Can you beat them?
The British Empire Quiz
Ten questions on how Britain built the largest empire in history and how it came apart, from the East India Company's victory at Plassey to the Suez Crisis.
- 10 questions
- About 3 minutes
- Medium
- Includes a map and a photo
About this quiz
The quiz follows the British Empire from a trading company in Asia to its peak after the First World War and its retreat after 1945. It covers the battle that won Bengal, the end of slavery in the colonies, the wars with China, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Boer War, Gandhi's campaigns, the fall of Singapore and Suez.
It opens with three easier questions. Most of the rest ask why something happened rather than when, and several answers cut against the flattering version of the story.
Read up first
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Encyclopedia
Mahatma Gandhi
The lawyer-turned-ascetic who led India out of the British Empire and made nonviolent civil disobedience a weapon that outlived him worldwide.
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Encyclopedia
Royal Navy
The fleet that turned a rainy island into the center of the world, holding command of the sea for a century and underwriting the largest empire in history.
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Encyclopedia
Suez Crisis
The 1956 debacle in which Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt, then were forced to retreat, exposing the end of European empire.
