| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| "Why die for [this city]?" asked "Neo-socialist" and Vichy collaborationist Marcel Déat [[deh-AHT]] in an article agreeing with the Munich Agreement. The government led by Ignacy Mościcki [[eeg-NAH-see mohss-CHEET-skee]] rebuffed an attempt by the Nazi government to regain control of this city and the surrounding region in the leadup to World War Two. The League of Nations created a "Free City" in, for ten points, what port in the "Polish Corridor"? | Danzig (accept Gdansk; accept Free City of Danzig) |
| This man warned that biotechnology could threaten liberal democracy in Our Posthuman Future and published the 2014 follow-up book Political Order and Political Decay. This person stated, "What American foreign policy needs is not a return to a narrow and cynical realism, but rather the formulation of a 'realistic Wilsonianism'" in a 2006 New York Times piece. For ten points, name this Japanese-American political scientist, known for his poorly-aged 1992 work The End of History and the Last Man. | Francis Fukuyama (or Yoshihiro Francis Fukuyama) |
| This country's city of Ypres [[EEH-pruh]] was the site of a World War One battle during a "Race to the Sea," and that invasion led to this country gaining the Ruanda-Urundi colony from Germany. The Heart of Darkness was inspired by the atrocities committed when this country's king owned the largest sub-Saharan colony of Africa. Once led by Leopold II [[the Second]], for ten points, what is this country, split between the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish, and is governed Brussels? | Kingdom of Belgium (or Royaume de Belgique; or Koninkrijk Belgie; or Koenigreich Belgien) |
| Jacob Barsimson led a group of Sephardic Jews to this colony to found the Congregation Shearith Israel. The Susquehannock launched a series of raids known as the Peach Tree War following this colony's conquest of New Sweden. The 1674 Treaty of Westminster formally annexed this colony into the British domain. Charles II [[the Second]] renamed this colony for his brother, the Duke of York. Peter Minuit and Peter Stuyvesant [[STY-veh-sahnt]] served as governors of, for ten points, what Dutch colony in North America? | New Netherland (do not accept "New Netherlands") |
| Using the ship the Henry L. Marshall, Bill McCoy participated in this activity by exploiting a route between Bimini in the Bahamas to the port of Miami. George Remus became wealthy through this practice, creating a dummy pharmaceutical company and staging hijackings of his own employees to covertly sell off his wares. Joe Kennedy was accused of making his fortune in the 1920s by participating in, for ten points, what illicit practice common during the Prohibition era? | Bootlegging alcohol (accept answers which describe illegally selling or making alcohol; accept Rum-running; accept word forms) |
| This design is incorporated into the Wiphala flag, used to represent natives of the Andes. The Jewish Autonomous Oblast uses this design to represent the menorah, which was determined to comply with a 2013 propaganda law due to its white background and inclusion of light blue. Demand for flags of this design spiked after Harvey Milk's assassination, and the White House projected the colors of this design after Obergefell v. Hodges was decided. For ten points, name this design, used in the Pride Flag. | Rainbows (accept clear knowledge equivalents including Rainbows) |
| Since 1982, holders of this position have lived at Drumthwacket Mansion. One holder of this position was involved in Bridgegate and was the subject of a viral photo during Beachgate. Benjamin Franklin’s son held this position in for thirteen years and was the last colonial holder of it. Signer of the Constitution William Paterson held this office and names the third-largest city in the state in which this position is held. For ten points, what position was held by Chris Christie until 2018 and is currently held by Phil Murphy? | Governor of New Jersey (prompt on partial answers) |
| Description acceptable; Money loaned to secure this diplomatic action was used to build a capitol building in Ngerulmud [[nn-GOO-rool-mood]], and a government official from Malaita in the Solomon Islands accepted rice in protest of a decision to renege this action. Countries like Eswatini and Nauru which have taken this action have been visited heavily by Tsai Ing-wen. The UN’s cessation of this action led to the Security Council gaining a second Communist member in 1971. For ten points, name this action which recognizes a government in Taipei as legitimate. | Recognition of Taiwan as a Sovereign State (accept clear-knowledge equivalents; accept Republic of China, ROC, or Formosa in place of Taiwan) |
