The End of Empire

Chapter 22 Summative Quiz

Question

1. What distinguished the end of Europe’s African and Asian colonial empires in the second half of the twentieth century from other cases of imperial disintegration?

The mobilization of the masses around a nationalist ideology

The claim of new nations-states to equal status with their former colonial rulers

The wholesale adoption of Western culture by former colonies

The almost complete absence of violence in the struggle for independence

Question

2. Which of the following represented a fundamental contradiction that undermined the colonial enterprise in the second half of the twentieth century?

The prestige of scientific racism and beliefs in European uniqueness challenged colonial exploitation and poverty.

The authoritarian tendencies of European states ran counter to the democratization of colonial society.

The decline of colonies as trade partners and sources of raw materials ran counter to the original logic of colonization.

The ideal of national self-determination was at odds with the denial of independence to colonies.

Question

3. Which of the following was a social or economic circumstance within the European colonies that contributed to anticolonial movements?

Rapid industrialization within some colonies, which led to a growing working class that took a leadership role in the independence movement

The growing number of Western-educated colonial elites who no longer viewed colonial rule as a vehicle for their people’s progress

The spread of a militant anticolonial version of Christianity that expressed itself in anticolonial agitation

The rising prosperity of most colonies, which left their populations richer than the populations of their colonial overlords

Question

4. Which of the following was a common characteristic of the leaders of independence movements in European colonies in Asia and Africa in the second half of the twentieth century?

They had military backgrounds.

They had peasant backgrounds.

They were female.

They were educated.

Question

5. In contrast to Indians’ struggle for independence in the twentieth century, black South African’s struggle for control of their country was

characterized by common interests, shared beliefs, and political unity among an ethnically homogenous population.

plagued by religious conflicts and handicapped by the lack of infrastructure for industrialization.

successfully completed when Britain handed control of the government to the African National Congress in 1910.

waged against an internal community of permanent white settlers who controlled the country.

Question

6. How did the system of apartheid in South Africa come to an end?

As a result of a military coup organized and led by the Black Consciousness movement

As a result of a decade-long racially divided civil war between white and black South Africans

Through negotiations between the white South African government and black South African nationalist leaders

Through the mass exodus of white South Africans as racial violence escalated after the Soweto rebellion

Question

7. What did all nationalist movements in Asia and Africa in the second half of the twentieth century share in common?

The goal of political independence

The ideology of Marxist revolution

The leadership of religious figures

The use of guerrilla warfare

Question

8. Which of the following describes a feature of the strategy of the African National Congress in their resistance to the South African government from 1950 to 1994?

Lobbying for more stringent enforcement of the “pass laws”

Petitions to the government that invoked Christian values

Non-violent civil disobedience against apartheid

Multi-racial conferences to promote racial harmony

Question

9. In Africa in the early 1980s, what happened to the political parties that had led the movements for independence from colonial rule?

Most were soon swept away by military coups.

Most became as oppressive as the colonial rulers they had ousted.

Most splintered into different factions.

Most became personal dictatorships.

Question

10. In Africa, which of the following contributed to the loss of popular support for the democratic institutions established in the wake of independence from colonial rule?

Human rights violations

Pan-African unity

Marxist class solidarity

Poor economic performance

Question

11. What accounts for the resurgence of democracy in many developing countries in the decades since the 1980s?

The preparation by European powers for the handover of sovereignty

The promise of military-controlled regimes to return power to civilians

The failure of authoritarian governments to address economic and social problems

The association of democracy with the uniqueness of Western civilization

Question

12. Which of the following characterizes the economic strategy of most countries in the developing world since the late twentieth century?

Role of the state in protecting the economy from international capitalism

Dependence on the market to generate economic growth

Preference for the Soviet model of state-directed industrialization

Movement toward economic isolationism and self-sufficiency