Test Your Knowledge of World History with a Great Leaders Quiz

Maybe you relish visiting historical sites to soak up the atmosphere of days gone by. Maybe you are an armchair history scholar. If you think you know all there is to know about great leaders in world history, take this quiz to find out how much you actually do know. You may be surprised.

1. Which great leader said, "The price of greatness is responsibility?
A. President Ronald Reagan
B. Winston Churchill
C. President Abraham Lincoln
D. David Ben-Gurion

2. Which Prime Minister of France earned the nickname of "The Tiger" and negotiated terms of peace at the Versailles Peace Conference?
A. Georges Clemenceau
B. Paul Reynaud
C. Charles DeGaulle
D. Edouard Daladier

3. Which Czechoslovakian president surrendered the remnant of his country to the Nazis in 1939 when threatened with invasion?
A. Karel Capek
B. Dr. Edvard Benes
C. Julius Fucik
D. Dr. Emil Hacha

4. Who was the American president during the War of 1812 against Great Britain?
A. President James Madison
B. President James Monroe
C. President Warren Harding
D. President Theodore Roosevelt

5. Idi Amin Dada was the ruthless president of this African country:
A. Nigeria
B. Bhutan
C. Uganda
D. Somalia

6. In 1829, Great Britain formally claimed western Australia as belonging to the crown. Who was reigning in Great Britain then?
A. James II
B. George IV
C. Edward VII
D. Richard II

7. The first Prime Minister of Australia took that office in 1901. Who was he?
A. Lord Tennyson
B. JC Watson
C. Lord Northcote
D. Edmund Barton

8. Simon Bolivar, considered "The George Washington of South America", was born in this country:
A. Venezuela
B. Ecuador
C. Bolivia
D. Brazil

9. All of the following statements about Kim Jung-Il are true except for one. Which one is false?
A. Kim Jung-Il was born in Soviet Siberia.
B. Kim Jung-Il promotes the philosophy of Juche, or self-reliance.
C. Kim Jung-Il took control of North Korea in a military coup upon Kim Il-sung's death in 1994.
D. Kim Jung-Il was appointed commander of the North Korean People's Army by his father in 1993.

10. Which one of the following was never prime minister of Israel?
A. David Ben-Gurion
B. Moshe Sharett
C. Pinhas Lavon
D. Golda Meir

Following are the answers to this great leader quiz. How did you do?

1. The correct answer is B. Among many other wise words attributed to him, this quote was made by Winston Churchill (1874-1965), one of Great Britain's great leaders, in a speech delivered at Harvard University in 1943. He was, at the time, Prime Minister. Very similar to the quote by the fictional Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility."

2. A is the right answer. Clemenceau desired harsher terms for Germany as one of World War I's defeated participants. Though President Woodrow Wilson argued for more lenient conditions and a League of Nations, Clemenceau, another great and insightful leader, strove for German disarmament and for the country to pay heavy reparations. Wilson got his way.

3. The correct answer is D. Hacha became president after Benes resigned and went into exile. Hacha's surrender of Czechoslovakia was made after Hitler threatened to obliterate Prague with his Luftwaffe. Dr. Hacha's words upon returning from a meeting with Adolph Hitler were, "I have entrusted our country to the Fuhrer and been promised his trust." Sometimes leaders must make agonizing choices.

4. A is the answer for this one. James Monroe was Secretary of State and later Secretary of War under President James Madison. President Madison, one of the greatest leaders of this country, asked for a declaration of war against Great Britain when American ship cargoes were seized and American sailors were kidnapped and pressed into British service.

5. The answer is C. Who can forget the movie "Raid on Entebbe" (1977) where a youthful Yaphet Kotto portrays a smiling, ingratiating but chilling Idi Amin? Human rights organizations claim that Amin ordered the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ugandans during his reign. This former brutal leader died in exile in Saudi Arabia.

6. B is the right response. King George IV reigned in the time period after the Napoleonic wars. Western Australia was claimed as a British possession 213 years after the first European set foot on that part of the continent and 59 years after Captain James Cook landed on the shores of Botany Bay in eastern Australia.

7. The correct response is D. While Barton was prime minister, Australian women gained the right to vote and the High Court and Australian Public Service were established. During his tenure, however, the government also restricted non-white immigration to Australia with laws generally known as the White Australia Policy.

8. A is the right answer. Bolivar is one of the greatest names in the struggle for South American independence from Spanish rule. He served as the president of Venezuela, Gran Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia over the period of fourteen years. His presidencies over the latter three overlapped at times.

9. Your answer should have been C. Kim Jung-Il was groomed to be his father's successor. Rarely does power shift from one person to another in a Communist nation such as North Korea without bloodshed. In this case, Kim Jung-Il inherited his father's supreme power upon Kim Il-Sung's death.

10. C is the right response. Pinhas Lavon was a member of the Knesset and General Secretary of the Histadrut, a type of united trade union. An intelligence operation gone awry forced Lavon to resign as Defense Minister and continued to be a smudge on his political ambitions. He never became prime minister of Israel.

8-10 correct: Wow! You really know your world leaders and historical data. Good for you.
6-7 correct: Not bad, but you could study a little more.
4-5 correct: Time to make a trip to your local public library and start reading. You may find a book or time period in which you are really interested.
1-3 correct: Were you sleeping during your history classes?