Third Quarter Comprehensive Exam
EUROPEAN HISTORY
SECTION I
Time—55 minutes
80 Questions
Directions: Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case and then fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet.
1. In his critique of the Roman Catholic Church, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses focused most on the
(A) corruption of Pope Alexander VI
(B) lack of Biblical justification for the selling of indulgences
(C) nepotism in the appointment church offices
(D) inaccuracies in the translation of the Latin Vulgate
(E) clerical ignorance that existed in many German parishes
2. Which of the following Renaissance writers was well-known for his emphasis on courtly manners and achieving excellence in many different disciplines?
(A) Francesco Petrarch
(B) François Rabeleis
(C) Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples
(D) Baldassare Castiglione
(E) Lorenzo Valla
3. “All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or the other of these ends, we say that he has been predestined to life or death…”
This statement reflects an essential view of
(A) Teresa of Avila
(B) John Calvin
(C) Martin Luther
(D) Pope Paul III
(E) Menno Simons
4. Which of the following was most important in discovering the way in which the human body’s blood circulatory system works?
(A) Robert Koch
(B) Anton van Leeuwenhoek
(C) William Harvey
(D) Andreas Vesalius
(E) Edward Jenner
El Escorial, 1563-1584
5. The above image of the Escorial in Spain best reflects
(A) the height of baroque architecture in sixteenth-century Spain
(B) the failure of the reconquista to achieve its goals in the fifteenth century
(C) the excessive spending on grandiose projects that bankrupted the government of Philip II
(D) the strong connection between the monarchy and church authority
(E) the strong influence of mannerism in Spanish architecture
6. Which of the following statements best explains how humanism influenced the Protestant Reformation?
(A) The secular character of humanism caused a counter reaction among religious leaders.
(B) The visual arts during the High Renaissance had a profound impact on religious reformers.
(C) The humanistic ideals of the Middle Ages encouraged a spiritual and personal relationship with God.
(D) New Latin and Greek translations of the Bible influenced Church reformers to challenge Catholic authority.
(E) Most religious leaders of the Protestant Reformation were prominent humanist writers who intensively studied the Greek and Roman classics.
7. What was the significance of the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon to Isabella of Castile?
(A) It brought Spain into an alliance with France.
(B) It signaled the rise of the hacienda as a powerful political institution.
(C) It united the two largest states in Spain under one kingdom.
(D) It signaled the decline of the Holy Roman Empire.
(E) It ushered a new era of Muslim invasions into southern Spain.
8. Which of the following denounced the secularism of the Renaissance and created a theocratic republic in Florence in the late-fifteenth century?
(A) Girolamo Savonarola
(B) Leonardo Bruni
(C) Cesare Borgia
(D) Cosimo d’ Medici
(E) Pope Julius II
9. Which of the following statements best reflects the Elizabethan Settlement during late-sixteenth century?
(A) The doctrine of the Anglican Church was essentially Calvinist.
(B) The doctrine of the Anglican Church returned to its original form under Henry VIII.
(C) The doctrine of the Anglican Church was essentially Protestant with some Catholic rituals.
(D) The doctrine of the Anglican Church remained fiercely Catholic.
(E) The doctrine of the Anglican Church allowed clergy members to marry and reinstated monasteries.
10. Which of the following further developed absolutism in France by introducing the intendant system?
(A) Henry IV
(B) Francis I
(C) Cardinal Richelieu
(D) Louis XIV
(E) Jean-Baptiste Colbert
11. Which one of the following statements best characterizes the differences between John Locke’s “state of nature” and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “state of nature?”
(A) Locke called for reform; Rousseau was satisfied with the status quo.
(B) Rousseau’s “state of nature” did not have political connotations.
(C) Rousseau’s “state of nature” was one of economic equality.
(D) Locke’s “state of nature” ended with a “social contract,” while Rousseau’s did not.
(E) Locke’s “state of nature” envisioned a violent and dangerous society.
