European History : Rights; Liberties; Persecution

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for European History

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store

Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Rights; Liberties; Persecution

Which of these political figures spearheaded the movement to abolish the practice of slavery in Great Britain and its colonies in the late 18th century?

Possible Answers:

William Wilberforce

Samuel T. Coleridge

John Locke

Samuel Pepys

Sir William Garrow

Correct answer:

William Wilberforce

Explanation:

William Wilberforce (1759 - 1833) was an early leader of the movement to end slavery in the British empire. He became a politician early in his life and would go on to campaign tirelessly against the practice of slavery.

His actions in part led to the Slave Trade Act of 1807 abolishing the Atlantic slave trade, and later on the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, abolishing slavery in most of the British empire. He died only days after the Act was passed.

Example Question #2 : Rights; Liberties; Persecution

"Over One Million Armenians Salughtered by Turks"

"Death Camp discovered at Auschwitz"

"Slobodan Milosevic, 'Butcher of the Balkans,' Convicted of War Crimes"

Which issue are all of the above headlines most closely related to?

Possible Answers:

Popular sovereignty

Human trafficking

Genocide

The Cold War

Islamic terrorism

Correct answer:

Genocide

Explanation:

Genocide, sometimes called "Ethnic cleansing," is the attempt to cause the extinction of a particular group of people.

During World War I, Turkish soldiers slaughtered more than half the population of Armenians in the country.

Auschwitz was the most notorious of the Nazi death camps in what was known as the Holocaust, the systematic slaughter of more than 11 million civilians, half of whom were Jewish, during World War II.

Milosevic was the president of Yugoslavia in the 1990's and but was deposed and convicted of genocide and other war crimes against his own people by the United Nations.

Example Question #3 : Rights; Liberties; Persecution

The original purpose of the Spanish Inquisition was to ___________________.

Possible Answers:

enforce religious orthodoxy, particularly among newly converted Muslims and Jews

censor publications that were considered heretical

remove priests who were not loyal to the crown

undermine political opponents

persecute Protestant reformers in Spain

Correct answer:

enforce religious orthodoxy, particularly among newly converted Muslims and Jews

Explanation:

After the Reconquista, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued royal decrees declaring that Jews and Muslims had to convert to Christianity or leave Spain. The original purpose of the Spanish Inquisition was to enforce religious orthodoxy among these new converts.

Example Question #4 : Rights; Liberties; Persecution

What did the Nuremberg Laws do?

Possible Answers:

Seized property from opponents of the Nazi government

Deprived German Jews of their citizenship

Established concentration camps in Germany and Poland

Prohibited strikes and replaced unions with the Nazi Labor Front

Authorized the Gestapo to use force against citizens

Correct answer:

Deprived German Jews of their citizenship

Explanation:

The Nuremburg Laws were passed by the Nazi government in 1935. They stripped German Jews of their citizenship and prohibited marriages or other relationships between Jews and other Germans. 

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors