Western Civilization II

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2 Copyright 2004 by College Entrance Examination Board. All rights reserved.
Western Civilization II
Description of the Examination
The Western Civilization II: 1648 to the Present
examination covers material that is usually taught
in the second semester of a two-semester course in
Western Civilization. Questions cover European
history from the mid-seventeenth century through
the post-Second World War period including politi-
cal, economic, and cultural developments such as
Scientific Thought, the Enlightenment, the French
and Industrial Revolutions, and the First and Second
World Wars. Candidates may be asked to choose
the correct definition of a historical term, select
the historical figure whose political viewpoint is
described, identify the correct relationship between
two historical factors, or detect the inaccurate pairing
of an individual with a historical event. Groups of
questions may require candidates to interpret, evalu-
ate, or relate the contents of a passage, a map, a
picture, or a cartoon to the other information or to
analyze and use the data contained in a graph or table.
The examination contains 120 questions to be
answered in 90 minutes. Some of these are pretest
questions that will not be scored. Any time candi-
dates spend on tutorials and providing personal
information is in addition to the actual testing time.
Knowledge and Skills Required
Questions on the Western Civilization II examina-
tion require candidates to demonstrate one or more
of the following abilities:
Understanding of important factual knowledge
of developments in Western Civilization
Ability to identify the causes and effects of
major events in history
Ability to analyze, interpret, and evaluate
textual and graphic historical materials
Ability to distinguish the relevant from the
irrelevant
Ability to reach conclusions on the basis of facts
The subject matter of the Western Civilization II
examination is drawn from the following topics.
The percentages next to the main topics indicate
the approximate percentages of exam questions on
those topics.
7 9% Absolutism and Constitutionalism,
1648 1715
The Dutch Republic
The English Revolution
France under Louis XIV
Formation of Austria and Prussia
The westernization of Russia
4 6% Competition for empire and economic
expansion
Global economy of the
eighteenth century
Europe after Utrecht, 17131740
Demographic change in the eight-
eenth century
5 7% The scientific view of the world
Major figures of the scientific revolution
New knowledge of man and society
Political theory
7 9% Period of Enlightenment
Enlightenment thought
Enlightened despotism
Partition of Poland
10 13% Revolution and Napoleonic Europe
The Revolution in France
The Revolution and Europe
The French Empire
Congress of Vienna
7 9% The Industrial Revolution
Agricultural and industrial revolution
Causes of revolution
Economic and social impact on working
and middle class
British reform movement
6 8% Political and cultural developments,
1815 1848
Conservatism
Liberalism
Nationalism
Socialism
The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
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8 10% Politics and diplomacy in the Age of
Nationalism, 1850 1914
The unification of Italy and Germany
Austria-Hungary
Russia
France
Socialism and labor unions
European diplomacy, 18711900
7 9% Economy, culture, and imperialism,
1850 1914
Demography
World economy of the nineteenth century
Technological developments
Science, philosophy, and the arts
Imperialism in Africa and Asia
10 12% The First World War and the Russian
Revolution
The causes of the First World War
The economic and social impact of the war
The peace settlements
The Revolution of 1917 and its effects
7 9% Europe between the wars
The Great Depression
International politics, 1919 1939
Stalins five-year plans and purges
Italy and Germany between the wars
Interwar cultural developments
8 10% The Second World War and contempo-
rary Europe
The causes and course of the Second
World War
Postwar Europe
Science, philosophy, the arts, and religion
Social and political developments
W E S T E R N C I V I L I Z A T I O N I I
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Sample Test Questions
The following questions are provided to give an
indication of the types of questions that appear on
the Western Civilization II examination. CLEP
examinations are designed so that average students
completing a course in the subject can usually
answer about half the questions correctly.
Directions: Each of the questions or incomplete
statements below is followed by five suggested
answers or completions. Select the one that is best
in each case.
1. Colberts economic policies ran into difficulties
chiefly because of the
(A) relative poverty of France
(B) loss of Frances colonial empire
(C) wars of Louis XIV
(D) abandonment of the salt tax
(E) reckless spending by the nobility
2. Which of the following best describes the use
of the inductive method, as described by
Francis Bacon?
(A) Consult established scientific opinion and
formulate a philosophical system based on it.
(B) Begin with a mathematical principle and
draw inferences from it.
