:
1. Last 12 term end exams of IGNOU BA, MA history course code: EHI6, EHI7
and MHI2
2. Previous papers of UPSC (History) Optional Subject Paper II from 1979 to
2012
3. Old NCERT Class 10 (Arjun Dev): all the relevant chapters already uploaded
on Mrunal.org/History
Some of these questions are outside the syllabus and/or beyond the (expected)
difficulty level of General Studies Mains paper, hence Readers discretion is
advised.
Official UPSC syllabus is following:
History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial
revolution, world wars, redraw of national boundaries, colonization,
decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism
etc.- their forms and effect on the society
Where can you find answers?
the foundation material for most of these questions=available in Old
NCERTs, uploaded on Mrunal.org/history
for additional points to make up a 10-12-15 marks content, selective study of
those IGNOU courses: EHI6, EHI7, MH2 (from Egyankosh.ac.in) or Arjun
Dev / Norman Lowe / Jain-Mathur
and search google/Britannica as and where necessary.
31. Explain the British policy of Subordinate union of Indian States with British
India from 1858 onwards? How did the Government of India implement this
policy during this period?
32. Holland was engaged in a systematic exploitation of Indonesia in the
nineteenth century. Elucidate.
33. If imperialism is viewed as a phase of the struggle for power between States,
its result must be judged in terms of its role in power politics.
34. Imperialism and Colonialism have long employed as instruments of national
policy.
35. In all the long annals of Imperialism, the partition of Africa is a remarkable
freak.
36. Mercantilist philosophy was based upon a belief that private & social
interests are not necessarily in harmony.
37. New imperialism was a nationalistic, not an economic phenomena.
38. One great effect of the geographical discoveries of the 15th century was the
growing belief that America, Asia and Africa were to be used extensively for
the benefit of Europeans.
39. Orientalism produced a knowledge of the past to service the needs of the
Colonial States. Elucidate.
40. Plantations and mines, jute, banking, insurance, shipping and export-import
concerns in India were run through a system of interlocking managing
agencies.
41. Portugal and Spain, the pioneers in world exploration, were also first in the
race to conquer overseas countries
42. Rabindranath Tagores nationalism was based on a Catholic internationalism.
43. The British conquest of Sind was both a political and moral sequel to the first
afghan war. Comment.
44. The British industrial policy in the nineteenth century ruined the Indian
handicrafts.
45. The British Raj had a deeply racist aspect and it ultimately existed to protect
colonial exploitation.
46. The Christian Missionary propaganda from 1813 onwards was often
insensitive and wounding.
47. The countries in the Middle East became, after 1919, the scene of constant
effervescence and some striking changes.
48. The Crimean War was the most useless war ever waged.
49. The discovery of the new world, coinciding with the swift diffusion of printed
books, taught the Europeans that Truth is the daughter not of authority, but of
time.
50. The educated middle class in the 19th century often found the domain of
reason to be oppressive, as it implied the historical necessity of civilizings
colonial rule.
51. The forces of free trade and the British determination to create a political and
administrative environment conductive to trade and investment had shaped the
British policy towards India in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Elucidate.
52. The Government of India from Canning to Curzon was regarded as a white
mans burden rather than as a call to creative effort or the preparation for a new
era.
53. The Indian Middle Class firmly believed that Britain had imposed a colonial
economy on India which had impoverished the country.
54. The Montague Declaration (20 August 1917) was observed more closely in
the realm of imperial relations than anything else.
55. The period 1919 to 1945 is important in the history of Egypt for the
explanation of its resources by Great Britain and rise of strong nationalism.
Discuss.
56. The railways, instead of serving as the catalyst of an industrial revolution as in
Western Europe and the USA, acted in India as the catalyst of complete
colonization.- Examine.
57. The rise and expansion of British empire was an accident rather than the result
of a deliberate policy and design. Critically examine this statement.
58. The simultaneous expansion of European powers overseas during the last
quarter of the 19th century brought them into frequent collisions at a remote
points all over Africa and Asia.
