←
SSC-Standard General Studies Foundation · Chapter 1

Chapter 1: World History: Revolutions, Wars and Colonialism

What to remember

  • The French Revolution (1789) spread the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity; the Russian Revolution (1917) created the first socialist state; the Industrial Revolution changed how goods were made and pushed European powers to seek colonies.
  • Two World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945) broke up empires; the League of Nations (1920) failed to stop the second war, and the United Nations (1945) replaced it.
  • After 1945, colonies in Asia and Africa won independence in a wave of decolonisation, with India (1947) leading the way.

1. The French Revolution (1789)

Causes

  • Society was divided into three Estates: clergy (First), nobles (Second) and everyone else (Third). Only the Third Estate paid most taxes.
  • The king, Louis XVI, spent heavily and the treasury was empty after wars.
  • Bad harvests raised bread prices.
  • Writers like Rousseau, Voltaire and Montesquieu spread ideas of rights and reason.

Events

  • The king called the Estates General in 1789. The Third Estate formed the National Assembly.
  • On 14 July 1789, the people stormed the Bastille, a royal prison and symbol of royal power.
  • The Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789).
  • The monarchy was ended and France became a republic. The king was executed in 1793.
  • The Reign of Terror (1793-94), led by Robespierre, saw many executions.
  • Napoleon Bonaparte took power and became Emperor. The Napoleonic Code (1804) gave equality before law and protected property. He was finally defeated at Waterloo (1815).

The motto of the Revolution: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. Its ideas of nation and citizenship inspired freedom movements across the world.

2. The Industrial Revolution

It began in Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century and moved production from hand to machine and from homes to factories.

InventionInventorUse
Flying shuttleJohn KayFaster weaving
Spinning jennyJames HargreavesSpinning many threads at once
Water frameRichard ArkwrightPower-driven spinning
Power loomEdmund CartwrightMechanised weaving
Improved steam engineJames WattPower for factories and later transport
Cotton ginEli WhitneySeparating cotton fibre from seed

Britain had coal and iron, capital, colonies for raw material and markets, and a strong navy. Railways and steamships followed. Effects: growth of cities, factory work, child labour, rise of the working class and the middle class, and the need for raw materials and markets overseas, which fed imperialism.

3. The Russian Revolution (1917)

Causes: the autocratic Tsar Nicholas II, poverty of peasants and workers, heavy losses in the First World War, and food shortages.

  • February Revolution (1917): strikes and mutinies forced the Tsar to give up the throne. A Provisional Government took charge but continued the war.
  • October Revolution (1917): the Bolsheviks under Lenin seized power. Slogan: "Peace, Land and Bread".
  • A civil war followed. The Soviet Union (USSR) was formed in 1922.
  • Land was taken from landlords and industry came under the State. Later, Stalin led state planning through Five Year Plans.

The revolution inspired socialist movements across the world.

4. The First World War (1914-1918)

  • Immediate cause: the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.
  • Deeper causes: militarism, secret alliances, imperial rivalry, and nationalism.
  • Alliances: Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia) against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire). Italy first belonged to the Triple Alliance but later joined the Entente side.
  • The USA joined in 1917. Russia left the war after the Bolshevik revolution.
  • Germany was defeated. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) punished Germany with loss of land, a ban on a big army, and payment of reparations. The empires of Austria-Hungary, Ottoman and Russia collapsed.

5. League of Nations

  • Formed in 1920 after US President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, with its headquarters at Geneva.
  • Aim: keep peace through collective security.
  • Weaknesses: the USA never joined, it had no army of its own, and powerful members ignored it. Failures in Manchuria (Japan), Abyssinia (Italy) and Germany's expansion showed its weakness.

6. Rise of dictators and the Second World War (1939-1945)

  • The Great Depression of 1929 and the anger over the Versailles treaty helped extremist parties. Mussolini led Fascism in Italy and Hitler led Nazism in Germany. Japan followed militarist expansion.
  • The war began on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland; Britain and France declared war.
  • Axis powers: Germany, Italy, Japan. Allied powers: Britain, France, the USSR (after 1941), the USA (after Pearl Harbor, 1941) and others.
  • The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941) brought the USA in.
  • Germany surrendered in May 1945. The USA dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and Japan surrendered.
  • Effects: great loss of life, the end of European supremacy, the rise of the USA and USSR as superpowers, the Cold War, and decolonisation.

7. The United Nations

  • Founded on 24 October 1945 after the Charter was signed at San Francisco. Headquarters: New York.
  • Aims: maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations, promote human rights and development.
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948.