| This ruler was sent a code by Demartus detailing an imminent invasion which was solved by his wife by scraping wax off a tablet. This husband of Gorgo succeeded a ruler who kept one city neutral during the Ionian Revolt, Cleomenes I [[the First]]. Before his final battle, this ruler uttered "come and take them" in response to a demand for him to lay down his arms. Briefly holding a narrow path on the Malian Gulf in a battle against Xerxes I [[the First]], for ten points, who was this Spartan king who died at the Battle of Thermopylae? | Leonidas I [[the First]] |
| This many Spartans fought under Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae, as shown in the title of a 1962 Rudolph Maté film about the battle. | 300 (accept The 300 Spartans) |
| This ruler was baptised by Constantine VII [[the Seventh]], taking the name Helena. This ruler is venerated as a saint for her evangelizing, prefiguring the later Christianization of her realm under her grandson, Vladimir. This ruler threw enemy emissaries from a boat into a pit in which they were buried alive and used birds bearing sulfur to raze Iskorosten, avenging the killing of her husband, Igor, by the Drevilians. For ten points, name this Rurikid regent who ruled the Kievan Rus' for her son Sviatoslav [[sfee-AH-toh-slahf]]. | Olga of Kiev (accept St. Olga; accept Helena or Elena in place of Olga)) |
| Olga's exploits were recorded in this historical source, attributed to Nestor, which gives information on the Kievan Rus’ in medieval times. | Rus' Primary Chronicle (or Tale of Bygone Times; or Russian Primary Chronicle; prompt on "Nestor's Chronicle") |
| This city's Shah-i-Zinda mausoleum was begun under Karakhanid rule. Scholars in this city writing the Zij-i-Sultani used the Fakhri sextant, the largest of its time, to chart star positions. Gerasimov's exhumation of a ruler in this city's Gur-e-Amir mausoleum allegedly triggered a curse responsible for Operation Barbarossa. That ruler's grandson, Ulug-Beg, undertook many construction projects in this city, leading his dynasty's namesake Renaissance. For ten points, name this capital of the Timurid Empire, now in modern-day Uzbekistan. | Samarkand |
| The official language in Samarkand today is Uzbek, which belongs to this language family, common in Central Asia and Anatolia and known for features like agglutination and vowel harmony. | Turkic languages |
| The mobilization that began this war was preceded by a poor translation of a letter which used the word "Adjutant" in reference to diplomat Vincent, Count Benedetti. The region of Alsace-Lorraine was ceded to the victor of this war, while the loser was disrupted by the Paris Commune in the wake of this war's conclusion. The surrender of Napoleon III [[the Third]] following the Battle of Sedan effectively ended, for ten points, which war, preceded by the Ems Dispatch and engineered by Otto von Bismarck? | Franco-Prussian War (accept Franco-German War; accept War of 1870) |
| The independent states of Baden, Württemberg, and Hesse joined the North German Confederation in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War along with this southern German kingdom ruled by the House of Wittelsbach. | Kingdom of Bavaria |
| This performer began studying music under Arrigo Pola and sang with his father in a male voice choir called Corale Rossini. This man's final performance in an opera occurred on March 13, 2004 in a New York Metropolitan Opera production of Puccini’s Tosca. Known as the "King of the High Cs," for ten points, who was this Italian tenor who, along with José Carreras and Plácido Domingo, was a member of the Three Tenors? | Luciano Pavarotti |
| Pavarotti’s final performance of his trademark piece, Nessun dorma, occurred at the opening ceremony for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games held in what Italian city? | Turin (accept Torino) |
| This system may have been used at the Neolithic sites of Dadiwan and Bampo. A politician may have created a version of this system called "regular script" during the late second century. Variations of this system were later used for the Zhuang and Vietnamese languages, with its Japanese variant known as kanji. Korean swapped in Hangul for this system, which was first used on oracle bones and uses thousands of characters. For ten points, what system is used to represent the language of the world's most-populous country in a readable form? | Written Chinese (accept descriptive answers involving the use of Chinese writing or Chinese characters; accept hanzi, hanja, chu nom, or kanji before mentioned; do not accept or prompt on "Mandarin," but accept Written Mandarin or similar answers) |
| This hyphenated romanization of written Mandarin Chinese was developed by a 19th-century British diplomat and completed in a Chinese-English Dictionary by another British diplomat. It was superseded by Pinyin. | Wade-Giles |
