Naval Science II, Maritime History, Chapter 1 Reading Questions
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What is meant by a nation’s sea power?
Being able to defend a nation’s own sealanes.
How big a fleet of ships your nation can build and sail into the world's oceans.
The ability to deny an enemy the use of the sea in time of war.
The total volume of trade and goods that can be shipped by a nation given the size of their merchant marine.
Both the ability to defend your sealanes and the ability to deny the enemy the use of the sea in time of war.
What was the probable reason that navies were first formed?
As protection for merchant ships against armed robbers.
To defeat other nation's armies during war.
To allow for amphibious operations against enemies.
To sink other nation's merchant shipping.
To more quickly move army troops from place to place.
What was the major type of warship used in ancient times?
Galleys
Brigs
Destroyers
Frigates
Sloops
Why did ancient Crete develop into the first sea power in the Mediterranean?
Because Crete was too rugged for farming.
Because Crete had an abundance of goods and needed to trade them with other nations.
Because they didn't eat meat and so came to rely on the sea from early in their history.
Because they invented the War Galley.
Because they were the first to use coins and this invention allowed for the development of sea trade.
How did the Phoenicians contribute to Western culture?
Through the development of an alphabet.
They invented the War Galley
They discovered North America.
They developed steam-powered ships.
They were the first nation to sail around the whole of Africa.
Which great Middle Eastern empire was the main enemy of ancient Greece?
Crete
Phoenicia
Persia
Britain
Troy
What was King Xerxes' invasion plan against Greece?
Moving his large army overland while having his large fleet guard his flanks and carrying supplies.
To load his army aboard his large fleet and land on the Greek homeland.
To attack Greece with his navy, ruining the Greek seaports and merchant fleet.
To launch an all-out attack with his armies and ignore the Greek fleet.
To use his armies to capture the Greek fleet and use it against them.
What was the Greek plan of battle at the Battle of Salamis?
To position their fleet near the island of Salamis to protect the eastern flank of the Greek forces.
To make a surprise attack against the Persian forces.
To ferry their land army to another location.
To lure the Persian fleet into open waters where they could destroy them.
To disguise their Triremes as merchant ships to trap the Persian navy.
Who followed the Greeks as the leader in Western Culture?
The Romans
The Phoenicians
The Britons
The French
The Persians
What two sea battles won the Mediterranean for Rome after Julius Caesar’s death?
Actium and Naulochus
Actium and Salamis
Salamis and Naulochus
Mare Nostrum and Pax Romana
The Punic War and Naulochus
What is the period of western European history from the fall of Rome until about the eleventh century often called?
The Dark Ages
The Pax Romana
The Age of Barbarians
The Age of Discovery
The Age of Enlightenment
Which of the Italian states became a great commercial and naval power during the Crusades?
Venice
Florence
Naples
Rome
Pompeii
What organization of ports dominated the trade of northern Europe during the time of the Crusades?
The Hanseatic League
The Italian League
The Baltic Confederation
The Ottoman Turks
The Lepanto League
What happened in 1571 to end the threat of control of the Mediterranean by the Moors?
The battle of Lepanto.
The battle of Salamis.
The Crusades.
The defeat of the Spanish Armada.
The battle of Actium.
What happened by the time of the Battle of Lepanto that caused the Mediterranean to decline as the center of world maritime interest?
The expansion of maritime trade with Asia and the new world.
The victory of the Turks put an end to free trade within the Mediterranean Sea.
Trade shifted to using caravan routes with Asia.
An earthquake closed off the entrance to the Mediterranean for some time, thus reducing trade.
Nothing. The Mediterranean continued to be the center of world maritime interest.
Which country led the way to the Age of Discovery with early explorations around Africa?
The Portuguese
England
Spain
France
Italy
What changes occurred in Spain as a result of the discovery of the Americas?
It became wealthy and a leader within Europe.
The government was overthrown and the first true democracy elected to power.
The government of Spain became disinterested in trade and sea power.
No outward changes in Spain occurred due to the discovery of the Americas.
Spain had the wealth to build up its armies and attack its neighbors.
Which country rose to oppose Spain as the leading sea power in the sixteenth century?
England
France
Italy
The United States
Portugal
For what purpose did the Spanish Armada sail in 1588?
To stop the English raids on Spanish ships and ports.
To turn England into a Spanish colony.
As simply a show of force to intimidate England.
To prevent the invasion of Spain by England.
For a training exercise designed to ready its fleet for combat in the New World.
Which country challenged English colonialism in North America first?
The Dutch
Spain
France
The United States
Italy
What was the main result of the French and Indian Wars in America?
England won control of Canada.
The creation of the United States of America.
The defeat of the Indians by the French forces.
France won control of Canada.
The birth of the American Navy.
After the fall of Rome in 476 A.D., who controlled the Eastern Mediterranean sea?
The Moslems.
The Byzantines.
Venice.
The Spanish.
Carthage.
Constantinople was the capital of what empire?
The Byzantine.
The Roman.
The Ottoman Turks.
The Moors.
The Greeks.
What is the name given to the longest period of peace in world history?
Pax Romana.
Mare Nostrum.
The Golden Age of Athens.
The Crusades.
The Age of Discovery.
If Crete was the first group of Europeans to master the sea, what was the second?
The Phoenicians.
The Greeks.
The Romans.
The Spanish.
The Carthaginians.
The Treaty of Paris ended the war between which two countries?
England and France
Greece and Persia
Rome and Carthage
England and Spain
The Byzantines and the Ottoman Turks
What was the term given for the age following the battle of Lepanto when Sea Power became a critical element of global strategy?
The Age of Discovery
The Golden Age of Athens
Pax Romana
The Renaissance
The Age of the Privateer
What was the first recorded conflict fought to control the Turkish Straits and Aegean Sea/Black Sea trade?
The Trojan Wars
The Punic Wars
The French and Indian Wars
The Crusades
The Spanish Armada
What civilization was the first to establish democracies?
Greece
Rome
Venice
Carthage
Crete
The gradual shift of wealth and power from the nobility to the middle class began in what age?
The Age of Discovery.
The Golden Age of Athens.
The Punic Wars.
The Crusades.
Pax Romana
What country dominated the seas after the Treaty of Paris?
England
France
The Dutch
The Spanish
America
The Golden Age of Athens followed what decisive naval battle?
Salamis
Actium
Lepanto
The defeat of the Spanish Armada
Constantinople
What economic term describes the concept that national wealth is measured by the amount of treasure in the royal vault?
Mercantile Theory
Pax Romana
Mare Nostrum
Hanseatic League
Privateer Industry
The European Age of Discovery was considered to have reached its peak when what occurred?
Columbus discovered the New World.
The battle of Lepanto.
The battle of Actium.
The battle of Salamis.
The defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Which one of the following was considered a "seadog"?