Arrange the following in chronological order from the earliest to recent:
I. British East India Company formed
II. Magellan circumnavigated the globe
III. Dutch East India Company formed
IV. Vasco da Gama reached Calicut/Kozhikode
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
NDA General Studies · History · 44 questions · 2017 to 2026
NDA World history previous year questions with solutions
World history is about one General Studies question in thirty; the Industrial Revolution carries nearly two in five, lately as statements lifted from NCERT's Themes in World History. The Renaissance, the voyages and twentieth-century chronology are rising; the American Revolution has faded. Every question UPSC has set on it since 2017, solved. Grouped by the method each needs, newest first; open a question for its answer and worked solution.
25.1 The Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution and the voyages of discovery (6)25.2 The Industrial Revolution in Britain and its spread (17)25.3 The American Revolution and the American republic (6)25.4 The Enlightenment, the French Revolution and Napoleon (6)25.5 Socialism and the Russian Revolution (4)25.6 The world wars, the Cold War and the twentieth-century world (5)
25.1 The Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution and the voyages of discovery
1. NDA 2026 (I)
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) IV, II, I, III
Method. Chronology of Age of Discovery
Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498, Magellan's expedition circumnavigated the globe in 1519-22, the British East India Company was formed in 1600, and the Dutch East India Company in 1602. The order IV, II, I, III is option b.
Option codes were reported garbled in OCR; as transcribed the sequence IV, II, I, III appears once, as option b.
2. NDA 2024 (I)
Which of the following statements with regard to the famous ‘silk routes’ are correct?
1. Silk routes refer to East-bound European silk cargoes along these routes.
2. There were several silk routes, over land and by sea, joining together vast regions of Asia with Europe and northern Africa.
3. They are known to have existed since before the Christian Era and thrived almost till the fifteenth century.
4. Besides silk, Chinese pottery, textiles and spices from India and South-east Asia travelled the same route.
Select the answer using the code given below:
1. Silk routes refer to East-bound European silk cargoes along these routes.
2. There were several silk routes, over land and by sea, joining together vast regions of Asia with Europe and northern Africa.
3. They are known to have existed since before the Christian Era and thrived almost till the fifteenth century.
4. Besides silk, Chinese pottery, textiles and spices from India and South-east Asia travelled the same route.
Select the answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) 2, 3 and 4
Method. Silk routes
Statement 1 is wrong: the silk routes carried Chinese silk west, not European silk east. Statements 2, 3 and 4 are correct: many land and sea routes linked Asia with Europe and North Africa, they existed from before the Christian Era to about the fifteenth century, and Chinese pottery, textiles and Indian and South-East Asian spices travelled along them.
3. NDA 2023 (I)
Which one of the following astronomers proved that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun?
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Copernicus
Method. Heliocentric theory
The Polish astronomer Copernicus put forward the heliocentric theory that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. Kepler later gave the laws of planetary motion, Galileo gave telescopic evidence, and Newton explained it by gravitation.
'Proved' could be read as Galileo's observational support or Kepler's laws; the stem's wording follows the Copernican claim that Earth and planets revolve around the Sun, so Copernicus is kept.
4. NDA 2023 (I)
Which Renaissance artist painted ‘The Last Supper’?
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) Leonardo da Vinci
Method. Renaissance art
Leonardo da Vinci painted 'The Last Supper' in Milan (1490s). Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, Donatello was a sculptor, and Botticelli painted 'The Birth of Venus'.
5. NDA 2023 (I)
Which one of the following European explorer conquered Mexico?
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) Hernan Cortés
Method. Spanish conquest of Mexico
Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec empire of Mexico (1519-21). Da Gama reached India, Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and Magellan led the first circumnavigation.
6. NDA 2018 (I)
Which one of the following statements about Renaissance Humanist culture is NOT true?
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) It criticized material wealth, power and glory
Method. Renaissance humanism and wealth
Humanist culture slackened the Church's hold over life, saw human nature as many-sided, and cared about good manners and civility. It did not condemn material wealth, power and glory; humanists regarded them as legitimate and even desirable. So (d) is the statement that is NOT true. Reference: NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History, ch. 7 (Changing Cultural Traditions).
