Hierarchy and Social Class

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AP European History › Hierarchy and Social Class

Questions 1 - 10
1

The “March on Rome” led to __________.

Mussolini being given dictatorial powers for one year

Mussolini ordering the execution of Communist rebels

Mussolini being sentenced to five years in prison

The execution of King Victor Emmanuel III

Italy withdrawing from World War II

Explanation

The “March on Rome” was a popular movement in support of Mussolini and Fascism. It caused the collapse of the Italian government. King Victor Emmanuel III granted Mussolini dictatorial powers for a year. Once made dictator, Mussolini was able to pass laws that ensured his continued control of the Italian state long after his year appointment had finished.

2

Which of the following is true of the development of social hierarchy after World War II?

After World War II, class distinctions became far less rigid in European society.

After World War II, class distinctions became far more rigid in European society.

After World War II, the working class gained more rights at the expense of the middle class.

After World War II, the middle class gained more rights at the expense of the working class.

None of these statements is true; social hierarchy changed little after World War II.

Explanation

By the time the Second World War began the working and middle classes enjoyed similar rights and after the war those rights were generally maintained or extended (in Western Europe anyway). What is certainly true is that after World War II class distinctions became far less rigid across European society than they were before. Ability and natural intelligence became more important than family background, and educational opportunities were extended to a wide spectrum of society. While social class inequalities certainly persisted (and continue to persist) in European countries, relative to the rigid class hierarchies of the preceding centuries the distinctions became more subtle.

3

Under the French Ancien Regime, which class of people comprised the First Estate?

The clergy

Merchants and businessmen

Knights

Intellectuals

The king's immediate family

Explanation

Under the French Ancien Regime and other European feudal systems, the administrators and officials of the Catholic church, the clergy, were endowed with incredible political power and many special rights and privileges. Church officials were given disproportionate representation in many political institutions. They were also often exempt from most taxes and for a long time had a monopoly on the education system of France and other Catholic countries.

4

Which of these countries was the least affected by the worldwide depression of the 1930s?

The Soviet Union

The United States

The United Kingdom

France

Italy

Explanation

All of these countries were interlinked by global capitalism at the outbreak of depression in 1930 except for the Soviet Union, which was outside of the system and run by a “command economy.” The Soviet Union not only was least affected, but in fact thrived during the Great Depression and experienced massive industrial and economic growth.

5

What is the name for the nobility of Russia?

Boyars

Sejm

Hospodar

Kohary

Explanation

The Boyars were the Russian noble class. They were a relatively small group that ruled over the day to day operations of the vast expanses of Russia for the Czar.

6

Which of these groups gained significant political leverage following the British Reform Bill of 1832?

The urban middle class

The urban working class

The rural middle class

The rural working class

The landed aristocracy

Explanation

The Reform Bill of 1832 was designed to extend voting privileges to the urban middle class by restructuring the representatives in the British Houses of Parliament. Prior to the Reform Bill, there were many so-called “rotten boroughs” where one wealthy aristocrat controlled the election of the official for a district that contained very few actual people. Many urban centers were excluded. The Reform Bill created new districts to match up with the population redistribution brought about by urbanization and the Industrial Revolution. The eligible electorate nearly doubled, and the people who benefitted the most were the urban middle class.

7

The Wannsee Conference was convened in Nazi Germany in 1942 to __________.

ensure administrative cooperation with the “Final Solution”

criminalize intermarriage between Jews and Germans

ensure that Germans would not use Jewish businesses

discuss the ethnic status of Slavs and Poles in the new Nazi occupied empire

outline Hitler’s plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union

Explanation

Intermarriage between Jews and Germans had long been criminalized (since 1935) by the time of the Wannsee Conference. Likewise, almost all Jewish-owned businesses had closed due to official government policies persecuting Jewish business owners in the 1930s. By 1942, Hitler had apparently decided to implement the “Final Solution,” whereby all Jews in Nazi occupied Europe would be transported to concentration camps in Poland to be murdered by the millions (most estimates put the figure at around six million Jews). The Wannsee Conference was convened in early 1942 in order to ensure cooperation from the various administrative bodies that would need to oversee this complicated and horrific plan.

8

The reactionary slogan “Autocracy, orthodoxy, nationalism” is most closely associated with which of these countries in the nineteenth century?

Russia

Austria

France

Britain

Italy

Explanation

Nicholas I assumed the throne of Russia in 1825, but in order to do so, he had to first crush the Decembrist Revolt in St. Petersburg. The Decembrist Revolt occurred when a group of army officers and nobles in Russia’s capital supported the claim of Constantine, Nicholas’ younger brother, believing he would be more likely to implement social and political reforms. When Nicholas I defeated this rebellion, he instituted a reactionary policy of “Autocracy, orthodoxy, nationalism” that would reemerge at various points in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the rallying cry of the Tsarist regime. It was vehemently applied after the assassination of Alexander II in 1881.

9

Those given land in the economic and political system of Feudalism by a King, who are then required to owe the King absolute loyalty are called __________.

vassals

serfs

barons

plebeians

vandals

Explanation

The system of Feudalism starts from the top. A king or liege lord, who has a large amount of land, gives off portions of his land to lesser lords and nobles. These lesser lords and nobles now have a land of their own, protection from the King, and the means to raise their own army; in exchange they become “vassals.” They owe their allegiance to the King and must come to his aid to protect him from would-be challengers.

10

Which of these ruling families governed Austria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire?

Hapsburgs

Tudors

Bourbons

Plantagenets

Stuarts

Explanation

The Tudors, Stuarts, and Plantagenets are all historical British ruling families. The Bourbons were a very notable French ruling family. The Hapsburgs were the ruling family of Austria, Austro-Hungary, and the Holy Roman Empire. They are perhaps the most important ruling family in European history in terms of longevity, impact on European and global life, and territorial size.

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