AP World History: Modern practice questions and exam guide

Great Zimbabwe (c. 1100–1450) derived its wealth primarily from:

1. Profits earned from participation in the transatlantic slave trade
2. A slow conquest of territory along the Mediterranean coastline itself
3. Wool exported regularly to textile markets across Europe
4. Gold mining and steady trade with Swahili coast city-states

Answer: D — Gold mining and steady trade with Swahili coast city-states

D) Inland southern African kingdom whose stone enclosures and gold trade linked it to Indian Ocean networks via Sofala. A) Pre-dates Atlantic trade. B) Wrong region. C) Anachronistic.

The Treaty of Versailles (1919):

1. Imposed harsh terms on Germany — territorial losses, reparations, and a 'war guilt' clause
2. Established a fair and lasting peace that satisfied every major party involved
3. Restored the German monarchy to power under a restructured constitution
4. Was rejected and never ratified by any of the victorious Allied powers

Answer: A — Imposed harsh terms on Germany — territorial losses, reparations, and a 'war guilt' clause

A) Standard interpretation. B/C/D) Each contradicts the record.

Ibn Battuta's 14th-century travels are MOST useful as evidence of:

1. Evidence that Europeans had colonized Africa well before 1450
2. Proof that the entire Islamic world remained totally isolated
3. The interconnectedness of Dar al-Islam through shared courts
4. A record of Mongol persecution of Muslim scholars everywhere

Answer: C — The interconnectedness of Dar al-Islam through shared courts

C) His Rihla documents how a Moroccan jurist could find employment and welcome from West Africa to South Asia and China. A) Pre-colonial. B) Reverses the evidence. D) Many Mongol successor states converted to Islam.

Enlightenment thinkers (Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, Smith) commonly emphasized:

1. The divine right of monarchs to rule without any check from law or representative institutions
2. Reason, natural rights, popular sovereignty, and the social contract — ideas that fueled the Atlantic Revolutions
3. Strict mercantilist policy as the sole legitimate basis for organizing a nation's economy
4. A return to feudal hierarchy and hereditary obligations between lords and peasants

Answer: B — Reason, natural rights, popular sovereignty, and the social contract — ideas that fueled the Atlantic Revolutions

B) Standard Enlightenment toolkit applied across politics, economics, and society. A/C/D) Each contradicts Enlightenment thought.

The Meiji Restoration in Japan (1868):

1. Restored full feudal power to the samurai class and the regional shoguns
2. Reimposed strict sakoku isolation, cutting Japan off from nearly all foreign contact
3. Centralized power under the emperor, abolished samurai privilege, and rapidly industrialized along Western lines
4. Established a communist regime modeled closely on the early Soviet Union

Answer: C — Centralized power under the emperor, abolished samurai privilege, and rapidly industrialized along Western lines

C) Classic top-down modernization, contrasted with Qing China's slower Self-Strengthening Movement. A/B/D) Each contradicts the record.

The Protestant Reformation, begun by Luther's 95 Theses (1517), had which global consequence?

1. Unified nearly all of Europe under a single reformed Christian church by the year 1600
2. Sharply curtailed the printing and circulation of religious pamphlets across most of Europe
3. Removed monarchs and states entirely from any role in regulating religious affairs
4. Split Western Christianity and intensified rivalries that shaped colonization and trade

Answer: D — Split Western Christianity and intensified rivalries that shaped colonization and trade

D) The Reformation fed into Catholic-Protestant colonial rivalries (e.g., Dutch vs. Spanish). A/B/C) Each reverses the historical impact.

The Ottoman devshirme system involved:

1. Voluntary enrollment of Muslim families in the bureaucracy
2. Recruitment of nomadic cavalry in the old Mongol style
3. Sale of administrative posts to the highest bidder available
4. Levying Christian boys from the Balkans as future Janissaries

Answer: D — Levying Christian boys from the Balkans as future Janissaries

D) The devshirme produced a loyal slave-elite class serving the Sultan. A/B/C) None matches.

Zheng He's voyages (1405–1433) are BEST understood as:

1. Early voyages that reached the shores of the Americas before Columbus
2. Permanent Chinese settlements planted along the East African coast
3. Private merchant ventures with no connection to the imperial court
4. Ming state expeditions across the Indian Ocean, eventually halted

Answer: D — Ming state expeditions across the Indian Ocean, eventually halted

D) Massive treasure fleets reached as far as Kenya; after 1433 the Ming court refocused inward. A) Mainstream evidence places Zheng He in the Indian Ocean. B) No permanent colonies. C) State-sponsored, not private.

World War II ended in the Pacific:

1. With a negotiated peace treaty signed at Versailles in early 1919
2. With Soviet forces occupying Tokyo after a rapid amphibious invasion
3. After atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Soviet entry, Japan surrendered in August 1945
4. With British forces conquering Tokyo in a surprise 1944 offensive

Answer: C — After atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Soviet entry, Japan surrendered in August 1945

C) Standard sequence. A/B/D) Each is incorrect.

The diffusion of gunpowder weapons (14th–15th centuries):

1. Leaving warfare and politics across Eurasia essentially unchanged
2. Remaining confined entirely to a handful of Western European kingdoms
3. Transforming warfare across Eurasia and fueling gunpowder empires
4. Steadily discouraging the formation of centralized, militarily powerful states

Answer: C — Transforming warfare across Eurasia and fueling gunpowder empires

C) Standard interpretation. A/B/D) Each contradicts the period.

Mercantilism, a dominant economic theory in early modern Europe, held that:

1. Free exchange between nations that maximizes shared wealth
2. The belief that manufacturing and industry add nothing to wealth
3. Wealth that belongs equally to every trading nation regardless of policy
4. National wealth measured by gold and silver, protected through tariffs

Answer: D — National wealth measured by gold and silver, protected through tariffs

Mercantilism: zero-sum view of trade. Goals: positive trade balance, accumulate bullion, develop home manufacturing, establish colonies for cheap raw materials + captive markets. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776) critiqued this in favor of free trade, division of labor, comparative advantage.

The Atlantic slave trade transported roughly:

1. Roughly a hundred thousand people over its entire history
2. About twelve million Africans, most surviving to Brazil and the Caribbean
3. Approximately one billion people transported across several long centuries
4. Around one hundred million people transported to distant colonial plantations

Answer: B — About twelve million Africans, most surviving to Brazil and the Caribbean

Slave Voyages database (slavevoyages.org). Brazil ~5M (40%), Caribbean ~5M, North America ~400K. Triangular trade: manufactured goods → West Africa; enslaved people → Americas; sugar/tobacco/cotton → Europe. Foundational to early modern Atlantic economy.

What is theme CDI (Cultural Developments & Interactions)?

Religion, philosophy, art, science — including how cultures spread and synthesize.

What was Indian indentured labor migration?

After abolition of slavery, millions of Indians were sent under indenture contracts to British colonies (Trinidad, Fiji, Mauritius, etc.) — created diasporas.

What was the Amritsar Massacre (1919)?

British troops fired on unarmed Indian crowd in Punjab, killing hundreds — turned Indian opinion decisively against British rule.

What is comparison in AP World?

Analyzing similarities and differences across regions, time periods, or developments.

What was the Holy Roman Empire?

Loose German-centered confederation in Central Europe nominally heir to Charlemagne; central authority weak relative to princes.

What was the impact of New World silver on China?

Ming/Qing economy increasingly relied on silver from Americas (via Manila); silver-based taxation tied China to global system.