12. While France developed absolutism during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the English monarchy was checked by
(A) a strong peasantry
(B) a few powerful and independent noble families
(C) a Bill of Rights guaranteeing individual freedoms
(D) the Anglican Church
(E) a strong Parliament
13. The largest European import from the New World that required massive African slave labor in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was
(A) sugar
(B) tobacco
(C) gold and silver
(D) rice
(E) potatoes
14. Which of the following treaties represented the biggest setback for France in terms of lost territory?
(A) Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, 1559
(B) Treaty of Westphalia, 1648
(C) Treaty of Paris, 1763
(D) Treaty of Paris, 1783
(E) Treaty of Versailles, 1919
15. Which of the following pairs of philosophers are most closely identified with skepticism?
(A) Pico and Ficino
(B) Montaigne and Hume
(C) Bodin and Bossuet
(D) Kant and Hegel
(E) Dumas and Zola
16. All of the following were new technologies used during World War One EXCEPT
(A) radio
(B) chemical weapons
(C) telephones
(D) submarines
(E) airplanes
17. A major cause of the War of Austrian Succession was Frederick the Great’s violation of the
(A) Pragmatic Sanction
(B) Concordat of Bologna
(C) Edict of Fountainbleu
(D) Edict of Restitution
(E) asiento
18. Which of the following rulers had the biggest impact on reshaping Russia’s social structure?
(A) Ivan the IV
(B) Michael Romanov
(C) Peter the Great
(D) Catherine the Great
(E) Alexander II
19. Which of the following was most important in defending Protestant self-rule in the Netherlands in the late sixteenth century?
(A) Mary Tudor
(B) Charles V
(C) William of Orange
(D) Catherine de Medicis
(E) Henry IV
20. Robert Walpole was notable for
(A) being the first English prime minister
(B) working to perfect the steam engine
(C) leading the British trade union movement
(D) innovation as a physicist
(E) writing romantic poetry
21. Which of the following people would most likely have had the above 1628 frontispiece included in his book?
(A) Nicolaus Copernicus
(B) Johannes Kepler
(C) Pope Pius IX
(D) Johannes Gutenberg
(E) Max Planck
22. The historical significance of Prince Henry the Navigator was his
(A) centralization of power that became the model for the “New Monarchs”
(B) discovery of Brazil in the early-fifteenth century with the use of modern instruments
(C) failure to maintain Catholic dominance in the Low Countries
(D) encouragement of Portuguese expeditions on the western coast of Africa
(E) role in instigating the religiously-motivated French Civil Wars
23. Which of the following is NOT a provision of the English Bill of Rights (1689)?
(A) Only Parliament can levy taxes.
(B) The king may maintain a standing army without the consent of Parliament.
(C) All rights must be made with the consent of Parliament.
(D) The right of trial by jury is guaranteed.
(E) Due process of law is guaranteed.
24. Which of the following was the most important cause of the population explosion in Europe after 1750?
(A) The industrial revolution
(B) The eradication of the bubonic plague
(C) The agricultural revolution
(D) The smallpox vaccine
(E) The decrease in illegitimate births
25. Women played important roles in all of the following movements EXCEPT
(A) the Protestant Reformation
(B) the French salon movement
(C) the French Revolution
(D) the Russian Revolution
(E) the socialist movement
26. Which of the following was a result of the Thirty Years’ War?
(A) The independence of Belgium
(B) The decline of Lutheranism in northern Germany
(C) The death of approximately one-third of the German population
(D) The acquisition for Russia of territory on the Baltic Sea
(E) The end to the expansionist ambitions of Louis XIV
27. Which of the following was most important in reducing the political power of the nobility in early modern Europe?
(A) Increase in the use of mercenary armies
(B) Introduction of firearms and cannon
(C) Use of the crossbow
(D) Rise in the influence of knights and vassals
(E) Naval warfare
28. Which of the following had the largest impact on the development of deism in the eighteenth century?
(A) John Wesley and the emergence of Methodism.
(B) The universal laws of gravitation proposed by Isaac Newton.
(C) The rise of superstition due to natural calamities.
(D) European colonial penetration into the interior of Asia.
(E) The American and French Revolutions.
Peter Breughel, Peasant Wedding, c. 1565
29. Which of the following statements best reflects the above painting?
(A) The artist’s technique demonstrates strong influences from the art of the Middle Ages.
