Deck 15: Competing for Power and Wealth: The Old Regime, 1715-1789

Question 1

After Peter the Great, Russia faced the problem of

A) Rule by infant, youthful and mentally unstable rulers
B) A major revolt by the nobility ending Russian autocracy
C) A serious loss of territory to Poland and the Ottoman Empire
D) A belated religious Reformation

Answer 1

Rule by infant, youthful and mentally unstable rulers

Question 2

The most important successor of Peter the Great in Russia was

A) Catherine the Great
B) Frederick the Great
C) Charles the Great
D) Ivan the Great

Answer 2

Catherine the Great

Question 3

Catherine the Great of Russia did all of the following. Which one was not in accord with Enlightenment principles?

A) She called for a legislative Commission to suggest reforms and gave them an Instruction or guideline, based on the ideas of Montesquieu and Beccaria
B) She invited Diderot, editor of the Encyclopedia, to St. Petersburg
C) She corresponded with Voltaire
D) She waged a successful war against the Ottoman Turks

Answer 3

She waged a successful war against the Ottoman Turks

Question 4

Catherine the Great of Russia did all of the following. Which one was consistent with Enlightenment principles?

A) She suppressed a peasant revolt led by Pugachev
B) She conspired with aristocratic officers to seize the throne of Russia for herself
C) She relaxed press censorship and confiscated church lands
D) She participated in the Partitions of Poland, taking the largest share

Question 5

Poland was partitioned because

A) Poland was faced with a weak central government, a lack of defensible frontiers and the powerful neighboring states of Austria, Prussia and Russia
B) Poland was invaded by the Ottoman Turks, the Mongols and Hungary, who divided the country among them
C) A major peasant revolt led the peasant leaders to desire to be a part of some other country
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 6

Prussia under Frederick William I was characterized by

A) The dismantling of his father's large army
B) The king's devotion to the task of raising and drilling a large army
C) A major war against France
D) The ending of serfdom in Prussia

Question 7

Austria in the early eighteenth century

A) Had the strongest army in Europe
B) Faced potential problems because of the succession of Maria Theresa, because the precedents for a female succession were weak
C) Achieved full control of the Holy Roman Empire, turning all of Germany into an absolute monarchy
D) Conquered Prussia and deposed Frederick the Great

Question 8

The two major wars between Frederick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresa of Austria were

A) The Seven Years' War and the Hundred Years' War
B) The Thirty Years' War and the Wars of Religion
C) The War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War
D) The Persian War and the Punic War

Question 9

The ruler who precipitated the mid-century wars-the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War-was

A) Frederick the Great of Prussia because of his invasion of Saxony
B) Maria Theresa of Austria, by her invasion of Poland
C) The Ottoman Sultan, by his invasion of Italy
D) Peter the Great of Russia, by his invasion of France

Question 10

The Diplomatic Revolution

A) Was an unexpected alliance of Austria and Prussia to resolve the Silesian issue through an annexation of Poland
B) Was an alliance between Russia and the Ottoman Turks to partition some independent Muslim principalities between them
C) Was an unlikely alliance of France and England to take advantage of the situation in central Europe caused by the Thirty Years' War
D) Occurred because Maria Theresa sought new allies in an effort to retake Silesia from Frederick the Great of Prussia

Question 11

The major geopolitical result of the Wars of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War combined was

A) Prussia and Russia were confirmed as major European powers
B) Austria disappeared from the European map
C) Britain emerged as a major continental European power
D) All of these options are correct

Question 12

Eighteenth century warfare

A) Tended to neglect navies and the European colonies
B) Neglected sieges in favor of all-out battles
C) Was waged by professional armies whose organization reflected the centralized bureaucratic governments they served
D Was waged by armies of disorganized, ill-trained volunteers and only succeeded in devastating the . countryside without achieving important political results

Question 13

The eighteenth century colonial world

A) Saw Spain lose most of its colonies to Holland
B) Saw Portugal become the dominant colonial power
C) Saw Russia, Prussia and the Ottoman Turks become important American colonial rivals
D) Saw France and England become the chief colonial rivals because of the decline of the other colonial powers

Question 14

The reign of Louis XV of France

A) Was marked by numerous tax and revenue problems
B) Saw no wars of any consequence
C) Clearly illustrated the idea and effectiveness of Enlightened Absolutism
D) Saw France become the dominant military power of Europe

Question 15

The Whigs and the Tories

A) Were rival French political factions
B) Were two quarreling religious sects whose rivalry dated back to the Reformation
C) Were the major proponents and opponents of the Enlightenment, respectively
D) Were rival English political factions, each striving to control Parliament

Question 16

The dominating political institution of England in the eighteenth century was

A) The Estates General
B) The Continental Congress
C) The Senate
D) The House of Commons

Question 17

The British government in the eighteenth century is generally regarded as successful because

