TOEFL Reading Multiple Choice Exercise 11

Read the passage and choose the best answer to each question.


1. When was the Congress of Vienna held?

    1809-1848

    1819

    1814-1815

2. Where was the Congress of Vienna held?

    Holy Roman Empire

    Vienna

    France

3. What was the purpose of the Congress of Vienna?

    to spread revolution

    to restore the Holy Roman Empire

    to restore order in Europe

4. What large kingdoms were included in the German Confederation?

    Austria, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Württemberg

    Austria, Vienna, Prussia, Bavaria, and Württemberg

    Austria, Prussia, France, Bavaria, and Württemberg

5. Who directed Austria's foreign policy?

    Napoleon

    Holy Roman Empire

    Metternich

6. In the second paragraph, which of these is NOT the meaning of 'odd'?

    strange

    about

    approximately

7. What year were the Carlsbad Decrees issued?

    1809

    1819

    1814

8. Who always served as president of the German Confederation?

    a Bavarian

    a Prussian

    an Austrian

9. In the last paragraph, what does the word "dominant" mean?

    ineffective

    controlling

    elected

10. In the first paragraph, what does the word "convened" mean?

    met

    adjourned

    called

The Congress of Vienna

The Congress of Vienna (1814-15), convened after Napoleon's defeat, sought to restore order to a Europe disrupted by revolutionary and imperial France. Its members' objective was a constellation of states and a balance of power that would ensure peace and stability after a quarter-century of revolution and war. In addition to the delegates of many small states, the congress included representatives of five large European states: Austria, Prussia, Russia, Britain, and France. After months of deliberations, the congress established an international political order that was to endure for nearly 100 years and that brought Europe a measure of peace.

The congress made no effort to restore the Holy Roman Empire and its 300-odd states. Instead, it accepted the disappearance of many small states that had occurred since 1789 and created the German Confederation. The confederation consisted of thirty-eight sovereign states and four free cities and included the five large kingdoms of Austria, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Württemberg. The confederation met at a diet in Frankfurt, with an Austrian always serving as president.

Prince Clemens von Metternich, who directed Austria's foreign policy from 1809 until 1848, was the dominant political figure within the confederation. He waged a decades-long campaign to prevent the spread of revolution in Europe by seeking to restore much of the political and social order that had existed before the French Revolution. Metternich's Carlsbad Decrees of 1819 established a pervasive system of press censorship and regulation of the universities that dampened German intellectual life and hindered the publication of writings advocating the principles of liberalism. In the 1820s, he engineered the formation of the Holy Alliance of the monarchs of Austria, Prussia, and Russia to quash political, social, and economic developments within Central and Eastern Europe thought to threaten political stability.

cia.gov

© 2001-2024 esl-lounge.com