Quiz: War and peace

On June 18, 1815, the battle of Waterloo finally decided the fate of Napoleon and, indeed, all of Europe. This is a quiz on famous battles, 201 years later

War and peace 1 Which major French literary work includes a complete account of the Battle of Waterloo, with the villainous character Thenardier preying on corpses in the battlefield?

2 The acclaimed series Band Of Brothers followed the exploits of a unit through World War II and battles like the Normandy Landings, Arnhem and the Siege of Bastogne. But the phrase ‘Band of Brothers’ is from a famous work of fiction describing which battle?

3 According to legend, which famous chicken dish — normally chicken stewed in a tomato sauce with garlic and mushrooms — was invented by Napoleon’s cook Dunand to celebrate a famous victory over the Austrians in 1800?

4 Aristodemus and Pantites were the only known survivors of an army which was destroyed in a famous battle. The battle and the army?

5 The Battle of Hydaspes saw Alexander’s Greek army win a hard-fought encounter against King Porus. In gratitude, Alexander founded two cities on each side of the Hydaspes (Jhelum) river. One was named Nicaea, after Nike — the Greek goddess of victory. What was the other named?

6 In which Indian city would you see the inscription ‘When You go home, tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today’ at the scene of a famous battle?

7 Which is probably the only battle that gained its name prior to being fought, first being mentioned in a famous speech in June 1940?

8 The Indian Navy celebrates Navy Day on December 4 to mark Operation Trident, an attack on which specific enemy location?

9 Which two rulers fought the battle of Kannauj in May 1540, and which 15-year empire did it herald?

10 The largest cavalry charge in recorded history was on September 12, 1683; an inspiration for Tolkien’s siege of Gondor. More than 20,000 horsemen lined up to break the siege of an invading Ottoman army, and completely routed the enemy. Which city was under siege?

Answers

1.Les Miserables , by Victor Hugo

2. Shakespeare’s Henry V , before the Battle of Agincourt. ‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.’

3. The Chicken Marengo, named after the battle of Marengo. Napoloeon liked it so much that it was prepared after every battle

4. Thermopylae. They were the only members of Leonidas’s 300 who survived. Aristodemus was blind and was sent home. Pantites could not return in time for the battle and hanged himself in remorse

5. Bucephala, after his beloved horse which died soon after the battle

6. The War Cemetery in Kohima, where the Allied forces notched up one of their most famous victories

7. The Battle of Britain, between the Luftwaffe and the RAF. Churchill famously said, ‘The Battle of France is over, the Battle of Britain is about to begin’

8. Karachi, 1971. It was the second time in naval history that an enemy ship was sunk by an anti-ship missile

9. Sher Shah Suri comprehensively defeated Humayun and his brothers and founded the Suri dynasty, which collapsed just 10 years after his death in 1545.

10. Vienna; this heralded the start of the Hapsburg Empire

_{Joy Bhattacharjyais a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup}

_{Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj}