Deck 26: Into the Twenty-First Century: The Present in Perspective

Question 1

The early 1990s were marked by

A) The collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
B) The end of the sexual revolution
C) A definite peace in the Middle East
D) The permanent division of Germany into East and West

Answer 1

The collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe

Question 2

Problems facing the Soviet Union in the 1980s included all of the following except

A) The inability of a core feature, centralized planning, to produce needed and desired consumer goods
B) The inability of collectivized agriculture to produce enough food to free the Soviet Union from the
Necessity of importing grain
C) The activities of over-zealous Communist Party members, more interested in Marxist purity than in practical solutions to problems
D) Lack of incentive of workers to work hard or even show up regularly

Answer 2

The activities of over-zealous Communist Party members, more interested in Marxist purity than in practical solutions to problems

Question 3

The Soviet Union in the 1980s

A) Suffered from major economic problems
B) Successfully maintained control of Afghanistan
C) Easily surpassed the United States in armament production
D) Saw a revival of Stalinist purges

Answer 3

Suffered from major economic problems

Question 4

Which one of these events happened in Europe during the late 1980s and 1990s?

A) Stalin's purges
B) The Treaty of Versailles
C) The Collapse of the Soviet Union
D) The Triple Alliance

Question 5

The major purpose of Gorbachev's reforms was

A) To replace communism with capitalism
B) To maintain Soviet control over eastern Europe
C) To win the ongoing war in Afghanistan
D) To bring the Soviet economy up to the standard of Western European societies

Question 6

Gorbachev's policy of perestroika (restructuring) meant

A) Changing the political leadership in the Soviet satellite states
B) Developing a new Soviet constitution
C) Creating a mixed economy, blending socialist planning with a free market
D) Permitting public criticism and dissent

Question 7

Gorbachev's policy of glasnost (openness) meant

A) Permitting market forces rather than the government to set prices
B) Encouraging freer discussion of cultural and political matters
C) A political alliance with the United States
D) All of the options presented are incorrect

Question 8

During the breakup of the Soviet Union, Eastern European countries gained their political and economic autonomy. The first country to do so, because it already had a strong anti-Communist trade union movement, was

A) Romania
B) Finland
C) Poland
D) Austria

Question 9

The eastern European country that ended Communism with the "velvet revolution" was

A) Poland
B) Czechoslovakia
C) Hungary
D) Rumania

Question 10

Václav Havel

A) Went from prison to president of Czechoslovakia in seven months
B) Was a successful Czech playwright
C) Was involved in the 1968 "Prague Spring"
D) All of these options are correct

Question 11

East German discontent was in part caused by

A) Its standard of living being the lowest in the Soviet bloc
B) The government being strongly Stalinist, with numerous purges and imprisonments, even in the 1990s
C) The government's inability to keep out West German television, which demonstrated how much more prosperous that part of Germany was
D) East Germany was hit repeatedly by famines and plagues

Question 12

The one eastern European country in 1989-1990 whose ruler was executed was

A) Romania
B) Bulgaria
C) Albania
D) East Germany

Question 13

Gorbachev's reform program in the Soviet Union led to

A) Alienation of reformers who thought that he was not changing things rapidly enough
B) Unemployment, inflation and economic dislocation
C) Independence movements in the numerous non-Russian areas of the Soviet Union
D) All of these options are correct

Question 14

The disintegration of the Soviet Union came about not only because of the collapse of communism but also because of

A) The active promotion of a breakup by the United States
B) A successful Polish invasion of Russia
C) Nationalist independence movements in which ethnic groups and nationalities throughout the USSR pushed for independence
D) The overthrow of Gorbachev in a coup by hardline communists

Question 15

Emerging as the Russian leader replacing Gorbachev was

A) Václav Havel
B) Yuri Andropov
C) Lech Walesa
D) Boris Yeltsin

Question 16

After the collapse of communism

A) The Soviet Union and eastern Europe enjoyed unprecedented prosperity
B) Fascist dictatorships replaced communist dictatorships
C) Most countries suffered recession, inflation and unemployment
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 17

Eastern European nationalism in the 1990s

A) Led to the breakup of the Soviet Union
B) Led to bloody civil wars and atrocities in Yugoslavia
C) Led to the peaceful separation of Czechoslovakia into two republics
D) All of these options are correct

Question 18

The bloodiest ethnic conflicts after the end of communism occurred in

A) Yugoslavia
B) Lithuania
C) Czechoslovakia
D) Hungary

Question 19

Which of the following eastern European ethnic groups was not involved in the bloody civil wars in Yugoslavia?