A) A method was found-the cabinet system-to insure that the king and the Parliament worked together
B) Parliament at last succeeded in its goal of deposing the king and establishing a republic
C) The king and a small group of ministers succeeded in abolishing Parliament
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 18

During the eighteenth century, a large part of colonial commerce was based on

A) The slave trade
B) The wool trade
C) The iron trade
D) The steel trade

Question 19

The major destination for the victims of the African slave trade was

A) Virginia
B) South Carolina
C) Mexico
D) Brazil and the West Indies

Question 20

The African slave trade in the eighteenth century

A) Increased because of the demand for slave labor to produce such crops as sugar, tobacco, coffee and rice
B) Tended to decline from the seventeenth century
C) Had little impact on the politics and society of Africa
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 21

The demand for sugar and other agricultural products of the New World

A) Started slavery in Africa, which until then had been free of the problem
B) Shifted the major direction of already existing African slave trade from towards the Middle East to towards the Americas
C) Had virtually no effect on African society
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 22

Enlightened absolutism

A) Refers to the political ideas of Rousseau
B) Refers to the monarchy of Louis XIV in the seventeenth century
C) Is the idea argued by some historians that several late eighteenth-century monarchs tried to undertake . reforms inspired by Enlightenment ideas
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 23

The area in which Frederick the Great cannot be called an "enlightened absolutist" is

A) His correspondence with French intellectuals
B) His phrase, "I am the first servant of the state."
C) His refusal to free the serfs or lessen their burdens
D) His proclamation of religious toleration

Question 24

Although Joseph II undertook reforms where Frederick the Great feared to tread-such as freedom for serfs and greater toleration of Jews-he ultimately failed because

A) He was overthrown as part of the French Revolution
B) His chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, sabotaged his reforms
C) He did not really believe in his reforms and failed to push them hard enough
D) His reforms were often ill-conceived and autocratically imposed, not only alienating the powerful but . also those whom the reforms were supposed to help

Question 25

Overall, it can be said of the enlightened absolutists

A) That they dramatically changed the social and political structures of the countries that they ruled
B) That they advanced to some degree the Enlightenment program of religious toleration and more humane social and governmental institutions, though still continuing their pursuit of military power
C) That they never made any serious attempt to change anything, accomplishing nothing of merit
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 26

The "Agricultural Revolution" of the eighteenth century meant

A) That a series of massive peasant revolts overthrew several monarchies
B) That major changes occurred in the way land was plowed and crops planted, leading to a major increase in food production
C) That enlightened absolutists succeeded in abolishing serfdom in their dominions, ruining the nobility
D) All of these options are correct

Question 27

An important part of the new agricultural methods in Great Britain was

A) An imposition of serfdom based on the pattern of Eastern Europe
B) The development of larger blocks of land by the enclosure process and the loss of land by the smaller farmers
C) A massive flocking to the land by the inhabitants of the cities
D) The division of large blocks of land into long, narrow strips, with a 3-year crop rotation

Question 28

Cottage industry developed because

A) Eighteenth-century towns lost population
B) Of the end of serfdom in Great Britain
C) Of the growing rural labor supply, which would work for lower wages than townsmen
D) The British Parliament forbade industry in towns

Question 29

Cottage industry

A) Increased considerably during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
B) Was often a cloth industry, but many other items were also manufactured this way
C) Often involved the entire family, including the children, in the work
D) All of these options are correct

Question 30

Population growth during the eighteenth century

A) Helps explain the political strength of France, Britain and Russia
B) Was partially caused by the availability of more and better food
C) Was aided in some areas by better urban sanitation practices
D) All of these options are correct

Question 31

Among the unpleasant effects of population growth in the eighteenth century was

A) A collapse of food prices that ruined the peasants
B) The abandonment of overcrowded cities by the desperately poor
C) A surplus of workers and deepening misery for the poor
D) All of these options are correct

Question 32

The urban middle class-the bourgeoisie-of the eighteenth century

A) Probably gained the most from the improved commerce, industry and agriculture of the century
B) Found themselves crushed economically by the aristocracy
C) Formed close relationships with other orders and fought the aristocracy
D) All of these options are incorrect

Question 33

An important contrast between the eighteenth century novel and eighteenth century art and architecture was

A) Novels tended to be set in the Middle Ages while paintings depicted current events
B) Novels tended to reflect middle class tastes while painting concerned mostly, but not exclusively, the aristocracy
C) Almost all serious novels were written by French women, while the best painters were German
D) All of these options are correct

Question 34

The two major music styles of the eighteenth century were

A) Renaissance and romantic
B) Baroque and classical
C) Rock and jazz
D) Greek and Roman

Question 35

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

A) Was a major eighteenth century painter
B) Was an important Enlightenment religious skeptic
C) Was an important eighteenth century English novelist
D) Was a great musical composer who helped establish classical music

