World History Final

In the latter part of the twentieth century, weak states and limits to the rule of law led to many gruesome outbreaks of violence in which of the following regions?

Africa

In which of the following ways was the Prague Spring in 1968 similar to the Hungarian uprising in 1956?

Both attempts to decrease communist authoritarianism in eastern Europe were crushed by the Soviet military.

How did Amnesty International respond to countries such as Argentina and Chile killing and torturing civilians?

By cataloguing and publicizing human right violations

By the end of the twentieth century, which of the following permitted large numbers of people to communicate across global networks more easily than with their neighbors?

Commercial Web browsers and the Internet

Which of the following explains development economists' beliefs that modern famines in Africa are not natural disasters, but are man-made?

Famines usually result from government policies that ignore rural areas and inhibit the production or distribution of food.

Which of the following is a reason why historians have described World War II as a total global conflict?

Fighting in World War II took place on three continents and included soldiers from all continents except Antarctica.

Which of the following sports most clearly exemplifies the globalizing impact of television in the last part of the twentieth century?

Soccer

In the late-twentieth-century United States, which of the following was often attacked by religious conservatives?

Social changes stemming from the liberation movements of the 1960s and 1970s

How did South Africa achieve majority rule?

South Africa achieved majority rule through negotiations between the ruling minority government and African liberation activists, followed by free elections.

Which of the following is a reason why some First World powers supported South Africa during the 1950s and 1960s?

South Africa was anticommunist.

Which of the following factors led to the failure of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward in 1958?

The communes failed to provide enough food to avoid famine and the manufactured goods were inferior.

During the 1970s and 1980s, which of the following caused internal trouble for both the Soviet Union and the United States?

The cost of the arms buildup

In the 1970s, which of the following led to declining migration northward from southern European countries, such as Spain and Italy?

The economic situation improved in southern Europe, slowing the emigration rate.

Which of the following contributed to the globalization of the late-twentieth-century world?

The emergence of a unified world market

Which of the following is an accurate comparison between the Solidarity movement in Poland in the 1980s and the Prague Spring in 1968?

The goal of Solidarity was to overcome socialism, while the Prague Spring sought to reform it

Why did the populations of richer nations grow more slowly than the populations of poorer nations at the end of the twentieth century?

Access to birth control, education, and better career prospects encouraged women to postpone childbearing.

For which of the following reasons did President Harry Truman authorize use of the atomic bomb in 1945?

An Allied invasion of Japan would cost hundreds of thousands of American lives, since the Japanese had vowed to defend the main islands to the last man, woman, or child.

During the 1950s, Americans expressed anxiety about communism in which of the following ways?

Anticommunist rhetoric led to attacks on civil liberties of individuals suspected of being communists or communist sympathizers.

Why did the development of more effective nuclear weapons ultimately decrease the risk of a direct confrontation between the United States and the USSR?

Any conflict that involved nuclear weapons had the potential to destroy the world.

How did the Arab-Israeli War of 1947-1948 help shatter the legitimacy of Arab ruling elites?

Arab states were poorly prepared to take on the Israeli Defense Force and eventually lost territory granted to them by the United Nations' partition.

Which of the following led to the internal migration of 12 million South Asians in 1947?

Both Hindus and Muslims left their homes to relocate to the new countries, India or Pakistan, after more than a million people were killed in religious conflicts.

Which of the following accurately compares the Germans and Japanese during the 1930s and 1940s?

Both developed theories of racial superiority.

Why did the end of the Cold War lead to outbreaks of violence in the Balkans?

Demagogues led people to see themselves as citizens of ethnically defined nations rather than pluralistic communities.

In the last decades of the twentieth century, which of the following had the largest impact on family life?

Divorce rates rose dramatically, diminishing the number of nuclear families.

Why did Egypt emerge as a potent symbol of pan-Arab nationalism in 1956?

Egypt's military under Nasser was able to reclaim the Suez Canal from the British, French, and Israelis.

As the feminist movement became a global movement, women worldwide called for which of the following changes to their status?