(C) Begin by making observations and then
draw conclusions from them.
(D) Begin with self-evident truths and draw
inferences from them.
(E) Advance learning by comparisons,
analogies, and insights.
3. Which of the following is a major theme
depicted in the painting above?
(A) A scientific view of the world
(B) Enlightened rationalism
(C) Romantic concern with nature
(D) Realistic appraisal of industrial progress
(E) The world of the unconscious mind
4. Which of the following occurred as a result of
the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 1748)
and the Seven Years War (1756 1763)?
(A) Prussia emerged as an important economic
and military power.
(B) Sweden ceased to be a great power.
(C) Russia extended its territory to the shores of
the Baltic Sea.
(D) Hapsburg claims to Polish territory
were dropped.
(E) France acquired the provinces of Alsace
and Lorraine.
Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
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5. Which of the following describes Joseph II
of Austria?
(A) An absolute monarch who consolidated his
authority through military force
(B) An absolute monarch whose policies were
considered reactionary by the intelligentsia
(C) An adroit politician who coined the expres-
sion Politics is the art of the possible
(D) A monarch who tried to impose religious
uniformity throughout his domains
(E) A monarch who sought to translate Enlight-
enment principles into government policies
and objectives
6. Which of the following statements best
describes the term Romanticism?
(A) A belief that the rules of art are eternal
and unchanging
(B) Interest in expressing general and
universal truths rather than particular and
concrete ones
(C) Emphasis on logical reasoning and exact
factual knowledge
(D) Emphasis on a high degree of emo-
tional subjectivity
(E) A value system that rejects idealism
7. All of the following were related to the Eastern
Question EXCEPT
(A) Pan-Slavism
(B) the Congress of Berlin of 1878
(C) the Crimean War
(D) the Kruger Telegram
(E) the Treaty of San Stefano
8. The cartoon above refers to the
(A) Napoleonic Wars
(B) Crimean War
(C) Boer War
(D) Russo-Japanese War
(E) First World War
9. All of the following were instrumental in the
emergence of Italy as a modern nation-state
EXCEPT
(A) Mazzini
(B) Napoleon III
(C) Cavour
(D) Francis II
(E) Garibaldi
10. Men being by nature all free, equal, and
independent, no one can be put out of this estate
and subjected to the political power of another
without his own consent, which is done by
agreeing with other men, to join and unite into a
community for their comfortable, safe, and
peaceable living in a secure enjoyment of
their properties.
The quotation above is from a work by
(A) John Locke
(B) Karl Marx
(C) Edmund Burke
(D) Voltaire
(E) Adam Smith
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11. Which of the following characterizes the size
of the population of Europe during the eigh-
teenth century?
(A) It increased rapidly.
(B) It stayed about the same.
(C) It declined.
(D) It dropped drastically in Western Europe,
but rose in Eastern Europe.
(E) It dropped drastically in Eastern Europe, but
rose in Western Europe.
12. The term collective security would most
likely be discussed in which of the follow-
ing studies?
(A) A book on the twentieth-century wel-
fare state
(B) A monograph on Soviet agricultural policy
during the 1920s
(C) A book on Bismarckian imperialism
(D) A treatise on Social Darwinism
(E) A work on European diplomacy during
the 1930s
13. The map above shows national boundaries in
which of the following years?
(A) 1789
(B) 1812
(C) 1815
(D) 1870
(E) 1914
14. The three classes, being associated and united
in interest, would forget their hatred. . . . Labor
would put an end to the drudgery of the people
and the disdain of the rich for their inferiors,
whose labors . . . they would share. . . . There
would no longer be any . . . poor, and social
antipathies would disappear with the causes
which produced them.
The quotation above typifies which of the
following schools of thought?
(A) Utopian socialism
(B) Marxism
(C) Utilitarianism
(D) Social Darwinism
(E) Stalinism
15. The British economist John Maynard Keynes
did which of the following?
(A) He urged governments to increase mass
purchasing power in times of deflation.
(B) He defended the principles of the
Versailles Treaty.
(C) He helped to establish the British
Labour party.
(D) He prophesied the inevitable economic
decline of capitalism.
(E) He defined the concept of marginal utility
to replace the labor theory of value.