8. Colonialism and decolonisation

Colonialism is the control of one country by another for its raw material, markets and strategic gain. Imperialism is the wider policy of extending power over other lands.

  • Europe divided Africa at the Berlin Conference (1884-85) without consulting Africans, known as the "Scramble for Africa".
  • Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium and Spain held large colonies in Asia and Africa.
  • Resistance grew through national movements. After the Second World War, colonial powers were weak.
  • Decolonisation: India and Pakistan (1947), Burma and Sri Lanka (1948), Indonesia (1949), Ghana (1957, the first Black African colony to become independent), and many more African countries around 1960. Algeria, Vietnam and Angola fought long wars.
  • Newly free countries faced poverty and Cold War pressures. Many chose non-alignment. The Bandung Conference (1955) and later the Non-Aligned Movement brought these nations together.
  • Neo-colonialism means indirect economic or political control over a country that is formally independent.

Comparison table

RevolutionYearKey leader or groupResult
French1789Third Estate, Robespierre, NapoleonEnd of monarchy, rights of citizens
Industrialfrom c. 1760Inventors, factory ownersMachine production, urbanisation
Russian1917Lenin, BolsheviksFirst socialist state (USSR)

9. Effects of the two wars compared

PointFirst World WarSecond World War
Years1914-19181939-1945
StartSarajevo assassinationGerman attack on Poland
Main sidesEntente vs Central PowersAllied vs Axis powers
Peace settlementTreaty of Versailles (1919)No single treaty; UN formed in 1945
International bodyLeague of Nations (1920)United Nations (1945)
WeaponsTrenches, machine guns, poison gas, early aircraftTanks, aircraft, radar, atomic bombs

Total war affected civilians too. Women entered factories and offices during both wars, which strengthened the case for women's right to vote in several countries. The Second World War also saw the Holocaust, the mass murder of Jews and other groups by the Nazi regime. After the war, the Nuremberg trials tried leading Nazi leaders.

10. The Cold War world

After 1945, two blocs formed: the USA with its allies (NATO, 1949) and the USSR with its allies (Warsaw Pact, 1955). They did not fight each other directly but competed through arms, space and proxy wars. Many new nations of Asia and Africa tried to stay out of both blocs. This tension lasted until the break-up of the USSR in 1991.

11. Why revolutions matter for later events

The ideas of nation and rights from France, the factory economy from Britain and the socialist idea from Russia all shaped the twentieth century. Colonial rulers argued that they brought progress, but people in the colonies asked for the same liberty that Europeans claimed for themselves. This gap between ideals and practice helped colonial nationalism grow.

Exam traps

  • February vs October Revolution: the Tsar fell in February; Bolsheviks took power in October.
  • Estates General vs National Assembly: the first was the old three-estate body; the second was formed by the Third Estate.
  • League of Nations vs UN: Geneva, 1920 vs New York, 1945.
  • Triple Entente vs Triple Alliance: Britain, France and Russia vs Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
  • Spinning jenny vs power loom: Hargreaves (spinning) vs Cartwright (weaving).
  • Colonialism vs imperialism vs neo-colonialism.
  • Bastille (1789) vs Waterloo (1815).
  • Axis vs Allied powers.

One-liners

  • 1. The Bastille fell on 14 July 1789.
  • 2. The French motto is Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.
  • 3. The Napoleonic Code was issued in 1804.
  • 4. The Industrial Revolution began in Britain.
  • 5. James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny.
  • 6. Lenin led the Bolsheviks in October 1917.
  • 7. The First World War began after the Sarajevo assassination in 1914.
  • 8. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919.
  • 9. The League of Nations was set up in 1920 with Geneva as its headquarters.
  • 10. The Second World War began with Germany's attack on Poland in 1939.
  • 11. The UN was founded on 24 October 1945.
  • 12. Ghana was the first Black African colony to gain independence.

Practice questions

  1. The storming of which prison on 14 July 1789 is seen as the start of the French Revolution?

    1. Tower of London
    2. Versailles
    3. Bastille
    4. Alcatraz
    Answer

    C. Bastille

    The Bastille symbolised royal power.

  2. The motto of the French Revolution was

    1. Do or Die
    2. Unity, Faith, Discipline
    3. Peace, Land and Bread
    4. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
    Answer

    D. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

    These ideals spread across the world.

  3. The Napoleonic Code was issued in

    1. 1789
    2. 1804
    3. 1848
    4. 1815
    Answer

    B. 1804

    It gave equality before law and protected property.

