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European History
2014 Free-Response Questions
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2014 AP

EUROPEAN HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

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EUROPEAN HISTORY
SECTION II
Part A
(Suggested writing time45 minutes)
Percent of Section II score45

Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1-12. The documents have been
edited for the purpose of this exercise. Write your answer on the lined pages of the Section II free-response booklet.

This question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents. Write an essay that:
Provides an appropriate, explicitly stated thesis that directly addresses all parts of the question and does NOT
simply restate the question.
Discusses a majority of the documents individually and specifically.
Demonstrates understanding of the basic meaning of a majority of the documents.
Supports the thesis with appropriate interpretations of a majority of the documents.
Analyzes point of view or bias in at least three documents.
Analyzes the documents by explicitly grouping them in at least three appropriate ways.

You may refer to relevant historical information not mentioned in the documents.

1. Analyze the factors that contributed to the emergence of a workers opposition
movement in communist Poland in the period 19561981.

Historical Background: After the Second World War, Poland became part of the
Soviet bloc and the Polish communist party had a virtual monopoly on power.

Document 1

Source: Editorial in the official Polish communist party newspaper Peoples Tribune,
October 1956.

In these exciting and uncommon times* the Polish working class has clearly made its
voice heard. This class leads the nation not by someones appointment or decree, but by
virtue of its position in society. . . . It is evident that the leading role of the [communist]
Party has been tangibly confirmed. The Party has been united as never before with the
working class which gave it birth, with the peasant masses, with the student youth, with
the progressive intelligentsia, and with the Polish Peoples Army. The Party is united
with the nation.

* a reference to the June 1956 workers strike in the city of Poznan, the first large-scale
protest against communist rule in Poland; several dozen workers were killed in the
governments suppression of the strike


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Document 2

Source: Jacek Kuron and Karol Modzelewski, professors at Warsaw University and
Polish communist party members, open letter addressed to party members, 1965.

The [communist] Party considers itself the representative of the interests of the working
class and its power is supposed to be a guarantee of working class power. But . . . we
must ask what opportunities there are for the working class to influence the decisions of
the state apparatus. Outside the Partynone.

Formerly, government officials loved to wear blue overalls, willingly advertising their
working-class origins; they gave medals to the best workers and were embarrassed to
pay a manager ten times more than a worker. Today, government officials dress in
elegant clothing, and the managers [expensive] cars and villas are eloquent testimony to
their social prestige. Today exploitation is out in the open for all to see; it is no longer
carried on by means of propaganda, but openly by means of the whip of administrative
duress, andif any attempt is made to resistby police coercion. . . .

The end of exploitation could only come through the creation of a [new] system where
the organized working class will truly be the master of its labor and its labor product.


Document 3

Source: Edward Gierek, head of the Polish communist party, conversation with workers
on strike at the Szczecin Shipyard, January 1971.

I see what you mean, comrades. You mean you want information about what is
happening here, in your city and in your shipyard? Well, we are all for keeping people
informed, but not, you know, not about every detail that just anyone might want to
publish. There are certain rules, comrades, that must be strictly observed. Dont ask for
the same sort of democracy to be applied to everybodyfriend and enemy alike! Dont
demand that kind of democracy!

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Document 4

Source: Open letter signed by several prominent Polish intellectuals and read on Polish-
language radio stations broadcast from Western Europe, June 1976.

We declare our solidarity with the workers of Poland who have gone on strike. . . . In the
system of government presently prevailing in our country, the only form in which people
can express their real attitudes is through outbursts of social discontent, outbursts which
are dangerous in their consequences. . . . Without the establishment of a system of real
representation of workers it is not possible to study effectively the needs and aspirations of
our society. In their present form the official trade unions do not fulfill this role. Recent
events have again confirmed how completely fictitious the [official] unions are.



Document 5

Source: Resolution of the bishops of the Catholic Church in Poland, September 1976.

The government should fully respect civic rights, conduct a real dialogue with society,
and take account of societys wants when making decisions that affect the whole nation.
We therefore ask the state authorities to stop all repression of workers involved in the
antigovernment protests [of June 1976]. Those workers who have been dismissed must
be reinstated and their social and professional positions restored. They should receive
compensation for their losses, while those sentenced should be pardoned.


Document 6

Source: Workers Defense Committee, a dissident organization dedicated to providing
aid* to workers who had been fired, arrested, or imprisoned in the government
crackdown against the 1976 strikes, account of expenses, June 1976May 1977.





City
Number of Workers or
Workers Families
Receiving Monetary,
Legal, or Medical Aid
from the Committee
Average Yearly Aid
per Workers Family
(in Polish zloty)**
Ursus 169 4,233
Radom 640 2,552
Gdansk 34 2,376
Lodz 68 2,685
Plock 32 12,500
Grudziadz 25 7,232
* The committee raised money entirely through voluntary contributions in Poland and
among Polish communities abroad.









** In 1976 the average yearly pay of an industrial worker in Poland was about
22,000 zloty.
Document 7
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Source: Polish communist party, instructions distributed to schoolteachers in advance of a
visit by Pope John Paul II, the first Polish pope, March 1979.

You should convey to your students that the pope is our enemy, because he celebrates
mass for [political dissidents]. Due to his uncommon skills and great sense of humor, he is
dangerous because he charms everybody, especially journalists. Besides, he goes for cheap
gestures in his relations with the crowd. For instance, he puts on a folksy hat, shakes all
hands, kisses children, etc. His behavior is modeled on American presidential campaigns.
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Document 8

Source: Founding Committee of the Independent Trade Unions, brochure handed out to
workers in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, August 14, 1980.

Anna Walentynowicz* has worked at our shipyard since 1950. Sixteen years as a
welder, then as a crane operator. . . . She has always been a model worker, what is more,
one who reacted to every wrong and injustice. She [recently] received a disciplinary
notice of being fired for major infraction of workers responsibilities. . . . Anna
Walentynowicz has been a thorn in the side of the shipyards administration, because
she is a model activist [who] defends others and is capable of organizing her colleagues.
. . . We appeal to you, defend the crane operator Walentynowicz. If you dont, many of
you may find themselves in the same miserable situation.

* editor of the underground newspaper Coastal Worker


Document 9

Source: Interfactory Strike Committee, 21 Demands, a political platform written on
wooden boards and hung on the gates of the Gdansk shipyard, August 18, 1980.

Our demands are:

1. Acceptance of free trade unions independent of the communist party. . . .
2. A guarantee of the right to strike and of the security of strikers. . . .
3. Compliance with the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, the press, and
publication. . . .
9. Guaranteed automatic increases in pay on the basis of increases in prices and the
decline in real income.
10. A full supply of food products for the domestic market, with exports limited to
surpluses. . . .
12. The selection of management personnel on the basis of qualifications, not party
membership. Privileges of the secret police, regular police, and party apparatus to be
eliminated.

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Document 10

Source: Marek Langda, Polish photographer employed by the official Central Photography Agency,
Warsaw grocery shop interior, June 1981.


Marek Langda/CAF/PAP
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Document 11

Source: Photograph of Lech Walesa and other Solidarity* activists kneeling in
prayer at a Catholic mass held at the opening of Solidaritys national convention,
September 1981.


Bettmann/CORBIS

* a coalition of independent trade unions established in Gdansk in September 1980
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Document 12

Source: General Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish communist party leader, memoir published
1992.

It was as if we in the Party were hypnotized by our conviction that the central figures of
Solidarity could do as they wished. We exaggerated their ability to direct and manipulate
their organization. But in fact, such a powerful social and political movement radicalizes
and gathers momentum on its own. It carries its leaders more than the leaders lead it.







END OF PART A








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EUROPEAN HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

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EUROPEAN HISTORY
SECTION II
Part B
(Suggested planning and writing time35 minutes)
Percent of Section II score27 1/2

Directions: You are to answer ONE question from the three questions below. Make your selection carefully,
choosing the question that you are best prepared to answer thoroughly in the time permitted. You should spend
5 minutes organizing or outlining your answer. Write your answer to the question on the lined pages of the Section II
free-response booklet, making sure to indicate the question you are answering by writing the appropriate question
number at the top of each page.

Write an essay that:
Has a relevant thesis.
Addresses all parts of the question.
Supports thesis with specific evidence.
Is well organized.

2. Analyze the differences in the approaches to church-state relations advocated by
various Protestant groups in the 1500s.

3. Analyze the similarities in the methods that various absolute monarchs used in the
1600s and 1700s to consolidate and increase their power.

4. Analyze the differences in the ideas held by various Enlightenment figures
concerning the roles of women in European society.

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EUROPEAN HISTORY
SECTION II
Part C
(Suggested planning and writing time35 minutes)
Percent of Section II score27 1/2

Directions: You are to answer ONE question from the three questions below. Make your selection carefully, choosing
the question that you are best prepared to answer thoroughly in the time permitted. You should spend 5 minutes
organizing or outlining your answer. Write your answer to the question on the lined pages of the Section II free-
response booklet, making sure to indicate the question you are answering by writing the appropriate question number at
the top of each page.

Write an essay that:
Has a relevant thesis.
Addresses all parts of the question.
Supports thesis with specific evidence.
Is well organized.

5. Analyze major factors that caused people to move from the countryside to cities in
Europe during the 1800s.

6. Analyze how warfare and the rise of totalitarian regimes affected the development of
the arts in Europe during the first half of the 1900s.

7. Analyze major factors that affected the changing balance of power among European
states in the period 18481914.




STOP

END OF EXAM