Deck 28: Rebuilding Europe and Russia, Since 1945

Question 1

Which of the following was NOT a founding member of the Common Market/European Community in 1957?

A) France
B) Italy
C) Britain

Answer 1

Britain

Question 2

What best describes Nikita Khrushchev compared to Joseph Stalin, his predecessor?

A) Khrushchev differed significantly from Stalin and allowed criticism of his policies.
B) Khrushchev idolized Stalin and tried to continue his policies.
C) Khrushchev built on Stalin's policies and concentrated more power into his own hands.

Answer 2

Khrushchev differed significantly from Stalin and allowed criticism of his policies.

Question 3

What was the main objective of the Marshall Plan from 1948 to 1952?

A) To make Europe dependent on the United States
B) To prevent the spread of communism
C) To extract industrial and nuclear secrets from Europe

Answer 3

To prevent the spread of communism

Question 4

West German leader Willy Brandt's policy of Ostpolitik primarily sought to ease relations with what other country?

A) USSR
B) Poland
C) East Germany

Question 5

In 1973, the European economy was brought to a standstill by a quadrupling of prices for what commodity?

A) Rubber
B) Wheat
C) Oil

Question 6

Which of the following was created at the Hague Congress in 1948?

A) European Economic Community
B) United Nations
C) A court of human rights

Question 7

Why did the Soviet Union create the Warsaw Pact?

A) To respond to the formation of NATO
B) To consolidate Soviet control over Poland
C) To reduce nuclear armaments with the United States

Question 8

Which of the following is the best summary of the philosophy promoted by Sartre?

A) There is no point to living, so obey no rules.
B) Life is best lived in accordance with universal principles.
C) The meaning of life is what you make of it.

Question 9

The political philosophy behind the welfare states of western Europe is best described as a combination of which to ideologies?

A) Liberalism and communism
B) Democracy and socialism
C) Conservatism and authoritarianism

Question 10

Skeptics of the European Community (Euro-Skeptics) worried that the union minimized which of the following?

A) Connections with North America
B) The authority of national parliaments
C) Possibilities for friendly relations with communist countries

Question 11

How did Soviet leaders respond to reform movements in communist countries in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s?

A) They ordered armed interventions to crush them.
B) They held high-level negotiations to implement some of them.
C) They mostly ignored them, thinking things would work out on their own.

Question 12

The Brezhnev Doctrine declared the Soviet Union's support for which of the following?

A) Maintaining the integrity of the Soviet bloc
B) Discouraging communism in satellite governments
C) Preventing the expansion of the Soviet economy

Question 13

Which of the following change in Roman Catholicism resulted from Vatican II in the 1960s?

A) Acknowledged Muhammad as a prophet
B) Reestablished Latin as the only language for Mass
C) Officially ended the condemnation of Protestantism

Question 14

Which of the following was NOT one of the stimuli that challenged the stability of European welfare programs beginning in the 1980s?

A) Increasing exports
B) Rising national debt
C) Unpredictable economic cycles

Question 15

What changes resulted from the student-led strikes of 1968 in Europe?

A) Massive political upheaval
B) Significant education changes
C) Very minimal lasting change

Question 16

What best describes church attendance in Europe by the 1990s?

A) Twice as many Europeans attended church as Americans.
B) Only 10 percent of Europeans regularly attended churches.
C) Europeans and Americans attended church at about the same rate.

Question 17

In 1971, in an effort to stimulate the American economy, Richard Nixon took which of the following steps?

A) He lowered the national minimum wage.
B) He allowed the United States to default on its foreign debts.
C) He devalued the U.S. currency.

Question 18

Which man led the movement to unite Europe and was sometimes referred to as the "Father of United Europe"?

A) Charles De Gaulle
B) Jean Monnet
C) Willy Brandt

Question 19

Who was the leader of the worker's union in Poland that challenged Soviet rule?

A) Alexander Dubcek
B) Lech Walesa
C) Joseph Broz Tito

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a benefit traditionally offered by a "welfare state"?

A) Affordable childcare
B) Inexpensive mass transit
C) Privatized, expensive health care

Question 21

Polls in the early 2000s showed that most Europeans believed the most serious problem in the world to be which of the following?

A) Islamic terrorism
B) American unilateralism
C) Global warming

Question 22

Under President Putin's administration, Russia has done which of the following?

A) Rebuilt its military
B) Severed relations with the United States
C) Created a system of state capitalism

Question 23

What was the purpose of the Warsaw Pact?

Question 24

Control over which of the following has allowed Vladimir Putin to exert significant influence over Russia?

A) Most businesses in Russia
B) The Russian media
C) The anticommunist movement in Russia

Question 25

In the 1990s, which of the following describes events in Yugoslavia?

A) It broke up into several smaller states.
B) Its territorial integrity was maintained by coercion.

Question 26

What was the purpose of the Common Market?

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT a demographic change facing Europe?