A) Croatians
B) Czechs
C) Bosnians
D) Serbians

Question 20

With the collapse of Communism, only a few states remained in the Stalinist model. These included

A) Croatia
B) Mainland China
C) Cuba
D) Iran

Question 21

According to the text, two countries rose considerably in stature, power and influence with the collapse of Communism: the United States and

A) Italy
B) Germany
C) France
D) Spain

Question 22

The political shift to the right in many European countries and the United States in the 1980's had, as one of its main causes,

A) Major problems in the Middle East
B) Economic problems, including higher unemployment and declining growth
C) The growth of internationalist terrorism
D) The economic success of the Soviet Union

Question 23

The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 was

A) A treaty adjusting post-world War II political boundaries in Western Europe
B) A treaty establishing a greater European economic union and a common currency, the Euro
C) A military treaty to replace NATO
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 24

The post-1980s global economy

A) Was dominated by a small handful of truly international corporations
B)Meant that workers in countries remote from Europe and America might wear the same brand of shoes . and drink the same beverages as their Western counterparts
C) Because of its economic internationalism, it called into question the concept of national identity
D) All of these options are correct

Question 25

Replacing the United States in the 1980s as the world's topmost creditor nation was

A) Germany
B) China
C) Japan
D) Britain

Question 26

During most of the 1990s there was important economic growth for many East Asian countries. According to the text, the country most transformed by this growth was

A) Cambodia
B) Mainland China
C) North Korea
D) Pakistan

Question 27

A country where open rejection of Western culture and cultural values occurred in the 1980s was

A) Cuba
B) China
C) South Africa
D) Iran

Question 28

The country where al-Qaeda had its headquarters and training camps was

A) Jordan
B) Afghanistan
C) India
D) Pakistan

Question 29

A major area of conflict in the Middle East in recent years has been

A) Israel-Palestine
B) Egypt-Syria
C) Turkey-Iran
D) Jordan-India

Question 30

The rise of Islamic so-called "fundamentalist" movement is an indication

A) That the secularization that began with the Enlightenment is ending
B) That local and regional cultures may struggle against global, especially Western, influences that threatens their sense of identity
C) Of the unexpected side effects of the collapse of Communism
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 31

The phenomenon of globalization is well illustrated by

A) Instantaneous international communications on the Internet
B) Growing international economic ties
C) The spread of English as the world's second language
D) All of these options are correct

Question 32

Problems faced by the world in the 1990s included all of the following except

A) Continuing unemployment in Europe even in good economic times
B) A growing gap between the affluent and the poorer nations
C) Major famines caused by serious overpopulation
D) Environmental deterioration

Question 33

The major new disease of the late 20th century is

A) Bubonic plague
B) Smallpox
C) AIDS
D) Cholera

Question 34

As the third millennium dawns, there are reasons for both optimistic and pessimistic outlooks. A pessimist might argue all of the following except that

A) AIDS has become a global epidemic, especially devastating in Africa
B) The growth of European population might overstrain the resources of the Earth
C) There are still no clear solutions for the problems of pollution
D) The "ozone holes" in the Arctic and the Antarctic might grow

Question 35

As the third millennium dawns, there are reasons both for optimistic and pessimistic outlook. An optimist might argue all of the following except:

A) The decline of explosive population growth in Asia and Africa
B) The passage of fifty years without a major global conflict and the end of the Cold War
C) The still increasing human life span
D) The continued increase in the overall standard of living

Question 36

Part of the Soviet economic problem in the 1980s was that central planning was unable to produce enough consumer goods or goods that met consumer demands.

Question 37

Gorbachev's perestroika meant an increased crackdown in intellectual dissent.