(B) It is a quintessential example of High Renaissance painting in Italy.
(C) It exemplifies the religious ideals of the Northern Renaissance.
(D) It serves as a window into the ordinary lives of people in the Low Countries.
(E) It demonstrates the gender inequalities that existed in Renaissance society.
30. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
--Karl Marx
The above quotation helps explain which of the following?
(A) The failures of the Revolutions of 1848
(B) The failure of socialist revisionism in the late-nineteenth century
(C) The rising influence of the Eastern Orthodox Church in central Europe
(D) The triumph of the Paris Commune in 1871
(E) The atheism of the Bolshevik Revolution in the early twentieth century
31. Which of the following is most closely associated with nineteenth-century nationalism?
(A) John Stuart Mill
(B) Friederich Engels
(C) Johann Gottfried Herder
(D) Keir Hardie
(E) Rosa Luxemburg
32. The impact of the Versailles Treaty of 1919 on European diplomacy differed from the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) because the Congress of Vienna
(A) prevented a major world war for nearly a century
(B) promoted liberalism and capitalism throughout Europe
(C) created numerous independent states based on ethnic and linguistic unity
(D) failed to create a coalition of major countries that would ensure a balance of power
(E) toppled Old Regime monarchies and replaced them with new ruling families
33. In the period from 1852 to 1871, when Napoleon III was leader, France could best be described as a(an)
(A) permanent republic
(B) absolute monarchy
(C) constitutional monarchy
(D) socialist commonwealth
(E) liberal democracy
34. Which of the following best characterizes the condition of the middle class in western Europe in the mid-nineteenth century?
(A) Married women enjoyed increased job opportunities.
(B) The average family grew in size due to increased wealth.
(C) The standard of living decreased as industrialism replaced skilled craft occupations.
(D) Morality and education issues often dictated family decisions.
(E) Children were increasingly separated from their families due to the changing economy.
35. All of the following are examples of conservative political measures in Europe between 1815 and 1850 EXCEPT
(A) the Carlsbad Decrees
(B) the Peterloo Massacre
(C) the Holy Alliance
(D) the repeal of the Corn Laws
(E) the Congress System
36. A distinguishing feature of the Austrian Empire in the nineteenth century was its
(A) incorporation of an influential liberal parliament alongside a conservative monarchy
(B) struggle to resolve conflicts among large groups of ethnic minorities
(C) cultural unity and political cohesion compared to other eastern European states
(D) rapid industrialization and dominance of manufacturing in central Europe
(E) military dominance after 1850
37. The assumption of the German throne by Wilhelm II in 1888 led to the
(A) rise of the middle class as Germany’s most influential social class
(B) systematic oppression of German Catholics
(C) decline in the stability of European diplomatic arrangements
(D) abolition of serfdom throughout most of the German states
(E) increase in military and economic cooperation between Germany and Russia
38. Which of the following statements is correct regarding the “Eastern Question” of the late-nineteenth century?
(A) European empires were competing to dominate trade in Asia.
(B) The Great Powers struggled over who would control Balkan territories liberated from the Ottoman Empire.
(C) Europeans were interested in expanding its economic influence throughout the Middle East.
(D) Russia and Japan became increasingly hostile towards one another regarding northeastern China.
(E) A great debate occurred in Japan regarding the incorporation of European industrial and military methods.
39. All of the following were significant causes of the French Revolution EXCEPT
(A) the high cost of wars throughout the eighteenth century
(B) the liberal influences of the American Revolution
(C) the refusal of French nobles to grant tax increases requested by Louis XVI
(D) poor harvests and economic depression in the 1780s
(E) the oppressive conditions among the French peasantry
40. Recent challenges to the traditional explanation of the origins of the French Revolution have centered on the fact that
(A) the Old Regime did not correspond to the social reality by the late-eighteenth century.
(B) the clergy played a liberal role in French society.
(C) the revolution broke out all over France, not just in Paris.
(D) the lower middle class was actually more reactionary than radical.
(E) the nobility and upper bourgeoisie were not necessarily enemies.
41. By 1850, the industrialism in Continental Europe differed from industrialism in England because