romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
The Napoleonic Wars were therefore ones in which Britain invested large amounts of capital and resources to win. French ports were blockaded by the Royal Navy, which won a decisive victory over a Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. Overseas colonies were attacked and occupied, including those of the Netherlands, which was annexed by Napoleon in 1810. France was finally defeated by a coalition of European armies in 1815. Britain was again the beneficiary of peace treaties: France ceded the Ionian Islands, Malta (which it had occupied in 1797 and 1798 respectively), Mauritius, St Lucia, and Tobago; Spain ceded Trinidad; the Netherlands Guyana, and the Cape Colony. Britain returned Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Réunion to France, and Java and Suriname to the Netherlands, while gaining control of Ceylon (1795–1815).

Questions and answers:
['
Q: The British Royal Navy blockaded which ports?
A: French', '
Q: Where did the British Royal Navy defeat the French and Spanish in 1805?
A: Trafalgar', "
Q: When were the Netherlands' colonies annexed by Napoleon?
A: 1810", '
Q: When was Napoleon finally defeated?
A: 1815', '
Q: The Napoleonic peace treaty had Ceylon given to which country?
A: Britain']
With support from the British abolitionist movement, Parliament enacted the Slave Trade Act in 1807, which abolished the slave trade in the empire. In 1808, Sierra Leone was designated an official British colony for freed slaves. The Slavery Abolition Act passed in 1833 abolished slavery in the British Empire on 1 August 1834 (with the exception of St. Helena, Ceylon and the territories administered by the East India Company, though these exclusions were later repealed). Under the Act, slaves were granted full emancipation after a period of 4 to 6 years of "apprenticeship".

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was the Slave Trade Act enacted?
A: 1807', '
Q: What abolished the British slave trade?
A: the Slave Trade Act', '
Q: Which colony was the official British colony for freed slaves?
A: Sierra Leone', '
Q: What abolished slavery throughout the British Empire?
A: The Slavery Abolition Act', "
Q: How long of an 'apprenticeship' did slaves need to have before being fully freed?
A: 4 to 6 years"]
Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century" by some historians, around 10,000,000 square miles (26,000,000 km2) of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire. Victory over Napoleon left Britain without any serious international rival, other than Russia in central Asia. Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted the role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as the Pax Britannica, and a foreign policy of "splendid isolation". Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries, such as China, Argentina and Siam, which has been characterised by some historians as "Informal Empire".

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How many square miles of territory were added to the British Empire between 1815 and 1914?
A: 10,000,000', '
Q: How many people were added to the British Empire between 1815 and 1914?
A: 400 million', "
Q: Who was Britain's last serious rival after Napoleon?
A: Russia", "
Q: What was the period of Britain acting as the world's police called?
A: Britain's dominant position in world trade", "
Q: Britain's dominant position in world trade over some countries' economies has been called what?
A: Informal Empire"]
From its base in India, the Company had also been engaged in an increasingly profitable opium export trade to China since the 1730s. This trade, illegal since it was outlawed by the Qing dynasty in 1729, helped reverse the trade imbalances resulting from the British imports of tea, which saw large outflows of silver from Britain to China. In 1839, the confiscation by the Chinese authorities at Canton of 20,000 chests of opium led Britain to attack China in the First Opium War, and resulted in the seizure by Britain of Hong Kong Island, at that time a minor settlement.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What illegal trade was the British East India Company involved in?
A: opium', '
Q: How many chests of opium did China confiscate in 1839?
A: 20,000', '
Q: The First Opium War led to Britain seizing what island?
A: Hong Kong', '
Q: Which dynasty outlawed opium trade?
A: Qing', '
Q: When did China outlaw opium trade?
A: 1729']
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries the British Crown began to assume an increasingly large role in the affairs of the Company. A series of Acts of Parliament were passed, including the Regulating Act of 1773, Pitt's India Act of 1784 and the Charter Act of 1813 which regulated the Company's affairs and established the sovereignty of the Crown over the territories that it had acquired. The Company's eventual end was precipitated by the Indian Rebellion, a conflict that had begun with the mutiny of sepoys, Indian troops under British officers and discipline. The rebellion took six months to suppress, with heavy loss of life on both sides. The following year the British government dissolved the Company and assumed direct control over India through the Government of India Act 1858, establishing the British Raj, where an appointed governor-general administered India and Queen Victoria was crowned the Empress of India. India became the empire's most valuable possession, "the Jewel in the Crown", and was the most important source of Britain's strength.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did Britain pass the Regulating Act?
A: 1773', "
Q: When did Britain pass Pitt's India Act?
A: 1784", '
Q: When did Britain pass the Charter Act?
A: 1813', '
Q: The British East India Company was dissolved by which act?
