Greetings,
The 2nd runner-up in my poll for quizzes was a Russian History quiz, so here goes:
1. Three modern countries can all claim to be equally derived from the early kingdom of Rus, although one of the three pretends it is the sole hier. What are the three countries?
2. Why was Rus founded, and by whom?
3. Where does the name "Rus" come from? (If you answered #2 right then this one is easy.)
4. At the end of the 10th century, Prince Vladimir expanded Rus territory and brought Christianity (eventually) to his lands through his increasingly cosmopolitan capital, Ki'iv (Kiev). Vladimir was the first Slavified Rus ruler; what does his name mean?
5. The Mongols subjugated the Rus lands from 1239-1280, but the Mongol empire itself had fractured by the completion of this conquest. What is the name of the Mongol-derived state that would dominate the Rus lands until the 16th century?
6. True or false: The Mongol onslaught had destroyed the Rus kingdom's unity, breaking it into several smaller states?
7. In the decades after the Mongol conquest, a state to the west of old Rus began to conquer many of the western Rus lands, holding off the Mongols, as far as the cities of Smolensk, Vitebsk, Minsk and even eventually Kiev itself. This new empire had so many Rus Slavs in its realm that it made their language the empire's official language of business. What empire am I talking about?
8. The same empire in question #7 above conquered the vast and virtually uninhabited southern Rus plains, although (as with every empire who would follow) they never completely controlled them. They called them simply "The End-Lands" or "The Frontier Lands" and the name stuck, to be used by all succeeding rulers of the plains. What has become of the "Frontier Lands" today?
9. What does the Turkish word kazaki refer to?
10. John was born in 1530 to a wealthy family in the state of Muscovy, and by all accounts was an effeminate boy who liked church singing and studying. He would later take a significant vocational "180 degree-turn" and earn himself the Russian nickname "Grozny". How is John better known today?
11. What was the Oprichnina?
12. Modern Russians call the period of 1598-1613 the "Time of Troubles", as a time of civil war, political strife, famine, false Tsars, etc. However, from among the treacherous and warring boyars one arose who suppressed the rebellions, drove the Poles out, and re-united Muscovy for the first time since the early 13th century. Who was this person?
13. In Peter I's time, the city of Moskva (Moscow) had an important section named "Njemjetsky Kvartal". What was this section?
14. Poles, Swedes, French and Germans, Oh My! What do they all have in common vis-a-vis Russia?
15. True or false: The Dane Vitus Bering was commissioned by Peter I in 1719 to establish a western-style factory for making little steel balls that help a wheel turn under pressure in Moscow. Bering was famous for his "ball berings".
16. On 12. April, 1945, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt died and Adolf Hitler celebrated. Explain what this has to do with Russian history.
17. Catherine the Great (*cough, cough* - sorry...) considered herself very "Enlightened", and kept a famous pen-pal. Who was that pen-pal?
18. The Russian calendar underwent two radical changes in 1918-1920; What were they?
19. Russians love playing "musical names". Who were these people famous in Russian history?
A. Vladimir I. Uljanov
B. Lev D. Bronstein
C. Iosif V. Dzjugashvili
20. What diplomatic distinction does the Soviet Union have in World War II? Hint: This distinction had a major impact on the 1945 settlements.
21. What major demographic record did Russians break in 1991, taking over from the Hungarians who had held the record since 1920?
Good luck folks! :crazyeyes
(BTW, my wife, who just looked over my shoulder, liked the smiley faces and demanded I put them in...)
The 2nd runner-up in my poll for quizzes was a Russian History quiz, so here goes:
1. Three modern countries can all claim to be equally derived from the early kingdom of Rus, although one of the three pretends it is the sole hier. What are the three countries?
2. Why was Rus founded, and by whom?
3. Where does the name "Rus" come from? (If you answered #2 right then this one is easy.)
4. At the end of the 10th century, Prince Vladimir expanded Rus territory and brought Christianity (eventually) to his lands through his increasingly cosmopolitan capital, Ki'iv (Kiev). Vladimir was the first Slavified Rus ruler; what does his name mean?
5. The Mongols subjugated the Rus lands from 1239-1280, but the Mongol empire itself had fractured by the completion of this conquest. What is the name of the Mongol-derived state that would dominate the Rus lands until the 16th century?
6. True or false: The Mongol onslaught had destroyed the Rus kingdom's unity, breaking it into several smaller states?
7. In the decades after the Mongol conquest, a state to the west of old Rus began to conquer many of the western Rus lands, holding off the Mongols, as far as the cities of Smolensk, Vitebsk, Minsk and even eventually Kiev itself. This new empire had so many Rus Slavs in its realm that it made their language the empire's official language of business. What empire am I talking about?
8. The same empire in question #7 above conquered the vast and virtually uninhabited southern Rus plains, although (as with every empire who would follow) they never completely controlled them. They called them simply "The End-Lands" or "The Frontier Lands" and the name stuck, to be used by all succeeding rulers of the plains. What has become of the "Frontier Lands" today?
9. What does the Turkish word kazaki refer to?
10. John was born in 1530 to a wealthy family in the state of Muscovy, and by all accounts was an effeminate boy who liked church singing and studying. He would later take a significant vocational "180 degree-turn" and earn himself the Russian nickname "Grozny". How is John better known today?
11. What was the Oprichnina?
12. Modern Russians call the period of 1598-1613 the "Time of Troubles", as a time of civil war, political strife, famine, false Tsars, etc. However, from among the treacherous and warring boyars one arose who suppressed the rebellions, drove the Poles out, and re-united Muscovy for the first time since the early 13th century. Who was this person?
13. In Peter I's time, the city of Moskva (Moscow) had an important section named "Njemjetsky Kvartal". What was this section?
14. Poles, Swedes, French and Germans, Oh My! What do they all have in common vis-a-vis Russia?
15. True or false: The Dane Vitus Bering was commissioned by Peter I in 1719 to establish a western-style factory for making little steel balls that help a wheel turn under pressure in Moscow. Bering was famous for his "ball berings".
16. On 12. April, 1945, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt died and Adolf Hitler celebrated. Explain what this has to do with Russian history.
17. Catherine the Great (*cough, cough* - sorry...) considered herself very "Enlightened", and kept a famous pen-pal. Who was that pen-pal?
18. The Russian calendar underwent two radical changes in 1918-1920; What were they?
19. Russians love playing "musical names". Who were these people famous in Russian history?
A. Vladimir I. Uljanov
B. Lev D. Bronstein
C. Iosif V. Dzjugashvili
20. What diplomatic distinction does the Soviet Union have in World War II? Hint: This distinction had a major impact on the 1945 settlements.
21. What major demographic record did Russians break in 1991, taking over from the Hungarians who had held the record since 1920?
Good luck folks! :crazyeyes
(BTW, my wife, who just looked over my shoulder, liked the smiley faces and demanded I put them in...)
). 
So for the remaining questions .... 
