Deck 10: Postwar Europe: on the Path to Unity

Question 1

The Rome Treaty of 1957 established which of the following organizations?

A)European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
B)European Economic Community (EEC)
C)European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)

Answer 1

European Economic Community (EEC)

Question 2

In the aftermath of the disaster of World War II, some Europeans looked to which state for a model for the future?

A)The People's Republic of China
B)The Soviet Union
C)Japan

Answer 2

The Soviet Union

Question 3

In 1945, what important advantage did the nations of western and central Europe have?

A)Widespread prosperity resulting from the rearming during World War II
B)Overwhelming confidence that in defeating Nazism triumphant democracy was permanently established
C)Support and assistance of the United States

Answer 3

Support and assistance of the United States

Question 4

To distance itself from its memories of the Hitler era, after World War II, the capital of Germany was moved from Berlin to which city?

A)Frankfurt
B)Munich
C)Bonn

Question 5

The reunification of Germany after 1989 was complicated by which of the following?

A)The Soviet Union's demand that all police files be shipped to Moscow
B)The resulting surplus of German labor, necessitating the immediate expulsion of all "guest workers"
C)The appearance of neo-Nazi attitudes, often directed against foreign workers

Question 6

The disintegration of Yugoslavia was accompanied by which of the following?

A)Serious conflicts between protestant, catholic, and Muslim communities in the Balkans
B)Ethnic cleansing by Serbians seeking to achieve ethnic homogeneity
C)Economic collapse due to hyperinflation

Question 7

In which former Yugoslavian province did war break out in 1999, eventually requiring NATO intervention?

A)Slovenia
B)Bosnia-Herzegovina
C)Kosovo

Question 8

Problems facing the states of Eastern Europe after the fall of the Communist governments in the revolutions of 1989 included which of the following?

A)An attempt by Russia to regain its power and influence through the threat of force
B)A belief that authoritarian governments were the proper rulers of society
C)How to introduce a market economy and democratic practices

Question 9

Who pursued the policy of Ostpolitik and received the Nobel Peace Prize for his "opening toward the east"?

A)Walter Ulbricht
B)Konrad Adenauer
C)Willy Brandt

Question 10

The crisis in Yugoslavia began with which of the following events?

A)Its defeat in World War II
B)The death of Marshal Tito in 1980
C)The Soviet invasion and occupation in 1956

Question 11

The implementation of the welfare state led Britain to do which of the following?

A)Seek greater economic profits from its expanding empire.
B)Ignore mere "political" issues such as the "troubles" in Northern Ireland.
C)Reduce its overseas expenses by dismantling its empire and reducing foreign aid.

Question 12

The welfare state in Great Britain included all of the following except which?

A)The National Health Service Act
B)Guarantees of life-time employment
C)The National Insurance Act

Question 13

In 1990, riots broke out in Great Britain because of which event?

A)Defeat by Argentina in the Falkland War
B)France's refusal to support Great Britain's application to join the European Community
C)A proposal by the Thatcher government to institute a poll tax to be paid by all adults

Question 14

How is Margaret Thatcher's "Thatcherism" best described?

A)It resulted in an increase in government bureaucracy.
B)It supported expanding the power of the labor unions.
C)It limited social welfare and broke the power of the unions.

Question 15

Which British Prime Minister's government instituted Britain's welfare state?

A)Clement Atlee
B)Joseph Chamberlain
C)David Lloyd George

Question 16

The causes of Great Britain's economic decline after World War II included all of the following except which?

A)Excessive demands by labor unions
B)Laissez-faire policies by the government
C)Unwillingness to invest in modern industrial technology

Question 17

Who was the "founding hero" of the West German Federal Republic?

A)Walter Ulbricht
B)Konrad Adenauer
C)Helmut Kohl

Question 18

In the 1990s Treaty of Maastricht, the nations of the European Community agreed to which of the following?

A)To admit Russia and the other nations of Eastern Europe
B)To create an economic and monetary union, soon to be called the European Union
C)To establish a European minimum wage and maximum price regulation

Question 19

Germany's "economic miracle" included all of the following except which?

A)Unemployment dropped to 0.4 percent by 1965.
B)Hundreds of thousands of "guest workers" were imported in order to maintain its economic expansion.
C)All banks and major industries were nationalized by the government.

Question 20

Who was the American President that Tony Blair most compared to?

A)The left-centrist Bill Clinton
B)The right-wing conservative Ronald Reagan
C)The left-wing liberal Barack Obama

Question 21

The Common Market had what result?

A)It created a six nation free-trade area.
B)It established a policy of free trade within all of Europe.
C)It was created by the United States in order to forestall the development of a United States of Europe.

Question 22

Which political parties played the most important role in the economic recovery of Italy and Germany?

A)Socialist Laborites
B)Christian Democrats
C)Christian Conservatives

Question 23

What are the key principles of Ostpolitik?

Question 24

The financial crisis of 2008 hit which EU country hardest?

A)Greece
B)Ireland
C)Italy

Question 25

How is the Eurocommunism after World War II best described?

A)It opposed democratic method of achieving power.
B)It demanded that Europe be incorporated into the Soviet Union.
C)It attempted to work within the democratic political party system.

Question 26

How did Mitterrand respond to the recession in the 1970s and 1980s?

Question 27

Simone de Beauvoir wrote The Second Sex, the argument of which is best summarized how?

A)Women have been systematically treated as inherently different to men, which has caused them to become "second-class citizens."
B)Women have their own inherent virtues that make them more qualified to run society.
C)Women are slaves to men, and men are little more than violent oppressors of half of the world's population.

