Topic 3 AP Exam Practice
Multiple-Choice Questions
Questions 1 to 3 refer to the map below.
1. The map above most clearly reflects the context of the ongoing efforts of
- (A) the Marshall Plan to stimulate global economic growth
- (B) the United States to contain communism
- (C) the European Economic Union to unify the European economy
- (D) the United States to improve relations with the Soviet Union
2. Which best describes the Warsaw Pact bloc shown on the map?
- (A) A Soviet-led government based in Warsaw, the capital of Poland
- (B) A military alliance created in response to NATO by the Soviet Union and other communist nations
- (C) An economic union among Soviet-bloc countries created to counter the economic power of the European Economic Community
- (D) A military alliance of non-aligned nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa
3. Which countries represented most closely the declared position of Jawaharlal Nehru, Kwame Nkrumah, and Gamal Abdel-Nasser?
- (A) NATO
- (B) Warsaw Pact
- (C) Non-Communist, non-aligned
- (D) Communist, non-aligned
Short-Answer Questions
1. Use the passage below to answer all parts of the question that follows.
“The epitaph for the disastrous April 17–19, 1961, attempt to overthrow communist dictator Fidel Castro by invading Cuba with 1,500 amateur soldiers and a handful of piston-engined B-26 ground-attack bombers was spoken soon afterward by President John F. Kennedy. ‘How could I have been so stupid?’ he asked an aide.
A better question might have been, How could the Central Intelligence Agency have bungled things so badly? The answer is that the CIA—which planned the operation, trained its participants and helped execute its amphibious landings and air strikes—performed more amateurishly than the Cuban invaders. But the agency’s senior leaders were so enamored of the plan they ignored its obvious flaws. Worse, two presidential administrations, numerous legislators, and plenty of smart generals and admirals also signed off on the scheme.
Rebel troops and tanks began landing early on April 17. By the evening of April 19 the invasion brigade had been crushed by Castro’s armor, heavy artillery and small but unopposed air force, which included four Lockheed T-33 jet trainers that, much to the CIA’s surprise, were fitted with weapons.
The end result of the ill-fated expedition included 114 men of Brigade 2506 killed and more than 1,200 captured. In those years before Vietnam some observers called the Bay of Pigs the worst defeat suffered by the United States since the War of 1812.”
Stephan Wilkinson, “What We Learned from the Bay of Pigs, 1961,” Military History Magazine
2. Answer all parts of the question that follows.