AP European History
Chapter 17: The Age of Western Imperialism
Name ____________________________________________
Date_______________________________ Period ____________________
_____ 1. The period historians call the New Imperialism began in the ________.
A. 1645s
C. 1870s
B. 1840s
D. 1910s
_____ 2. During the nineteenth century, the dominant religious group that set the pace for missionary
enterprises that other Western nations imitated was ________.
A. evangelical Protestants from Britain
B. Roman Catholics from the Americas
C. Roman Catholics from Spain, Portugal, and Italy
D. Protestant settlers in British colonies
_____ 3. What was Queen Victoria’s role in India?
A. She was named the Empress of India in 1877.
B. She owned the East India Company.
C. She sponsored expeditions of Christian missionaries to India.
D. She advised India princes who swore allegiance to the British Crown.
_____ 4. Which of the following countries posed the biggest challenge to Britain’s dominance of the
world stage?
A. Russia and Japan
B. Russia and China
C. Japan and China
D. Japan and the United States
______ 5. ___ believed the European economies should be restructured to make imperialism unnecessary.
A.
B.
C.
D.
J. A. Hobson
Karl Marx
Lenin
Benjamin Disraeli
_____ 6. Russia’s main rival in southern Middle Asia—the region of present-day Uzbekistan,
Turkistan, and areas bordering Afghanistan—was ________.
A. Germany
C. Britain
B. the Ottoman Empire
D. Muslim separatists
_____ 7. Russian expansion into which region came at the expense of the Ottoman Empire and Persia?
A. the Transcaucasus
B. Far East
C. Central Asia
D. southern Middle Asia
______ 8. What ended the passive role of the United States in foreign affairs?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Russian-British rivalry in Asia
Cuba’s revolt against Spain
the Boxer Rebellion in China
the sepoy mutiny in India
AP European History
Chapter 17: The Age of Western Imperialism
_____ 9. Laos and Cambodia became protectorates of ________ in the 1880s and 1890s.
A. France
C. China
B. the United States
D. Japan
_____ 10. One of the reasons Napoleon III sent forces to Vietnam in 1856 was to ________.
A. protect Roman Catholic missionaries
B. establish administrative control over the Vietnamese
C. protect French financial interests
D. expand French territory in Indochina
_____ 11. The Boxer Rebellion ended when ________.
A. Chinese troops suppressed the Boxers
B. the Boxers surrendered
C. an international army occupied Beijing
D. China and the Boxers signed a peace treaty
_____ 12. What technological innovation helped Britain win the first Opium War against China?
A. quinine
C. machine gun
B. iron steamboat
D. gunpowder
_____ 13. The single most important weapon in colonial warfare by 1900 was ________.
A. the machine gun
B. the tank
C. the land mine
D. European diseases
_____ 14. The first transatlantic submarine cable was laid in ________.
A. 1850
C. 1872
B. 1866
D. 1900
_____ 15. What was “gunboat diplomacy”?
A. iron warships that used force to conquer areas and allow access by European merchants
B. the use of warships to ensure cooperation of local rulers with European imperialists
C. negotiations between European merchants and local rulers that took place on warships
D. naval fleets of European powers that engaged in warfare with other European powers
_____ 16. One of the main legacies of the missionary movements of the eighteenth century is the ____.
A. spread of Western civilizations around the globe
B. elevation of native peoples of non-Western regions
C. establishment of Christianity a genuinely worldwide religion
D. encouragement of native people to oppose imperialism
_____ 17. The largest missionary society in______ had over a million members.
A. the United States
B. France
C. Germany
D. Britain
AP European History
Chapter 17: The Age of Western Imperialism
_____ 18. Which French physician measured the skulls of human beings from different races and
assigned them intellectual capacity on the basis of brain size?