  4. Napoleon was finally defeated at

    1. Waterloo
    2. Sarajevo
    3. Stalingrad
    4. Trafalgar
    Answer

    A. Waterloo

    Waterloo took place in 1815.

  5. Who is associated with the Reign of Terror in France?

    1. Lenin
    2. Robespierre
    3. Kerensky
    4. Bismarck
    Answer

    B. Robespierre

    The Reign of Terror was in 1793-94.

  6. The Industrial Revolution began in

    1. Britain
    2. Japan
    3. France
    4. Russia
    Answer

    A. Britain

    Britain had coal, iron, capital and colonies.

  7. The spinning jenny was invented by

    1. Edmund Cartwright
    2. John Kay
    3. Eli Whitney
    4. James Hargreaves
    Answer

    D. James Hargreaves

    Cartwright invented the power loom; Kay the flying shuttle.

  8. The power loom was invented by

    1. Richard Arkwright
    2. James Watt
    3. Edmund Cartwright
    4. James Hargreaves
    Answer

    C. Edmund Cartwright

    It mechanised weaving.

  9. The improved steam engine is linked with

    1. Louis Pasteur
    2. John Kay
    3. James Watt
    4. Eli Whitney
    Answer

    C. James Watt

    Watt improved the steam engine for factories.

  10. Which invention separated cotton fibre from seed?

    1. Spinning jenny
    2. Cotton gin
    3. Water frame
    4. Flying shuttle
    Answer

    B. Cotton gin

    Eli Whitney invented it.

  11. The Russian Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power took place in

    1. 1922
    2. 1905
    3. February 1917
    4. October 1917
    Answer

    D. October 1917

    The February event removed the Tsar.

  12. Who led the Bolsheviks in 1917?

    1. Lenin
    2. Nicholas II
    3. Bismarck
    4. Kerensky
    Answer

    A. Lenin

    Lenin led the October Revolution.

  13. The slogan of the Bolsheviks was

    1. Quit India
    2. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
    3. Peace, Land and Bread
    4. Blood and Iron
    Answer

    C. Peace, Land and Bread

    It reflected people's needs in 1917.

  14. The Soviet Union (USSR) was formed in

    1. 1922
    2. 1945
    3. 1917
    4. 1939
    Answer

    A. 1922

    It followed the civil war.

  15. The immediate cause of the First World War was

    1. the Russian Revolution
    2. Pearl Harbor
    3. the Great Depression
    4. the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
    Answer

    D. the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

    It took place at Sarajevo in 1914.

  16. Which of the following belonged to the Central Powers in the First World War?

    1. Russia
    2. Germany
    3. France
    4. Britain
    Answer

    B. Germany

    Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire.

  17. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in

    1. 1914
    2. 1925
    3. 1939
    4. 1919
    Answer

    D. 1919

    It punished Germany after the First World War.

  18. The League of Nations had its headquarters at

    1. London
    2. Paris
    3. Geneva
    4. New York
    Answer

    C. Geneva

    The League was formed in 1920.

  19. The League of Nations idea was linked to the Fourteen Points of

    1. Woodrow Wilson
    2. Napoleon
    3. Winston Churchill
    4. Lenin
    Answer

    A. Woodrow Wilson

    Wilson was US President.

  20. A major weakness of the League of Nations was that

    1. it had a large army
    2. the USA never joined it
    3. it met in Berlin
    4. it was formed by Hitler
    Answer

    B. the USA never joined it

    It also had no army of its own.

  21. The Second World War began in 1939 with Germany's invasion of

    1. France
    2. Russia
    3. Japan
    4. Poland
    Answer

    D. Poland

    Britain and France then declared war.

  22. Which of the following was an Axis power?

    1. Italy
    2. Britain
    3. the USA
    4. France
    Answer

    A. Italy

    Axis: Germany, Italy, Japan.

  23. The USA entered the Second World War after the attack on

    1. Berlin
    2. Pearl Harbor
    3. Sarajevo
    4. Hiroshima
    Answer

    B. Pearl Harbor

    The attack took place in December 1941.

  24. Atomic bombs were dropped in 1945 on

    1. Tokyo and Osaka
    2. Berlin and Munich
    3. Hiroshima and Nagasaki
    4. Warsaw and Moscow
    Answer

    C. Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    Japan surrendered afterwards.

  25. The United Nations was founded on

    1. 10 December 1948
    2. 1 January 1920
    3. 15 August 1947
    4. 24 October 1945
    Answer

    D. 24 October 1945

    24 October is UN Day.

  26. The headquarters of the United Nations is in

    1. New York
    2. Geneva
    3. Paris
    4. The Hague
    Answer

    A. New York

    The ICJ is at The Hague.