25.2 The Industrial Revolution in Britain and its spread
7. NDA 2026 (II)
Which of the following statements are correct regarding the demands of the protest movement known as Luddism (1811 – 17)?
I. A minimum wage for workers.
II. The right to form trade unions so that they could legally present their demands.
III. The use of machinery for efficient labour-saving production.
Select the answer using the code given below:
I. A minimum wage for workers.
II. The right to form trade unions so that they could legally present their demands.
III. The use of machinery for efficient labour-saving production.
Select the answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) I and II only
Method. Luddite demands
The Luddites (1811-17) demanded a minimum wage and the right to form trade unions to present their demands legally. They opposed machinery that displaced labour, so III is wrong. Reference: NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History, ch. 9.
8. NDA 2026 (II)
Consider the following statements regarding the Industrial Revolution in Britain:
I. At the beginning of industrialization, coal and iron ore were plentifully available in Britain.
II. The blast furnace came into use at the beginning of the 18th century.
III. Britain was lucky in possessing excellent coking coal and high-grade iron ore in the same basins.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
I. At the beginning of industrialization, coal and iron ore were plentifully available in Britain.
II. The blast furnace came into use at the beginning of the 18th century.
III. Britain was lucky in possessing excellent coking coal and high-grade iron ore in the same basins.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) I, II and III
Method. Coal and iron in British industrialisation
Coal and iron ore were plentiful in Britain, the coke-fired blast furnace came into use at the beginning of the eighteenth century (Abraham Darby, 1709), and good coking coal and high-grade iron ore lay in the same basins. All three statements follow NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History, ch. 9.
Statement II rests on the NCERT phrasing (blast furnace at the start of the eighteenth century); kept as correct.
9. NDA 2026 (I)
Consider the following pairs:
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
| (blank) | Inventions | Inventors |
|---|---|---|
| I. | Flying shuttle loom | John Kay |
| II. | Water frame | James Hargreaves |
| III. | Spinning jenny | Richard Arkwright |
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) One
Method. Textile inventors matching
Flying shuttle loom − John Kay is correct. Water frame was Richard Arkwright's, not Hargreaves's. Spinning jenny was James Hargreaves's, not Arkwright's. Exactly one pair is correct.
10. NDA 2026 (I)
Consider the following statements regarding the Industrial Revolution in Britain:
I. There was availability of banks which could loan money to set up industries.
II. There was a good transport network.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
I. There was availability of banks which could loan money to set up industries.
II. There was a good transport network.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Both I and II
Method. Causes of British industrialisation
Britain had banks willing to lend capital to industrial ventures, and a good transport network of navigable rivers, canals and roads. Both statements are correct. Reference: NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History, ch. 9.
11. NDA 2025 (I)
Which of the following main industry / industries was/were developed in the second industrial revolution that took place after about 1850?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Chemical and electrical
Method. Second industrial revolution
After about 1850 the new industries were chemicals and electrical engineering (with steel). Coal, iron, cotton and steam engines belong to the first industrial revolution.
12. NDA 2024 (II)
Which one of the following statements about the Industrial Revolution is correct?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) James Watt’s invention converted the steam engine from being a mere pump into one which would provide energy to power machines in factories
Method. Steam engine in the Industrial Revolution
James Watt's separate-condenser engine, with the later rotary motion, turned the steam engine from a pump into a source of power for factory machines. Savery and Newcomen built steam pumps; the astrolabe, dyes and gold refining are unrelated to them or to Boulton.
13. NDA 2024 (I)
Social theorists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries emphasised the emergence of industrialisation, urbanisation, secularisation and bureaucratisation as hallmarks of:
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Modernity
Method. Modernity
Industrialisation, urbanisation, secularisation and bureaucratisation are the hallmarks of modernity as described by classical social theorists such as Marx, Weber and Durkheim. Feudalism, kingship and medievalism belong to the earlier order.
14. NDA 2023 (II)
Which of the following statements about the technological innovations during the Industrial Revolutions are correct?
