Deck 20: State Building and Society in Early Modern Europe

Question 1

Which of the following is true about Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? (Global Perspective, pp. 484-485)

A) Many states consolidated themselves into stronger, more aggressive political units.
B) The economies took their first steps toward industrialization.
C) The states developed sophisticated financial systems that fueled their overseas empires.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Answer 1

All of these answers are correct.

Question 2

King Frederick William I succeeded in

A) defending German lands from the onslaught of the Ottoman Empire.
B) organizing the Prussian bureaucracy along military lines.
C) establishing trade between German principalities and France.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Answer 2

organizing the Prussian bureaucracy along military lines.

Question 3

Pugachev's Rebellion

A) was a peasant rebellion.
B) was brutally suppressed.
C) inspired similar revolts in nearby countries.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Answer 3

All of these answers are correct.

Question 4

Marriage in the family economy

A) generally occurred when women were teenagers.
B) made women the legal property of men.
C) was intended to maximize the number of children per family.
D) was a joint economic undertaking.

Question 5

In 1784, new processes introduced by Henry Cort

A) produced a purer iron.
B) employed for the first time a steam engine for creating high heat for smelting iron ore.
C) allowed water to be pumped into mines more efficiently.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 6

Artisan guilds

A) were gaining influence by the eighteenth century.
B) protected artisans against market forces.
C) were weak in central Europe.
D) mostly served shops with more than six workers .

Question 7

The Test Act was designed by the English parliament to

A) keep Puritans out of power.
B) eliminate opposition to the monarchy.
C) keep Catholics out of public office.
D) both keep Puritans out of power and keep Catholics out of public office.

Question 8

In the mid-eighteenth century, the global balance of power

A) favored France in North America.
B) precluded future British control in Asia.
C) gave Great Britain a global empire.
D) diminished Prussia's power within Europe.

Question 9

In preindustrial western Europe, girls started to do household work

A) by the age of seven.
B) after marriage.
C) only in urban areas.
D) only in rural areas.

Question 10

What were the two models of European political development during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and what were the primary components of those models? What were the conditions under which each of these models tended to develop?
Conceptual

Question 11

Discuss the Puritan republic that flourished under Oliver Cromwell. Was it really a republic? What was the basis of Cromwell's rule and how successful was he in solving England's problems and promoting expedient foreign policy? Why was the monarchy restored in 1660?
Conceptual

Question 12

What was the Glorious Revolution and how did it alter the English political system?
Conceptual

Question 13

What was the basis for Louis XIV's rule? What methods did he use to reinforce his authority over his subjects?
Conceptual

Question 14

Assess the success of Louis XIV's foreign policy. What were his aims? Were they realistic? To what extent did he attain them? Why?
Conceptual

Question 15

What were Peter the Great's primary concerns as leader of Russia? What methods did he use to achieve his goals?
Conceptual

Question 16

How and why did Prussia rise to become a power among the European nations?
Conceptual

Question 17

Imagine yourself chief minister of France in 1740. Frederick II has just invaded Silesia. Would you commit your country's armies to support him? Why or why not? Explain the arguments on both sides of the question.
Conceptual

Question 18

Detail the colonial expansion of the eighteenth century. Which powers were attempting to control these world empires? What were the perceived benefits of colonial power? What were the negative results?
Conceptual

Question 19

Compare and contrast the state-building efforts in Prussia, Russia, France, and England. Which do you think was most successful? The least? To what factor or factors would you attribute relative success?
Conceptual

Question 20

What caused the agricultural revolution? How did technological innovations help change European agriculture? What factors explain the increase in Europe's population in the eighteenth century? What were the effects of the population explosion?
Conceptual

Question 21

What caused the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century? What were some of the technological innovations and why were they important? Why did Great Britain take the lead in the Industrial Revolution?
Conceptual

Question 22

Did the agricultural revolution or the Industrial Revolution more profoundly affect eighteenth-century life? Why?
Conceptual

Question 23

Describe city life under the ancien régime addressing the following factors: economic structure, politics, and social divisions. Compare and contrast conditions with those of a Western city in the twenty-first century.
Conceptual

Question 24

What were the primary social divisions in ancien régime Europe? What were the primary sources of division between them? Of consensus?
Conceptual

Question 25

How was Peter the Great able to consolidate the power of the Russian monarchy? How did he curb the power of the boyars and the streltsy? How did his reforms affect the population as a whole?
Conceptual
17, Compare and contrast the English and the French political models. What are the ideological foundations of these systems? Were both systems successful?
Conceptual

Question 26

Imagine yourself as a farmer in eighteenth-century Europe. What would be your concerns and grievances? Would your condition be the same in France, England, and Russia?
Conceptual

Question 27

Describe the structure of families in preindustrial Europe. What are the differences between urban and rural families? What was the role of women in the family?
Conceptual