A) Declining birthrates
B) Increased immigration from the Middle East
C) An undersupply of qualified labor

Question 28

Gorbachev's reforms had what effect on the Soviet Empire?

A) They did not have much effect outside Russia.
B) They helped modernize the Soviet system into a stronger political union.
C) They weakened Soviet control of its satellites and the Eastern Bloc.

Question 29

What was the Marshall Plan?

Question 30

Why did the allies help West Germany recover from the World War II?

Question 31

What is the best description of attitudes toward the EU in the late 2010s?

A) Most states no longer support membership in the EU.
B) Only core states like France and Germany feel that they benefit from the EU.
C) With some exceptions, most states are still optimistic about the future of the EU.

Question 32

Which of the following are true statements about Willy Brandt?

A) He served as West Germany's chancellor in the 1980s.
B) He was a strong supporter of de-Nazification.
C) He opposed improved relations with France.

Question 33

What was Europe's response to the reunification of Germany and the end of the Cold War?

A) An urge to more fully integrate post-communist countries into the EU
B) An enduring distrust that led many post-communist countries to align with Russia again
C) An ambivalence as western Europeans developed their own prosperous economies

Question 34

What stopped the genocidal "ethnic cleansing" by the Yugoslav Serbs against the Bosnian Muslims?

A) U.N. resolutions
B) An oil embargo
C) Bombing by the United States

Question 35

Which of the following leaders promoted Franco-German friendship after World War II?

A) Jan Hus
B) Konrad Adenauer
C) Mikhail Gorbachev

Question 36

How many former Soviet republics outside of Russia declared independence in 1991?

A) All of them
B) 12
C) 10

Question 37

The policy of "shock therapy" followed by Russian president Yeltsin consisted of which of the following?

A) Reeducating people in democracy, not Communism
B) Quickly switching the economy from a planned to capitalist one
C) Rapidly downsizing the huge military

Question 38

What was the purpose of the British Commonwealth of Nations?

Question 39

What was the purpose of the EEC?

Question 40

Which of the following foreign policies led to Russia's expulsion from the U.N. Security Council?

A) Defiance of international climate change conventions
B) Russian invasions of regional states like Ukraine
C) Russian meddling in foreign elections

Question 41

Which change in European social thought after World War II was the most significant? Why?

Question 42

To what extent did the EEC accomplish its goals in the 1960s? How did economic troubles and aging industrial technology affect the EEC in the 1970s?

Question 43

What were the origins of calls for greater equality between men and women?

Question 44

What is the "welfare state"?

Question 45

How did the Marshall Plan help western Europe recover after World War II? What short-term and long-term effects did this program have on European politics?

Question 46

What was "shock therapy"?

Question 47

What challenges did the late Soviet Union face?

Question 48

Describe the key components of Gorbachev's policy changes.

Question 49

What were Brezhnev's policies toward eastern Europe?

Question 50

What are some of the most pressing economic problems Europe faces today?

Question 51

By 1960, which European country had the fifth's largest trade in manufactured goods in the world?

A) Britain
B) United States
C) West Germany

Question 52

What did the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 accomplish?

Question 53

To what extent did the Cold War come to dominate strategic thinking during the 1940s and 1950s? Give examples to support your argument.

Question 54

Describe Russia's contemporary foreign policy.

Question 55

How did Soviet leadership respond to Stalin's death?

Question 56

Why did Yeltsin resign?

Question 57

The Green parties that developed in the 1980s were devoted to which of the following goals?

A) Fiscal reform
B) Expanding economic markets
C) Environmental protections

Question 58

How has Russia's foreign policy affected the U.S.-Russia relationship?

Question 59

What are some of the most pressing political problems Europe faces today?

Question 60

What were the arguments on either side of the Brexit referendum?

Question 61

Which European nation had the most extensive colonial territorial holdings after 1945?

A) Britain
B) France
C) The Netherlands

Question 62

How did the global financial crisis affect Europe? Where did it hit the hardest?

Question 63

To what extent did Gorbachev's policies help the Soviet Union and to what extent did they harm the Soviet Union?

Question 64

How did Vladimir Putin continue Yeltsin's policies and how did he depart from them? What new policies did Putin implement and what is their aim?

Question 65

In which European nation was there a full-fledged civil war right after World War II?

A) Greece
B) Spain
C) Yugoslavia

Question 66

How has NATO's purpose changed from 1949 to the present day?

Question 67

NATO was formed in 1949 by Europe and the United States for what overarching purpose?

A) To provide defensive guarantees in the event of Soviet invasion of Europe
B) To lay the groundwork for political union among European countries
C) To provide a global network of military bases to U.S. forces

Question 68

How did Khrushchev's policies and Brezhnev's policies differ and how were they similar?

Question 69

Which European nation did not grant its African colonies independence until 1975?

A) Britain
B) France
C) Portugal

Question 70

Which relationship will be most important to Europe in the coming decades: the intra-European relationship, the U.S.-Europe relationship, or the China-Europe relationship? Why?