Topic MCQs · General Knowledge
50 MCQs on World History — Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916) sit in the GK360 bank, collected from 1 solved papers (2026). Below are the top 50 distinct questions — repeats across papers merged into their strongest version — with the correct answer marked, an explanation where the bank carries one, and the source paper named on every card.
Correct Answer: 1916
The Sykes–Picot Agreement was ratified by Britain and France in May 1916, during World War I.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Britain and France
Britain and France secretly agreed to divide the Ottoman Empire's Arab provinces between them.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Ottoman Empire
The agreement divided the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire into British and French spheres.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Sir Mark Sykes
Sir Mark Sykes negotiated for Britain; the agreement is named after him and Georges-Picot.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: François Georges-Picot
François Georges-Picot negotiated for France; the agreement is named after him and Mark Sykes.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: World War I
The agreement was drawn up in 1915–16, while World War I was still being fought.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Middle East
The agreement partitioned the Ottoman Middle East between Britain and France.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: France
Syria fell in the French sphere and later became the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Britain
Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) fell in the British sphere and later became the British Mandate for Mesopotamia.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Jerusalem
Palestine, including Jerusalem, was marked as a brown zone for international administration.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Russia
After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik government published the secret treaties in November 1917.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: McMahon–Hussein Correspondence
Britain had promised Sharif Hussein of Mecca Arab independence in the 1915–16 McMahon–Hussein Correspondence, which clashed with the secret partition.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Two
It is named after its two negotiators, Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Five
The map marked five zones: Zone A (French influence), Zone B (British influence), the blue zone (French direct control), the red zone (British direct control) and the brown zone (international administration).
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Lebanon
Lebanon emerged from the French-mandate territory carved out of the French sphere.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Jordan
Transjordan (modern Jordan) emerged from the British-sphere territory east of the Jordan.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Asia
The partitioned Ottoman provinces lie in western Asia, the Middle East.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Middle East
Its borders, drawn without regard to local peoples, are widely blamed for later Middle East instability.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Ottoman Empire
The agreement planned the partition of the Ottoman Empire once it was defeated.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: May
The agreement was ratified on 9–16 May 1916 (signed 16 May 1916).
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Sykes and Picot
It is named after Sir Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: France
Under the 1916 agreement the city of Mosul and the northern Mosul vilayet were allocated to France, not Britain.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Allied Powers
Britain and France were Allied Powers in World War I; the agreement was an Allied wartime arrangement.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: France
Coastal Syria, including the blue zone, fell to France under the agreement.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Influence and control
The map created zones of direct control and zones of influence for Britain and France, plus the international zone.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: London
Sykes and Picot negotiated in London in late 1915, and the memorandum was initialled there on 3 January 1916.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration of November 1917 promised a Jewish national home in Palestine, clashing with the international-zone plan.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Iraq
Iraq's borders grew out of the British sphere, including the later addition of Mosul.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Russian Revolution
The Bolsheviks published the secret agreement after the October Revolution of 1917.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: International administration
Palestine was assigned to an international administration to be decided with Russia and the other Allies.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Allies
Britain and France, both Allies, signed the secret agreement in 1916.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: France
France's Zone A extended into Cilicia in southern Anatolia.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: League of Nations Mandates
The post-war mandates for Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia followed the Sykes–Picot framework at San Remo in 1920.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Britain
Basra lay in the red zone of direct British control.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Britain and France
The agreement protected British and French colonial interests in the Ottoman Middle East.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Imperialism
Sykes–Picot is the classic symbol of European imperial partition of the Middle East.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Syria
Syria was divided between French direct control on the coast and the French influence zone inland.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Independence
The secret partition undercut Arab hopes for independence after the Arab Revolt.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Ottoman Empire
The agreement was signed in 1916, years before the Ottoman Empire's formal end in 1922.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Middle East
Its straight-line borders cut across peoples and regions of the Middle East.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Britain
Baghdad lay in the British sphere (Zone B and the red zone's hinterland).
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: History
Sykes–Picot is a standard topic in modern Middle East history.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: France
Lebanon came under the French Mandate after World War I.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Territorial division
It was a territorial division of the Ottoman Empire between two colonial powers.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Middle East conflicts
The agreement's borders are routinely linked to modern Middle East conflicts.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Diplomat
François Georges-Picot was a French diplomat, like Mark Sykes for Britain.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Palestine
Palestine was assigned international administration under the agreement.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: League of Nations
The mandates that implemented the partition were League of Nations mandates.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Arabs
The partition was kept secret from the Arabs, who had been promised independence.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
Correct Answer: Colonial history
It is a landmark of the colonial partition of the Middle East.
From: Sykes–Picot Agreement 1916 Tricky GK — Practice Set (2026) · PMS
The bank holds 50 questions tagged "World History — Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)" under General Knowledge, drawn from 1 solved papers (2026). After merging the same question asked in multiple papers, 50 are distinct; this page shows the top 50.
They are pulled from the solved papers in the GK360 archive — PMS papers among them — and every card on this page names its source paper and year, so you can open the full paper from the Past Papers archive.
Yes — 50 of the 50 questions shown carry a written explanation under the answer; the rest show the verified correct answer for revision. Every answer passed GK360's three-way check (printed key, worked material, standard fact).
Work through the questions on this page first, note the ones you miss, then attempt the same topic under a timer with the "Practice this topic" button above — it starts a timed Quiz Builder attempt on this exact subject and topic right away.
Explore GK360
Use these important GK360 sections to prepare for PPSC, FPSC, one paper exams, subject-wise MCQs, solved past papers and current affairs.