59. The sponsors of the overseas expansion of Europe were national monarchies.
60. The treaties made at the Paris Peace conference in 1919-20 were replete with
unstable compromises, reflecting more materialism than idealism. Elucidate.
61. Trace the stages in the partition of Africa after 1870. How did it affect
international relations?
62. Trace the various stages of European imperialism in Africa in the nineteenth
century.
63. What do you understand by Imperialism? How did it affect the people of Asia
in the nineteenth century?
64. What do you understand by imperialism? State briefly its unique features in
the case of Africa?
65. What was the culture system in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) during the
19th century? Why was it dismantled?
66. Write a critique on the partition of Africa from 1870 to 1914, with particular
reference to Germanys imperial designs in the Continent.
67. Describe the steps, giving examples, by which the imperialist countries took
over most of Africa.
68. Why were Asian and African countries so easily dominated by the Western
powers?
69. How did nationalism help to make imperialism popular in Europe?
70. Describe the emergence of the United States of America as an imperialist
power Give examples
71. Explain the meaning of the following terms, with examples: Sphere of
influence, exploitation, extraterritorial rights, protectorate, Monroe Doctrine,
Dollar diplomacy.
72. Prepare maps of Asia and Africa showing the colonies and spheres of
influence of the various imperialist powers before the First World War
73. Write an essay on Slavery and Slave Trade and the Struggle for their
Abolition
74. How did the empires of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries differ from the
empires of ancient times for example, those of the Mauryas, the Romans
and of Alexander?
75. Discuss the differences between the imperialist expansion during the
sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries and 1870 to 1914
76. Name and discuss some of the big problems faced by newly independent
countries Why are their problems also the problems of all countries?
77. Discuss the long-term impact of imperialist control on the countries of Asia,
Africa and South America
78. The Eastern Question has always been an international question. Elucidate.
Industrial Revolution
1. Explain why the Industrial Revolution led to the emergence of imperialism
2. Analyse the different ways in which industrialization took place in Europe.
3. Critically discuss the process of industrialization in Britain, France and
Germany.
4. How did industrial revolution impact the family system in Europe?
5. How did the industrialisation of Russia take place in the period prior to the
Russian Revolution?
6. How was Russia industrialized during the 19th century? Examine.
7. Give a critical account of the Agricultural Revolution in Western Europe in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. How did it affect the social and
economic life of the people?
8. The Industrial Revolution brought about great changes in the social and
economic life of Europe. Explain.
9. The Industrial Revolution Changed England in character and culture.
10. The Industrial Revolution put mobility in the place of stability.
11. The period 1500 to 1700 in Europe has been called the heyday of the
Commercial Revolution. Explain the causes that led to this Revolution
examine its impact on society.
12. The process of industrialization in some other countries of Europe was
different from that in England.
13. What was the extent of industrialization in western Europe by the end of the
nineteenth century?
14. Whoever says Industrial Revolution, says cotton. Comment.
15. Identify the main features of industrial development in India from 1914 to
1947 with special reference to the emergence of a class of factory laborers.
16. What conditions are most favourable or essential for industrialization?
17. Give examples to show that the Industrial Revolution with its demand for raw
materials and markets made nations more dependent on one another.
18. Describe the conditions which prevailed in industrial cities and factories as
the Industrial Revolution spread. How these conditions were slowly
improved?
19. The Industrial Revolution was a mixed blessing.
20. Why does industrialization affect farming, transportation, communication,
trade and how does it result in the need for more education?
21. How does industrialization help in raising the level or the standard of living?
22. Would you say that industrialization was a natural step in mans progress?
Why or why not?
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states.
What was the nature of industrial capitalism as it developed in France?
What led to the economic crisis in Europe in 1929?
What was the nature of the liberal democratic regimes that developed during
the period after the First World War?
What was the process through which a modern class society emerged in
Europe?
Why did the First Socialist Revolution take place in Russia?
