Practice Test 8 - AP World History

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

In the late twentieth century, truth commissions and transitional justice efforts emerged in some post-authoritarian societies to address past human rights abuses. Which example best illustrates this reform response after 1900?
After 1900, movements for national self-determination challenged empires. Following World War I, the principle of self-rule was discussed internationally, but many former Ottoman and German territories became mandates administered by Britain and France. After World War II, anticolonial leaders argued that mandates and protectorates were colonialism by another name. Which critique would best align with anticolonial arguments about the mandate system?
A report from the 1870s notes that public elementary schooling is expanding in France and Prussia, teaching literacy, arithmetic, and patriotic history. Reformers argue schools create disciplined workers and loyal citizens suited to factory schedules and national armies. Which state goal is best supported by these reforms?
In the early Abbasid Caliphate (eighth–ninth centuries), the court in Baghdad relied on Persian-influenced viziers, specialized diwans (bureaus) for taxation and correspondence, and appointed governors who remitted revenue to the center while using Arabic as a shared administrative language. The caliphs also used networks of judges (qadis) and religious scholars to standardize law across diverse regions. Which choice best explains how these administrative practices helped the Abbasids govern a large, multicultural empire?
A merchant writes that political authorities sometimes demanded bribes or imposed arbitrary taxes at checkpoints, while in other regions officials issued standardized receipts and enforced clear tariff schedules. Which inference best explains how governance affected Silk Road trade?
In 1917, Russia experienced revolution amid war exhaustion, food shortages, and dissatisfaction with the tsarist regime. The Bolsheviks withdrew from World War I and later fought a civil war, eventually establishing the Soviet Union. In many countries, elites feared communist revolution, while leftist movements drew inspiration from Bolshevik success. Which outcome most directly shows how the Russian Revolution contributed to global conflict in the twentieth century?
Cold War nuclear competition transformed international relations. The United States and the Soviet Union built vast arsenals, developed intercontinental delivery systems, and promoted deterrence strategies. The fear of mutual destruction influenced diplomacy, encouraged crisis management, and led to arms-control negotiations. Yet nuclear proliferation also spread as other states pursued weapons for security or prestige. Which term best describes the Cold War idea that nuclear war was deterred because each superpower could inflict unacceptable destruction even after a first strike?
A 2008 article on food price spikes reports riots in several countries after global grain prices rose sharply. The article cites biofuel demand, speculation, and export bans by some governments. Which interpretation best connects these events to globalization?
A French administrator argues that teaching French language and culture in African schools will create loyal subjects and strengthen the empire. Which rationale is most central?
In the interwar period, the Treaty of Versailles imposed reparations and territorial losses on Germany, while the Great Depression destabilized economies and politics worldwide. Japan expanded into Manchuria (1931) seeking resources, and Italy invaded Ethiopia (1935) to build empire. Many governments pursued appeasement, hoping concessions would prevent another war. Which factor most directly contributed to the outbreak of World War II by encouraging aggressive revision of the international order?
From 1900 to the present, nationalist movements challenged empires and promoted self-determination in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. After World War II, many colonies achieved independence, yet new states often inherited colonial borders and faced economic dependence through unequal trade, debt, or foreign investment. Which choice best describes continuity and change in political and economic relationships from 1900–present?
In Tang and Song China, the imperial state expanded the civil service examination system, promoted scholar-officials, and used standardized laws and Confucian ideals to legitimate rule. Although aristocratic influence persisted, exam success increasingly shaped access to office and governance. Which effect most directly resulted from the expansion of examinations as an administrative tool?
In the seventeenth century, a European chartered company established fortified trading posts along the Indian Ocean rim, negotiated treaties with coastal rulers, and used armed convoys to protect spice shipments. Company records describe monopolies enforced through blockades and the use of local intermediaries to collect taxes and provisions. Which development most directly enabled this maritime empire to be maintained over long distances?
During the 1930s, Germany openly rearmed, reintroduced conscription, and developed a modern air force, violating the Treaty of Versailles. At the same time, Britain and France debated military spending and focused on domestic recovery. Some leaders believed Germany's grievances were understandable or that negotiation could prevent war. By 1939, German forces were prepared for rapid offensives, while opponents were still completing rearmament. Which factor most directly made German aggression more likely to succeed early in World War II?
Under the Yuan dynasty, Mongol rulers in China maintained many Chinese bureaucratic practices but also imposed social hierarchies that privileged Mongols and some foreigners over many Han Chinese. They promoted trade, used paper money, and supported movement of merchants and artisans. Which comparison best connects Yuan rule to earlier Chinese dynasties? A) Yuan rejected all taxation, unlike Tang and Song, which depended on land taxes B) Yuan used elements of Chinese administration while altering elite status, similar to other conquest dynasties adapting local governance C) Yuan abolished written law codes, unlike earlier dynasties that relied on legalist traditions D) Yuan ended Confucian education entirely and replaced it with universal nomadic schooling E) Yuan eliminated commerce to restore self-sufficient peasant villages
During the 1300s–1500s, the Mali Empire in West Africa and the Aztec Empire in Mesoamerica both built wealth through tribute and control of trade networks. Mali's rulers benefited from trans-Saharan commerce in gold and salt and used Islamic scholars in cities like Timbuktu. Aztec rulers extracted tribute from conquered city-states and supported markets such as Tlatelolco. Which comparison best explains a key difference in their economic integration with wider interregional trade?
A set of travelers' accounts from the Indian Ocean world frequently mentions cosmopolitan ports where multiple languages were spoken and where translators and brokers were common. Which condition most directly created the need for these intermediaries?
In some newly independent states, governments pursued literacy campaigns and mass political education to create informed citizens and mobilize support for development plans. These campaigns sometimes used slogans, posters, and volunteer teachers. Which earlier historical movement most closely resembles these mass literacy and political mobilization efforts?
In the late twentieth century, globalization increased flows of goods, capital, and labor, prompting protests against inequality and corporate power. Which movement best represents a reform-oriented critique of globalization after 1900?
Between 1500 and 1750, Spanish American mines sent large quantities of silver to Europe and across the Pacific to Manila, where it was exchanged for Chinese silks and porcelains. During the same period, West and Central African captives were transported across the Atlantic to produce sugar and tobacco for European markets. Which comparison most accurately describes how these exchanges affected global economic patterns?

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