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8 Week Social Studies Exam Study Guide
1. The United States and the Soviet Union became the only remaining superpowers in the world after
World War II.
2. England claimed Australia in 1770 to establish greater control over that region of the world.
3. The main difference between East and West Germany was East Germany was Communist; West
Germany was Capitalist.
4. Increased tensions between European nations competing in colonialism helped cause World War I.
5. Differences among social and economic classes in Russia was an important cause of the Russian
Revolution.
6. Beginning in January 1919, delegates from all of the Allied countries met at the Paris Peace
Conference to negotiate peace treaties between them and the Central Powers. The Allied powers
and Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was designed to punish
Germany. Portions of Germany's prewar territory were taken away. Germany was disarmed and
forced to accept an Allied military occupation of the Rhineland. It was required to give up its
colonial empire. Germany was forced to accept responsibility for the outbreak of the war. It was
required to pay the cost of repairing the wartime damage, known as reparations.
7. People sailing for Henry the Navigator explored the west coast of Africa.
8. Colonialism was so important to European nations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
because the colonies provided them with raw materials.
9. After World War II, the city of Berlin was divided into four sections. The Berlin Wall was
constructed in 1961 to force people to stop moving between East and West Germany. The Berlin
Wall came down in 1989. After the Berlin Wall fell East Germany joined West Germany as one
country.
10. Due to Russia's involvement in World War I and Russian people’s basic needs not being met, this
led to the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917.
11. During the Russian Revolution, Vladimir Lenin the leader of the Bolsheviks, gained control of the
Russian government in November 1917.
12. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, the rise of totalitarian governments in Germany, Italy, and Spain was
largely the result of severe economic and social problems that arose in Europe after World War I.
13. Brazil was originally colonized by the Portuguese.
14. European countries were interested in establishing colonies in Asia because they wanted to
control the spice trade.
15. Joseph Stalin was head of the Soviet Union during the early days of the Cold War.
16. In the aftermath of World War I, the world economy endured highs and lows. In Germany, the
economy entered into a deep depression caused by Germans having to pay war reparations.
17. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the end of the Cold War.
18. Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
19. Immediately after the abdication of Czar Nicholas II Lenin founded the International Communist
Party.
20. The English are the Europeans given credit for being the first to visit Australia.
21. The new Russian government was exactly like the old order because the head of state was an
autocrat whose dictates could not be questioned.
22. European nations opposed the Bolshevik government when it was established because they did
not want an alliance to form between Russia and Germany.
23. Communism did not take a stronger hold in Europe after World War I because other nations were
too busy rebuilding their economies.
25. Stalin is considered an especially brutal dictator because he ordered the exile, imprisonment,
and/or execution of millions.
25. The Russian Revolution was unique among all European revolutions because it replaced one
form of government with an entirely different form.
26. The first British colonists in Australia were prisoners.
27. Captain James Cook claimed Australia for Great Britain.
28. The socialist group called the Bolsheviks began the Russian Revolution and followed the
teachings of Karl Marx.
29. The Holocaust of World War II generally refers to the planned murder of Jews, gypsies,
communists, and others by the German government.
30. The three main Allied leaders were Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin.
31. Converting Africans to Christianity was one of the main purposes for the Scramble for Africa.
32. European nations were eager to colonize Africa because it provided a source of raw materials
and markets for manufactured goods.
33. Germany having to pay the Allies large sums of money was the most damaging aspect to the
German economy of the Treaty of Versailles.
34. Slavery was the main reason the British began colonizing Africa in the 1700s.
35. As the European powers grew more industrialized, their colonies became very important as
sources of raw materials.
36. The person who introduced Communism to Russia at the October Russian Revolution was
Vladimir Lenin.
37. The Spanish, French and English were the main colonial powers in North America.
38. Latin was the official language of the Roman Empire and it has influenced the English language
we use today.
39. The Slavic people were the major cultural group of Eastern Europe.
40. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the United Kingdom was the largest
empire in Eastern Europe.
Essay Question
Choose a leader from the period of history we have studied and write a paragraph describing how this
person’s leadership and influence shaped history. Some of the people you may choose from could
include Prince Henry the Navigator, Vladimir Lenin, Adolf Hitler, James Cook or Czar Nicholas II.