16. The vast increase in German military expendi-
tures in the two decades preceding the First
World War occurred primarily because Germany
(A) had extended its imperialistic activities to
the Far East
(B) was planning to militarize the provinces
of Alsace and Lorraine
(C) was extending military aid to Russia
(D) feared an attack from France
(E) was rapidly expanding its navy
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17. In comparison to a preindustrial economy, the
most distinctive feature of a modern economy
is its
(A) greater capacity to sustain growth over time
(B) increased democratization of the workplace
(C) lower wages for the literate middle class
(D) lack of economic cycles
(E) elimination of hunger and poverty
18. Which of the following was NOT an issue
disturbing Europe on the eve of the Revolutions
of 1848?
(A) Socialism versus capitalism
(B) Hungarian independence
(C) The unification of France
(D) The power of the papacy
(E) The condition of serfs
19. The primary goal of Marxist socialists in the
latter half of the nineteenth century was to
(A) establish constitutional government
(B) ensure equal rights for women
(C) end government regulation of business
(D) institute trial by jury in all criminal cases
(E) abolish private ownership of the means
of production
20. Each individual, bestowing more time and
attention upon the means of preserving and
increasing his portion of wealth than is or
can be bestowed by government, is likely to
take a more effectual course than what,
in this instance and on his behalf, would be
taken by government.
The quotation above best illustrates which of
the following?
(A) Fascism
(B) Mercantilism
(C) Syndicalism
(D) Classical liberalism
(E) Utopian socialism
21. The aim of the Soviet Unions First Five-Year
Plan was to
(A) acquire foreign capital
(B) produce an abundance of consumer goods
(C) encourage agricultural production by
subsidizing the kulaks
(D) build up heavy industry
(E) put industrial policy in the hands of
the proletariat
POPULATION DENSITY IN FRANCE PER
SQUARE KILOMETER
22. The increase in population density between
1801 and 1846 shown above indicates that
(A) the growth of Paris absorbed any natural
population increase
(B) there was a reversing trend in which indus-
try moved to the center of France while
agriculture moved to the north
(C) the population distribution in existence in
1801 was almost unchanged in 1846
(D) by 1846 southern France was declining
in population
(E) by 1846 central France was declining
in population
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23. The National Assembly in France (1789 1791)
did all of the following EXCEPT
(A) issue assignats
(B) ban strikes
(C) pass the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
(D) abolish guilds
(E) abolish private property
24. The cartoon above, published in 1955, sug-
gested that
(A) the Soviet Union intended to seize and
control the bone of contention
(B) France and Germany should cooperate with
each other to meet the Soviet threat
(C) France and Germany were industrially and
economically weak
(D) communism dominated Western Europe
(E) France, Germany, and the communist
nations should seek to form a tripartite pact
in Europe
25. Historical explanations for nineteenth-century
European imperialism include all of the follow-
ing EXCEPT a
(A) need to discover new sources of raw materials
(B) need to find new markets for manufac-
tured goods
(C) need to invest excess financial resources
(D) desire to establish world government
(E) desire to maintain the European balance
of power
26. All of the following factors contributed to the
rise of the National Socialist German Workers
party (Nazis) EXCEPT
(A) the weakness of the Weimar Republic
(B) dissatisfaction with the Versailles Treaty
(C) the impact of the Great Depression
(D) the support of German conservatives
(E) the support of Socialist trade unions
27. He used extreme methods and mass repres-
sions at a time when the Revolution was already
victorious, when the Soviet state was strength-
ened, when the exploiting classes were already
liquidated and Socialist relations were rooted
solidly in all phases of the national economy,
when our party was politically consolidated
and had strengthened itself both numerically
and ideologically.
In the quotation above, which of the following
spoke and about whom?
(A) Khrushchev about Stalin
(B) Khrushchev about Trotsky
(C) Stalin about Trotsky
(D) Trotsky about Lenin
(E) Brezhnev about Lenin
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28. Albert Einsteins theory of relativity proposed
(A) a new structure for the atom
(B) a new conception of space and time
(C) the fundamental concepts for developing
the computer
(D) the origin of the universe from the explosion
of a single mass
(E) the particulate nature of light
29. Which of the following is a central and essential
component of the European welfare state?
