Geography - GED Social Studies

Jonas Salk invented the world’s first polio vaccine in 1953. Prior to the invention of this vaccine polio had crippled and killed millions of people throughout human history.

The Industrial Revolution is generally considered to have begun in England and shortly thereafter in Northern and Western Europe towards the end of the eighteenth century. The pace of change dramatically accelerated in the nineteenth century. The Industrial Revolution was a period of massive economic and social upheaval in Europe and the United States. On the back of new technologies, in particular the creation of the factory system, a whole new labor system arose, and both the working and middle classes grew in number.

The Industrial Revolution began in England towards the end of the eighteenth century and eventually spread to Europe and the United States. It was the primary reason why England was able to dominate so effectively the economic stage during the nineteenth century.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in 1928 by most of the powerful nations of the world at the time. Signed between World War One and World War Two, it was meant to prevent a future outbreak of world war. Considering that World War Two broke out a decade later, and that Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, it can hardly be seen as a success, yet it was an important step in the history of civilization, because it was the first major attempt to renounce warfare as a means of foreign policy.

The term, "Apartheid," refers to a period in South African history when the government actively promoted and sponsored discrimination and segregation on the basis of race. It ended in 1990.

The Crusades is the name given to a series of military campaigns waged by the nations of Western Europe between 1095 and 1487 C.E. The primary goal was to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land for Christianity from the Islamic Empires that held sway there at the time, but some crusades were declared against heretic Christians in Europe.

The Hundred Years’ War was a series of conflicts waged between England and France from 1337 to 1453. The war was primarily fought for control of the Kingdom of France and ended with English finances exhausted, with civil war brewing as the majority of France remained outside of English control.

An armistice is a temporary halt in conflict during a war; it is often followed by the signing of a peace treaty, but when two sides cannot reach agreement it may simply be a temporary break before the fighting resumes. The policy of allowing an enemy or a rival to achieve certain gains in the hope that they will then be appeased is called "appeasement." A smaller state or nation that is dependent on a larger state for protection is called a "satellite state." A vote by the people to directly decide the outcome of an issue is called either a "plebiscite" or a "referendum."

Population density refers to the number of people living in a certain area of land. A country with a high population density has a large number of people living in a relatively small amount of land. Although the populations of the U.S.A., China, and Brazil are all higher than the population of Bangladesh, the land area of Bangladesh is much smaller, so it has the highest population density.

Bourgeoise is a French term, also widely used in the English language to refer to the Middle Class. It has its origins around the time of the Industrial Revolution, and it is often used in a demeaning fashion to suggest certain materialistic or superficial social values.

Although it is probably true that some people moved away from cities to escape the poverty of city life and that some became ill from toxic chemicals. and it is also true that a small minority of people grew immensely wealthy during the Industrial Revolution, none of these statements represents the experience of the majority of people. The majority of the English population was no longer needed on farmland and was migrating to urban centers in search of work. As the Industrial Revolution spread around the world this seems to be the experience everywhere: Industrial Revolution led to urbanization.

The eighteenth century was a time of dramatic population growth in Europe, particularly Western Europe. Advances in agriculture and fewer plagues meant a much lower death rate. The population rose from just under 100 million in 1700 to roughly 180 million by 1800. This population growth was vital for providing the conditions necessary for the Industrial Revolution to take off in the nineteenth century.

The Baby Boom period lasted for about twenty years after the end of World War Two. It was marked by a massive increase in the size of families and the population of the country as a whole. It was caused by several factors, including a much higher standard of living, the relatively low level of birth rates during World War Two, and decreased infant mortality rates. Another contributing factor was the GI Bill. The GI Bill provided loans and grants to returning veterans from World War Two to help them buy houses and have access to higher education. The only answer choice that did not directly contribute to the Baby Boom generation was the Civil Rights Movement. Firstly, this did not really begin in earnest until the mid-1950s, second of all it was a movement to improve social rights and not an economic or health based movement so cannot be expected to have much effect on the birth rate.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the population of the world was less than one billion. It would pass one billion early in the nineteenth century, but would not reach two billion until early in the twentieth century. Since the massive improvements in public health, medicine, technology, and farming practices of the twentieth century, the world population has risen to over seven billion. So the correct answer is easily the twentieth century.

More than half the people on the planet live in the continent of Asia: the majority of these living in China and India. Of the more than seven billion people on Earth, at least four billion live in Asia.

More than half the people in the world live in Asia. After Asia, the next highest is Africa, which is the only other continent to have more than a billion people living there. After Africa comes Europe, then North America, then South America. The population of Europe is projected to remain approximately the same for several decades, so by the end of the twenty-first century it will have likely been overtaken by all the other continents, except Oceania and Antarctica.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in 1928 by most of the powerful nations of the world at the time. Signed between World War One and World War Two, it was meant to prevent a future outbreak of world war. Considering that World War Two broke out a decade later, and that Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, it can hardly be seen as a success, yet it was an important step in the history of civilization, because it was the first major attempt to renounce warfare as a means of foreign policy.

The term, "Apartheid," refers to a period in South African history when the government actively promoted and sponsored discrimination and segregation on the basis of race. It ended in 1990.

The Crusades is the name given to a series of military campaigns waged by the nations of Western Europe between 1095 and 1487 C.E. The primary goal was to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land for Christianity from the Islamic Empires that held sway there at the time, but some crusades were declared against heretic Christians in Europe.

The Hundred Years’ War was a series of conflicts waged between England and France from 1337 to 1453. The war was primarily fought for control of the Kingdom of France and ended with English finances exhausted, with civil war brewing as the majority of France remained outside of English control.