The Panama Canal was primarily built between 1904 and 1914 by American authorities. The Canal cuts through the territory of Panama and greatly reduces the amount of time required to ship goods from Europe, Asia, and Africa to the Western coast of the United States and South America. The Panama Canal remained under American ownership until 1999, when it was passed over to Panamanian control.

After the Napoleonic Wars at the start of the nineteenth century, many states were redrawn and reorganized. Additionally, the romantic and revolutionary movements of Europe in the early nineteenth century highlighted the shared histories of certain peoples. The desire for shared cultural, language, and religious heritages to be united in one state would both create modern Italy and Germany, while also spelling the destruction of multi-ethnic and multi-lingual nations like the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the end of World War I in 1918.

The Iron Law of Wages is a long-held economic theory that states that in the long run, real wages always tend towards the bare minimum necessary to keep workers working and alive. There remains some historical debate over who should be given credit for the Iron Law; for the purposes of this test, it is necessary only to know that it was proposed first by David Ricardo, who himself was working on similar, earlier theories espoused by Thomas Malthus. And, indeed, many historians claim Malthus as the original proponent of the Iron Law of Wages. As this is a somewhat controversial question, the test makers will err on the side of caution when presenting it. This means that if you see a multiple-choice question about the Iron Law of Wages, you will not see both Malthus’ and Ricardo’s names, as they could each reasonably be considered the correct answer. Malthus is, however, most commonly remembered for his theory about the unsustainable rate of population growth and his predictions about the disastrous consequences this would have for social and economic progression. Long story short: on many standardized tests, David Ricardo is associated with the “Iron Law of Wages," Thomas Malthus with An Essay on the Principle of Population, which contains many ideas similar to Ricardo’s.

The Tale of Genji is a Japanese novel dating back to the eleventh century. It is generally considered to be the world’s first novel, although of course this is partially subjective as it can be hard for experts to agree on what exactly qualifies a work as a novel. For the purposes of this test, it is enough to assume that The Tale of Genji is a psychological novel and the world’s first ever. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient era epic poem about the possibly mythical Sumerian king Gilgamesh. The Art of War was written by Sun Tzu and is an important military and philosophical text. Don Quixote is one of the earliest known European novels dating back to medieval Spain. Robison Crusoe is a novel published by Daniel Defoe in the eighteenth century; it is often considered to be the earliest known example of “realistic fiction.”

The Balfour Declaration, issued in 1917, was a letter written by the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary to Baron Rothschild, a leader of the British-Jewish community. It promised, amongst other things, but primarily, that the British government would provide for a Jewish homeland in the territory of Palestine. It is the official nexus of the state of Israel. However, it is important to understand that it was issued during the worst years of World War One when Britain and France were seeking support from as many groups as possible to aid their desperate, stagnant fight against the Central Powers. 

The Concordat of Worms was signed in 1122 C.E. between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. It brought to an end, temporarily, the struggle for authority between the papacy and the empire. It can reasonably be seen as a precursor to the Peace of Westphalia because it involved the formal recognition of the loose concept of "nation-states" for the first time. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648, is often seen by historians as the formal birth of the concept of "nations" and the right to national autonomy.

All of the men listed are famous leaders inspired by Engels and Marx's philosophies about socialism and communism. 

Mahatma Gandhi was the spiritual and, at times, political leader of the Indian nationalist movement working towards independence from the British. Gandhi encouraged the Indian people to practice non-violent cooperation as a peaceful alternative to violent revolution. He also urged the Indian people to work together to achieve self-sufficiency and to realize their Indian identity. According to Gandhi, this could be achieved by refusing to buy British products and instead buying directly from Indians as well as by refusing to attend government schools, as these provided an English type of education. Although Gandhi was devoutly Hindu, he would never have encouraged Indians to protect Hindu interests over Muslim interests; Gandhi was primarily about peace and unity, not about creating discord. 

The Salt March was an important moment in the Indian movement towards independence. It was an act of civil disobedience and nonviolent protest against the British monopoly over salt in India. It was lead by Gandhi, and many historians consider this incident to be the beginning of Gandhi’s dominance of the Indian nationalist movement. Gandhi was shadowed throughout the Salt March by western reporters, something Gandhi insisted on, knowing how the pictures would affect people’s mentalities in Europe and America. The Salt March coverage catapulted Gandhi to international renown.

The two primary leaders of the Italian unification movement were Camillo di Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi; however, the two men differed greatly in circumstance and organizational efforts. Whereas Garibaldi was most prominent in Southern Italy and notable for his ability to work “outside of the system,” Cavour was much more significant in Northern Italy and, as Prime Minister of Piedmont, able to work effectively within the system. Cavour was the first Prime Minister of Italy.