All SAT II World History Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Rise Of The Ottoman Empire
For what reason was Ottoman Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) famous, despite his short reign?
His conquest of Constantinople, which was owned by the Byzantines
His marriage to courtesan Hurrem Sultan, a Russian slave captured by pirates
His alliance with France at the end of his reign
Massive expansion of the Ottoman Empire, including Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and the Hejaz region (which included Mecca and Medina)
His conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy in 1515
Massive expansion of the Ottoman Empire, including Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and the Hejaz region (which included Mecca and Medina)
Despite his short reign, Selim I is famous for his massive military expansion of the Ottoman Empire, including Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and the Hejaz region (which included Mecca and Medina).
Example Question #1 : Southwest Asia
The Battle of Lepanto is important for __________.
preventing further Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean
None of these answers is correct.
encouraging further Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean.
uniting Christendom and Islam in an alliance against the Barbary forces of North Africa.
spreading Islam into the heart of Western Europe.
preventing further Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean
The Battle of Lepanto (1571) pitted the naval forces of the Ottoman Empire against a combined naval force led by the Spanish Hapsburg Empire. It resulted in victory for the "Holy League" forces of the Spanish and prevented further Ottoman expansion into the Mediterranean.
Example Question #1 : Southwest Asia
In which European city was the Ottoman invasion of Europe finally repelled?
Athens
Vienna
Paris
Budapest
Munich
Vienna
The rise of the Ottoman Empire was swift. In the fifteenth century, under Mehmet II, the Ottomans conquered Constantinople (now Istanbul) and shortly after pushed up as far as Bosnia in the Balkans (a country north of Greece). The whole of European Christendom began to grow wary and soon terrified of the Ottoman invasion as they continued up through the Balkans into central Europe, conquering modern-day Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, and other areas. But once the Ottomans made it to Budapest, they would struggle to get much further. They were repelled time and again by the forces of Christendom and the Hapsburg Empire of Austria at the city of Vienna or in the surrouding territory.
Example Question #2 : Southwest Asia
Victory at the Battle of Mohacs led to Ottoman control over _______________.
Hungary
Poland
Arabia
Egypt
Anatolia
Hungary
The Battle of Mohacs is a crucial point in the history of the Ottoman Empire, Eastern Europe, and the Kingdom of Hungary. The battle was fought in 1526 between the Kingdom of Hungary, led by Louis II, and the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent. It ended in defeat for the Hungarian forces and the loss of Hungarian independence for centuries and the extension of Ottoman rule into Central Europe.
Example Question #3 : Southwest Asia
The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire in 1453 ended the reign of ________________.
The Byzantine Empire
The Timurid Empire
The Abbasid Empire
The Holy Roman Empire
The Seljuk Empire
The Byzantine Empire
The Ottoman Empire, led by Mehmed II, finally conquered Constantinople in 1453 C.E. bringing to an end the thousand year reign of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire emerged from the Eastern Roman Empire, which survived the fall of Rome in the fifth century. For hundreds of years the Byzantine Empire, and the city of Constantinople, was one of the most power and wealthy places in the world. However, with the Fall of Constantinople, the rise of the Ottomans as the preeminent power in the region was complete and the Byzantines were no more.
Example Question #5 : Southwest Asia
Which empire was often referred to as “the sick man of Europe” during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
The Spanish Empire
The Ottoman Empire
The British Empire
The Austro-Hungarian Empire
The Russian Empire
The Ottoman Empire
The “sick man of Europe” was a term first applied to the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the nineteenth century. At the time, the Ottoman Empire was suffering from extreme economic stagnation and had been, for some time, hemorrhaging territory to other empires in a series of disastrous wars. The term has since been used liberally to describe several failing European states and empires.
Example Question #4 : Southwest Asia
What motivated the British to support the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth century?
Desire to prevent the French Empire from expanding into the Middle East
Respect for the history and traditions of the Ottoman Empire
Loss of economic opportunities and trading rights in the region
Fears of Russian expansion into the Mediterranean
Repayment of a debt sustained during the Crimean War
Fears of Russian expansion into the Mediterranean
Much of British foreign policy in the latter decades of the nineteenth century was intended to combat Russian desires for territorial expansion. The British initially opposed the Russians in the Crimean War and then turned their attentions to bolstering the weakened Ottoman Empire against Russian occupation. The British were very fearful of the consequences to British hegemony if Russia was able to capture Istanbul, or any other important Ottoman city on the Mediterranean.
Example Question #5 : Southwest Asia
Janissaries were __________.
Christian missionaries who established outposts in the Ottoman Empire and encouraged religious toleration across the empire
Christian boys kidnapped and raised as highly trained troops in the Ottoman army
Islamic missionaries who spread the faith to Indonesia and the Philippines
Outcasts in Ottoman society who helped undermine the regime of the Sultans from within
None of the other answer choices is correct; Janissaries were troops in the Russian Empire of Peter the Great
Christian boys kidnapped and raised as highly trained troops in the Ottoman army
Janissaries were elite troops in the Ottoman army from the middle of the fourteenth century until the early nineteenth century. They were Christian boys kidnapped from the Balkans and Central Europe and raised to be members of a highly organized fighting force.
Example Question #3 : Southwest Asia
The country of Afghanistan was a __________ colony during the nineteenth century.
Chinese
Ottoman
French
Russian
British
British
Afghanistan was conquered by the British in the nineteenth century, but due to its mountainous terrain and established history of guerrilla warfare against invading people, the British found it very difficult to hold the territory. It was an experience and challenge that would be repeated by the Russians and the Americans in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Example Question #4 : Southwest Asia
Which of these Empires was commonly referred to as "the sickman of Europe" by the end of the ninteenth century?
The Greek Empire
The Ottoman Empire
The Seljuk Empire
The Byzantine Empire
The Polish Empire
The Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire was the dominant empire of the Middle East and North Africa for much of the Early Modern and Enlightenment period, but by the middle of the ninteenth century the influence of the Ottoman Empire had declined significantly. Many of the Balkan countries declared independence in the last few decades of the century, including Greece, and the Ottoman Empire was being propped up by the French and the British, who wanted to use the declining force as a buffer against Russian expansionist goals.
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