AP World History : Empires, Colonialism, Imperialism, Decolonization, and Globalization 600 CE to 1450

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP World History

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store

Example Questions

Example Question #263 : Political History

This ruler controlled the largest contiguous empire in world history.

Possible Answers:

Julius Caesar 

Mao Zedong 

Tokugawa Shogunate 

Kublai Khan

Genghis Khan

Correct answer:

Genghis Khan

Explanation:

Genghis Khan, who ruled the Mongolian Empire from 1206-1227, controlled the largest, 33 million square kilometers, contagious land area in human history. After uniting the many nomadic tribes of northern Asia, he began expansion westward — eventually making it to the European plateau. Widely considered genocidal, he also brought the silk road under one commander and widespread cross-cultural communication across the Asian continent. 

Example Question #264 : Political History

This ancient ruler was the first to unite many of the nomadic tribes after the fall of Rome in Western Europe, and laid the groundwork for modern-day France and Germany. 

Possible Answers:

Charlemagne

Julius Caesar 

King Henry VIII

Louis the Pious 

Pope Innocent V

Correct answer:

Charlemagne

Explanation:

Charlemagne, with the approval and blessing of the Pope, united the majority of Western Europe under a single empire called the Carolingian Empire. After the fall of Rome he was the first ruler to accomplish this task and the lands and boundaries he established laid the groundwork for the modern states of France and Germany. 

Example Question #265 : Political History

After the fall of the Tang dynasty __________.

Possible Answers:

China was reunified under the Yuan

China fragmented into several states, the most powerful of which was the Song

China fragmented into several states, the most powerful of which was the Yuan

China was reunified under the Ming

China was reunified under the Song

Correct answer:

China fragmented into several states, the most powerful of which was the Song

Explanation:

After the fall of the Tang dynasty in the early tenth century, China fragmented into several smaller states. The largest of these states was the Song, which ruled over a stretch of China from the Yellow river in the north to the Vietnamese border in the south.

Example Question #266 : Political History

The Jagatai Khanate ruled __________.

Possible Answers:

East Asia

Eastern Europe

Central Asia

the Indian subcontinent

the Middle East

Correct answer:

Central Asia

Explanation:

The Jagatai Khanate was one of the four divisions of the Mongol Empire (along with the Ilkhan Empire, the Golden Horde, and the empire of Kublai Khan in China). The Jagatai ruled over a massive swathe of land in Central Asia, including the vital Silk Road trading city of Samarkand.

Example Question #31 : Empires, Colonialism, Imperialism, Decolonization, And Globalization 600 Ce To 1450

Which of these great empires was not destroyed by the Mongols?

Possible Answers:

the Kievan Rus

the Khwarazmian Empire

These were all destroyed by the Mongols.

the Abbasid Caliphate

Song China

Correct answer:

These were all destroyed by the Mongols.

Explanation:

All of these empires were completely destroyed by the Mongols in the thirteenth century. The Mongols infamously sacked the city of Baghdad, leading to the destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate and the subsequent degradation of this part of the world for centuries. They conquered Song China and established the Yuan dynasty. They dismantled the Khwarazmian Empire and established the Il-Khanate. They also destroyed the Kievan Rus and founded the so-called Golden Horde which ruled Mongol territory in modern-day Russia and Eastern Europe. These are just a few of the empires destroyed by the Mongols.

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors