Content Areas - GED Social Studies

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Question

What name was given to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001?

Answer

The name given to the US-led coalition invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was "Operation Enduring Freedom."

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Question

Which of the following pairs refers to the two sects that straddle the major religious division within Islam among the population of Iraq?

Answer

Over 80% the worlds 1 billion+ Muslims belong to the Sunni tradition. Around 10-15% belong to the Shia tradition. The two factions originally split over who should rightly succeed the prophet Muhammad upon his death as the leader of the Muslim community. Those who would come to be known as Sunnis backed the eventual successor Abu Bakr, and those who would come to be known as Shiites backed Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, who would also come to power before being assassinated. The term "Shia" is derived from the term for "party of Ali" in Arabic. From this political split, Sunni and Shia Islam diverged in a number of ways in their respective practices of Islam. This division has historically been a tremendous source of strife between the two groups. Iraq is physically located on the border between the Arab-speaking, Sunni-professing region of the Middle East and the historical center of Shia belief in Persian speaking Iran. As a result, Iraq is a majority Shia country, but the country holds a very large Sunni minority and is subject to foreign influence from its many Sunni neighbors. The Sunni/Shia split is a major determinant of Iraqi politics.

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Question

The hostage crisis of 1979, which took place during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, took place in which Middle Eastern country?

Answer

The Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979 took place, of course, in Iran. It involved the kidnap of just over 50 American diplomats and citizens. The hostage situation lasted for 444 days before the American hostages were finally released. It is seen as one of the seminal moments in the beginnings of American involvement in the Middle East, as well as a notable incident of Carter’s presidency.

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Question

The Iranian Revolution had which of the following direct consequences for the United States?

Answer

Of these answer choices the Iranian Revolution only led "directly" to the Oil Crisis of 1979. The Oil Crisis of 1973 was a result of various members of OPEC announcing an oil embargo. The Crisis of 1979 occurred as a result of changes in Iran’s openness to western economic intervention and the conflict that broke out between Iraq and Iran, which led both countries to limit supply of oil. The crisis led to a recession in the United States in 1979 and 1980 and propelled the Soviet Union into the position of the number one oil supplier in the world.

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Question

Which of these countries was not a member of the Axis Powers in World War Two?

Answer

In World War Two, the Axis Powers were Germany, Japan, and Italy. They fought against the Allied Powers of Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

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Question

The Potsdam Conference was __________

Answer

The Potsdam Conference took place in occupied Germany during the waning days of the Second World War. It was attended by all the Allied Powers, although focus tends to go towards President Truman, representing the United States, Josef Stalin, representing the Soviet Union, and Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and later Clement Attlee, representing Great Britain. The Allied Powers met to decide how to punish Germany and how to rebuild the world after the war.

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Question

In the system of alliances that arose immediately prior to World War I, which group of countries formed the Triple Entente?

Answer

The Triple Entente, entente meaning "friendship" in French, was cemented by the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907. The French and Russians had already entered into an alliance in 1894, while the UK and Frace had put an end to centuries of imperial animosity in 1904. In addition to ending competition between the three constituent powers, the alliance that formed on the basis of the agreements provided for military cooperation as well. The Triple Entente also came about as a geo-political counterweight to the power wielded over Central Europe by the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The web of alliances that spread over most of Europe has long been thought to have been one of the precipitating factors that led to the spread of war across the continent in WWI.

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Question

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued during __________.

Answer

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, by President Abraham Lincoln. The Proclamation formally stated that the slaves living in the territories currently in open rebellion were now and forever free.

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Question

Who was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer

The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1962, when the Soviet Union installed nuclear weapons in Cuba, less than ninety miles from United States’ soil. The American President at the time was John F. Kennedy, and the leader of the Soviet Union was Nikita Khrushchev. The result of the incident was that the Soviet Union ended up withdrawing it’s nuclear weapons from Cuba under the agreement that the United States would remove its from Turkey. For the short period of time that the Cuban Missile Crisis raged, it is generally considered to be the closest that the two superpowers got to nuclear annihilation during the long Cold War.