A: Government of India Act', '
Q: Who was crowned the Empress of India?
A: Queen Victoria']
During the 19th century, Britain and the Russian Empire vied to fill the power vacuums that had been left by the declining Ottoman Empire, Qajar dynasty and Qing Dynasty. This rivalry in Eurasia came to be known as the "Great Game". As far as Britain was concerned, defeats inflicted by Russia on Persia and Turkey demonstrated its imperial ambitions and capabilities and stoked fears in Britain of an overland invasion of India. In 1839, Britain moved to pre-empt this by invading Afghanistan, but the First Anglo-Afghan War was a disaster for Britain.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Britain competed with which country to fill the Asian power vacuum in the 19th century?
A: Russian', '
Q: When did Britain first invade Afghanistan?
A: 1839', '
Q: What was the British-Russian rivalry called?
A: the "Great Game"', '
Q: Britain feared Russia would invade what country/territory?
A: India', '
Q: Russian victories against which countries increased British fears?
A: Persia and Turkey']
When Russia invaded the Turkish Balkans in 1853, fears of Russian dominance in the Mediterranean and Middle East led Britain and France to invade the Crimean Peninsula to destroy Russian naval capabilities. The ensuing Crimean War (1854–56), which involved new techniques of modern warfare, and was the only global war fought between Britain and another imperial power during the Pax Britannica, was a resounding defeat for Russia. The situation remained unresolved in Central Asia for two more decades, with Britain annexing Baluchistan in 1876 and Russia annexing Kirghizia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. For a while it appeared that another war would be inevitable, but the two countries reached an agreement on their respective spheres of influence in the region in 1878 and on all outstanding matters in 1907 with the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente. The destruction of the Russian Navy by the Japanese at the Battle of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 also limited its threat to the British.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did Russia invade the Turkish Balkans?
A: 1853', '
Q: What was took place in 1854-1856?
A: Crimean War', '
Q: Who lost the Crimean War?
A: Russia', '
Q: When did Britain take over Baluchistan?
A: 1876', '
Q: Which country took over Kazakhstan?
A: Russia']
The Dutch East India Company had founded the Cape Colony on the southern tip of Africa in 1652 as a way station for its ships travelling to and from its colonies in the East Indies. Britain formally acquired the colony, and its large Afrikaner (or Boer) population in 1806, having occupied it in 1795 to prevent its falling into French hands, following the invasion of the Netherlands by France. British immigration began to rise after 1820, and pushed thousands of Boers, resentful of British rule, northwards to found their own—mostly short-lived—independent republics, during the Great Trek of the late 1830s and early 1840s. In the process the Voortrekkers clashed repeatedly with the British, who had their own agenda with regard to colonial expansion in South Africa and with several African polities, including those of the Sotho and the Zulu nations. Eventually the Boers established two republics which had a longer lifespan: the South African Republic or Transvaal Republic (1852–77; 1881–1902) and the Orange Free State (1854–1902). In 1902 Britain occupied both republics, concluding a treaty with the two Boer Republics following the Second Boer War (1899–1902).

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was the southern tip of Africa colonized?
A: 1652', '
Q: Which entity founded the Cape Colony?
A: The Dutch East India Company', '
Q: When did Britain formally acquire the Cape Colony?
A: 1806', '
Q: What African people moved northwards to escape British rule?
A: Boers', '
Q: When did the Second Boer War end?
A: 1902']
In 1869 the Suez Canal opened under Napoleon III, linking the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean. Initially the Canal was opposed by the British; but once opened, its strategic value was quickly recognised and became the "jugular vein of the Empire". In 1875, the Conservative government of Benjamin Disraeli bought the indebted Egyptian ruler Isma'il Pasha's 44 percent shareholding in the Suez Canal for £4 million (£340 million in 2013). Although this did not grant outright control of the strategic waterway, it did give Britain leverage. Joint Anglo-French financial control over Egypt ended in outright British occupation in 1882. The French were still majority shareholders and attempted to weaken the British position, but a compromise was reached with the 1888 Convention of Constantinople, which made the Canal officially neutral territory.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did the Suez Canal open?
A: 1869', '
Q: Which ocean did the Suez Canal connect the Mediterranean to?
A: Indian Ocean', '
Q: Which French leader ruled when the Suez Canal opened?
A: Napoleon III', "
Q: How much did Britain spend to buy Egypt's share of the Suez Canal?
A: £4 million", '
Q: The Suez Canal became neutral territory by what treaty?