Write a note on modern state and polity as it developed in Europe.
Write a note on the development of industrial capitalism in England.
Write a note on the emergence of new social groups in 19th century Europe.
Discuss the significance of Industrial Capitalism in Europe.
Doctrine of Free Trade
How did Industrial Capitalism develop in England?
How did the landed classes in England respond to the changes in the
economy?
How did the Ottoman Empire break down and make way for the emergence of
a nation-state system?
Revolutions of 1848
The Working Class
Was the British state able to develop a notion of liberty between 1780
1850?
What are the characteristic features of nationalism as it developed in Europe?
What are the main features of industrial capitalism?
What are the main features of the modern state and polity?
What do you understand by class society ?Discuss.
What do you understand by nationalism? How did nationalism develop in
Europe?
What is class society? Discuss the transition to the modern class society.
Write short note about Reform Act of 1832 in Britain
What is socialism? Why did the first socialist revolution occur in Russia?
What led to the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe? What were its consequences?
What was the demographic pattern in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries?
Account for the growth of Liberalism in Britain in the nineteenth century.
How far did it influence the contemporary social and economic issues-in the
country?
Discuss the nature of the leadership and programme of the Congress Socialist
party.
Effect of British liberalism on the social or economic life of the people of
England.
France was more fertile than Britain in producing new Socialist theories and
movements, though they bore less concrete results in France than in Britain.
Marxian Communism is primarily the offspring of German Hegelianism and
French Socialism.
Most of the European Revolutions of 1848 were nationalist as well as popular
insurrection against foreign rule and repressive policy of Metternich.
President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal had the wish to start the political
economy in a fresh, more promising direction. Do you agree?
Protestantism contributed substantially to the rise of capitalism.
France
27. Discuss the impact of the French Revolution on political systems in Europe.
28. Explain how repression was combined with mobilisation of popular support
under Bonapartism.
29. Explain the role of masses in overthrowing the Ancient Regime in France.
30. Landed classes in France
31. 2 markers each: The Bourgeoisie, The Girondins
32. The Jacobin Republic and Terror
33. What are the salient features of modern politics as it developed in Europe
after the French Revolution?
34. What led to the downfall of the Ancient Regime in France?
America
1. Critically examine the nature of the American War of Independence.
2. What were the distinguishing features of American society before the
American revolution? How did they affect the subsequent revolutionary
process?
3. Discuss the characteristics of pre-revolutionary American society.
4. Discuss the important factors responsible for the American Revolution. What
were the effects of the Revolution?
5. How did the peculiarity of being a new society affect the American
Revolution?
6. The American Revolution
7. The notion of liberty
8. At the news of the Declaration of Independence crowds gathered to cheer, fire
guns and cannon and ring church bells in Philadelphia. Boston and other
places, but there were many people in America who did not rejoice.
9. No Taxation without representation.
10. The American Revolution was a natural and even expected event in the history
of colonial people who had come of age.
11. The American Revolution was essentially as economic conflict between
American capitalism as British mercantilism.
12. The American War of Independence deprived Great Britain of one empire, but
it strengthened the foundations of another .
13. The American war of Independence transformed Europeans as well as
America.
14. The Great Depression (1928-34) was attended by momentous consequences
in the economic as well as in the political sphere.
15. To some extent, the American War of Independence inspired the French
Revolution
16. What were the factors that worked in the drafting of the American
Constitution? Do you agreee the US constitution being an Economic
Document?
17. How far is it correct to say that every feature of the American Constitution
was ultimately of English Origin?
18. Explain briefly the conditions that brought about the American and French
revolutions.
19. Write a note on People Revolt when Conditions become Unbearable, using
the either French, Russian or American revolutions as evidence.
20. Examine the issues involved in the American Civil War. Was it a contest
between two separate nations?
Russia
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China
1. What were the basic characteristics of traditional Chinese economy? What
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63. Write an essay on Sun Yat Sen and the rise of Nationalism in China.