(A) Nationalization of all major sectors of
the economy
(B) Decentralization of the state
(C) State responsibility for assuring access
to medical care for all citizens
(D) Elimination of large private fortunes
through taxation
(E) Elimination of independent trade unions
30. In the mid-eighteenth century, European popula-
tion increased sharply for all of the following
reasons EXCEPT
(A) improved agricultural techniques
(B) improvements in medical care
(C) fewer famines
(D) a decline in the death rate
(E) a decline of the plague
31. One of the goals of the physiocrats was to
(A) reform the French monarchy along
Dutch lines
(B) implement more stringent mercantilist
economic policies
(C) implement free-trade policies
(D) repudiate the national debt
(E) effect a complete redistribution of arable
land in France
32. During the reign of Catherine the Great (1762
1796), all of the following occurred EXCEPT
(A) Russia increased its commercial and cultural
contacts with the West.
(B) In the wake of peasant uprisings, manorial
controls over the serfs were increased.
(C) A new class of powerful merchants
appeared in Russias major cities.
(D) The Russian population increased in size.
(E) Increasingly, the upper classes were edu-
cated in and spoke French.
33. The map of Europe shown portrays national
boundaries as they existed in
(A) 1871
(B) 1913
(C) 1925
(D) 1948
(E) 1950
34. The dictum form follows function is asso-
ciated with which of the following trends in
the arts?
(A) Neoclassicism
(B) Modernism
(C) Humanism
(D) Romanticism
(E) Realism
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35. The Ostpolitik of West German Chancellor
Willy Brandt was designed to
(A) nationalize German banks
(B) win Soviet diplomatic recognition for
West Germany
(C) deepen West Germanys commitment to the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
(D) normalize West German relations with the
communist states of Eastern Europe
(E) promote free trade in Europe
36. Which of the following resulted from the Peace
of Westphalia (1648)?
I. The emergence of Austria-Hungary as a
major power in Europe
II. The end of religious wars in Western Europe
III. The recognition of the independence of the
United Provinces of the Netherlands
IV. The end of the Hapsburg-Bourbon rivalry
(A) III only
(B) I and IV only
(C) II and III only
(D) II and IV only
(E) I, II, and III only
37. Each contract of each particular state is but a
clause in the great primeval contract of eternal
society, linking the lower with the higher natures,
connecting the visible and invisible world,
according to a fixed compact sanctioned by the
inviolable oath which holds all physical and all
moral natures, each in their appointed place.
The quotation above reflects the ideas of
(A) Charles Fourier
(B) Voltaire
(C) Rousseau
(D) Adam Smith
(E) Edmund Burke
38. Which of the following is true of the French
Revolution of 1830?
(A) It strengthened the power of the work-
ing class.
(B) It overthrew the Restoration Monarch
Charles X.
(C) It produced a constitutional monarchy based
on universal adult male suffrage.
(D) It was suppressed by Charles X with the aid
of Austria and Russia.
(E) It strengthened the power of the Roman
Catholic Church in France.
39. Which of the following countries remained most
closely aligned, ideologically and economically,
with the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1989?
(A) The Peoples Republic of China
(B) Bulgaria
(C) Czechoslovakia
(D) Hungary
(E) Poland
40. We are fifty or a hundred years behind the
advanced countries. We must make good this
distance in ten years. Either we do it or they
crush us.
A. Charles de Gaulle calling for France to
prepare for tank warfare
(B) Winston Churchill demanding that Britain
expand its air force and navy
(C) Joseph Stalin explaining the need for
continued industrial development in the
Soviet Union
(D) Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) introducing
the Cultural Revolution in China
(E) Adolf Hitler inaugurating German
rearmament
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41. By the end of the seventeenth century, which of
the following was a social or political conse-
quence of the policies pursued by Spain in its
colonial possessions in the New World?
(A) Economic and social mobility were greatly
inhibited by a rigid class structure.
(B) The native inhabitants had secured a degree
of political independence.
(C) The Roman Catholic Church had been
forced to tolerate Protestant mission-
ary activities.
(D) Most colonists had come to view themselves
as fundamentally opposed to their compa-
triots remaining in Spain.
(E) There had been virtually no intermarriage
among various racial groups.
42. The eighteenth-century political cartoon
reproduction shown above relates most closely
to which of the following events of the
French Revolution?
