What's defined as independence? I would argue that Canada didn't become independent until 11 December 1931. Some would even go as far as to say 29 March 1982.
The Irish Easter Rising of 1916 was only supported by a small number of people within Ireland and cannot be considered the date from which it became independent.
It would be more sensible to use the date of the founding of the Irish Free State on 6th December 1922 as this took place by formal and internationally recognised agreement.
It might even be more sensible to use 18 April 1949 as this is the date when the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 came into force, which removed the remaining constitutional role of the British monarch.
They didn't draft anyone. Ireland was exempt from conscription. That doesn't change the main point though. The Easter Rising didn't create Irish independence.
You should change Ireland to 1922. The 1916 Easter rising was a failed uprising, but an important moment in Irish history. Ireland did not gain the ability to govern itself until the passage of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 31 March 1922, fully implemented by 6 December 1922.
That's ridiculous. Anyone can declare independence for anything from anyone. In Ireland's case you could just as validly say 1798. What do you think Wolfe Tone was declaring, Groundhog Day? It only happens when it happens - either de facto or de jure. Ireland became independent in 1922, Canada in 1931.
Agree that it's somewhat ridiculous, but most of these countries celebrate the declaration more than the reality. For example, here in the U.S. everyone knows July 4th, 1776 but few remember the date of the Treaty of Paris, or Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown. What would be ridiculous is to NOT use the date that everyone knows and remembers for some sense of technical accuracy.
Of course. Why bother with "accuracy" if some people believe something different? It's going to be interesting to see how that pans out on all the other quizzes.
Independence is fairly subjective (as is the concept of countries), but the declaration of independence can certainly be a catalyst and a symbol for the independence. I'm always a fan of accuracy, but picking a date of independence is far from clear-cut. Take Cyprus - one could argue that the African nation of Cyprus has no independence because Turkey does not recognize it as such.
I was wondering about this, too. How can you be independent when officially your head of state is still the queen of England? That's like saying you're moving out of your parents house and going to live on your own but really you just move all your stuff to the room over the garage.
No it's not. It's like moving out of home, but still allowing your mother to think she's the boss of you, when in fact you can do whatever you like and there's not a damn thing she can do about it.
Right. They said I couldn't hang up my Iron Maiden posters in the garage but let's just see them try to stop me! Oh crap she's coming!! move something in front of that poster!
The "queen of Canada" (actually the queen of England) hasn't been in Canada in 9 years. She has been there 22 times, which means at least she has been nowhere near Canada for 44 of the 66 years she has been queen of England. And the times she has been there were very brief, traveling around.
She lives in London, the eternal capital of England, not London the capital of suburban prairie beyond Hamilton and Kitchener, Ontario.
foxpenguin is correct. Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State of many fully independent countries (e.g Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Jamaica, UK). This does not mean that any of these countries are in any way dependent on the UK any more than my residents' association and a golf society made up of friends and colleagues from various places over the years are dependent on each other just because I happen to be president of both.
True, Canada still uses the Royal Assent in lawmaking (unlike Australia and New Zealand, for example, which have abandoned it but retain the Queen as Head of State) but in that capacity the Queen is acting as Queen of Canada, not Queen of the UK
No QM, that doesn't reflect role of convention in UK/Canadian constitutional law. It isn't just that this Queen never withholds her assent, it's that no monarch has done so for over three hundred years. No monarch will ever do so again.
I wrote a pretty thorough explanation of why it's safe to call Canada's "independence date" 1867 in the comments of this quiz. I don't care to rewrite it all, though.
tough when most of these countries have had so many different colonies/territories. The dates help. I managed to score 93rd percentile. With another 90 seconds I probably could have gotten them all.
The 1918 Danish–Icelandic Act of Union granted Iceland independence, but maintained the two countries in a union. It was 1944 was when Iceland became a republic with no ties to the Danish monarchy.
1830: Declared independence. 1831: Installation of king Leopold I and Treaty of the Eighteen Articles, i.e. more or less recognised by the UK as an independent country (ensuring independence). 1839: Treaty of London: universal recognition of the independence of Belgium. One could make a case for all three. No need to change the quiz.
Mexico was not independent until September 27, 1821. The Cry of Dolores in 1810 was the "unofficial" beginning of the rebellion, which can still be traced back to 1809.
But that's the point QM. Moosefight is absolutely right. Just because there's a national myth about something that doesn't make it true. I love this site in part because it doesn't pander to what people think should be the truth. Time to put away childish things and change the answer here so it reflects what actually happened. If that means taking a detached and critical view of U.S. history, that can't be a bad thing at the moment.
It's hard to argue 1783 for American independence since the war was, for all intents and purposes, over after the Battle of Yorktown. Your line of logic would also imply that Haiti was not independent in 1804, but rather in 1825, because that's when France finally officially declared it an independent country. But, of course, Haiti had expunged the French from the island pretty handily by 1804. I think independence is more a process than an absolute either/or. It's not a light switch. The easiest way to mark the independence is when the actual citizens of the place have demonstrable de facto independence and the people who actually live there feel independent.
Britain and France colonized everywhere so since I didn't know much about the dates (other than like the US and India) it was quite challenging. Also, surprised that Australia isn't on this list
On the basis of the definition of independence in this quiz, please add my living room. I just declared it independent from the UK and I will seek to have it remain in the EU as a member state post Brexit. And while I am here, happy anniversary of the surrender of Fort Necessary.
The Easter Rising may well be celebrated in the Republic but I very much doubt if any history textbook printed in Ireland or elsewhere dates the country's independence from then.
Quite correct. The Easter Rising is regarded as an important event but we don't regard ourselves as independent until the Irish Free State came into being in 1922. We subsequently cut all ties with the Commonwealth on becoming a republic in 1949.
Pakistan should technically be an acceptable answer for independence from the UK on 15th August 1947 (not that Partition was a "good thing" given the terrible death toll that ensued)
Hey! IDK if anyone else mentioned this, but Ireland's independence was not won in 1916. We became a self governing dominion in 1921 and then got full independence in 1949, when we were then renamed the Republic of Ireland!
It would be more sensible to use the date of the founding of the Irish Free State on 6th December 1922 as this took place by formal and internationally recognised agreement.
It might even be more sensible to use 18 April 1949 as this is the date when the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 came into force, which removed the remaining constitutional role of the British monarch.
There is an example in Belgium where King Boudewijn was declared 'incapable to reign' for a few days after refusing to give royal assent.
She lives in London, the eternal capital of England, not London the capital of suburban prairie beyond Hamilton and Kitchener, Ontario.
True, Canada still uses the Royal Assent in lawmaking (unlike Australia and New Zealand, for example, which have abandoned it but retain the Queen as Head of State) but in that capacity the Queen is acting as Queen of Canada, not Queen of the UK
Good for you?
Thanks for sharing.
As many have pointed out and quizmaster keeps ignoring the 1916 Easter rising was not the first time Ireland 'declared' independence from the UK.
There are about 700 years prior of declaring. The 1641 rebellion? The 1798 rebellion? The nine year war beginning in 1593?