AP World History : Political History

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP World History

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Example Questions

Example Question #91 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution

Mao's "Great Leap Forward” may be directly responsible for more deaths than any single government policy in history, but it was ______________.

Possible Answers:

largely copied from Abraham Lincoln who ended a civil war, in part, by destroying enemy economic might

largely copied from Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi who lived in a self-sustainable community

largely copied from Stalin, who also took agricultural produce from farming communities and traded most of it for technology and industrial capital, then gave the remainder to the cities to feed the laborer population

largely copied from an ancient Chinese emperor who also imprisoned laborers and forced them to reinforce the Great Wall using slave labor

largely copied from from American leader Thomas Jefferson who added nearby regions to increase the size and power of the United States

Correct answer:

largely copied from Stalin, who also took agricultural produce from farming communities and traded most of it for technology and industrial capital, then gave the remainder to the cities to feed the laborer population

Explanation:

Mao's Great Leap Forward was a policy designed to industrialize China in a few short years, but it resulted in tens, if not hundreds, of millions of deaths because the Chinese countryside was left without sustenance.

Numerous ancient Chinese emperors directed their populations to build the Great Wall as a buffer between China and the dangerous nomadic tribes who lived in what is today Mongolia, but Mao's Great Leap Forward was about industrialization; it had nothing to do with the wall or Mongolian nomads.

Mahatma Gandhi lived in a self-sustainable commune called an ashram; Mao's Great Leap Forward policy was actually a step away from such an agricultural type of community.

President Thomas Jefferson organized the purchase of the Louisiana territory from France which doubled the size of the United States; while Mao oversaw the invasion of nearby regions such as Tibet, this policy was not a part of the Great Leap Forward.

President Abraham Lincoln sought to end the US Civil War, in part, by destroying enemy infrastructure; Mao also destroyed enemy infrastructure in China's Civil War, but by the time of the Great Leap Forward the Chinese civil war was already over.

Example Question #93 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution

"Anyone who knows anything of history knows that great social changes are impossible without feminine upheaval. Social progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex, the ugly ones included."

What advocate of social change wrote this quote in the 19th Century?

Possible Answers:

Margaret Sanger

Karl Marx

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

William Lloyd Garrison

Fredrick Engels

Correct answer:

Karl Marx

Explanation:

While Marx is primarily known for his writings that formed the philosophical basis for communism, he was also a supporter of the women's suffrage movement (if not particularly sensitive in his language on that subject).

Example Question #94 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution

What was the main goal of the Young Turks in Iraq after the Ottoman Empire’s influence waned in the early 1900s?

Possible Answers:

Implementing European models into their society

Both forming a new Iraqi identity and implementing European models into their society

Forming a new Iraqi identity

A weak central government to keep different groups segregated

An educational system that relied on classical Islam philosophies

Correct answer:

Both forming a new Iraqi identity and implementing European models into their society

Explanation:

The Young Turks that revolted in Iraq in 1908 were seeking both a new Iraqi identity and the use of European models of government and society. They challenged the Ottoman Empire's monarchy, and were influenced deeply by the European presence during and after World War I.

The Young Turks were young reformist military leaders who saw the Ottoman Empire's weakness as a chance to reinvent their society and identity.

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

Which country experienced a political revolution in 1979 that was seen as a return to religiousness and a rejection of Western imperialism?

Possible Answers:

Iraq

Tunisia

Saudi Arabia

Turkey

Iran

Correct answer:

Iran

Explanation:

Iran experienced a revolution in 1979 that led to the expulsion of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the western-minded and West-backed leader.  Economic and political crises mounted in the 1970s, and Iran's two identities—the western, secular identity and the traditional, Islamic-based identity—collided. Iran turned towards Islam and eventually established a theocracy with shades of democracy after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Example Question #95 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution

What was the first country to experience the Arab Spring in late 2010 and early 2011? 

Possible Answers:

Bahrain

Tunisia

Iran

Syria

Egypt

Correct answer:

Tunisia

Explanation:

The Arab Spring was a historic wave of protests and government reformations throughout Northern Africa and the Middle East. In an unprecedented chain of events, protests in one country seemed to set off more protests in a different country.

The Arab Spring started in Tunisia, in December 2010. Very few countries in the region were immune from these protests, and social media played a critical role (even in countries that clamped down hard with media and communication restrictions).

Example Question #501 : Political History

The 1978 Saur Revolution in Afghanistan overthrew _________________.