64. Kuomintang
Japan
1. How did Japan develop between 1868 and 1894? Did the Restoration of Meiji
mark a sharp break with the past?
2. How did the Japanese occupation of South-East Asian countries during the
Second World War give a boost to nationalize in the regions? Explain with
examples.
3. Show how the presence of a weak and helpless China next door brought about
the rise of militarism and collapse of democracy in Japan.
4. The Anglo-Japanese Treaty (1962) marks a milestone in the development of
Japan as an Asiatic power.
5. The years 1853-1894 witnessed the transformation of Japan. Explain.
6. Trace the growth of militarism in Japan in the inter-war years. What
international reaction did it provoke?
7. Describe the imperialist expansion of japan up to 1914
8. Militarism in Japan
9. Analyse the main factors responsible for the decline of the Tokugawa
Shogunate.
10. Analyse the significance of Anglo-Japanese alliance.
11. Anglo-French rivalry in Japan
12. Discuss the causes of the Russo-Japanese War. What was its impact on the
nationalism in Asian countries?
13. Discuss the economic policies of the Meiji government.
14. Discuss the factors which led to the decline of the Tokugawa shogunate in
Japan.
15. Discuss the main features of Meiji constitution.
16. Discuss the major characteristics of the Meiji political system.
17. Discuss the nature of Japanese imperialism up to the Second World War.
18. Discuss the political and economic implications of the Allied occupation of
Japan.
19. Discuss the political and economic reforms which contributed towards the
modernisation of Japan.
20. Discuss the stages of Japans emergence as an imperialist power during 18941912.
21. Explain the developments in the economy of Japan prior to World War II.
22. Explain the various ideologies behind the expansionist policy of Japan.
23. Outline the stages of Japans emergence as an imperialist power during the
period 1894 1912.
24. What was the impact of the Russo-Japanese War?
25. What was the political implication of the Allied Forces occupation of Japan
after the Second World War?
26. What were the main economic reforms carried out in Japan after the First
World War?
27. What were the political and economic reforms which contributed towards the
modernization of Japan?
28. What were the primary issues in the economic development of Japan between
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1868 1885?
What were the various ideologies behind the expansionist policy of Japan?
What was the role of political parties in Japan between the two World Wars?
Discuss the significance of the Anglo-Japanese alliance.
Account for the rise of militarism in Japan between the two World Wars. How
did it affect the peace of the world?
Write a Note on Zaibatsu
Germany
1. Write a note on Zolleverein (Customs Union)
2. Did the Weimar Republic represent liberal democratic experiment in
Germany? How successful was this experiment?
3. Discuss Bismarcks role in German unification.
4. Discuss the changes brought by Nazi rule in Germany.
5. Discuss the role of Bismarck in unification of Germany.
6. Write a note on the emergence of Nationalism in Germany?
7. Discuss the emergence of Nationalism in Germany.
8. Discuss the German National Idea.
9. Explain the emergence of the two Germanies in post war Europe
10. Gestapo
11. State and Society in Nazi Germany
12. Besmirch created a new Germany with the policy of blood and iron.
13. Bismarck united Germany not by majority of votes and speeches but by a
policy of Blood and iron. In the light of this statement assess the contribution
of Bismarck to the unification of Germany.
14. Comparison of the fascist regime in Italy with the National Socialist regime
of Germany is almost inevitable. The similarities are obvious, but there is one
point of difference which is worth mentioning.
15. Critically examine the main features of the foreign policy of Nazi Germany.
16. What were the weaknesses and difficulties of the Weimer Republic? How did
Hitler succeed in establishing his dictatorship?
17. Hitler did not really want a world War. His intention was only a short war with
Poland.
18. Hitler was a creature flung to the top by the tides of revolutionary change, or
the embodiment of the collective unconsciousness of a people obsessed with
violence and death.
19. How did the policy of appeasement escalate the problem of Nazi
aggrandizement?
20. Isolation of France constituted the keystone of Bismarcks foreign policy.
Elucidate.