Equal pay and equal opportunity for advancement

Which of the following was an outcome of the end of colonial rule in sub-Saharan Africa?

Ethnic and religious rivalries that colonial rule had previously kept in check came to the surface.

Which of the following encouraged the European powers to surrender their African colonies?

European powers were too deep in debt to invest more in pacifying the discontented Africans.

Which of the following European claims did the systematic implementation of the Nazi genocide challenge?

Europeans had claimed that science, technology, and an efficient bureaucracy would make life better for all.

Farmers throughout the world were able to benefit from the introduction of "green revolution" technologies to agriculture

False

India and China both achieved political independence peacefully.

False

Japan began its military expansion into mainland Asia after World War II began.

False

The Cold War superpowers stayed out of civil wars in Third World countries, believing that such conflicts ought to be resolved internally.

False

The primary reason for the dramatic increase in the global population during the late twentieth century was an increase in the birthrate.

False

Which of the following led Zionist militants to use force to attempt to gain statehood?

Following World War II, the British restricted the immigration of hundreds of thousands of concentration camp survivors.

Which of the following statements most accurately characterizes the effects of globalization?

Globalization has created new possibilities and also deepened disparities of income and power between and within the world's regions and peoples.

Which of the following techniques did Hitler use to create his racially based new world order?

He set up puppet governments that complied with deportation orders for Jews.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reach a new level of influence in the latter part of the twentieth century for which of the following reasons?

In the 1970s, people could not rely on the world's many nondemocratic governments to protect human rights.

Which of the following was one of the causes of the protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989?

Increasing public awareness of government corruption

Which of the following led to the end of white minority rule in Rhodesia in 1979?

Independent African states supported a successful guerrilla movement under Robert Mugabe.

How did the international division of labor in the production of goods change between the period immediately following World War II and the end of the twentieth century?

Industrial production increasingly moved to new centers of manufacturing, especially in East Asia

Which of the following religiously based groups had a long tradition of offering alternatives to Western forms of government and political philosophy?

Islamic conservatism

Under what circumstances did the Cold War become a "hot" war?

It became a hot war when the United States and the Soviet Union armed their Third World allies and encouraged proxy wars.

What challenge did rising immigration in the latter twentieth century pose to nation-states in Europe and East Asia?

It challenged their sense of national selfhood that was built on cultural homogeneity.

Which of the following was a consequence of Rachel Carson's book, The Silent Spring?

It led to the environmental movement which questioned many of the ideas about economic progress and material prosperity upon which the "American Dream" had rested.

What was the Marshall Plan's goal?

Its goal was to limit the appeal of communism in Europe by providing grants for reconstruction to democratic governments.

How did the Korean War transform Japan's relationship with the winners of World War II?

Japan became an important ally of the United States in the fight against communism.

How did Japan justify its conquest of neighboring territory during World War II?

Japan claimed that it was driving out European imperialists and establishing "Asia for the Asians."

In what way did the Internet revolution reinforce the disparity between haves and have-nots in the 1990s?

Large numbers of the world's people, especially in poor or rural areas, did not have access to the Internet.

Which of the following led to the survival of local cultures at the end of the twentieth century?

Local cultures lived on, and in some cases were revived, through challenges to the authority of nation-states.

Why did communism appeal to many Europeans after World War II?

Many eastern Europeans, reacting to the horrors of fascism, looked to the Soviets for solutions to rebuild society.

Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika reform program included which of the following?

Multicandidate elections for Communist party posts

In the 1980s and 1990s, which of the following highlighted the declining efficacy of the nation-state?

Nation-states could not adequately regulate human impact on the environment, such as global warming.

Which of the following was a reason why the populations of poorer regions of the world suffered more often from preventable diseases such as cholera than the populations of wealthier regions?

People living in urban slums in underdeveloped countries often lacked proper sewage treatment and safe water supplies.

Which of the following was a common pattern in global migration during the latter part of the twentieth century?

People moved from former colonies to countries that had once colonized them.

By the end of the twentieth century, what type of marketable products had become key to any country's acquisition of wealth and power?