  27. The Berlin Conference of 1884-85 dealt with the division of

    1. South America
    2. Africa
    3. India
    4. China
    Answer

    B. Africa

    It started the Scramble for Africa.

  28. The first Black African colony to become independent, in 1957, was

    1. Algeria
    2. Nigeria
    3. Ghana
    4. Kenya
    Answer

    C. Ghana

    Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana's independence.

  29. Indirect economic control over a formally independent country is called

    1. federalism
    2. neo-colonialism
    3. feudalism
    4. fascism
    Answer

    B. neo-colonialism

    It continues influence without direct rule.

  30. The Bandung Conference of 1955 brought together

    1. only European powers
    2. newly independent Asian and African nations
    3. only Latin American states
    4. the Axis powers
    Answer

    B. newly independent Asian and African nations

    It prepared the base of non-alignment.

  31. Consider the statements. 1. The Tsar was removed in the February Revolution of 1917. 2. The Bolsheviks seized power in the February Revolution. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    The Bolsheviks took power in October.

  32. Consider the statements. 1. The Industrial Revolution moved production from homes to factories. 2. It reduced the need of European powers for colonies. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    It increased the need for raw materials and markets.

  33. Consider the statements. 1. The League of Nations was formed after the Second World War. 2. The UN replaced the League of Nations. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    B. 2 only

    The League was formed in 1920, after the First World War.

  34. Consider the statements. 1. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted during the French Revolution. 2. The Estates General was formed by the Third Estate on its own. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    The Third Estate formed the National Assembly; the Estates General was the old three-estate body.

  35. Consider the statements. 1. Britain and France belonged to the Triple Entente in the First World War. 2. Germany and Austria-Hungary were Central Powers. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    C. Both 1 and 2

    Both statements are correct.

  36. Consider the statements. 1. India became independent in 1947. 2. Indonesia became independent before India. Which of the statements is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    Indonesia won independence in 1949.

  37. Match the invention with its inventor. Which pairing is correct?

    1. Cotton gin - James Watt
    2. Power loom - James Hargreaves
    3. Spinning jenny - Eli Whitney
    4. Flying shuttle - John Kay
    Answer

    D. Flying shuttle - John Kay

    Kay invented the flying shuttle.

  38. Colonialism is best described as

    1. sharing power among states
    2. a trade fair between nations
    3. rule of the people by themselves
    4. control of one country by another for resources and markets
    Answer

    D. control of one country by another for resources and markets

    It enriched the ruling country.

  39. A major result of the Second World War was

    1. the rise of the League of Nations
    2. the end of the UN
    3. the rise of the USA and USSR as superpowers
    4. the revival of the Tsar
    Answer

    C. the rise of the USA and USSR as superpowers

    The Cold War followed.

  40. Which leader became Emperor of France after the Revolution?

    1. Robespierre
    2. Louis XVI
    3. Charles de Gaulle
    4. Napoleon Bonaparte
    Answer

    D. Napoleon Bonaparte

    Napoleon crowned himself Emperor in 1804.

  41. Which event came first?

    1. Fall of the Bastille
    2. Russian October Revolution
    3. Treaty of Versailles
    4. Founding of the UN
    Answer

    A. Fall of the Bastille

    The Bastille fell in 1789.

  42. Which pairing of country and Cold War bloc is correct?

    1. France - Eastern bloc
    2. USA - Warsaw Pact
    3. USSR - Warsaw Pact
    4. Britain - Warsaw Pact
    Answer

    C. USSR - Warsaw Pact

    NATO was the western alliance.

  43. Total war in the World Wars was different because

    1. only kings fought
    2. no weapons were used
    3. civilians and the economy were drawn into the war
    4. no countries were involved
    Answer

    C. civilians and the economy were drawn into the war

    Whole societies were mobilised.

  44. Which of the following was a cause of French unrest before 1789?

    1. Britain banned trade
    2. The Tsar was removed
    3. Atomic bombs were used
    4. The Third Estate paid most taxes
    Answer

    D. The Third Estate paid most taxes

    Tax burden and empty treasury were causes.

  45. After the Second World War, many new nations of Asia and Africa chose

    1. to become colonies again
    2. non-alignment
    3. to restore the Tsar
    4. to join the Axis
    Answer

    B. non-alignment

    They stayed out of the two blocs.

Page 1 of 1
‹
›