A. Walter Reed
C. Paul Broca
B. Carlos Finley
D. James Cook
_____ 19. One of the ways nineteenth-century imperialism differed from early modern colonization was _____.
A. it placed a higher focus on gaining control of territory
B. the United States’ power rivaled that of Great Britain
C. European nations increased their interest in the non-Western world
D. Britain became interested in the non-Western world
_____ 20. The close of European colonization in the Americas resulted in ________.
A. Great Britain’s loss of all of its territory in the Americas
B. the collapse of Spain and Portugal as significant colonial powers
C. increased European competition for new colonial settlements
D. the abolition of the slave trade
_____ 21. Which of the following statements about British involvement in slavery and the slave trade is true?
A. Britain banned the slave trade in 1807 and abolished it in its own colonies in 1833–1834.
B. Britain banned the slave trade and abolished it in its own colonies in 1833–1834.
C. Britain banned the slave trade in 1807 but never abolished it in its own colonies.
D. Britain did not participate in the slave trade, but it allowed slavery in its own colonies until 1834.
_____ 22. The British Empire in the early nineteenth century sought to extend its power and influence
primarily through which means?
A. conquering additional territory
B. building railroads and canals
C. defeating small Asian and African states
D. promoting imperialism through free trade
_____ 23. Why did British economic thinkers advocate abandoning closed imperial systems in favor of
free trade?
A. Britain’s manufacturing capacity exceeded demands of the population.
B. Britain’s manufacturing economy was dependent on foreign raw materials.
C. Britain wanted more favorable trade agreements for its import of raw materials.
D. Britain wanted to decrease its manufacturing costs.
_____ 24. The Opium Wars were a conflict between Britain’s desire to sell a product in China and
China’s opposition to ________.
A. British trade policies
B. Indian goods being sold in China
C. Britain’s dominance in foreign markets
D. the import of an addictive product, opium
_____ 25. Prior to 1870, which of the following was the greatest threat to British domination of foreign markets?
A. increased competition by major European nations
B. resistance to British goods by native populations in foreign markets
C. opposition to British imperialism in Africa, Asia, and the Americas
D. government interference in the form of tariffs, subsidies, and price controls
AP European History
Chapter 17: The Age of Western Imperialism
_____ 26. The Government of India Act in 1858 ________.
A. increased the authority of native rulers
B. improved the sepoys’ wages and working conditions
C. transferred political authority from the East India Company to the British Crown
D. transferred political authority from the East India Company to India
_____ 27. One of the primary motives for the New Imperialism was the ________.
A. need for new sources of raw materials
B. belief an empire was necessary for a great power
C. desire to bring Western values to non-Western areas
D. desire to promote Christianity among non-Westerners
_____ 28. By 1914, which of the following was true?
A. British colonization touched North, South, East, and West Africa.
B. The Portuguese dominated Madagascar.
C. American colonization was dominant in southern Africa.
D. No foreign powers had direct access to the Nile River.
_____ 29. Historians have traditionally explained the New Imperialism as driven by the need for
markets and raw materials. Which of the following weakens this explanation?
A. colonies’ weakness as markets for the great imperial nations
B. Lenin’s argument that competition eventually eliminates inefficient capitalists
C. Hobson’s argument that European economies be restructured to make imperialism unnecessary
D. Marx’s views on capitalism
_____ 30. In 1898, British- and French-led forces encountered each other at the outpost of ________,
but did not decisively engage each other:
A. Omdurman
B. Lagos
C. Aduwa
D. Fashoda
_____ 31. The Europeans’ power attempt to maximize their strategic control of African territory,
markets, and raw materials was known as ________.
A. the Scramble for Africa
B. the Amazing Race
C. Realpolitik
D. Machiavellianism
_____ 32. How were the goals of the Russian expansion across mainland Asia similar to those of the
early Victorian British administration of India?
A. Both sought to elevate the native people on the ladder of civilization.
B. Both used diplomacy to gain the elites’ loyalty to the tsar or British Crown.
C. Both sought to convert indigenous groups to Christianity.
D. Both sought to gain economic and political domination without actual direct rule or
government administration.
