52. The correct answer is (E). The Crusades mark the end of the Middle Ages in western Europe. Those
who participated in the Crusades were exposed to Moslem and Byzantine civilizations with their
great cities, powerful governments, and prosperous trade. The Crusades, therefore, encouraged trade
and stimulated the growth of towns. In addition, the drain on both the human and economic resources
of the nobles weakened that class to the benefit of the central authority. And the increase in economic
activity also permitted many serfs to escape from the feudal strictures that had bound them.
53. The correct answer is (A). One of the reasons for the failure of the League of Nations was the fail-
ure of the United States to join and the subsequent withdrawal of other powerful nations. Germany
and Japan withdrew in 1933, and Italy left in 1937. By the time the war began, France and Great
Britain were the only powerful nations that remained as members.
54. The correct answer is (E). The statements lettered (A) through (D) are essentially assertions of fact.
Choice (C), for example, can be proved or disproved by the examination of historical records. (E)
differs from these statements because (E) makes a value judgment. Whether Greece or Rome was
more important in the history of western civilization cannot be settled by reference to any single
document or set of statistics.
55. The correct answer is (C). One result of the European expansion overseas in the sixteenth, seven-
teenth, and eighteenth centuries has been called the commercial revolution. It included increased
world trade, a shift in the center of economic power away from northern Italy, and the adoption of
mercantilism. Interested in increasing the holding of royal treasuries, the mercantilists placed great
importance on amassing stocks of precious metals. According to this theory, wealth was accumulated
by encouraging exports and discouraging imports. Ideally, a nation would be owed the difference and
could collect the difference in the form of precious metals such as gold and silver.
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