A: Convention of Constantinople']
With French, Belgian and Portuguese activity in the lower Congo River region undermining orderly incursion of tropical Africa, the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 was held to regulate the competition between the European powers in what was called the "Scramble for Africa" by defining "effective occupation" as the criterion for international recognition of territorial claims. The scramble continued into the 1890s, and caused Britain to reconsider its decision in 1885 to withdraw from Sudan. A joint force of British and Egyptian troops defeated the Mahdist Army in 1896, and rebuffed a French attempted invasion at Fashoda in 1898. Sudan was nominally made an Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, but a British colony in reality.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Where did France try to invade in 1898?
A: Fashoda', '
Q: What army did Britain and Egypt defeat together?
A: Mahdist', '
Q: When did Britain withdraw from Sudan?
A: 1885', '
Q: What was the period of European empires competing to control Africa called?
A: the "Scramble for Africa"', '
Q: Where was a conference held in 1884 to regulate European competition for Africa?
A: Berlin']
The path to independence for the white colonies of the British Empire began with the 1839 Durham Report, which proposed unification and self-government for Upper and Lower Canada, as a solution to political unrest there. This began with the passing of the Act of Union in 1840, which created the Province of Canada. Responsible government was first granted to Nova Scotia in 1848, and was soon extended to the other British North American colonies. With the passage of the British North America Act, 1867 by the British Parliament, Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were formed into the Dominion of Canada, a confederation enjoying full self-government with the exception of international relations. Australia and New Zealand achieved similar levels of self-government after 1900, with the Australian colonies federating in 1901. The term "dominion status" was officially introduced at the Colonial Conference of 1907.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was it proposed to unify Upper and Lower Canada?
A: 1839', '
Q: The Act of Union unified Canada into a territory by what name?
A: Province of Canada', '
Q: When was the British North America Act passed?
A: 1867', '
Q: When did Australia achieve self-government?
A: after 1900', '
Q: When did New Zealand achieve self-government?
A: after 1900']
The last decades of the 19th century saw concerted political campaigns for Irish home rule. Ireland had been united with Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with the Act of Union 1800 after the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and had suffered a severe famine between 1845 and 1852. Home rule was supported by the British Prime minister, William Gladstone, who hoped that Ireland might follow in Canada's footsteps as a Dominion within the empire, but his 1886 Home Rule bill was defeated in Parliament. Although the bill, if passed, would have granted Ireland less autonomy within the UK than the Canadian provinces had within their own federation, many MPs feared that a partially independent Ireland might pose a security threat to Great Britain or mark the beginning of the break-up of the empire. A second Home Rule bill was also defeated for similar reasons. A third bill was passed by Parliament in 1914, but not implemented because of the outbreak of the First World War leading to the 1916 Easter Rising.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Which British Prime Minister first supported home rule of Ireland?
A: William Gladstone', '
Q: The first Home Rule bill would have given Ireland less self-control than what other territory?
A: Canada', '
Q: When was the Easter Rising?
A: 1916', '
Q: When was a Home Rule bill passed?
A: 1914', "
Q: The passed Home Rule Bill wasn't implemented because of which war?
A: the First World War"]
By the turn of the 20th century, fears had begun to grow in Britain that it would no longer be able to defend the metropole and the entirety of the empire while at the same time maintaining the policy of "splendid isolation". Germany was rapidly rising as a military and industrial power and was now seen as the most likely opponent in any future war. Recognising that it was overstretched in the Pacific and threatened at home by the Imperial German Navy, Britain formed an alliance with Japan in 1902 and with its old enemies France and Russia in 1904 and 1907, respectively.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: Which country seemed like Britain's most likely threat in the early 20th century?
A: Germany", '
Q: Which country did Britain ally with in 1902?
A: Japan', '
Q: Which country did Britain ally with in 1904?
A: France', '
Q: Which country did Britain ally with in 1907?
A: Russia']
Britain's fears of war with Germany were realised in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War. Britain quickly invaded and occupied most of Germany's overseas colonies in Africa. In the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand occupied German New Guinea and Samoa respectively. Plans for a post-war division of the Ottoman Empire, which had joined the war on Germany's side, were secretly drawn up by Britain and France under the 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement. This agreement was not divulged to the Sharif of Mecca, who the British had been encouraging to launch an Arab revolt against their Ottoman rulers, giving the impression that Britain was supporting the creation of an independent Arab state.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did the First World War begin?
A: 1914', "
Q: When WW1 began, Britain took the opportunity to take over most of which country's colonies?
A: Germany", '
Q: Who took over German New Guinea?
A: Australia', '
Q: Who took over Samoa?
A: Sykes–Picot Agreement', '
Q: The Sykes–Picot Agreement was signed in what year?
