Important Historical Events

The fall of the Bastille is considered a symbolic beginning of the French Revolution. For exams connect it with 1789.

The League of Nations was formed after World War I. For exams remember it as an early international effort for world peace.

NATO was created for collective security. For exams connect it with a military alliance of the Cold War period.

The European Union is linked with cooperation among European countries. For exams connect it with economic and political cooperation.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is linked with the United Nations. For exams remember it as a global document of human rights.

The end of apartheid was linked with democratic change in South Africa. For exams connect it with Nelson Mandela and equal rights.

Pyramids are famous achievements of ancient Egyptian civilization. For exams connect them with pharaohs and the Nile River.

The Wright brothers contributed greatly to aviation through the first controlled airplane flight. For exams connect it with the development of modern transport.

The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. For exams connect it with world trade routes.

The Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. For exams connect it with the end of the Cold War.

The French Revolution took place in France. For exams remember it with liberty equality and fraternity.

The Industrial Revolution first began in Britain. For exams connect it with machines and factories.

The First World War began in 1914 and continued until 1918. In the usual historical sequence, the immediate trigger was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary at Sarajevo in June 1914, after which a chain of declarations and alliances expanded the conflict. Thus option C, 1914, is correct. The year 1911 was before the war, while 1913 was also a pre-war year. The year 1918 is a plausible distractor because it marks the end of the war, when the Armistice was signed on 11 November. Remembering the pair 1914–1918 prevents confusion between its beginning and conclusion.

The Second World War ended in 1945. For exams connect it with the founding of the United Nations.

The United Nations was founded in 1945. For exams connect it with the post World War II peace system.

The American Declaration of Independence was made in 1776. For exams connect it with the birth of the USA.

The Russian Revolution took place in 1917. For exams connect it with Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, after which Britain and France declared war on Germany. The Treaty of Versailles was a background cause, not the immediate trigger. Exam tip: link 1939 with the beginning of World War II.

The Renaissance is considered to have begun in Italy. For exams connect it with art science and humanism.

Martin Luther's reform movement was related to Christianity. For exams remember it as the Protestant Reformation.