Pharmaceuticals, computers and software, as well as services

Which of the following was a response to Khrushchev's speech in 1956 attempting to separate Stalinism from true communism?

Polish and Hungarian intellectuals tried to break away from strict communist controls.

In which of the following ways did the United States attempt to counter growing radicalism in Latin America?

President Kennedy sent advisors to dole out aid, explain how to reform local land systems, and to demonstrate the benefits of liberal capitalism.

Which of the following is a reason why homesteaders' attempts to farm and ranch in the Amazon rainforest ultimately were unsuccessful?

Rainforest soils were poor and easily eroded, and land titles were not secure.

Which of the following undermined the authority of national governments after the 1970s?

Religious groups often came into conflict with one another and with secular governments.

Which of the following was one of the principal causes of World War II?

Resentment lingered over the punitive treaties imposed after World War I.

Which of the following is a reason that communism lost its appeal in post-World War II western Europe?

Strong economic growth led to increased standards of living and expanded access to services like education and health care.

Which of the following first tested President Truman's containment policy?

The Berlin blockade

Which Cold War event brought the world closest to nuclear war?

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Which regional trade group expanded its scope to include the creation of a new international currency?

The European Union

Which of the following is a reason why the Algerian War of Independence shocked French citizens and the colons?

The French government had declared that Algeria was not a colony, but an integral part of France.

Which of the following saved Chinese communists from being overwhelmed by Nationalist forces in the Chinese Civil War?

The Japanese invasion diverted Nationalist troops from pursuing the communists into the Chinese interior.

Why did Stalin believe that the Soviet Union deserved to dominate eastern Europe?

The Soviet Union had sacrificed so many people in the war against fascism.

During the 1980s, which of the following was an effect of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?

The Soviet army lost prestige in the stalemate that developed.

During the 1970s and 1980s, which of the following most significantly weakened the Soviet bloc?

The Soviet bloc's Western rivals outpaced the bloc economically.

Which of the following was the main reason that the United States became involved in the conflict between North and South Vietnam?

The United States supported South Vietnam because it feared the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia.

Which of the following led to increased agricultural production in China in the late 1970s?

The government broke up some collectives and restored the family as the basic economic unit in rural areas.

Following World War II, which of the following emerged as the prevailing global political organization?

The nation-state

Which of the following factors encouraged the British to transfer power quickly to the Indian National Congress following World War II?

The threat of radicalized peasant uprisings prompted the British to expedite the transfer of power to the middle-class leaders of the Indian National Congress.

Which of the following led European Jews to migrate to Palestine during the first half of the twentieth century?

They believed that returning to their place of origin would lead to self-determination.

Multinational corporations had which of the following impacts on Third World countries?

They expanded countries' agricultural and manufacturing sectors, but impeded the growt

Why were the World Bank and International Monetary Fund accused of engaging in neo-imperialism at the end of the twentieth century?

They forced changes in policy on recipients of aid in exchange for their assistance.

How did Pacific Rim nations such as South Korea and Taiwan escape the typical Third World cycle of poverty and dependence?

They used regulation to promote new industries and required multinationals to cooperate with local firms.

Which of the following was a primary goal of the truth commission process used during transitions from oppressive governments to democratic ones?

To increase the legitimacy of the new democratic government

American culture is highly influential in the globalized modern world, but it is also influenced by ideas and cultural traditions from other parts of the world.

True

The reason that Nazi bureaucrats decided to exterminate, instead of deporting, the Jewish population of eastern Europe was that they believed that deportation was too costly.

True

While many things about the global economy changed during the latter twentieth century, countries that depended on raw materials production remained poor and vulnerable to economic fluctuations.

True

Which of the following groups of Africans led anticolonial movements immediately following World War II?

Urban unemployed, former servicemen, Western-educated indigenous elites

What happened to the global distribution of wealth by the end of the twentieth century?

Wealth became concentrated in small groups of rich people scattered around the world

In post-World War II western Europe, the "woman question" concerned what new problem?

Women were making gains in the workplace, but without a proportional decrease in domestic responsibility.