Possible Answers:

the British

the king of Afghanistan

the Mujahideen

the Taliban

the self-proclaimed Afghan president

Correct answer:

the self-proclaimed Afghan president

Explanation:

The Saur Revolution in Afghanistan overthrow the self-proclaimed President of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, who had overthrown the king, his cousin, five years previous.

The King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, was overthrown by Khan in 1973 when the King was in Italy for eye surgery.

The Taliban did not coalesce as a movement until the early 1990s, long after the Saur Revolution.

The Mujahideen eventually defeated the Soviet forces and Communist government of Afghanistan; essentially they were enemies of the Saur Revolution.

The British were forced to leave Afghanistan due to the world wars, fighting in Europe, and American pressure to withdraw; they were not overthrown by any revolution.

Example Question #97 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution

The main difference between the Bolshevik and Menshevik factions of the Russian socialist movement was that _________________.

Possible Answers:

the Bolsheviks were willing to collaborate with the Czar, while the Mensheviks refused to work with him

the Mensheviks supported the Socialist International, while the Bolsheviks did not

the Mensheviks supported Germany in Word War I, while the Bolsheviks remained loyal to Russia

the Mensheviks were open to Jewish members, while the Bolsheviks were not

the Mensheviks wanted a broad political party, while the Bolsheviks wanted a small movement of committed party loyalists

Correct answer:

the Mensheviks wanted a broad political party, while the Bolsheviks wanted a small movement of committed party loyalists

Explanation:

Russia had a longstanding, but small, revolutionary socialist movement at the turn of the twentieth century. The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) was the main party of this movement in 1900. However, the RDSLP split into two different factions (Bolsheviks and Mensheviks) in 1904 due to a dispute over whether the party should attempt to broaden its support or remain a small tight-knit movement. The tight organization of the Bolsheviks helped them to overcome their rivals and take control of the Russian state after the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Example Question #6 : Political Protest, Reforms, And Revolution 1900 To Present

"To All Workers, Soldiers and Peasants. The Soviet authority will at once propose a democratic peace to all nations and an immediate armistice on all fronts. It will safeguard the transfer without compensation of all land – landlord, imperial, and monastery – to the peasants' committees; it will defend the soldiers' rights, introducing a complete democratisation [sic] of the army; it will establish workers' control over industry; it will ensure the convocation of the Constituent Assembly on the date set; it will supply the cities with bread and the villages with articles of first necessity; and it will secure to all nationalities inhabiting Russia the right of self-determination... Long live the revolution!"

The given quote comes from which Russian political leader's 1917 political program?

Possible Answers:

Leon Trotsky

Joseph Stalin

Czar Nicholas II

Alexander Kerensky

Vladimir I. Lenin

Correct answer:

Vladimir I. Lenin

Explanation:

Vladimir I. Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian revolutionary socialists. He was in exile from Russia at the outbreak of World War I, but he returned to Russia with the help of the Germans after the Russian Revolution in January 1917. Lenin's Bolsheviks immediately became a strong rival to the Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky. Lenin advocated in his 1917 political program (quoted in the question) for an immediate end of the devastating war with Germany. He also wanted power to be transferred from the Provisional Government to the soviets-or workers councils-which had popped up in major Russian cities after the 1917 Revolution.

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

The Bolshevik Red Army possessed each of the following advantages against the opposition White Russians in the Russian Civil War except ___________________.

Possible Answers:

unified military leadership

unified ideology

control of central Russian cities and areas that possessed most of Russia's economic resources

unified political leadership

support from foreign military powers such as Great Britain and Japan

Correct answer:

support from foreign military powers such as Great Britain and Japan

Explanation:

The devastating Russian Civil War (1918-1922) was fought between the Bolsheviks and the various Russian groups which opposed them (known collectively as the White Russians). The Bolsheviks possessed many advantages over their rivals in the war, but one advantage they did not possess was support from any foreign power. The Western powers and Japan hoped to defeat the Bolsheviks because they feared that a Soviet Russia would inspire revolutionary socialist movements in their own countries. The Bolshevik victory in 1922 established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) as the new government of Russia.

Example Question #502 : Political History

Which system of segregation was used in South Africa from 1948 until 1994?

Possible Answers:

Feudalism

Afrikaaner

Mandelaism

Slavery

Apartheid 

Correct answer:

Apartheid 

Explanation:

Apartheid was the system of racial segregation used in South African society and was enforced through legislation passed by the National Party (NP) from 1948 until 1994. Minority rule by whites was maintained by this system while rights movements of the majority black population were oppressed. The system was eliminated with multi-racial election in 1994, in which Nelson Mandela came to power with the African National Congress party. 

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