AP European History
Chapter 17: The Age of Western Imperialism
_____ 33. Which of these was used by Russia to justify its expansion in the Transcaucasus?
A. protection of fellow Christians
B. protection of Jews in the region
C. protection of oppressed minorities suffering under Turkish rule
D. the weak state of the Ottoman Empire
_____ 34. Which of the following statements is true concerning colonization in Asia from 1880–1914?
A. French influence in Vietnam declined by 1914.
B. Japanese influence in Asia declined by 1914.
C. British dominance in Asia declined by 1914.
D. American influence in southern Asia increased by 1914.
_____ 35. Until the mid-nineteenth century, European colonists were largely confined to coastal
outposts in Asia and Africa for which of the following reasons?
A. Local groups violently resisted European colonizing power.
B. Europeans were highly vulnerable to the tropical diseases in these regions.
C. Fighting among states in Europe drew attention away from colonizing enterprises.
D. Steamboats and warships could not penetrate shallow riverbeds in Asia and Africa.
______ 36. Reasons for increased missionary activity in Asia and Africa in the 1800s included which of
A.
B.
C.
D.
the following?
Missionaries were interested in bringing the wisdom of other civilizations back to Europe.
African and Asian rulers accepted a missionary presence in exchange for greater trade.
New evangelical currents were developing among European Protestants.
The Catholic Church in France was experiencing a decline after the fall of Napoleon.
_____ 37. Botanists played a profound role in which of the following imperial ventures?
A. They transformed local crop production to serve the needs of the empires’ home countries.
B. They served as spokesmen for the idea that empires helped bring progress.
C. They introduced Asian crops into Europe, replacing the crops of the 1700s.
D. They collected exotic species of the non-Western world and exhibited them to domestic
audiences.
_____ 38. Anthropologists in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did which of the following?
A. They viewed non-Western peoples as roughly the same as Westerners in intelligence.
B. They sought to create new universities in non-Western societies to support research.
C. They pointed out similar folkways between Western and non-Western societies.
D. They created zoo-like “native villages” for people in Europe and America.
_____ 39. Which of the following best expresses the British rationale for ruling India in the nineteenth
century?
A. The rationale for rule shifted among all of these ideas over time.
B. Britain could bring orderly administration to a chaotic land.
C. Missionaries could spread Christianity among Hindus and Muslims.
D. British enlightenment values would bring civilization to India.
AP European History
Chapter 17: The Age of Western Imperialism
_____ 40. The Imperialism of Free Trade saw European powers dominate colonial nations through ______.
A. military power
B. economic influence
C. missionary activity
D. lending practices
_____ 41. Which best describes the ultimate outcome of the Russian wars of conquest in Asia?
A. They brought about a vast expansion of Russian wealth and influence in Europe.
B. They ended with the defeat of Chinese and British client states.
C. They resulted in Russian rivalry with Britain.
D. They ended with Persia and the Ottoman Empire in strong positions on Russia’s flanks.
_____ 42. The church founded by David Brown Vincent exemplifies which of these?
A. African rejection of Christian churches.
B. Devolution of church leadership to homegrown leaders.
C. The failure of European Christian churches in Africa.
D. The ascendancy of Islam in northern Africa.
Short answer: Write out response on a separate piece of paper.
1. How did British trade and imperial policies seek to benefit the home country? Compare and
contrast several policies for ruling and controlling the empire, and explain how they furthered
the empire’s underlying goals.
3 pts.
Topic: The Age of British Imperial Dominance
2. What explains the similarities, and what explains the differences between the ways various
European states acquired and ruled empires in Africa during the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries?
4 pts.
Topic: The Partition of Africa
3. How did major technological changes in the West help drive imperialism during the
nineteenth century?
2 pts.
Topic: Tools of Imperialism
4. Compare and contrast the origins, meaning, and effects of missionary activity sent by
Protestant nations with those sent by Catholic ones. Which groups had a greater impact on
life in Africa and Asia, and why?
4 pts.
Topic: The Missionary Factor