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Independence from Whom? - Multiple Choice

For each question, select which country they gained independence from.
Including predecessor states
Quiz by FreeStater
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Last updated: December 13, 2022
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First submittedDecember 3, 2022
Times taken1,455
Average score66.7%
Rating4.50
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1. Who did Bangladesh get their independence from?
2. Who did Uruguay get their independence from?
3. Who did the Philippines get their independence from?
4. Who did East Timor get their independence from?
5. Who did Mongolia get their independence from?
6. Who did Eritrea get their independence from?
7. Who did Iceland get their independence from?
8. Who did Samoa get their independence from?
9. Who did Namibia get their independence from?
10. Who did Comoros get their independence from?
11. Who did Albania get their independence from?
12. Who did Finland get their independence from?
13. Who did the D.R. Congo get their independence from?
14. Who did Singapore get their independence from?
15. Who did Venezuela get their independence from?
14 Comments
+9
Level 79
Dec 13, 2022
Some of these are pretty debatable and I think one is probably not correct. Cuba did not gain independence from the United States. The US went to war with Spain over Spain's treatment of Cuba and part of their peace negotiations was about making Cuba independent from Spain. On another note, saying North Korea gained independence from Russia is like saying Japan gained independence from the USA. It doesn't make much sense to me to say a country gained independence from a protector state helping it become independent from a different colonizer or conqueror.
+2
Level 76
Dec 13, 2022
You are completely right. I will swap out the Cuba and North Korea questions.
+3
Level 76
Dec 13, 2022
Yes, I agree. There were multiple questions where the country had gained independence from multiple options at different times. Could you specify 'What country did they gain independence from the latest'?
+1
Level 71
Dec 13, 2022
Interesting quiz, and I definitely learned something with regards to Uruguay. But I would agree about some of these being debatable or wrong. Cuba and North Korea are both wrong here. Cuba definitely gained their independence from Spain. And Korea had been under Japanese control prior to WWII, so I think it would be a stretch to say they gained their independence from a country that briefly governed and helped them establish their own government. Probably the best think to do here would be to just remove Cuba and North Korea altogether, as there are certainly other countries who have a more clear-cut independence history.
+2
Level 81
Dec 13, 2022
I got it and assumed that what I guessed was the correct answer, but, 3 is a little contentious... the Philippines declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, during the Spanish-American War. This is still the date that Filipinos celebrate their independence to this day.

After the Spanish-American War, the Spanish ceded control of the Philippines, Guam, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, but the Philippines had already declared their independence. From the American perspective, at that point, the Philippines became an American possession with an ongoing insurrection, but from the Filipino perspective they became an independent country under a prolonged foreign occupation.

The mostly-American-controlled Philippines were then invaded by Japan in December of 1941 and fully occupied by the Japanese by 1942... at that point, the archipelago were de facto a part of the Japanese Empire, just like they had previously been a de facto territory of the United States. but...

+1
Level 81
Dec 13, 2022
... the Philippine perspective is simply that the identity of the occupiers switched from American to Japanese.

In 1945, the USA was able to liberate the islands from Japanese control, after which point they decided to grant (from their perspective) or recognize (from the Filipino perspective) Philippines independence. This recognition only came when the islands were liberated from Japanese control, though.

So.... depending on your point of view... all 3 answers could be correct.

+1
Level 76
Dec 13, 2022
That's fair, I will update the quiz.
+1
Level 81
Dec 13, 2022
cool. Your call, of course. Nice quiz, btw.
+1
Level 76
Dec 13, 2022
Hmm... it's tricky, though, ... since nobody really accepted the first declaration, and considering that we only granted them independence in 1946, a year after the Japanese controlled it... I think I'll leave it as is. But good call.
+2
Level 81
Dec 13, 2022
Given that this is, IMO, the most contentious answer left on the quiz... it's funny to me that it's also the only one that is guessed "right" by 100% of people taking the quiz. Interesting. I wonder how my Filipino friends would feel about this (the ones that aren't completely ignorant of history, as most of them are)
+1
Level 68
Dec 13, 2022
Well I got it right because I was ignorant to the Filipino perspective of things and only knew about the American occupation post WWII. Thanks for the info kal, that was very interesting, but I think most people (at least in the American influenced western world where most JetPunkers are from) know more about he American perspective than the Filipino one :)
+1
Level 68
Dec 13, 2022
Nice quiz, missed Singapore (had no idea Malaysia controlled them prior to independence) and Venezuela (again had no idea). Was the Colombia being referred to Gran Colombia by any chance?
+1
Level 76
Dec 13, 2022
It was, in fact.
+2
Level 71
Aug 25, 2023
Great Quiz!

15/15