| In this state, the Black farmer Robert L. Hill founded the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America. A meeting in this state's Hoop Spur was disrupted by two white sheriffs, after which Walter White was sent to investigate a "Black insurrection" in this state's Phillips County. The bloodiest incident of racial violence in U.S. history took place in this state's town of Elaine. The 101st Airborne division was sent to a city in this state, where Orval Faubus opposed the enrollment of Black students at Central High School. For ten points, name this state, home to the Little Rock Nine. | Arkansas |
| Walter White was a long-time leader of this organization, whose state president, Daisy Bates, spearheaded the Little Rock Nine campaign to integrate public schools. | National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (or NAACP) |
| Étienne Brûlé was the first to traverse a "Carrying-Place Trail" named for this city. Roger Hale Sheaffe [[SHEEF]] defended this city during an 1813 battle at which Zebulon Pike died. French traders founded Fort Rouillé [[roo-YEH]] in what is now this city, which was purchased from the Mississaugas. John Graves Simcoe established the town of York in what is now this city, and William Lyon Mackenzie was the first mayor of this city. Site of the world's tallest free-standing structure from 1975 to 2007, for ten points, what is this largest city in Canada? | Toronto (accept York before mentioned; accept Toronto Carrying-Place Trail) |
| The capital of Upper Canada was moved to York from the town of Newark, which is now named for this peninsula "on-the-Lake." This peninsula has drawn tourists due to a feature that Annie Taylor went over in a barrel. | Niagara Peninsula |
| Slaveholding border state whose pro-Union government in Frankfort asked for U.S. intervention. | Kentucky |
| Siege of a Mississippi port whose conclusion split the Confederacy in two. | Siege of Vicksburg |
| Campaign by Sherman that ended in the capture of Savannah after crossing much of Georgia. | "The March to the Sea" |
| Union admiral who said, "Damn the Torpedoes, full steam ahead" during the Battle of Mobile Bay. | David Farragut (or David Glasgow Farragut) |
| First Grand Wizard of the KKK who committed the Fort Pillow Massacre in Tennessee. | Nathan Bedford Forrest |
| Tennessee fort and site of Grant's first major victory, which resulted in the "Unconditional Surrender" of Simon Bolivar Buckner. | Fort Donelson (accept Battle of Fort Donelson) |
| Reigning king who was deposed during it. | James II [[the Second]] of England (or James VII [[the Seventh]] of Scotland; prompt on “James”) |
| Royal House to which that deposed king belonged. | House of Stuart |
| Dutch Prince who was crowned king during it. | William of Orange (or William III [[the Third]]; prompt on “William”) |
| Wife and co-regnant of that king who took power after the Revolution. | Mary II [[the Second]] (prompt on “Mary”) |
| Act of Parliament passed after the revolution to safeguard civil liberties and exclude Catholics from the throne. | Bill of Rights |
| Battle fought at a river near Dublin at which forces of the new king defeated Jacobite opposition. | Battle of the Boyne |
| Communist dictator who "evacuated" its cities to the Killing Fields. | Pol Pot (accept Saloth Sar; accept either underlined portion in both cases) |
| Ancient capital of the Khmer Empire that shares its name with a religious structure. | Angkor (accept Yasodharapura; accept Angkor Wat) |
| River whose delta Cambodia lost to Vietnam during its Dark Ages. | Mekong River (accept Tonle Mekongk) |
| Tidal lake whose annual flooding created the nucleus of Khmer civilization. | Tonle Sap (accept Tonle Sab) |
| Thai kingdom that sacked the Khmer capital and was led by Naresuan and Narai. | Ayutthaya Kingdom |
| Prince who attempted to preserve neutrality during the Vietnam War. | Norodom Sihanouk (accept Samdech Euv; prompt on partial answers) |
| This place became a popular tourist destination after its owner said, “I have no objection to any sober or orderly person's gratifying their curiosity in viewing [its] buildings.” A navy officer named Augustine originally oversaw the building of this place, which employs the Palladian style (+) in its central building. The widow of Daniel Custis spent much of her later life at this location, which is now overseen by a namesake Ladies' Association. Spanning 500 acres of land in Fairfax County along the (*) Potomac River, for ten points, what is this Virginia estate where George Washington lived? | Mount Vernon |
| Karol Sidor headed the first iteration of this state's Hlinka Guard, a paramilitary which derived its name from the clerico-fascist leader who founded the People's Party. This nation became a client-state of the Third Reich under priest Jozef (+) Tiso, while his successor, Béla Tuka, expelled this state's Jews to nearby Poland in 1942. Declaring independence one day before the Germans occupied Bohemia and Moravia to this country's northwest, (*) for ten points, what was this state that was abolished after the Soviets invaded in 1945, led from Bratislava? | First Slovak Republic (accept Slovak State; accept Slovakia; do not accept or prompt on "Czechoslovakia") |