Question 38

Gorbachev's glasnost was a plan for armaments reduction.

Question 39

The reforms of Gorbachev had the unexpected result of encouraging nationalist separatist movements in the Soviet Union.

Question 40

Václav Havel went from prison to president of Czechoslovakia in seven months.

Question 41

Boris Yeltsin, after his election as president of the Russian Republic, became a political rival to Gorbachev.

Question 42

Gorbachev was overthrown in 1991 by a coup headed by the remaining hard-line Communists in Russia.

Question 43

Boris Yeltsin became so unpopular that he was defeated for reelection as president of Russia in 1996.

Question 44

To an extent, the ethnic conflicts in the former Yugoslavia were religious conflicts.

Question 45

The first official use of NATO forces was in Bosnia.

Question 46

India and Poland were among the few countries still ruled according to the Soviet model by the late 1990s.

Question 47

In the 1980s the general political tendency in both the Untied States and Europe was toward the political right.

Question 48

The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 abolished a common currency for Western European countries and reestablished national currencies.

Question 49

Japan became the world's foremost creditor nation in the 1990s.

Question 50

Beginning in 1978, China, though officially still Communist, opened itself to foreign investment and implemented a market-oriented economy.

Question 51

An example of a tendency in the Islamic world to reject Western cultural values, though not Western technology, was Iran under the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Question 52

Islamic fundamentalism was a voice for moderation in many Islamic states.

Question 53

Israeli-Palestinian problems were resolved by the Oslo Accords of 1994.

Question 54

Personal income in most sub-Saharan African and Latin American countries has dramatically increased since the 1960s.

Question 55

The most heavily-polluted cities in the world are found mostly in Europe.

Question 56

The greatest mortality from AIDS has occurred in Africa.

Question 57

After two ephemeral leaders, the real successor of Brezhnev was ________.

Question 58

Gorbachev's policy of restructuring the Soviet Union was called ________.

Question 59

Gorbachev's idea of openness, of curtailing censorship in the Soviet Union, permitting free discussion of ideas was called ________.

Question 60

Going from prison to president of Czechoslovakia in seven months was Václav ________.

Question 61

Elected president of the Russian Republic was a rival of Gorbachev, ________.

Question 62

Cuba and __________ are two countries that remained committed to the Soviet model of politics and economics after the collapse of Communism.

Question 63

In the 1980s the general political direction of Europe and America shifted toward the ________

Question 64

The new unit of currency for most of Western Europe is called the ________.

Question 65

The country that in the 1990s became the world's greatest creditor is _______.

Question 66

A Communist country that made very successful economic changes without corresponding political changes was ________.

Question 67

A country that became known for its deliberate rejection of American values and strong assertion of Islamic values was ________.

Question 68

A label given to artistic and intellectual movements in the 1990s is ________.

Question 69

The terrorist group ________ organized an attack on New York City on September 11, 2001.

Question 70

A major problem in the Middle East has been the long-standing conflict between Israel and the________.

Question 71

The major new killer disease of the 1980s is known as ________.

Question 72

Analyze the effects of the collapse of Communism outside Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Question 73

In what way are forces pulling the contemporary world together and in what way are forces pulling the contemporary world apart?

Question 74

The breakup of Czechoslovakia was peaceful, the breakup of the Soviet Union was generally but not universally peaceful and the breakup of Yugoslavia was violent. What factors led to these different outcomes?

Question 75

How and why did Gorbachev's concepts of Perestroika and Glasnost end up weakening rather than strengthening the Soviet Union?

Question 76

Can the euro be regarded as the culmination of economic and political tendencies in Western Europe? Why or why not?

Question 77

Why should some parts of the world at the end of the twentieth century strongly reject so many aspects of Western culture?

Question 78

Describe the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Was this the result of the acts of Gorbachev or the result of long-term trends in the history of Communism?

Question 79

Are the developments in the world since 1989 the beginning of a new historical era or are they the continuation of trends that started around 1945-1950? Justify your argument.

Question 80

The text declares that there are reasons for both optimism and pessimism about the future. Choose and develop two major reasons for both the optimistic and the pessimistic views and determine which of these visions is more likely to be accurate.