A: 1916']
The British declaration of war on Germany and its allies also committed the colonies and Dominions, which provided invaluable military, financial and material support. Over 2.5 million men served in the armies of the Dominions, as well as many thousands of volunteers from the Crown colonies. The contributions of Australian and New Zealand troops during the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Empire had a great impact on the national consciousness at home, and marked a watershed in the transition of Australia and New Zealand from colonies to nations in their own right. The countries continue to commemorate this occasion on Anzac Day. Canadians viewed the Battle of Vimy Ridge in a similar light. The important contribution of the Dominions to the war effort was recognised in 1917 by the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George when he invited each of the Dominion Prime Ministers to join an Imperial War Cabinet to co-ordinate imperial policy.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was the Gallipoli Campaign?
A: 1915', "
Q: Which British Prime Minister recognized the Dominions' contributions in 1917?
A: David Lloyd George", '
Q: The Gallipoli Campaign fought against which country?
A: the Ottoman Empire', '
Q: The Imperial War Cabinet was created by which British Prime Minister?
A: Gallipoli Campaign', "
Q: How many people were in the Dominions' armies?
A: Over 2.5 million"]
Under the terms of the concluding Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919, the empire reached its greatest extent with the addition of 1,800,000 square miles (4,700,000 km2) and 13 million new subjects. The colonies of Germany and the Ottoman Empire were distributed to the Allied powers as League of Nations mandates. Britain gained control of Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq, parts of Cameroon and Togo, and Tanganyika. The Dominions themselves also acquired mandates of their own: the Union of South Africa gained South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia), Australia gained German New Guinea, and New Zealand Western Samoa. Nauru was made a combined mandate of Britain and the two Pacific Dominions.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?
A: 1919', '
Q: How many square miles did the Treaty of Versailles add to the British Empire?
A: 1,800,000', "
Q: Which countries' colonies were given to the Allied powers in 1919?
A: Germany and the Ottoman Empire", '
Q: What modern-day country is South-West Africa?
A: Namibia', '
Q: How many people did the Treaty of Versailles add to the British Empire?
A: 13 million']
The changing world order that the war had brought about, in particular the growth of the United States and Japan as naval powers, and the rise of independence movements in India and Ireland, caused a major reassessment of British imperial policy. Forced to choose between alignment with the United States or Japan, Britain opted not to renew its Japanese alliance and instead signed the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, where Britain accepted naval parity with the United States. This decision was the source of much debate in Britain during the 1930s as militaristic governments took hold in Japan and Germany helped in part by the Great Depression, for it was feared that the empire could not survive a simultaneous attack by both nations. Although the issue of the empire's security was a serious concern in Britain, at the same time the empire was vital to the British economy.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did Britain sign the Washington Naval Treaty?
A: 1922', "
Q: The Great Depression helped which countries' governments become more militaristic?
A: Japan and Germany", '
Q: When Britain had to choose between its Japanese alliance or the US, which did it choose?
A: United States', "
Q: British imperialism was being reconsidered in light of which territories' independence movements?
A: India and Ireland"]
In 1919, the frustrations caused by delays to Irish home rule led members of Sinn Féin, a pro-independence party that had won a majority of the Irish seats at Westminster in the 1918 British general election, to establish an Irish assembly in Dublin, at which Irish independence was declared. The Irish Republican Army simultaneously began a guerrilla war against the British administration. The Anglo-Irish War ended in 1921 with a stalemate and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, creating the Irish Free State, a Dominion within the British Empire, with effective internal independence but still constitutionally linked with the British Crown. Northern Ireland, consisting of six of the 32 Irish counties which had been established as a devolved region under the 1920 Government of Ireland Act, immediately exercised its option under the treaty to retain its existing status within the United Kingdom.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did Ireland establish their own assembly?
A: 1919', "
Q: What political party established Ireland's assembly?
A: Sinn Féin", '
Q: When did the Anglo-Irish War end?
A: 1921', '
Q: What treaty was signed after the Anglo-Irish War?
A: Anglo-Irish Treaty', '
Q: How many counties of Ireland are in Northern Ireland?
A: six']
A similar struggle began in India when the Government of India Act 1919 failed to satisfy demand for independence. Concerns over communist and foreign plots following the Ghadar Conspiracy ensured that war-time strictures were renewed by the Rowlatt Acts. This led to tension, particularly in the Punjab region, where repressive measures culminated in the Amritsar Massacre. In Britain public opinion was divided over the morality of the event, between those who saw it as having saved India from anarchy, and those who viewed it with revulsion. The subsequent Non-Co-Operation movement was called off in March 1922 following the Chauri Chaura incident, and discontent continued to simmer for the next 25 years.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was the Government of India Act passed?
A: 1919', '
Q: What event stoked fears of communist plots in India?
A: the Ghadar Conspiracy', '
Q: In what region was the Amritsar Massacre?
A: Punjab', '
Q: The Chauri Chaura incident led to the end of what movement?
A: Non-Co-Operation']