Practice Test 7 - AP European History

20 questions. Answer them in any order, then submit to see your score and every explanation.

A scholarly excerpt states: "Balance-of-power diplomacy prized flexibility: governments could ally across confessional or ideological lines to block a stronger rival. Such 'reason of state' logic often overrode religious solidarity." Which alliance best exemplifies this dynamic?
A historian argues that the spread of Romantic nationalism in the early-to-mid 19th century—through literature, folklore collection, and patriotic commemorations—caused political movements to redefine legitimacy around shared language and culture rather than dynastic rule. Which development is most consistent with this cause-and-effect claim?
A historian summarizes the post-1815 settlement: "At Vienna and in subsequent congresses, the great powers sought legitimacy through dynastic restoration and a balance of power, treating revolution as a contagious threat to be contained by coordinated diplomacy and, if necessary, intervention." Which development best illustrates the conservative order described?
From the late 1940s through the 1980s, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) developed contrasting political economies and alliances, symbolized by the Berlin Wall after 1961. In the late 1960s and 1970s, West German leaders pursued a policy of engaging the East through treaties, recognition, and increased contacts, aiming to reduce tensions and improve human ties across the divide. Which term best describes this West German approach to Eastern Europe?
A secondary-source historian writes that the Great Depression undermined the post–World War I financial settlement: reparations and war-debt payments depended on continuous international lending, so when credit collapsed, the system seized up. The author notes that emergency measures attempted to pause payments to prevent total default and political breakdown. Which policy most directly corresponds to this effort to suspend payments during the crisis?
A Dutch political writer praises Hugo Grotius for arguing that the seas should remain open to all nations for navigation and commerce, challenging Iberian claims to exclusive oceanic control. This argument most directly served which Dutch Golden Age objective?
A survey chapter on modern European intellectual history states that Darwin's mechanism of natural selection emphasized variation, inheritance, and differential reproduction in environments. It adds that Social Darwinism often treated "fitness" as a moral category and used it to rank social groups, frequently ignoring the scientific limits of Darwin's claims. Which critique best aligns with the chapter's distinction?
In 1951, six states (France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), pooling key war industries under a shared authority. Proponents argued that making coal and steel production jointly managed would reduce incentives for national rearmament and encourage Franco-German reconciliation. This initiative became a foundation for later European integration. Which broader goal most directly motivated the creation of the ECSC?
A satirical printed dialogue mocks corrupt officials and circulates anonymously in Paris, prompting police raids on bookstalls. Which aspect of early modern governance does this situation highlight?
A 1907 newspaper editorial argues that labor unions and minimum-wage laws "artificially prop up the incompetent" and that "economic struggle ensures progress." This is most consistent with which interpretation associated with Social Darwinism?
A Catholic reformer in the mid-sixteenth century supports new seminaries to improve clerical education, endorses the Index of Prohibited Books, and promotes renewed discipline among bishops. These measures most closely align with reforms enacted by which institution of the Catholic Reformation?
A secondary source on the interwar crisis argues that the Great Depression destabilized parliamentary systems by increasing unemployment and discrediting moderate parties, creating openings for radical movements that promised decisive leadership. The author notes that in several countries, fear of communist revolution pushed business leaders and conservatives to tolerate anti-democratic alternatives. Which consequence best reflects this dynamic?
Enlightenment writers often criticized inherited privilege, arguing that social rank should not determine access to offices, taxation, or justice. At the same time, many depended on aristocratic patrons and wrote for educated elites, not mass electorates. In several states, nobles and clergy retained exemptions, while reformers pressed for more uniform administration. Which concept most directly captured Enlightenment criticism of legal and fiscal inequality based on birth?
In a 120-word excerpt from an intellectual history, an author claims that the Scientific Revolution encouraged Europeans to view the universe as governed by regular, discoverable laws, which later influenced Enlightenment thinkers seeking "natural laws" in politics and economics. The author cites Newtonian physics as a model for rational inquiry and argues that confidence in human reason increased. Which of the following best describes a likely Enlightenment-era consequence of this Scientific Revolution worldview?
A scholar in 1508 praises Aldus Manutius for producing compact editions of Greek and Latin classics for travelers and students. Which innovation associated with printing does this praise most directly reference?
A 120-word debate transcript records a Catholic theologian arguing that church tradition and councils interpret Scripture, that sacraments convey grace, and that the pope's authority maintains unity. A Lutheran disputant counters that councils can err, that justification is by faith alone, and that papal claims lack biblical foundation. Which issue is most directly at the center of this disagreement?
A historian of gender in early modern Europe argues that sixteenth-century legal codes and sermons increasingly framed women as morally weaker, emphasized household patriarchy, and associated social disorder with female transgression, especially during periods of religious conflict. Which related phenomenon is most consistent with this argument?
In a 75–125 word secondary-source excerpt on late 20th-century European cultural developments, an author argues that postmodernism questioned grand narratives and blurred boundaries between "high" and "popular" culture. The author points to playful pastiche, irony, and self-referential art and architecture, suggesting that these styles reflected skepticism toward claims of universal progress or objective meaning. Which option best characterizes postmodernism as described?
In a 1905 secondary-source overview of late nineteenth-century thought, a historian explains that Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection described how species change over long periods through heritable variation and differential survival. The excerpt adds that some public writers (often labeled Social Darwinists) treated economic competition and imperial rivalry as proof that "stronger" peoples and classes were naturally destined to rule, and that state aid to the poor could weaken society. Which statement best captures the key difference between Darwinism and Social Darwinism in this account?
In the decades after World War II, Western Europe experienced rapid economic growth, expanded welfare states, and increasing demand for labor. Governments and employers recruited "guest workers" from Southern Europe, Turkey, North Africa, and South Asia, often assuming migration would be temporary. By the 1970s and 1980s, economic slowdown and deindustrialization heightened anxieties about unemployment and cultural change, fueling debates over citizenship, integration, and multiculturalism. Which development most directly contributed to the rise of anti-immigrant political movements in several Western European countries during this period?

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