Question 36

Lower class culture in the eighteenth century

A) Was rigorously suppressed by the absolutist state
B) Included festivals, some forms of literature, music, dancing and a good deal of drinking
C) Became increasingly irreligious as a result of the enlightenment
D) Became advocates of revolution in all European countries

Question 37

Religious movements in the eighteenth century

A) Were virtually nonexistent because of the Enlightenment
B) Culminated in the Council of Trent
C) Included German and Scandinavian pietism, Methodism in England, Jansenism in France and Italy and Hasidic Judaism in Poland
D) All denounced the current social order

Question 38

American independence

A) Was urged by many Enlightenment thinkers
B) Was caused in part by a British commercial and tax policy designed to tighten British control over the colonies
C) Was achieved in spite of the French joining the British to suppress it
D) Was caused in part by the British attempt to govern the colonies by the principles of enlightened absolutism

Question 39

Catherine the Great's interest in the Enlightenment led to much greater freedom for the Russian peasants.

Question 40

Under Frederick William I, 70 percent of the Prussian state budget went to the army.

Question 41

The Diplomatic Revolution astounded Europe because of its alliance of two apparently mortal enemies: Frederick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresa of Austria.

Question 42

Louis XV ran a more efficient French government than his predecessor, Louis XIV.

Question 43

George I and George II preferred Whigs to Tories because some of the latter had favored the cause of the exiled Stuarts.

Question 44

Most victims of the African slave trade were sent to Virginia and South Carolina.

Question 45

As part of his philosophy as an enlightened absolutist, Frederick the Great abolished serfdom in Prussia.

Question 46

Joseph II's enlightened reform failed because his autocratic behavior antagonized not only the powerful, but also the peasants.

Question 47

Traditional European agriculture never left any arable land unplanted.

Question 48

The putting-out system of manufacturing attracted rural people to urban jobs.

Question 49

In spite of the overall growth of prosperity in the eighteenth century, the growth of population often meant increasing misery for the poor.

Question 50

The novels of Samuel Richardson avoided sexual references.

Question 51

Both Antoine Watteau and Jean-Baptiste Greuze depicted aristocratic rather then bourgeois life in their paintings.

Question 52

Johann Sebastian Bach and George Friedrich Handel were the two greatest practitioners of the baroque style of music.

Question 53

Popular literature was almost nonexistent, owing to widespread illiteracy.

Question 54

The term Methodist, given to John Wesley and his religious followers, was originally a derisive, insulting term.

Question 55

The debts incurred by Britain to defeat France in North America were an important, though not the sole, reason for the stamp tax.

Question 56

Many Europeans saw the American Revolution as a victory for Enlightenment ideas.

Question 57

The Russian ruler often classified as an enlightened absolutist was ________.

Question 58

The Don Cossack who led a major rebellion of Russian serfs in the eighteenth century was____________.

Question 59

A large country that disappeared entirely in the eighteenth century, partitioned by hostile powers, was__________.

Question 60

_____________ used the accession of Maria Theresa of Austria as an excuse to invade Silesia and start the War of the Austrian Succession.

Question 61

The major change of alliances precipitated by Maria Theresa's desire to retake Silesia from Prussia is referred to as the ___________.

Question 62

The __________ were French law courts, which claimed at times to speak for the nation.

Question 63

___________ governed France far less effectively than his predecessor, Louis XIV.

Question 64

Two major factions that dominated British politics in the eighteenth century were the Whigs and the________.

Question 65

The major destinations of the African slave trade were the West Indies and _____________.

Question 66

Some historians have called the eighteenth century monarchs who maintained their authority through innovative reforms for the good of both the people and the state _______________.

Question 67

With the exception of Joseph II, enlightened absolutists of Eastern Europe generally failed to alleviate the burdens that fell on the _______________ or serfs.

Question 68

The changes in rural life that led to greater food production are usually termed the ______________.

Question 69

An important type of manufacturing prevalent in the eighteenth century is called____________________ or cottage industry.

Question 70

Britain, France and __________ were countries growing in political strength through population increase in the eighteenth century.

Question 71

Another name for the middle classes of the eighteenth century is _________________.

Question 72

The English novelist who wrote Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders was ________________.

Question 73

The painter of A Pilgrimage to Cythera, which depicts an idealized eighteenth-century aristocracy,was __________.

Question 74

Bach and _________ were major composers in the late baroque style.

Question 75

A religious movement in Britain stressing humble faith, abstinence and hard work was the _________movement, led by John Wesley.

Question 76

An eighteenth century Jewish religious movement stressing greater piety was the founding of the___________ sect.

Question 77

The British law that led to strong protests in the American colonies in 1765 was the ___________.

Question 78

The Declaration of Independence was written primarily by ___________.

Question 79

Discuss the policies of Catherine the Great. What were her major successes? What were her major failures?

Question 80

Why might the eighteenth century be considered a century of both growing prosperity and deepening social misery?