AP European History : Social and Economic History

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP European History

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Example Questions

Example Question #792 : Ap European History

Which of the following innovations was not part of the Second Industrial Revolution?

Possible Answers:

Electrification

The production line

The Bessemer steel process

The use of oil

The Newcomen steam engine

Correct answer:

The Newcomen steam engine

Explanation:

Bessemer steel was produced inexpensively from pig iron according to the principle of oxidation. The process was developed during the Second Industrial Revolution, which lasted from between the 1840s and 1860s to 1914. Oil, electricity and electrical communications, and production lines processes were developed during this period. The Newcomen steam engine was invented in 1712 and later refined into the Watt steam engine, which inaugurated the First Industrial Revolution from 1760 to 1840.

Example Question #172 : Social And Economic History

Prior to the industrial revolution, an artisan would make goods to sell to the population, usually with the help of an apprentice. What was the system of the Industrial Revolution which would allow many workers to produce goods at a much faster rate by giving them simpler, repetitive tasks?

Possible Answers:

Mercantilism 

Micromanagement

Industry

Manufacturing

Division of Labor

Correct answer:

Division of Labor

Explanation:

Division of Labor would allow for the construction of assembly lines, in which many unskilled workers would specialize in a very small part of a task to produce goods, like gluing a sole onto a shoe. This would replace the old system in which one craftsman would make, to keep with our example, an entire pair of shoes by hand.

Example Question #173 : Social And Economic History

Which new military technology created by far the greatest number of casualties during the First World War?

Possible Answers:

Poison Gas

Tanks

Artillery

Machine Guns

Airplanes

Correct answer:

Artillery

Explanation:

Artillery accounted for close to sixty percent of all battlefield casualties during the First World War. The mass production of large, cheap ammunition made it possible for a besieging force to bombard a fixed position for weeks at a time, without stopping.

Example Question #174 : Social And Economic History

During the Industrial Revolution, European cities grew exponentially. Which of the following was one major cause of this development?

Possible Answers:

Decreasing work prospects in government as bureaucracies were cut down

A surge of lawlessness in the European countryside

The invention of the automobile as a means of transportation

Increased numbers of factories

Population displacement caused by warfare

Correct answer:

Increased numbers of factories

Explanation:

During the Industrial Revolution, factories became a dominant feature in the economies of large cities. Rural villagers and townsmen left worsening agricultural prospects for new opportunities working in these factories, causing city populations to balloon.

Example Question #175 : Social And Economic History

Industrialization in Europe involved all of the following except ___________.

Possible Answers:

the use of new technology to improve transportation 

the rise of cities

the mechanization of labor

the development of working- and middle-class identities 

the end of agriculture

Correct answer:

the end of agriculture

Explanation:

The Industrial Revolution did not end the need for agriculture. In fact, in most places in Europe during most of the nineteenth century, the majority of the population continued to work in agriculture. 

Example Question #793 : Ap European History

All of the following were tensions caused by the Industrial Revolution except ___________.

Possible Answers:

disagreements between managers and workers over the celebration of "Saint Monday"

the increased conflict between the language of domesticity and the need for most working-class women to work outside the home 

middle and working class fears over loose morality in working class life in the city

debates between Liberals and Socialists over the need for government intervention in the regulation of factories 

fights between imperial agents and their home offices as imperial agents saw the declining importance of empire to the industrializing colonial nations

Correct answer:

fights between imperial agents and their home offices as imperial agents saw the declining importance of empire to the industrializing colonial nations

Explanation:

The empire grew in importance during the Industrial Revolution as industrializing nations called on the empire to produce the raw materials needed to manufacture goods. All of the other answers describe tensions that existed during the period.

Example Question #177 : Social And Economic History

The cotton mill factories developed during the 18th and early 19th century originally grew out of the ____________ region of England.

Possible Answers:

Southwest

None of these answers is correct.

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Correct answer:

Northeast

Explanation:

The earliest mills were concentrated in Lancashire and in Manchester in Northeast England. The Northeast remained the industrial capital of England for a long time thereafter.

Example Question #178 : Social And Economic History

England was able to industrialize before other Western European states for all of the following reasons except _____________.

Possible Answers:

conveniently placed waterways and extensive coastline

the technical genius of Kings George I and George IV and their support of inventors

England's naturally extensive coal deposits

it could rely upon its colonies for foodstuffs and natural resources

England encompasses a relatively small geographic area

Correct answer:

the technical genius of Kings George I and George IV and their support of inventors

Explanation:

All of the "incorrect" answers were actual factors that were important in making England uniquely situated to industrialize before other states. Kings George I and George IV had no known technical genius. 

Example Question #794 : Ap European History

The island of Ireland saw a massive drop in population during the mid-nineteenth century because of __________.

Possible Answers:

a potato blight that devastated all Irish potato crops

refuge given by the Catholic nations of Spain and France

new immigration policies enacted by the British parliament

the invasion of the island of Ireland by British forces

the last outbreak of the plague in Western Europe

Correct answer:

a potato blight that devastated all Irish potato crops

Explanation:

Throughout the 1840s, a potato blight ravaged all of the potato crops throughout Europe, causing a devastating reduction in overall potato yields. Ireland, which for a variety of reasons had become dependent on the cheap crop, was by far the hardest hit land in Europe, a fact compounded by British policies that ignored the problem. From 1845 to 1850, roughly one million Irish people died from disease and hunger due to what became known as the Great Famine, while a further one million left the island to immigrate to America and Great Britain.

Example Question #171 : Social And Economic History

Who became the leader of the Commonwealth of England in 1653, initiating a period known as "the Protectorate," in which England, Ireland, and Scotland were governed by a Lord Protector?

Possible Answers:

Henry VIII

Elizabeth I

Charles Fleetwood

Oliver Cromwell

William of Orange

Correct answer:

Oliver Cromwell

Explanation:

In 1653, Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector of a united Commonwealth of England, ushering in the period known as "the Protectorate."

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