Deck 4: The Growing Power of Western Europe, 1640-1715

Question 1

Basically, the aim of statesmen pursuing the "balance of power" in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was to

A) preserve their own independence of action by allying against any state threatening to dominate Europe.
B) dominate Europe by pretending to cooperate with other countries.
C) ensure that neither Russia nor France dominated Europe.
D dominated Europe.

Answer 1

preserve their own independence of action by allying against any state threatening to dominate Europe.

Question 2

During the reign of Charles I, the Anglican church hierarchy under Archbishop Laud

A) sided with parliament against the king.
B) maintained a balance between the demands of the Puritans and those of the orthodox Anglicans.
C) struggled against the Puritans and nonconformists.
D) gradually incorporated the Puritans into the Anglican church.

Answer 2

struggled against the Puritans and nonconformists.

Question 3

In seventeenth century England, the main source of wealth was

A) land.
B) mining.
C) commerce.
D) weaving.

Answer 3

land.

Question 4

How did the Whigs and the Tories, the two political parties of the restoration, differ?

A) The Tories wished to exclude the Catholic James from the throne.
B) The Whigs were the party of the lesser aristocracy and gentry.
C) The Whigs felt a strong loyalty to church and king.
D) The Tories were suspicious of the "moneyed interests" of London.

Question 5

The Bill of Rights of 1689 provided for all of the following except

A) the king could not suspend laws.
B) the king could not raise taxes without parliamentary consent.
C) only commoners could be arrested and detained without due process.
D) parliament must consent to the maintaining of an army.

Question 6

For Ireland, the Revolution of 1688 meant

A) increased participation by Catholics in local government.
B) the exclusion of Catholics from public life.
C) greater opportunities in international trade.
D) a relaxation of the burdens of an alien church and absentee landlords.

Question 7

The Fronde was

A) a rebellion by the nobility and parlements against Cardinal Mazarin, the king's chief minister.
B) a bloody peasant uprising.
C) a rebellion by the young Louis XIV against Cardinal Mazarin.
D) a revolt by the Huguenots for more religious freedom.

Question 8

For positions in his administration, as distinguished from his personal entourage, Louis XIV preferred

A) hereditary nobles.
B) recently created nobles or bourgeoisie.
C) local officeholders.
D) Protestants.

Question 9

Finance was always the weakest point of the French monarchy because the king could raise taxes without consent only by exempting the

A) unprivileged classes.
B) bourgeoisie.
C) nobility.
D) merchants.

Question 10

The War of Spanish Succession was ultimately about

A) the disposition of the Spanish Netherlands.
B) the hegemony of France over the Holy Roman Empire.
C) the destruction of Protestant Holland.
D) the disposition of the Spanish Empire.

Question 11

The Treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt of 1713 and 1714

A) eliminated Bourbon influence in Spain.
B) confirmed the union of the French and Spanish kingdoms.
C) partitioned the territories of Spain.
D) removed English influence from Spanish America.

Question 12

The greatest winners of the War of the Spanish Succession were the

A) Austrians, because they received Belgium.
B) British, because they received strategic territorial gains and economic advantages.
C) French, because they retained the conquests of Louis XIV.
D) Spanish, because they kept their empire intact.

Question 13

The asiento, acquired in the 1713-1714 peace settlement, was far more valuable to Britain than many of its territorial gains. The asiento

A) permitted British merchants to exploit the fur trade of New France.
B) opened up an era of wholesale British smuggling into Spanish America.
C) gave special privileges to British merchants wishing to sell goods in Barcelona and Seville.
D) allowed Britain to lay claim to the Spanish Empire in America.

Question 14

Discuss the concept of the balance of power in the last half of the seventeenth century, using the policies of William of Orange and Louis XIV to demonstrate the idea of balance.

Question 15

What were the political, economic, and social reasons for the tremendous prosperity of Holland in the seventeenth century?

Question 16

Oliver Cromwell established an effective government in England, but his republic was neither stable nor durable. Why not?

Question 17

In seventeenth century England, the parliament defeated the king and established a workable form of government. Why did royal absolutism fail in England between 1600 and 1689?

Question 18

Compare and contrast the English treatment of Irish Catholics and the French treatment of the Huguenots during the seventeenth century.

Question 19

What was the relationship of Scotland and Ireland to England in the seventeenth century?

Question 20

How did Louis XIV succeed in establishing an absolute monarchy in France?

Question 21

Evaluate Louis XIV's reign. How did his reign benefit France? What harm did it cause?

Question 22

Why was Dutch banking dominant in the seventeenth century?

Question 23

What threats did the Dutch face in the seventeenth century? How did they meet those threats?

Question 24

crown and Parliament?

Question 25

What were the demands of the various dissenters in seventeenth century England? How did Cromwell, and later Charles II, deal with these radical groups?

Question 26

What was the legacy of the Glorious Revolution? Was it in fact a real revolution?

Question 27

How did Colbert's policies help the French monarchy overcome the problem of increasing revenues?

Question 28

What did Louis XIV gain by expanding the boundaries of France?

Question 29

How were Louis XIV's expansionist policies resisted?

Question 30

How did power shift between Parliament and the king during the English Civil War?

Question 31

Evaluate the outcome of the English Civil War as seen against the conflicts that plagued the Restoration. How lasting were Parliament's gains?

Question 32

Evaluate Louis XIV's centralizing policies against the diversity of law and administration apparent in the map. How did inconsistencies and privileges allow the royal government to function?

Question 33

How did Britain's gains under the Treaty of Utrecht allow it to emerge as the great European power?

Question 34

In the Atlantic world, which trade routes and ports came under British control? Why were each of those routes and ports important in Britain's rise to dominance?