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Question

What was Sputnik?

Answer

Sputnik was a Soviet satellite. It was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. This took place in 1957 and began the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Sputnik was important, geopolitically speaking, for promoting panic in the United States that America was getting left behind by the more scientifically and technologically advanced Soviets. It can be seen as the reason why America landed on the moon only twelve years later.

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Question

The Bay of Pigs Invasion took place during the Presidency of __________

Answer

Although the Bay of Pigs Invasion was planned during the Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, it was not actually carried out until 1961, during the Presidency of John F. Kennedy. It was a failed American invasion of Cuba and is important in the larger context of the Cold War for solidifying the complete deterioration of American relations with Cuba and for precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis only a year later.

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Question

The Bay of Pigs Invasion was meant to overthrow the government of __________

Answer

The Bay of Pigs invasion took place in 1961. The CIA trained exiled Cuban troops that then touched down on Cuban soil with the intention of overthrowing the Cuban government and assassinating Fidel Castro. It did not succeed.

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Question

Yuri Gagarin __________

Answer

Yuri Gagarin was the first human in outer space. He was a citizen of the Soviet Union and was the first man to orbit the earth in 1961. His achievement was part of the early years of the Space Race when the Soviet Union was the first nation to put a satellite into orbit and the first to put a man into space.

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Question

In a totalitarian government __________

Answer

A totalitarian government, also called an autocracy, is defined by an extremely centralized government in which one person, or one group, wields complete and unchallenged control over the rest of the state. Totalitarian governments are increasingly uncommon around the world, but certainly far from nonexistent.

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Question

Which of these tenets was not part of the English Bill of Rights?

Answer

The English Bill of Rights was signed in 1689, shortly after King William ascended to the throne during the Glorious Revolution. It’s primary intention was to ensure that the King could no longer act without impunity and to ensure the continued liberty and supremacy of the English Parliament. Among its basic tenets were placing limits on the power of the English royalty, the right to petition the Monarch without fear of punishment, the promise of regular elections in parliament, and the guarantee of freedom of speech in parliament. The English Bill of Rights is considered to be the forebear of the later American Bill of Rights. One right that is not included in the English Bill of Rights, but is included in the American, is the protection from the forced quarter of soldiers in the homes of private citizens. This was included in the American Bill of Rights in response to the British colonial policy of quartering soldiers in American houses during and after the French-Indian Wars.

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Question

Which Amendment to the Constitution is related to “the right to remain silent”?

Answer

The right to remain silent effectively states that every accused individual has the right not to speak if they choose to do so. This is related to the Fifth Amendment which says that a defendant cannot be forced to be a witness against themselves.

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Question

The right to a public trial is guaranteed in which Amendment to the Constitution?

Answer

The right to a "speedy and public trial" is guaranteed in the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. All American citizens have the right to a public trial in order to prevent any corruption or miscarriage of justice that might occur behind closed doors.

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Question

Which of these is a consequences of the American two-party system?

Answer

In the American two-party system politicians often adopt broad opinions on a wide variety of issues to appeal to the largest number of people as possible. This generally ensures that both political parties are quite moderate when compared to the liberal or conservative parties in countries with a multi-party system.

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Question

The domestic reforms of the Great Society are associated with which United States President?

Answer

The Great Society was a series of domestic programs and reforms instituted under President Lyndon B. Johnson. These are not to be confused with the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt, although the two had somewhat similar goals. Part of the Great Society reforms were the extension of Medicare and Medicaid, the Civil Rights Acts, and the War on Poverty.

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Question

The Democratic National Convention of 1968 is notable for __________

Answer

The Democratic National Convention of 1968 is notable primarily for the fact that the delegates in attendance voted against a resolution to end the war in Vietnam—refusing to make it part of their electoral platform. This sparked a massive conflagration between protesters and armed police, as well as national guardsmen. Although Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, this did not take place at the Democratic National Convention.

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