| At this war’s Battle of Punta Gruesa [[groo-EH-sah]], the ironclad Independencia collided with a submerged rock while trying to hit the Covadonga. At the Lackawanna Conference, the winning side in this war demanded Tarapaca province. Miguel Grau sunk the Esmerelda (+) at the Battle of Iquique [[eeh-KEE-keh]] during this war, which was partly ended by the Treaty of Ancón in 1883. The capture of Lima occurred during this war after clashes over saltpeter (*) in the Atacama Desert. For ten points, name this war in which Chile defeated Bolivia and Peru. | War of the Pacific (accept Saltpeter War before mentioned) |
| At the beginning of this event, the Hossbach Memorandum was read aloud. Due, in part to his involvement in Operation Weserübung [[veh-zehr-OOH-bung]], the author of The Myth of the Twentieth Century was found guilty of "conspiracy to commit crimes against peace" (*) during these events. Citing that he "spread the virus of anti- Semitism," propogandist and Der Stürmer publisher Julius Streicher was hanged (*) after this event. Hermann Göring died during, for ten points, which post-World War Two military tribunal targeting Nazi war criminals? | Nuremberg trials (accept International Military Tribunal or IMT) |
| The Bishop of Riez, Lancelot de Carle, wrote a poem about this figure which recounted the execution of many men, such as court musician Mark Smeaton and this woman's brother, George. It has been speculated that this French-educated royal's friendship with Gilles de la Pommeraie [[poh-meh-REH]], (+) an emissary of Francis I [[the First]], led to peaceful Franco-British relations. Thomas Cromwell likely engineered this queen's downfall, leading to her execution by (*) beheading due to invented charges of adultery and incest. For ten points, name this mistress-turned-wife of Henry VIII [[the Eighth]], the mother of Elizabeth I [[the First]]. | Anne Boleyn |
| This person developed a set of moral guidelines that people should follow called the Eight Honors and Eight Shames. This person’s relationship to other members of the Standing Committee was labeled as "nine dragons (+) taming the water." This man incorporated Confucian ideas into his "Harmonious Society" governing philosophy. This leader's government passed the Anti-Secession Law and hosted Expo 2010. (*) For ten points, name this CCP General Secretary and president of China for ten years, the predecessor of Xi [[SHEE]] Jinping. | Hu Jintao (prompt on "Jintao") |
| Pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse represented one of these nobles being seduced by the fiendish Lamia, a mythical queen of Libya who devoured handsome men. A woodcut by Albrecht Dürer depicted a man of this class riding through a gorge flanked by a (+) goat-headed devil and a figure of death on a ghostly steed. Possibly in reference to Psalm 58, art on the ledger of Medieval manuscripts depicted men of this class (*) clashing with snails. Medieval art often depicts the jousting tournaments of, for ten points, what noble class of warriors? | Knights (accept Cavalier or Chevalier; accept der Ritter; accept Knight, Death, and the Devil; prompt on "horsemen" or "cavalry") |
| At the orders of this politician, the gym and headquarters of the Roshen chocolate company were bugged to investigate former opponent Petro Poroshenko. Along with Denys Shmyhal and former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, this man was the target of a failed plot by the (+) mercenary corps known as the Wagner Group in February 2022. This politician played a position he actually won in 2019 on the 2015 television series Servant of the People, which provided the name of his (*) political party. For ten points, name this actor-turned-president of Ukraine, whose tenure experienced an invasion by Russia. | Volodymyr Zelenskyy (or Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy) |
| To avoid entering unaccompanied minors into detention centers in this nation, Operation Peter Pan was launched with assistance from the Catholic Welfare Bureau, evacuating over 15,000 youths. Barack Obama's administration undertook a short- lived (+) "Thaw" with this nation, allowing some humanitarian aid to reach this nation, which has been embargoed (*) since the early 1960s. The Bay of Pigs invasion failed to topple a regime in, for ten points, which Caribbean nation governed for decades by the Castros? | Republic of Cuba (or República de Cuba) |
| What privateer, supported by Elizabeth I [[the First]], completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth by an English captain? | Francis Drake |