AP World History Modern Practice Test: Practice Test 7

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?

Beginning in the 1970s and accelerating after 1990, some Indigenous communities in Latin America mobilized against large-scale mining and oil projects financed by foreign investment and linked to global commodity demand. Leaders argued that concessions granted by national governments threatened communal land, water, and cultural survival. They pursued court cases, road blockades, and international advocacy networks. Which of the following best situates these actions within resistance to globalization after 1900?

In the Pacific, the United States chose an island-hopping strategy: seizing selected islands to build airfields and naval bases while bypassing heavily fortified positions. This approach depended on aircraft carriers, amphibious assaults, and logistics across vast distances. Japan initially expanded rapidly but struggled to replace ships, pilots, and fuel supplies as the war continued. Which factor most directly explains why island-hopping proved effective against Japan by 1944–1945?

A French Enlightenment critic argues in the eighteenth century that religious intolerance weakens states by provoking unrest, while another writer insists that a single established church is necessary for obedience. European monarchs respond differently, some tolerating minorities and others enforcing uniformity. Which statement best captures the broader imperial/state issue at stake?

In the nineteenth century, industrialization helped spread mass literacy and print culture through cheaper paper, mechanized presses, and expanding school systems in some states. Newspapers and novels circulated widely, and reformers used pamphlets to mobilize publics. Yet censorship persisted in many empires, and access to education remained unequal by class, gender, and region. Which choice best captures a continuity and change in information and education during the Industrial Age?

After 1900, environmental reforms emerged as industrial pollution and resource extraction intensified; activists and governments created protected areas and regulations to conserve ecosystems. Which development best reflects this reform response?

In the fifteenth century, Iberian mariners increasingly used the magnetic compass, improved cartography, and the lateen sail to travel farther from coastlines and return reliably against prevailing winds. These technologies, combined with state sponsorship, reshaped Afro-Eurasian connections. Which outcome most directly resulted from these navigational innovations?

In the 1980s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan increased defense spending and advocated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), proposing missile-defense technologies. Critics argued it could destabilize deterrence, while supporters claimed it would pressure the USSR economically. Which rationale best explains how SDI was intended to affect the Cold War balance?

In the 1500s–1800s, the Asante Empire expanded in West Africa by controlling gold production, creating a centralized bureaucracy, using a standing army, and integrating conquered peoples through tribute and political offices linked to the Asantehene. Which feature most clearly indicates increased centralization?

In the 1500s and 1600s, the Columbian Exchange brought new staple crops such as maize and cassava to parts of Africa and Asia. These crops often produced higher yields in poor soils and supported population growth, but expanded cultivation also encouraged clearing new lands and reducing forest cover in some regions. Which statement best captures an environmental consequence of this change?

Between 1450 and 1750, the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire were land-based “gunpowder empires” that expanded across diverse religious and linguistic regions. Both relied on cavalry and firearms, collected agrarian taxes, and governed through layered elites. Yet Ottoman sultans ruled from a long-standing Islamic caliphate tradition and controlled key Mediterranean trade routes, while Mughal emperors governed a majority Hindu population in South Asia and often relied on alliances with regional warrior aristocracies. Which comparison best explains a key similarity in how both empires maintained control?

During the early Industrial Revolution in Britain, factory owners adopted mechanized spinning and weaving, while Parliament supported enclosure and protected private property. Wages for urban workers remained low, and many families depended on factory employment, including women and children, to survive. Which factor most directly contributed to Britain’s ability to industrialize earlier than most regions?

In the late nineteenth century, European missionaries in parts of Africa and the Pacific established schools and churches, sometimes condemning local religious practices. Converts occasionally gained literacy and new social networks, but missionary activity also disrupted existing authority structures. Which of the following best explains a major effect of missionary activity on colonized societies?

In the 1830s, a British parliamentary debate cites testimony that factory children are beaten for slowing down, work nights during peak demand, and suffer injuries from unguarded machines. Opponents of regulation warn that limits on hours will reduce competitiveness and increase prices. Which policy most directly reflects the reformers’ goals?

Some interwar governments used currency controls and bilateral trade agreements, setting quotas and negotiating direct exchanges of goods rather than relying on open markets. Which condition most directly encouraged the spread of these arrangements in the 1930s?