Chapter 31—Toward a New Europe and the Twenty-first Century
Reading and Study Guide
(Divide and Conquer)
Taking the time to do a study guide well reduces the time to study well for the exam. As you invest, so shall you
prosper….This study guide is a little “heavier” than others you have done—stick with it and gut it out; I believe
you will find it useful. ☺
BIG QUESTIONS: (as you work through the chapter, keep these questions in mind
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How did Western Europe expand to become a massive consumer society?
How did population trends and migrations throughout Europe lead to ethnic tensions?
What were postwar intellectual and social movements?
What were Mikhail Gorbachev’s reform programs (perestroika and glasnost) in the Soviet Union?
How did the collapse of old-line Communism in Eastern Europe and Russia happen, and what were the
consequences of this in the former Yugoslavia?
Background: One of the most important events of the 20th century was the collapse of the Soviet Union and the
Communist governments in Eastern Europe-- events that your ever-lovin’ teacher never expected to happen in her
lifetime. Age-old ethnic tensions have once again reared their ugly heads, particularly in the Balkans.
It’s been quite a journey from the Renaissance to the Twenty-first Century. What have we learned? Where
do we go from here?
1. Identify four transformations which have taken place in the Europe in the latter part of the 20th century.
2. What has been the major feature of European social life in the last half century? Name three examples.
3.
What marked economic contrast differentiated East from West Europe in the post-WWII era? What
political and social effects resulted from this?
4. TRUE
FALSE
Relative to worldwide population counts, the population of Europe
generally has grown steadily.
5. TRUE
FALSE
Increased life expectancy combined with an increase in infant mortality
accounts for the European population growth spurt.
6. TRUE
FALSE
Ironically, European population growth has been a fact in the face of a
recently declining birthrate.
7. TRUE
FALSE
Overall, more Europeans in the last half century have married, and have
married at an earlier age, than in all of previous European history.
8. TRUE
FALSE
With regard to family lifestyles and adult relationships, Scandinavia has
remained the most conservative and bound by tradition by comparison to other regions.
9. Why do you suppose so many European colonials returned to their countries of origin one the pattern of
decolonization had commenced? What other pattern of migration did decolonization inspire?
10. Where did most internal post-war migration occur in Europe? Where did it not occur, and why?
11. Explain how internal migration has become “politicized”.
12. Why have urban expansion and the so-called second agricultural revolution been, in part, complementary
factors?
13. Simply defined, what is the second agricultural revolution?
14. What traditional class disappeared in Europe as a result of the above and changing patterns of landholding?
15. Define what is meant by the “welfare state”.
16. What models existed prior to WWII and what basic tenet did each share?
17. Read the passage in the middle of the right-hand column on page 1129 which begins, “Paradoxically…one
portion of the population to another…” and explain whether or not this makes sense to you.
18. What nation led the way for the welfare state in Europe?
19. In what sense did the Cold War contribute to the drive for social welfare programs in the West? Why are so
many Western welfare systems now in trouble?
20. Why have Western European women been able to enter the workforce in increasing numbers, and remain in
the workforce for longer periods?
21. What has continued to contribute to a declining birthrate?
22. How can it be argued that women in Eastern Europe may now find themselves in an inferior state relative
to their positions during the communist era?
23. What split existed within the Western European socialist movement after 1917?
24. Why were many European intellectuals drawn to the doctrines of communism? What events led to
intellectual disillusionment with communism? Did this mean disillusionment with Marxism itself?
Explain.
25. How is Eurocommunism defined? (define it with reference to the so-called “historic compromise” in Italy)
26. What is the state of Eurocommunism in the wake of the revolutions of 1989
and the collapse of the Soviet Union?
27. What has been considered the philosophy of Europe in the 20th Century? Of
what is this philosophy seen as a continuation?
28. Who are seen as the forerunners of this body of thought?
29. What events or characteristics of the 20th Century compelled the Existentialists
to their conclusions?
30. Identify three essential tenets of Existentialism.
Existentialists: a
philosophical
movement begun in
the 19th century that
denies that the
universe has any
intrinsic meaning or
purpose. It requires
people to take
responsibility for their
own actions and shape
their own destinies.
31. List the major European Existentialists.
32. What do the Existentialists hare with the 19th Century Romantics? How do they differ?
33. Why has there been such expansive growth in the European university population in the latter half of the
20th Century? What consequences have resulted, both positive and negative?
34. What, in the 1970s and 1980s, “emerged as a major vehicle for cultural and political criticism…”?
35. Why has European environmentalism developed only in the last 25 years or so?
36. What groups have been at the forefront of this movement?
37. What developments/events spurred interest in environmentalism in Europe?
38. With the fall of Communism, what immense environmental tasks await in Europe?
39. What role did Simone de Beauvoir play in the post WWII European feminist movement? What trend now
characterizes European feminism?