1. Mule was the nickname for a machine invented in 1779, that allowed the spinning of strong and fine yarn.
2. Water Frame, invented in 1769 by Richard Arkwright, made it possible to weave pure cotton clothes.
3. Power loom, invented by Edmund Cartwright in 1787, could be used to weave any kind of materials.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
1. Mule was the nickname for a machine invented in 1779, that allowed the spinning of strong and fine yarn.
2. Water Frame, invented in 1769 by Richard Arkwright, made it possible to weave pure cotton clothes.
3. Power loom, invented by Edmund Cartwright in 1787, could be used to weave any kind of materials.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) 1, 2 and 3
Method. Textile inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Crompton's mule (1779), a cross of the jenny and water frame, spun strong, fine yarn. Arkwright's water frame (1769) produced thread strong enough for pure cotton cloth. Cartwright's power loom (1787) was developed for weaving cloth of any kind. All three statements follow NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History, ch. 9.
Statement 3 ('any kind of materials') rests on the NCERT phrasing; kept as correct.
15. NDA 2022 (II)
Who among the following invented the flying shuttle?
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) John Kay
Method. Textile inventors
John Kay invented the flying shuttle (1733). Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny, Arkwright the water frame, and Davy the miner's safety lamp.
16. NDA 2022 (I)
The term ‘Industrial Revolution’ was first used by
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) J. A. Blanqui
Method. Origin of the term 'Industrial Revolution'
The French economist Jerome-Adolphe Blanqui used 'la revolution industrielle' in the late 1830s, the earliest use of the term among the options. Toynbee popularised it in English in the 1880s, but the stem asks who first used it, not who first used it in English.
The answer depends on reading 'first used' as the earliest use; if the paper's source credits Toynbee as the first user the key would be c.
17. NDA 2021 (II)
During the Industrial Revolution, who among the following designed the ‘flying shuttle loom’?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) John Kay
Method. Textile inventors
John Kay invented the flying shuttle in 1733. Crompton made the mule, Cartwright the power loom and Arkwright the water frame.
18. NDA 2020 (I)
In which of the following years were passenger trains introduced in England?
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) 1825
Method. Early railways in England
The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened on 27 September 1825, the first public steam railway, and carried passengers as well as goods. 1823 is the year of the amending Act that allowed the line to use steam locomotives (the railway's original Act was 1821), and 1830 (not offered) is the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
19. NDA 2019 (II)
Which among the following was/were among the factors for England to experience the Industrial Revolution first?
1. The scientific inventions had paved the way for Industrial Revolution.
2. It had favourable social and political structures in place.
3. Navigable rivers had made inland transport easier.
4. It had seen the ascendancy of capitalist practices.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
1. The scientific inventions had paved the way for Industrial Revolution.
2. It had favourable social and political structures in place.
3. Navigable rivers had made inland transport easier.
4. It had seen the ascendancy of capitalist practices.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Method. Why Britain industrialised first
Standard causes of Britain's lead: the preceding scientific and technical advance, favourable political stability and social structure after 1688, navigable rivers and canals making inland transport easy, and the rise of capitalist practices (banks, trade, capital from colonies). All four are accepted factors. Reference: NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History, ch. 9.
20. NDA 2019 (I)
Which of the following statements about The New Model Unions is/are correct?
1. The New Model Unions were formed in the 1850s
2. The New Model Unions were formed in the 1880s
3. The New Model Unions comprised a Labour Party idea
4. The New Model Unions excluded women in the 1920s
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
1. The New Model Unions were formed in the 1850s
2. The New Model Unions were formed in the 1880s
3. The New Model Unions comprised a Labour Party idea
4. The New Model Unions excluded women in the 1920s
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) 1
Method. New Model Unions of Britain
New Model Unions were unions of skilled craftsmen formed from the 1850s (the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, 1851, is the model). So statement 1 holds. The 1880s was the 'New Unionism' of unskilled workers, so 2 is wrong. They were not a Labour Party idea (the Labour Party came about 1900), and the 1920s claim in 4 has no basis. Only 1 is correct.
21. NDA 2018 (I)
Who among the following first used the term ‘Industrial Revolution’ in English to describe the changes that occurred in British industrial development between 1760 and 1820?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Arnold Toynbee
Method. Origin of the term 'Industrial Revolution' in English
Arnold Toynbee used the term in English (lectures of 1884) for British industrial change between 1760 and 1820. Michelet (French) and Engels (German) used the idea earlier but not in English; Marx is not credited with the term. Standard reference: NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History, ch. 9.