21. It is one of the ironies of history that Napoleon was the creator of modern
Germany.
22. Napoleon kindled the national sentiment, but German unity was achieved by
Bismarck. Discuss.
23. The political unification of Germany was accomplished solely by Bismarck
24. The Unification of Germany was the one thing Bismarck was determined to
prevent.
25. There was an element of system in Hitlers foreign policy His outlook was
continental.
26. Was German unification achieved more by coal and iron than by blood and
iron?
Italy
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World Wars
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How did the two World Wars affect politics in the 20th century?
What were the consequences of the advent of Nuclear Weapons in WW2?
Chemical Warfare
Write a note on the nature of the two World Wars.
Discuss the implications of first world war on human society.
Discuss the implications of second world war on human society.
How did the two World Wars affect the politics and economy of Europe?
What are main features of modern warfare?
Analyze the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 and examine the
validity of Germanys objections to the treaty.
10. Any single explanation for the outbreak of the First World War likely to be
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38. Explain the terms: Phoney War, Second Front, the Battle of Britain
39. Do you think Western policy of appeasement of the fascist powers brought
about the Second World War? Why? Or why not?
40. What was the basic reason for the policy of appeasement?
41. Do you think the United States was justified in using the atom bomb against
Japan?
42. Why did the Soviet Union sign the Non-Aggression Pact with Germany? What
did she gain from it? Discuss
43. What were the immediate consequences of the Second World War in Europe?
44. For a tired and timid generation Metternich was the necessary man.
45. The Brussels Treaty of 17 March, 1948 paved the way for the formation of
NATO.
46. 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.
47. There was not only a difference of principles at Paris (Peace Conference) but
a clash of personalities.
48. What do you understand by the notion of Total War? How did it affect military
strategy?
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crippled. Elaborate.
Explain the circumstances leading to the emergence of Third World and
analyze its impact on world affairs.
Give a brief account of the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa.
Nascent nationalism in Indo-China developed within both an Asian and a
European context with but scanty reference in either case to traditionalist
considerations.
Nominally the new Turkey was republican and democratic.
One of the last Strongholds of oil imperialism and European colonialism it
(Middle East) cultivates a fiery nationalism as a weapon against foreign
oppression
One of the most important consequences of the Second World War was
division of Europe, eastern and western.
The Arab nationalism had a peculiar character. It stood for nation
independence for separate Arab States as well as for the unity of all Arabs
irrespective of their state boundaries. Examine.
The Collapse of Berlin Wall in 1989 brought new ideas of co-operation in
Europe.
The decolonization led to the break-up of empires.
Trace the growth of Arab nationalism after the, First World War. How far was
it a reaction to oil imperialism?
Turkish renaissance guided by Kemal Pasha revolutionized the Turkish life a
many levels. Amplify.
Under Mustafa Kemals dictatorship; Turkey was rapidly nationalized.
Why did Vietnam go through thirty years of war after the Second World War?
Would you argue that the Non-Aligned Movement played a crucial role in
dismantling the colonialism?
Write a critical note on the process of decolonization accelerated by the
second World War.
Identify the main strands in the Egyptian nationalist movement in the first half
of the present century and explain the role played in it by Zaghlul Pasha.
Identify the main strands in the Nationalist Movement in Indonesia between
the two World Wars. How did Japanese occupation of land influence the
course of the Movement?
Describe the growth of national movements in Asia after the First World War.
Name the Asian countries which won their independence between 1919 and
1939
Trace the history of the freedom movements in Asian countries.
What were the main aims of the foreign policy of the United States? What was
the reason for the military intervention of the United States in Vietnam? What
were its consequences?
What was the impact of the Portuguese revolution of 1974 on the Portuguese
colonies in Africa?
What is meant by nonalignment? Why did most of the newly independent
countries follow this policy?
Trace the history of the freedom movements in Africa
Describe the changes which have taken place in South Africa after 1989
Trace the developments that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Describe the main changes which have occurred in Germany and the countries
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