40. How can one of the themes of AP European History (the advance of secularism and the secular state) be
seen in the relationship of churches and religion to the concerns of modern Europe?
41. Ironically, how have the churches continued to exercise social and political influence?
42. What is Neo-Orthodoxy, what influence inspired it, and who founded this idea?
43. In what sense did Liberal Theology challenge Neo-Orthodoxy and who were its proponents?
44. What extensive and liberal changes took place in the Roman Catholic Church under Pope John XXIII, and
through what council?
45. On what issues has the Church remained conservative?
46. What role did the Church and John Paul II play in the downfall of Communism?
47. Why do many historians (including your ever-lovin’ teacher) see Mikhail
Gorbachev as the most significant European historical figure of the last fifty
years? What do the authors see as the “backdrop” for the changes that Gorbachev
unleashed?
48. What severe imbalance in the Soviet economy eventually invited disaster? How
did the arms buildup of the Reagan years in the US exacerbate problems for the
Soviets?
49. In what sense was Gorbachev continuing in the tradition of earlier Russian/Soviet
leaders?
50. Identify Gorbachev’s economic perestroika. What resulted from economic
perestroika and what connection can be found between this failure and
Gorbachev’s drive for political reform?
Exacerbate: to make
an already bad or
problematic situation
worse
Iron Curtain: the
militarized border
between the
Communist bloc and
Western Europe
during the Cold War.
The Iron Curtain
existed from the end
of World War II until
the fall of Eastern
European Communist
governments between
1989 and 1991.
51. Identify Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost. What ultimately destructive force did glasnost unleash? What
was involved in political perestroika?
52. In what three instances—1948, 1956, 1981—was military force implemented to prevent reform behind the
Iron Curtain?
53. How was the Solidarity movement able to gain an upper hand in the affairs of Poland by the late 1980s?
54. What was the key in the rapid development of revolutionary movements in Eastern Europe? How did the
incident in China’s Tiananmen Square influence the various Communist regimes’ responses to these
revolutionary movements?
55. What radical moves was Hungary taking which paralleled the events in Poland in 1989? Which of these
moves came to have the greatest impact on a neighboring Communist state, and why?
56. What dramatic event took place in November 1989? What incredible state of affairs had transpired in
Germany by early 1990? Was this viewed with favor by all? Explain.
57. Identify
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Erich Honecker
Helmut Kohl
Vaclav Havel—Civic Forum
Alexander Dubcek
Gustav Husak
Nicolae Ceausescu
58. Why was the Czechoslovak revolution termed “gentle” or “velvet”? What earlier pattern of revolution,
played out elsewhere, recurred in Czechoslovakia?
59. What two popular leaders came to the forefront of the revolution and the new government? Ironically,
which of these had a connection to an earlier, failed Czech movement toward liberation?
60. Why did Romania’s revolution turn violent? What ultimate act of violence signaled the end of the
Romanian revolution?
61. What historic denial of Leninist doctrine was initiated in the Soviet Union in early 1990?
62. From what three fronts was Gorbachev being challenged by 1990? Why were these challenges mounting?
63. How did Gorbachev respond, and who came to pose a serious threat to Gorbachev’s leadership?
64. Why did the failed August 1991 coup and its aftermath (through December 1991) prove to be THE turning
point in the Gorbachev era and the future of the Soviet Union? What unthinkable event occurred at the end
of 1991 (Christmas Day)?
65. What difficulties did Boris Yeltsin (as the new CIS president) soon face, and how did he respond? Why
does the new constitution leave doubts about the progress of democratic reform in the former Soviet
Union? Based on current events, what has been the progress of democratic reform?
66. Identify the Commonwealth of Independent States, and briefly enumerate the issues and or problems it
faced.
67. What “built-in” elements of discord existed in the former Yugoslavia? How was this discord kept at bay
until the 1980s?
68. What happened in the summer of 1990 that led to a rapid escalation in the collapse of Yugoslavia and an
increase in violence? What issues divided Serbs and Croatians, and which of these seems to be the core
issue?
69. What territory and which people have borne the brunt of the effect between the Croats and Serbs? To what
degree have NATO and the western allies (inclusive of the USA) been successful in their efforts in this
conflict? What is the current state of affairs in the area?
70. In YOUR opinion (based on your reading of the text) is Europe becoming more fractured along
tribal/ethnic/nationalistic lines, or is it becoming more unified in the post-Communist era? (THIS WILL
BE A REALLY GOOD CLASS-DISCUSSION TOPIC)
71. What “persistent features of European life” are identified at the conclusion of the chapter?
72. What disastrous event (and its aftermath) is described in the map below?