Question 28

What was the Common Market?

Question 29

The movement that denied that there was any inherent meaning to languages and words was called which of the following?

A)Deconstructionism
B)Structuralism
C)Existentialism

Question 30

Which conflict represents the most enduring challenge to the EU project?

A)Balancing the interests of member states against the good of all of Europe
B)Deciding what foreign policy position to take on Russian relations
C)Funding the large, multinational European military

Question 31

What does Brexit refer to?

A)Brussels refusing to adjudicate intermember disputes
B)New EU restrictions against spending in British pounds
C)Britain's 2016 decision to leave the EU

Question 32

Which of the following was true of the European Community in 1992?

A)It transacted one-quarter of the world's commerce.
B)It had a population of 100 million.
C)It had become a true United States of Europe, politically as well as economically.

Question 33

The European Union agreed to introduce a common currency by 2002 called what?

A)Pound
B)Euro
C)European Dollar

Question 34

What is the fundamental premise of existentialism?

A)Human destiny is programmed by the laws of natural science, and this destiny cannot be avoided.
B)Humans are adrift in an absurd world in which no inherent meaning exists; it is up to each of us to make meaning of it.
C)All humans are in some part a reflection of divinity and happiness is simply a matter of finding and displaying that divinity.

Question 35

What was the cause of the 2005 riots in France?

Question 36

One of the results of the economic recovery of Europe after World War II was which of the following?

A)A decline in prosperity and affluence
B)Mass consumerism
C)An increase in industrial workers

Question 37

The European Economic Community was also known as which of the following?

A)Group of Six
B)Common Market
C)Alliance for Progress

Question 38

What effect did Marshall Plan aid have on industry in western Europe?

Question 39

Which country's 1987 application to join the European Union was controversial because of its human rights record and its large Muslim population?

A)Serbia
B)Bulgaria
C)Turkey

Question 40

How did de Gaulle's 1958 constitution change French government?

Question 41

How have supermarkets affected European life?

Question 42

What effect has the erosion of centrist parties had on European politics?

Question 43

What problems did Mitterrand's government face, and how did it respond? How successful was this response?

Question 44

Why was Serbia accused of "ethnic cleansing" in the 1990s?

Question 45

What are the key principles of existentialism?

Question 46

How did the recession of the 1970s and 1980s affect German politics? What role did the state play in addressing the crisis?

Question 47

What role did NATO play in ending the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s?

Question 48

How did Emmanuel Macron's platform differ to those that came before? Discuss at least two other administrations in your response.

Question 49

How was confidence in democratic institutions rebuilt in postwar Europe?

Question 50

What was the purpose of the EEC?

Question 51

What challenges has the EU faced to its integrity?

Question 52

How have women's roles in European society changed since 1945?

Question 53

Why is Tony Blair called a moderate?

Question 54

Why was Charles de Gaulle critical of France's Fourth Republic?

A)Its multiparty parliamentary political system
B)Communist influence at the highest levels of government
C)Its authoritarian presidency

Question 55

How did East and West German economies differ immediately before reunification?

Question 56

Describe the results of industrialization in the former Soviet Empire.

Question 57

Where did the crisis in 1958 that eventually brought down France's Fourth Republic begin?

A)Indochina
B)Algeria
C)Syria

Question 58

What was the outcome of the Treaty of Maastricht?

Question 59

What policies did Margaret Thatcher pursue that made her so unpopular?

Question 60

What successes has the EU had?

Question 61

How did the environment become such an important aspect of European politics? Does this explain why Europe has assumed the leadership role in efforts to address climate change?

Question 62

What arguments were made for and against Brexit? What was the result?

Question 63

How did Sartre and Camus reflect existentialist principles in their works?

Question 64

What European social programs exist? Which of those are seen as essential, and to what extent had this sentiment produced serious financial challenges?

Question 65

Why did the conflicts in the Balkans erupt in the 1990s? How were they resolved, and what was the result of that resolution?

Question 66

France was similar to Germany in what way?

A)Eastern France suffered from high unemployment, while western France and Paris prospered due to tourism.
B)The French secret police, the equivalent to East Germany's Stasi, had become corrupt, blackmailing politicians and businessmen.
C)Resentment against foreigners, particularly Muslims from North Africa, led to an anti-immigrant movement headed by Jean-Marie Le Pen and his National Front.

Question 67

Describe Merkel's main initiatives during her tenure as Germany's chancellor.

Question 68

Which of the following was one of Charles de Gaulle's foreign policy initiatives?

A)France accepted a seat on the United Nations' Security Council.
B)France withdrew from NATO.
C)France left the Common Market.

Question 69

In comparison with France's Fourth Republic, how is the Fifth Republic best described?

A)It increased the power of the French president.
B)It decreased the power of the president and increased the authority of the prime minister.
C)It was more directly democratic.

Question 70

Which event eventually led to the resignation of Charles de Gaulle as president of France?

A)The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, ending the "Prague Spring"
B)The failure to keep Algeria within the French Empire
C)A general strike by labor unions and a series of student riots

Question 71

Describe the important stages in the formation of the European Union.

Question 72

Which is the most serious contemporary challenge to the future of the EU, Putin's aggression, Turkey's pending application, or Brexit? Why?

Question 73

How have women's roles in European society changed since 1945? To what extent have they improved, and to what extent have they remained the same or worsened?

Question 74

Explain the rise of extreme right-wing and left-wing parties in Europe. Why are so many European right-wing parties also anti-immigrant?

Question 75

To what extent did the success of her policies and to what extent did victory in the Falklands War finally transform the Thatcher government into a popular one?