Test Your Knowledge: German History Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
2 min
Test Your Knowledge: German History Quiz
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About This Quiz

You might say that this country has had its ups and downs in the past few centuries. How much do you know about German history?
In what year were the Summer Olympics held in Berlin?
1936
1932
1934
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Germany beat out Spain for the privilege of holding the event.

Charles the Great is sometimes called what?
Father of Europe
Slayer of Rome
King of the Common Man
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Circa 800, he began gathering together areas that would become France, Germany and other European countries.

By population, what was the biggest state in Germany in the 1890s?
Prussia
Bavaria
Saxony
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

By population, it was five times as large as Bavaria and dominated by the wealthy class.

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Who was the last German emperor?
Wilhelm II
Wilhelm I
Frederick III
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

At the end of World War I, the empire was no more.

What did Otto von Bismarck accomplish?
unified German states
prevented what would have been a devastating war
stopped disease from spreading throughout Germany
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He helped make the German Empire increasingly powerful until he left office in 1890.

Including civilians, about how many people died during the Thirty Years War?
8 million
12 million
60 million
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The war finally ended in 1648, but it devastated Europe's populations, including pre-modern Germany.

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What was Otto von Bismarck's nickname?
Clay Champion
Steel Devil
Iron Chancellor
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He was a clever and powerful man who dominated world politics from his home in Germany.

Modern Germany is made up of how many constituent states?
12
16
22
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The country's makeup and borders have shifted many times in a span of hundreds of years.

Where did Adolf Hitler attempt his first coup?
Munich beer hall
downtown Berlin
in the middle of parliament
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The amateurish coup failed and he was jailed; he did not repeat his mistake.

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How many states made up the German Confederation in 1815?
five
32
12
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It replaced the Holy Roman Empire but was never a very effective entity.

Which country imposed its rule over Germany in 1806?
England
Spain
France
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Napoleon's version of Germany, however, did not last long.

In what year did the unification of Germany occur?
1888
1779
1871
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was then that Wilhelm I became German emperor.

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In the 1500s, Martin Luther led reformation against which entity?
the Catholic church
the German upper class
the German military
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

His ideas and outspokenness had a profound impact on German culture.

In what year did the Holy Roman Empire give way to a more modern nation-state entity?
1648
1710
1803
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The declining influence of the Catholic church helped to make way for a more modern type of nation.

The Battle of Leipzig found Germans and their allies fighting which force?
Poland
Spain
France
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Napoleon lost the 1813 battle, an event that ultimately unraveled his reign.

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The Thirty Years War was a battle between which groups?
Germany and Russia
Catholics and Protestants
Germany and Spain
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Beginning in 1618, the Catholics failed in their attempt to bring the region back under church control.

What event caused the end of the German Empire?
World War I
Invasion by Napoleon
The Seven Weeks' War
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

At the end of the war, a republic replaced the imperial government.

What event contributed greatly to the rise of Nazism in Germany?
the Great Depression
the German Revolution
the Napoleonic Wars
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

People across the world lost faith in their leaders; in Germany, this had disastrous consequences.

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How long did the Weimar Republic last?
14 weeks
14 months
14 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was an unofficial designation for Germany following World War I.

Who built the Berlin Wall?
East Germany
West Germany
the Allies
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Communist East Germany was hemorrhaging people and resources to the more democratic West German side.

For how many years did the Berlin Wall stand?
28 years
34 years
42 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The wall was an ominous divide between East and West Germany.

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How effective was the Berlin Wall in restricting East Germans from escaping the country?
It stopped only the old and frail.
It was very effective.
It was just a powerful symbol.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Particularly in urban areas, many people were shot at and sometimes killed for attempting to scale the wall.

In what year was the so-called March Revolution?
1788
1848
1878
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Many uprisings happened all over Europe in 1848 and 1849 as the working class rejected their unlivable conditions.

What did the Potsdam Agreement accomplish in Germany?
ridded the country of Nazism
ended overly generous farm subsidies
created a highway system
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Culture was scrubbed clean of Nazi influences in the hopes of rebooting German society.

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During his rise to power, how did Hitler alter the military oath for members of the armed forces?
He substituted the word Nazi in many places.
He changed it so that soldiers were sworn to him alone.
He abolished it.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

With the forces at his disposal, he seized power throughout the country.

In what year did Germany's economy surpass Britain's?
1890
1900
1982
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Germans developed an advanced industrial economy early in the 20th century.

Following World War II, when was West Germany allowed to begin rearming itself with a military?
1950s
1960s
1970s
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Allied-controlled areas blossomed after World War II; East Germany languished under communist rule.

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Before starting World War II, which country did Hitler decide was his biggest foe?
United States
England
Russia
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He figured that the English would be hard to subdue, and he was right.

As of 2015, what is Germany's population?
110 million
80 million
60 million
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

And it has the biggest economy in Europe.

Which country did the Nazis invade to begin WWII?
Austria
Poland
Switzerland
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hitler's aggression triggered events that reverberate throughout the world even today.

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