(A) The emergence of the power of the
Third Estate
(B) Tensions between the nobility and clergy
(C) The mistreatment of political prisoners
(D) The death of Marat
(E) The Thermidorean Reaction
43. Which of the following joined Nazi Germany in
its attack on the Soviet Union?
(A) Vichy France
(B) Finland
(C) Sweden
(D) Turkey
(E) Japan
44. Churchills famous phrase Never was so
much owed by so many to so few referred to
(A) those who evacuated the Allied army
from Dunkirk
(B) those who convoyed food and material
across the Atlantic in the early 1940s
(C) the scientists who developed radar and other
early warning technologies
(D) the fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force who
won the Battle of Britain
(E) the cryptographers who broke the German
and Japanese military and diplomatic codes
45. The Soviet foreign policy of peaceful coexis-
tence was most closely associated with which
of the following Soviet domestic policies?
(A) Lenins New Economic Policy (NEP)
(B) Stalins program of collectivization
(C) Khruschevs policy of de-Stalinization
(D) Brezhnevs policy toward dissidents
(E) Andropovs program of increased
industrial output
46. This is what I see and what troubles me. I look
on all sides and I see only darkness everywhere.
Nature presents to me nothing which is not a
matter of doubt and concern. It is incomprehen-
sible that God should exist and that God should
not exist.
The quotation above expresses the view of
(A) Pascal
(B) Newton
(C) Bacon
(D) Galileo
(E) Hobbes
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47. Which of the following countries intervened
militarily in Mexico in the 1860's in an attempt
to establish colonial control?
(A) Germany
(B) Sweden
(C) Portugal
(D) Italy
(E) France
48. The theories of which of the following had the
most influence on the American and French
Revolutions?
(A) Condorcet, Voltaire, Jefferson
(B) Pitt, Hobbes, Raynal
(C) Diderot, Burke, Fox
(D) Montesquieu, Locke, Rousseau
(E) Wilkes, Turgot, Helvetius
49. The country that pioneered social insurance
legislation in the late nineteenth century was
(A) Great Britain
(B) France
(C) Germany
(D) Austria
(E) Russia
50. One accomplishment of the British Reform Bill
of 1832 was the
(A) reduction in the parliamentary power of the
House of Lords
(B) reduction in the constitutional powers of the
Crown
(C) extension of parliamentary representation to
the new industrial centers
(D) extension of the right to vote to all males
over the age of 21
(E) increase in the representation of the colonies
in Parliament
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Copyright 2004 by College Entrance Examination Board. All rights reserved.
Study Resources
Most textbooks used in college-level Western
Civilization courses cover the topics in the outline
given earlier, but the approaches to certain topics
and the emphasis given to them may differ. To
prepare for the Western Civilization II exam, it is
advisable to study one or more college textbooks,
which can be found in most college bookstores.
When selecting a textbook, check the table of
contents against the Knowledge and Skills
Required for this test.
You will find it helpful to supplement your reading
with books listed in the bibliographies found in
most history textbooks. In addition, contemporary
novels and plays, as well as works by Homer,
Shakespeare, and Dickens, provide rich sources of
information. Classic works of nonfiction are equally
valuablefor example, Machiavellis The Prince,
Mills On Liberty, and Paines The Rights of Man.
Books of documents are an excellent source for
sampling primary materials; A Documentary His-
tory of Modern Europe, edited by T.G. Barnes and
G.D. Feldman (Little, Brown), is one such collec-
tion. Actual works of art in museums can bring to
life not only the reproductions found in books but
history itself. Films such as A Man for All Seasons
and The Return of Martin Guerre and television
series such as Civilisation, I, Claudius, Eliza-
beth R, and the Ascent of Man provide enjoyable
reinforcement to what is learned through reading.
The Internet is another resource you could explore.
Additional suggestions for preparing for CLEP exams
are given in Preparing to Take CLEP Examinations.
Answer Key
1. C
2. C
3. E
4. A
5. E
6. D
7. D
8. E
9. D
10. A
11. A
12. E
13. B
14. A
15. A
16. E
17. A
18. C
19. E
20. D
21. D
22. C
23. E
24. B
25. D
26. E
27. A
28. B
29. C
30. B
31. C
32. C
33. C
34. B
35. D
36. E
37. E
38. B
39. B
40. C
41. A
42. A
43. B
44. D
45. C
46. A
47. E
48. D
49. C
50. C