Skip to main content

Exploring the British Empire: A Historical Quiz

Test your knowledge of the British Empire with this engaging quiz that covers key events, territories, and historical figures.

#British Empire #History #Colonialism #Quiz #Education

1 [72] The destruction of the Russian Navy at the ________ during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 also limited its threat to the British.

2 The Indian Rebellion that year eventually led to the end of the East India Company and India came to be ruled directly by the ________.

3 The UK retains sovereignty over 14 territories outside the British Isles,[176] which were renamed the ________ in 2002.

4 The ________ was a financial disaster for Scotland—a quarter of Scottish capital[31] was lost in the enterprise—and ended Scottish hopes of establishing its own overseas empire.

5 Fourteen territories remain under British sovereignty, the ________.

6 The signing of the ________ had important consequences for the future of the British Empire.

7 [150] Britain maintained a presence in the Middle East for another decade, withdrawing from ________ in 1967, and Bahrain in 1971.

8 This began with the passing of the Act of Union in 1840, which created the ________.

9 In 1620, Plymouth was founded as a haven for ________ religious separatists, later known as the Pilgrims.

10 Increasing degrees of autonomy were granted to its white ________, some of which were reclassified as dominions.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • the British colonial Administrator Sir Robert Codrington was influential in establishing British colonial government in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland and making them different in character from white-settler-led Southern Rhodesia.
  • the British Indian passport was seen as a symbol of colonialism and was only valid for travel in the British Empire and seven other countries.
  • the non-ferrous smelter built for the Phoenix Mine in 1900 by the Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company was the largest in the British Empire.
  • the Canadian constitutional crisis known as the King-Byng Affair led to the Statute of Westminster 1931, which affected all the Dominions in the British Empire.
  • in 1787, British merchant ship Imperial Eagle, commanded by Charles William Barkley, brought fur from the Americas to sell in China without legally required licences, while sailing under the Austrian flag.
  • the Habeas Corpus Act 1862 was passed to prevent Britain's courts from issuing writs of habeas corpus in British colonies and dominions.
  • the Latrobe Gate was one of the few structures at the Washington Navy Yard not destroyed when British forces burned the city.
  • the first shot fired by British Empire forces in World War I was targeted at the German ship Pfalz which was departing Melbourne, Australia as Britain declared war on Germany.
  • the first military decoration to use a medal bar was the British Sutlej Medal.
  • the Singapore Stone (fragment pictured), a sandstone slab bearing an undeciphered 13th century inscription, was blown up by the British in 1843 to make way for a fort.
  • the Panjdeh Incident in 1886 almost led to full-scale war between the British Empire and Imperial Russia.
  • from 1946 to 1991, Ordnance Survey International provided a central survey and mapping organisation for British colonies and protectorates.
  • at the 1815 Kandyan Convention which handed over Ceylon to Britain, Wariyapola Sri Sumangala took down the Union Jack and raised the flag of the Sinhalese kings.
  • Kadambini Ganguly (pictured) was one of the first female graduates in the British Empire and the first female conventional doctor in South Asia.
  • Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu, India was called the "Troy of the East" by the British for its inaccessibility and is one of the few forts still surviving in the state.
  • Ethel Benjamin was the first woman in the British Empire to present a legal case in court.
  • V.D. Savarkar wrote The Indian War of Independence, a nationalist history of the 1857 uprising, in response to British celebrations of the 50th anniversary of its suppression.
  • Kondavid Fort (pictured), built in the 14th century by the Reddy dynasty, was the theatre of several wars among many rulers of North India, South India, and the British.
  • Zambian laws concerning homosexuality have largely remained unchanged since the country gained independence from the British Empire in 1964.
  • as of 2008, there is no treaty covering the border between Botswana and Namibia, which remains as defined in a treaty signed between the British and German Empires in 1890.
  • an elaborate network of coastal batteries was built by British colonial authorities to protect Hobart Town, but it was never used to defend the Tasmanian port from attacks by enemy warships.
  • Sergeants Jose and Francisco Diaz were two brothers in the Puerto Rican Militia who helped defeat Sir Ralph Abercromby and defend Puerto Rico from a British invasion in 1797.
  • 22 Australians have been decorated with the George Cross, the highest civil decoration for heroism in the British Empire.
  • "Majulah Singapura", the national anthem of Singapore, was originally a theme song for events held by Singapore's City Council during colonial times.
    • Previous Quiz Next Quiz

    Related Quizzes

    Key Events and Figures of the 13th Century: A Quiz

    #13th century #history #Mongol Empire #Crusades #European culture #Franciscan order #Cambridge #Boyana Church

    Discovering the 14th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #14th Century #History #Renaissance #Ming Dynasty #Hundred Years' War #Petrarch #Military History

    Exploring the 16th Century: Events, Figures, and Discoveries

    #history #16th century #exploration #Renaissance #Conquistadores #art #politics #religion

    Exploring the 17th Century: Key Events and Figures

    #17th century #history #empires #Mughal Empire #Ottoman Empire #Persian Empire #Taiwan #Hudson's Bay Company #Kara Mustafa #French history

    Exploring the 18th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #18th century #history #quiz #education #literature #philosophy #politics

    Significant Events of 1904

    #1904 #history #events #quiz #education

    Significant Events and Figures of 1906

    #1906 #history #chess #astronomy #civil rights #swimming #biochemistry

    Significant Events and Figures of 1911

    #1911 #history #events #figures #Nobel Prize #aviation #fire incidents #education #composers