AP European History Practice Quiz: Rivals on the World Stage
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 11 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 11
All Questions (11)
A) Disputes over religious doctrine
B) The competition for trade
C) The rise of republican governments
D) Alliances with non-European powers
Correct Answer: B
The text explicitly states, 'The competition for trade led to conflicts and rivalries among European powers in the 17th and 18th centuries.'
A) England
B) France
C) The Netherlands
D) Spain
Correct Answer: D
The content specifies that 'The Spanish established colonies across the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, which made Spain a dominant state in Europe in the 16th century.'
A) They formed a military alliance with Spain to share colonial profits.
B) They focused on internal European development, abandoning overseas ambitions.
C) They established their own colonies and trading networks to compete.
D) They negotiated for peaceful access to Spanish and Portuguese trade routes.
Correct Answer: C
The text states that France, England, and the Netherlands 'followed by establishing their own colonies and trading networks to compete with Portuguese and Spanish dominance in the 17th century.'
A) Coercion and negotiation
B) Diplomacy and free trade
C) Religious conversion and exploration
D) Bartering and tribute
Correct Answer: A
This is a direct recall question from the text, which says, 'Europeans established overseas empires and trade networks through coercion and negotiation.'
A) The unification of European states
B) A long-term period of peace in Europe
C) The decline of European monarchies
D) Increased friction and rivalry between European states
Correct Answer: D
The text connects these ideas by stating that 'trading networks and colonial expansion affected relations between and among European states' and that 'competition for trade led to conflicts and rivalries.'
A) Austria, Prussia, and Russia
B) Italy, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire
C) France, England, and the Netherlands
D) Sweden, Denmark, and Norway
Correct Answer: C
Point 4 of the content explicitly names 'The Atlantic nations of France, England, and the Netherlands' as the powers that followed and competed with Spain and Portugal.
A) The Protestant Reformation
B) Global economic and political competition
C) The Scientific Revolution
D) The rise of absolute monarchy
Correct Answer: B
The entire passage describes how colonial expansion by some European powers (Spain, Portugal) led to others (France, England, Netherlands) competing on a global scale for trade and territory, which is the essence of global economic and political competition.
A) French dominance, followed by Spanish dominance, leading to European-wide conflict.
B) Spanish dominance in the 16th century, followed by competition from other Atlantic nations in the 17th century.
C) Widespread European conflict in the 16th century, followed by Spanish colonization in the 17th century.
D) English and Dutch dominance in the 16th century, followed by a period of peaceful negotiation.
Correct Answer: B
The text establishes Spain's dominance in the 16th century (Point 3) and then describes how France, England, and the Netherlands rose to compete in the 17th century (Point 4).
A) Colonial possessions were a significant factor in a European state's power.
B) The 17th century saw an expansion of European colonial activity beyond the Iberian powers.
C) European states consistently chose negotiation over coercion to build their empires.
D) Economic motives were a key driver of European foreign policy in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly states that Europeans used both 'coercion and negotiation,' contradicting the idea that they consistently chose one over the other. The other options are all supported by the provided content.
A) peacefully share resources with indigenous populations.
B) establish a single, unified European colony.
C) compete with the established power of Spain and Portugal.
D) find new routes to Asia that avoided the Atlantic.
Correct Answer: C
Point 4 clearly states that these nations established their networks 'to compete with Portuguese and Spanish dominance.'
A) European states used both force and diplomacy to build empires, with Spain's early success prompting other nations to follow suit, which in turn fueled centuries of conflict over trade.
B) The 16th century was defined by peaceful negotiation for colonial territories, but the 17th century saw a turn towards coercion and conflict led by France and England.
C) All European states, including Spain, France, and England, began their colonial expansion simultaneously in the 16th century, leading to immediate rivalries.
D) The competition for trade in Europe was the sole reason for colonial expansion, which ultimately failed to make any single state, including Spain, dominant.
Correct Answer: A
This option correctly sequences the events and links all the key concepts from the text: the methods (coercion/negotiation), the pioneer (Spain), the followers (other nations), and the ultimate result (conflict over trade).