SAT II World History : Impact of the Ottoman Empire

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II World History

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例子问uestions

例子问uestion #3 :Southwest Asia

Which empire was often referred to as “the sick man of Europe” during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

Possible Answers:

The Russian Empire

The British Empire

The Spanish Empire

The Austro-Hungarian Empire

The Ottoman Empire

Correct answer:

The Ottoman Empire

Explanation:

The “sick man of Europe” was a term first applied to the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the nineteenth century. At the time, the Ottoman Empire was suffering from extreme economic stagnation and had been, for some time, hemorrhaging territory to other empires in a series of disastrous wars. The term has since been used liberally to describe several failing European states and empires.

例子问uestion #4 :Southwest Asia

What motivated the British to support the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth century?

Possible Answers:

Loss of economic opportunities and trading rights in the region

Fears of Russian expansion into the Mediterranean

Respect for the history and traditions of the Ottoman Empire

Repayment of a debt sustained during the Crimean War

Desire to prevent the French Empire from expanding into the Middle East

Correct answer:

Fears of Russian expansion into the Mediterranean

Explanation:

Much of British foreign policy in the latter decades of the nineteenth century was intended to combat Russian desires for territorial expansion. The British initially opposed the Russians in the Crimean War and then turned their attentions to bolstering the weakened Ottoman Empire against Russian occupation. The British were very fearful of the consequences to British hegemony if Russia was able to capture Istanbul, or any other important Ottoman city on the Mediterranean.

例子问uestion #5 :Southwest Asia

Janissaries were__________.

Possible Answers:

None of the other answer choices is correct; Janissaries were troops in the Russian Empire of Peter the Great

Christian boys kidnapped and raised as highly trained troops in the Ottoman army

Christian missionaries who established outposts in the Ottoman Empire and encouraged religious toleration across the empire

Islamic missionaries who spread the faith to Indonesia and the Philippines

Outcasts in Ottoman society who helped undermine the regime of the Sultans from within

Correct answer:

Christian boys kidnapped and raised as highly trained troops in the Ottoman army

Explanation:

Janissaries were elite troops in the Ottoman army from the middle of the fourteenth century until the early nineteenth century. They were Christian boys kidnapped from the Balkans and Central Europe and raised to be members of a highly organized fighting force.

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