GOVT 404 ACTUAL EXAM PAPER 2026
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉ Richelieu. Answer: Richelieu believed the French monarchy benefited
from a weakened Habsburg Empire, which would allow France to
pursue its own particular objectives—what Richelieu described as the
raison d'état. As a result, Richelieu provided support to the Protestant
opponents of the Habsburgs, ensuring the Thirty Years' War ended in
stalemate. In 1648 the Habsburgs concluded the Peace of Westphalia,
which recognized the right of various European leaders to pursue their
own policies, extending the raison d'état across many different polities.
Richelieu's policy of dividing his enemies left France as the strongest of
the new sovereign states.
◉ The Peace of Westphalia. Answer: In 1648 the Habsburgs concluded
the Peace of Westphalia, which recognized the right of various European
leaders to pursue their own policies, extending the raison d'état across
many different polities.
◉ Britain as an offshore balancer. Answer: Britain has historically acted
as an "offshore balancer" in Europe, meaning it has worked to maintain
a balance of power on the continent by supporting regional allies and
opposing any state that attempts to dominate Europe. This strategy has
allowed Britain to avoid being directly drawn into continental power
struggles and to influence events from a distance.
, ◉ Metternich. Answer: The Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich
(1773-1859) worried that a system with no commitment to shared values
would prove brittle. Metternich especially worried that with France so
weakened, and Britain withdrawing from continental affairs, Austria
would be left to face Russia's power alone. As such, Metternich sought
to ground the new world order in a set of shared values. Metternich was
a conservative, who believed in natural law and the divine right of
sovereigns. Fortunately, this was a perspective he shared with Tsar
Alexander I of Russia, providing an opportunity for legitimating the new
order. Together, Metternich and Alexander built the Holy Alliance, a
combination of Austria, Russia, and Prussia designed to maintain
monarchical governments on European thrones and head off liberal
revolutions like the one that had occurred in France.
◉ The Concert of Europe. Answer: Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia
came together in Vienna in 1814 to build a new world order, an
arrangement known as the Concert of Europe. While the emerging
system relied on the balance of power to keep the peace, it also relied on
a common set of legitimating assumptions, which dampened conflict in a
way that the earlier balance based purely on power had not. Although the
concert system was not perfect, it was relatively effective in maintaining
the peace; for almost a century Europe suffered only a single general
war: the Crimean War (1853-56).
◉ Bismarck. Answer: German statesman under whose leadership
Germany was united (1815-1898) -- sought to overthrow the Concert of
Europe -- "unsentimental," conservative
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◉ Richelieu. Answer: Richelieu believed the French monarchy benefited
from a weakened Habsburg Empire, which would allow France to
pursue its own particular objectives—what Richelieu described as the
raison d'état. As a result, Richelieu provided support to the Protestant
opponents of the Habsburgs, ensuring the Thirty Years' War ended in
stalemate. In 1648 the Habsburgs concluded the Peace of Westphalia,
which recognized the right of various European leaders to pursue their
own policies, extending the raison d'état across many different polities.
Richelieu's policy of dividing his enemies left France as the strongest of
the new sovereign states.
◉ The Peace of Westphalia. Answer: In 1648 the Habsburgs concluded
the Peace of Westphalia, which recognized the right of various European
leaders to pursue their own policies, extending the raison d'état across
many different polities.
◉ Britain as an offshore balancer. Answer: Britain has historically acted
as an "offshore balancer" in Europe, meaning it has worked to maintain
a balance of power on the continent by supporting regional allies and
opposing any state that attempts to dominate Europe. This strategy has
allowed Britain to avoid being directly drawn into continental power
struggles and to influence events from a distance.
, ◉ Metternich. Answer: The Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich
(1773-1859) worried that a system with no commitment to shared values
would prove brittle. Metternich especially worried that with France so
weakened, and Britain withdrawing from continental affairs, Austria
would be left to face Russia's power alone. As such, Metternich sought
to ground the new world order in a set of shared values. Metternich was
a conservative, who believed in natural law and the divine right of
sovereigns. Fortunately, this was a perspective he shared with Tsar
Alexander I of Russia, providing an opportunity for legitimating the new
order. Together, Metternich and Alexander built the Holy Alliance, a
combination of Austria, Russia, and Prussia designed to maintain
monarchical governments on European thrones and head off liberal
revolutions like the one that had occurred in France.
◉ The Concert of Europe. Answer: Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia
came together in Vienna in 1814 to build a new world order, an
arrangement known as the Concert of Europe. While the emerging
system relied on the balance of power to keep the peace, it also relied on
a common set of legitimating assumptions, which dampened conflict in a
way that the earlier balance based purely on power had not. Although the
concert system was not perfect, it was relatively effective in maintaining
the peace; for almost a century Europe suffered only a single general
war: the Crimean War (1853-56).
◉ Bismarck. Answer: German statesman under whose leadership
Germany was united (1815-1898) -- sought to overthrow the Concert of
Europe -- "unsentimental," conservative