22. NDA 2018 (I)
Who among the following built a model steam engine in 1698 called “Miner’s Friend” to drain mines?
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Thomas Savery
Method. Early steam engines
Thomas Savery patented his steam pump in 1698 and called it 'The Miner's Friend' because it drained water from mines. Newcomen's atmospheric engine came in 1712 and Watt's improved engine in the 1760s-70s. Arkwright was a textile inventor.
23. NDA 2017 (II)
Who among the following used the term Industrial Revolution for the first time in English to describe the changes that occurred in the British industrial development between 1760 and 1820?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Arnold Toynbee
Method. Origin of the term 'Industrial Revolution' in English
The phrase was used earlier by French writers (Blanqui, Michelet) and by Engels in German, but it was Arnold Toynbee whose lectures (published 1884) first used and popularised it in English for the changes in British industry from about 1760 to 1820. Standard reference: NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History, ch. 9 (The Industrial Revolution). Engels and Michelet wrote in other languages.
25.3 The American Revolution and the American republic
24. NDA 2022 (I)
Which of the following is/are the right/ rights mentioned in the ‘American Declaration of Independence’?
1. Life
2. Liberty
3. Pursuit of Happiness
4. Fraternity
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
1. Life
2. Liberty
3. Pursuit of Happiness
4. Fraternity
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) 1, 2 and 3
Method. American Declaration of Independence
The Declaration speaks of the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Fraternity belongs to the French revolutionary triad 'liberty, equality, fraternity'.
25. NDA 2022 (I)
Who among the following American Presidents described democracy as “Government of the People, for the People and by the People”?
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Abraham Lincoln
Method. Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln, in the Gettysburg Address (1863), spoke of government of the people, by the people, for the people.
26. NDA 2021 (I)
At which of the following was the American Declaration of Independence adopted on 4 July, 1776?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Second Continental Congress
Method. American Declaration of Independence
The Second Continental Congress, meeting at Philadelphia, adopted the Declaration on 4 July 1776. The First Continental Congress was held in 1774. Washington and San Francisco conferences belong to the twentieth century.
27. NDA 2019 (II)
Which of the following was/were among the decisions taken by the First Continental Congress held in Philadelphia in September 1774?
1. It rejected a plan for a colonial union under the British authority.
2. It drew up a statement of grievances.
3. It agreed upon a scheme to stop trade between the Colonies and England.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
1. It rejected a plan for a colonial union under the British authority.
2. It drew up a statement of grievances.
3. It agreed upon a scheme to stop trade between the Colonies and England.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Method. First Continental Congress, 1774
The Congress at Philadelphia (September 1774) rejected Galloway's plan of colonial union under British authority, drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances, and agreed the Continental Association, a boycott of trade with Britain. All three are correct.
28. NDA 2019 (II)
Consider the following statements concerning the American War of Independence:
1. The Americans raised the slogan, ‘No taxation without representation’.
2. The American merchants resorted to the boycott of the British products.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
1. The Americans raised the slogan, ‘No taxation without representation’.
2. The American merchants resorted to the boycott of the British products.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Method. American War of Independence
'No taxation without representation' was the colonists' slogan against the Stamp Act and later taxes, and American merchants boycotted British goods through non-importation agreements. Both statements are correct.
29. NDA 2018 (II)
When did the Stamp Act Congress consisting of delegates from 9 of the 13 colonies of America meet in New York City?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) 1765
Method. Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act (1765) provoked delegates from nine colonies to meet in New York City in October 1765 as the Stamp Act Congress, which declared 'no taxation without representation' and petitioned Parliament. The Act was repealed in 1766.
25.4 The Enlightenment, the French Revolution and Napoleon
30. NDA 2023 (II)
The ‘Reign of Terror’ in revolutionary France referred to
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Trial and beheading persons considered enemies of the republic by the revolutionary tribunal
Method. Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (1793-94) under Robespierre was a period when those considered enemies of the republic were tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal and guillotined. Reference: NCERT Class 9, India and the Contemporary World I, ch. 1.
31. NDA 2021 (II)
Who among the following wrote the famous text ‘A Discourse on Political Economy’?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Rousseau
Method. Enlightenment writers
Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote 'A Discourse on Political Economy' (1755), for Diderot's Encyclopedie, before The Social Contract (1762). Adam Smith's work was The Wealth of Nations.
