AP World History : Political History

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP World History

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Example Questions

Example Question #12 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution 1450 To 1750

Laws requiring Russian men to shave their beards were examples of __________.

Possible Answers:

Ivan the Terrible’s cruelty and authoritarianism

Peter the Great’s westernizing efforts

Ivan III’s movement towards Russification

Josef Stalin’s paranoia and distrust of his population

Catherine the Great’s enlightened despotism

Correct answer:

Peter the Great’s westernizing efforts

Explanation:

Peter the Great was a Russian Tsar from 1682 until 1725. He is one of the most celebrated rulers in Russian history. His achievements included vast territorial expansion and the establishment of the port city of St. Petersburg. He was also determined to modernize and westernize Russian society and spent a great deal of time traveling Western Europe and studying European society. One of his more famous laws required Russian men to shave their beards so that they would more closely resemble their European counterparts. Peter the Great is widely credited with integrating Russia more closely into the fabric of European society.

Example Question #431 : Political History

What is act of defenestration?

Possible Answers:

An institutional act of religious censorship

The clearing out of forests on a massive scale for economic or agricultural use

A movement within working class English to destroy machinery

Self-harming to atone for sins

The action of throwing someone or something out of a window

Correct answer:

The action of throwing someone or something out of a window

Explanation:

Coined by the incident in 1618 Prague that sparked the Thirty Years War, defenestration is the act of throwing someone out of a window. The Catholic ruling power of Bohemia allowed religious freedom to its largely Protestant inhabitants after the 1609 issuing of the Letter of Majesty. After his ascension to the throne of Bohemia in 1617, Ferdinand II ordered the cancelation of Protestant churches under construction. Catholic representatives of the crown met with local Protestant estate owners at a local meeting hall in Prague, to deliver them with the King's order. When the Protestant demanded an immediate reply of the Catholics' superiors, they denied. The irate Protestants then threw them out of the three story window.

Example Question #432 : Political History

Which European Empire reached the height of its expansion in 1658?

Possible Answers:

Swedish Empire

Ottoman Empire

Spanish Empire

England

France

Correct answer:

Swedish Empire

Explanation:

The Swedish Empire reached its peak in 1658 reigning over modern day Sweden, Estonia, Finland and parts of Norway. Through King Adolphus superior military leadership funded by an efficient government Sweden became the largest nation in Europe behind Russian and Spain. Years of military dominance birthed a coalition of anti-Sweden forces led by Russia known as the Great Northern War (1701-1721), which stripped Sweden of its formerly conquered territories. 

Example Question #1 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution 1750 To 1900

American and French revolutionaries shared a belief in the importance of __________.

Possible Answers:

political representation

abolishing slavery

regicide

colonial independence

ending all forms of taxation

Correct answer:

political representation

Explanation:

The American and French revolutions both directly referenced the need for political representation that revolutionaries wanted. Neither sets of revolutionaries wanted to kill the king initially. Only American revolutionaries promoted colonial independence, and while abolition was mentioned by revolutionaries in both nations, it was not one of the explicit goals of either revolution.

Example Question #433 : Political History

The leader of the conservative Montagnards at the National Convention was

Possible Answers:

Danton

Marat

Cromwell

Robespierre

Correct answer:

Robespierre

Explanation:

In the first election for the National Convention in 1792 Robespierre continued his rise to power by leading his Montagnard party in the election. Georges Jacques Danton was a moderate Jacobin who was guillotined in 1794. Jean-Paul Marat was the leader of the Montagnard faction, a more radical element in the revolution. Oliver Cromwell was a British ruler in the 17th century.

Example Question #434 : Political History

The government of the Third Estate responsible for French Revolution was called the ______________.

Possible Answers:

National Convention

Estates General

National Assembly

The Directory

Correct answer:

National Assembly

Explanation:

In 1789, Luis XVI called the Estates General to help find solutions to the monetary issues of the government, but they could not agree on anything, so the Third Estate representatives broke off and formed the insurgent National Assembly, thus beginning the French Revolution. The Estates General was an assembly of members of all three of the estates that made up French Society and was held in 1789. The National Convention was held in 1792, and was the first democratically elected assembly held in France (under universal male suffrage). The Directory  was a form of government in the very latest stages of the French Revolution.

Example Question #1155 : Ap World History

The government in control of France after the Reign of Terror was known as the __________.

Possible Answers:

National Convention

Legislative Assembly

National Assembly

Directory

Correct answer:

Directory

Explanation:

The Death of Robespierre helped bring about the end of the National Convention and the Reign of Terror. Once this happened the Directory filled the power vacuum as the new government of France.

Example Question #2 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution 1750 To 1900

Following the return of Joao VI to Portugal Joao left his son Pedro to personally rule over Brazil and granted Brazil a place as part of the Kingdom. However, what happened one year later in 1822?

Possible Answers:

Brazilians overthrew Perdo and declared independence

Pedro left Brazil to rejoin the court in Lisbon

Pedro declared independence for Brazil

Brazil was made a colony again

Correct answer:

Pedro declared independence for Brazil

Explanation:

Just over a year after his father returned to Portugal and left him in charge of Brazil, Pedro decided to declare independence from Portugal, and declared Brazil to now be the Empire of Brazil. As such Pedro declared himself Pedro I Emperor of Brazil. 

Example Question #435 : Political History

How did Joao VI attempt to placate the people of Brazil when he left the colony to return to Portugal in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars?

Possible Answers:

He promised to move the throne from Lisbon to Rio de Janiero

He granted Brazil its independence

He elevated Brazil from a state within Portugal to a Kingdom within Portugal

He gave Brazil complete autonomy

Correct answer:

He elevated Brazil from a state within Portugal to a Kingdom within Portugal

Explanation:

As thanks for taking in the royal family when Portugal was invaded and occupied by the French Joao VI elevated Brazil's importance in the Kingdom by making it a Kingdom itself. Therefore the title of Portugal would no longer be United Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, it would now be United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. Thus giving Brazil an important place in the Empire.

Example Question #436 : Political History

The left-wing, right-wing political dichotomy stems from the ____________.

Possible Answers:

American War of Independence

The Industrial Revolution

The Japanese Meiji Restoration

French Revolution

The Franco-Prussian War

Correct answer:

French Revolution

Explanation:

The left-wing, right-wing political dichotomy stems from the French Revolution, when the French king's allies in the National Assembly sat on the speaker's right, and the king's opponents on the speaker's left.

The American War of Independence empowered the new country with self-determination, but there was no left-right dichotomy in the American government.

The Franco-Prussian War left very little lasting political legacy, although it had a profound effect on how military planners thought of military force.

Many philosophies, such as Marxism, emerged from the industrial revolution, but the left-right political dichotomy already existed.

The Meiji Restoration was a political change in Japan that saw an increase in the emperor's power and the fall of the Shogun, but the left-right dichotomy already existed.

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