32. NDA 2019 (II)
Which among the following statements is not correct about the Reign of Terror?
Answer and solution
No correct option. This question is defective as printed in UPSC's paper.
Method. Reign of Terror (1793-94)
(a) is true: the Jacobins, helped by the sans-culottes, drove out the Girondins in June 1793. (d) is true: Robespierre was guillotined on 28 July 1794 and the Terror ended. (b) is false: the Jacobins were hostile to the clergy and promoted de-Christianisation. (c) is also false: the Law of Suspects (September 1793) allowed arrest of anyone suspected of counter-revolution, and most victims were ordinary people, not only the political class.
Two options are incorrect statements: (b), the Jacobins were hostile to the clergy, not in league with them; and (c), the Law of Suspects (September 1793) allowed the arrest of anyone suspected of counter-revolution, not only the political class. The question therefore has two answers to its 'not correct' stem and no single answer is printed; (b) is the more evidently false statement.
33. NDA 2019 (II)
Which country among the following was not a part of the Third Coalition against Napoleon?
Answer and solution
No correct option. This question is defective as printed in UPSC's paper.
Method. Third Coalition (1805)
The Third Coalition against Napoleon comprised Britain, Russia, Austria, Sweden and Naples. Prussia stayed neutral and joined only the Fourth Coalition (1806). France was Napoleon's own state, so it was not a member either.
Two options fit the stem. The Third Coalition of 1805 comprised Britain, Russia, Austria, Sweden and Naples; Prussia (b) stayed out until the Fourth Coalition of 1806, and France (d), as Napoleon's own state, was not in any coalition against him. No single answer is printed; a reader asked about coalition membership would answer Prussia.
34. NDA 2019 (I)
The treaty of Schonbrunn (1809) was signed after which one of the following battles?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Battle of Wagram
Method. Treaty of Schonbrunn
Napoleon defeated Austria at the Battle of Wagram (July 1809), and the Treaty of Schonbrunn followed in October 1809. Austerlitz (1805) led to the Treaty of Pressburg, and the Treaty of Tilsit (1807) followed Friedland; Tilsit is a treaty, not a battle.
35. NDA 2018 (I)
Which one of the following statements about the Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) is correct?
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) She declared that the nation is the union of woman and man
Method. Olympe de Gouges' Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
Article 3 of her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen (1791) says the nation is the union of woman and man. (b) is false: she was a Girondin sympathiser who criticised the Jacobin government. (c) is false: she was arrested and tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal, not jailed by the National Assembly. (a) contradicts her Declaration, which holds that all female and male citizens are equally entitled to all honours and public employment according to their abilities (Article 6; the NCERT box prints it under article 4). Reference: NCERT Class 9, India and the Contemporary World I, ch. 1.
25.5 Socialism and the Russian Revolution
36. NDA 2026 (I)
Consider the following statements regarding the Russian Revolution:
I. The incident known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ started a series of events known as the 1905 Revolution.
II. Lawyers, doctors, engineers and other middle-class workers established the Union of Unions and demanded a Constituent Assembly.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
I. The incident known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ started a series of events known as the 1905 Revolution.
II. Lawyers, doctors, engineers and other middle-class workers established the Union of Unions and demanded a Constituent Assembly.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Both I and II
Method. 1905 Revolution in Russia
Bloody Sunday (January 1905) started the series of events known as the 1905 Revolution. In that revolution, lawyers, doctors, engineers and other middle-class workers formed the Union of Unions and demanded a constituent assembly. Both statements are correct. Reference: NCERT Class 9, India and the Contemporary World I, ch. 2.
37. NDA 2021 (I)
Who among the following was the head of the Government that was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the 1917 Revolution?
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Alexander Kerensky
Method. Russian Revolution of 1917
The Bolsheviks seized power in the October (November) Revolution of 1917 from the Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky. Prince Lvov headed the first Provisional Government but resigned in July 1917, and Nicholas II had abdicated in the February Revolution.
38. NDA 2019 (II)
Consider the following statements concerning the Russian Revolution:
1. The Bolsheviks believed that in a repressive society like Tsarist Russia, the party should be disciplined and should control the number of its members.
2. The Mensheviks believed that the party should be opened to all (as in Germany).
Which of the statement/s given above is/are correct?
1. The Bolsheviks believed that in a repressive society like Tsarist Russia, the party should be disciplined and should control the number of its members.
2. The Mensheviks believed that the party should be opened to all (as in Germany).
Which of the statement/s given above is/are correct?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Method. Bolshevik-Menshevik split
At the 1903 split of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, the Bolsheviks wanted a disciplined party controlling the number and quality of its members, suited to a repressive Tsarist state. The Mensheviks wanted a party open to all, as in Germany. Both statements are correct. Reference: NCERT Class 9, India and the Contemporary World I, ch. 2.
39. NDA 2019 (I)
Who among the following presented ‘The April Theses’ to the Russian people in 1917?
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) Lenin
Method. April Theses
Lenin returned to Petrograd in April 1917 and presented the April Theses: withdrawal from the war, transfer of land to peasants, nationalisation of banks, and all power to the soviets. Reference: NCERT Class 9, India and the Contemporary World I, ch. 2.
25.6 The world wars, the Cold War and the twentieth-century world
40. NDA 2025 (II)
Placing the earliest first, arrange the following international events in the chronological order:
1. Introduction of www (World Wide Web)
2. Advent of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles
3. Launch of first communication satellite
Select the answer using the code given below:
1. Introduction of www (World Wide Web)
2. Advent of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles
3. Launch of first communication satellite
Select the answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (d) 2 – 3 – 1
Method. Chronology of modern technology
Intercontinental ballistic missiles arrived in the late 1950s (the Soviet R-7 was first tested in 1957). The first communication satellites came shortly after, around 1958-62 (Telstar, 1962). The World Wide Web was introduced in 1989-91. The order is 2, 3, 1, option d.
41. NDA 2025 (I)
Placing the earliest first, arrange the following countries in the chronological order in which they granted universal adult franchise:
1. USA
2. Sri Lanka
3. Japan
4. India
Select the answer using the code given below:
1. USA
2. Sri Lanka
3. Japan
4. India
Select the answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) 2, 3, 4, 1
Method. Introduction of universal adult franchise
Using the NCERT table of dates: Sri Lanka 1931, Japan 1945, India 1950 (Constitution), USA 1965 (Voting Rights Act). The order 2, 3, 4, 1 is option b.
The USA date is the point: with 1965 the answer is b; if one counted the 1920 women's suffrage amendment, option a would follow.
42. NDA 2023 (II)
In which one of the following ways did the First World War Not impact Europe?
Answer and solution
Answer: (c) Popular support decreased for conservative dictatorship which had come into being recently
Method. Impact of the First World War
The war turned Europe from creditor into debtor (a), raised soldiers above civilians (b), and made national honour central in public life (d). It did not reduce support for conservative dictatorships; such regimes gained support in postwar Europe. So (c) is the way it did NOT impact Europe. Reference: NCERT Class 11, Themes in World History / Class 9, ch. 3.
43. NDA 2019 (I)
The Truman Doctrine of 1947 was announced to achieve which one of the following?
Answer and solution
Answer: (a) Containment of the USSR
Method. Truman Doctrine
In March 1947 President Truman pledged American aid to Greece and Turkey (and free peoples resisting subjugation) to check Soviet-backed communism. This was the policy of containment of the USSR, not agricultural, friendship or UN-strengthening policy.
44. NDA 2019 (I)
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. In 1948, Burma was admitted to the United Nations and immediately supported the USA in the Cold War
2. In 1948, Burma joined the United Nations but refused to denounce China as the aggressor in the Korean War
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
1. In 1948, Burma was admitted to the United Nations and immediately supported the USA in the Cold War
2. In 1948, Burma joined the United Nations but refused to denounce China as the aggressor in the Korean War
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer and solution
Answer: (b) 2 only
Method. Burma, the UN and the Korean War
Burma became independent on 4 January 1948 and was admitted to the United Nations on 19 April 1948. Under U Nu it followed a neutral foreign policy and did not align with the USA, so statement 1 is false. The Korean War began in June 1950; when the UN General Assembly voted on 1 February 1951 to name China the aggressor (resolution 498), Burma, like India, voted against. Statement 2 dates only the joining to 1948 and records the later refusal, so it is true. Option b.
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