Name: ___________________________Date: ______________ Class: ____________________
World Studies for Georgia Students-Grade 6
Chapter 4: The Geography and History of Europe
Section 1: The Land and People of Europe
Guided Reading
Instructions: Read the section and complete each item with words from
the passages in this section.
1. ________________ is located in the northern hemisphere. It is the second-
smallest _________________ and shares the same landmass as Asia to the east.
2. The ________________ Mountains form the western border of the European
Plain. This plain extends from France to _________________.
3. ________________ has many natural borders: the Pyrenees Mountains, the
_______________, and the English Channel.
4. _________________ shares an international border with more countries that
any other nation in Europe.
5. One of the largest countries in Europe, ________________ is mostly plateaus
(broad flat areas of high land) and fertile plains.
6. Most European _________________ are in three main categories: Germanic,
Romance, and Slavic languages.
7. About 20 percent of Europeans speak one of two Germanic languages
_______________ or ______________as their native language.
8. Another large group is the ________________ languages, which include
French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Romance languages come from
_______________, the language of the ancient Roman Empire.
9. The ________________ languages include Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian,
which generally use a different _______________.
10. Europe is home to many ________________. The three largest are
________________, ________________, and Islam.
Name: ___________________________Date: ______________ Class: ____________________
World Studies for Georgia Students-Grade 6
Chapter 4: The Geography and History of Europe
Section 1: The Land and People of Europe
Guided Reading
11. All three are called _________________ religions because they started with
Abraham, and each has a belief in a single God, known as
__________________.
12. Despite facing _______________ throughout history and the Holocaust, about
1.4 million ______________ remain in Europe today.
13. ___________________ has historically been the dominant religion of Europe.
14. ________________ is the dominant religion of the Middle East, North Africa,
and parts of Asia. There are around 43 million ________________ in Europe.
Name: ___________________________Date: ______________ Class: ____________________
World Studies for Georgia Students-Grade 6
Chapter 4: The Geography and History of Europe
Section 2: Europe’s Expanding Influence
Guided Reading
Instructions: Read the section and complete each item with words from
the passages in this section.
1. The ________________ (1096 to 1272) were military expeditions sent by
different _______________ (leaders of the Roman Catholic Church) to capture
important religious lands from the Muslim Turks.
2. Though the Crusaders were not successful, one result was that the people of
Western Europe learned how to draw better ______________ and build better
_______________. The Crusades also exposed the European Crusaders to
desirable ______________ from the East.
3. Because ______________ and Genoa controlled the trade routes through the
_________________ Sea, the jealous European countries looked for another
way to reach the Asian countries of ________________, China, and the Spice
Islands.
4. __________________ established the earliest of the modern European colonial
________________, and the Portuguese Empire lasted for centuries.
5. By 1571, a string of outposts _________________ Portugal with
_______________, India, the South Pacific Islands, and Japan.
6. Exploration and __________________ of this “New World” gave Spain
enormous wealth. This wealth allowed the Spanish to build a powerful
______________ and begin to spread Roman Catholic Christianity to other
parts of the world.
7. Under Elizabeth’s reign, the _________________ dealt a severe blow to the
Spanish navy and began English exploration and colonization in the New
World.
Name: ___________________________Date: ______________ Class: ____________________
World Studies for Georgia Students-Grade 6
Chapter 4: The Geography and History of Europe
Section 2: Europe’s Expanding Influence
Guided Reading
8. The British Empire became the _______________ in history. At its peak, Great
Britain controlled lands that are now _______________, Australia, India, much
of eastern _________________, and numerous islands across the world.
9. By the 1920s, _______________ of the world’s population was under British
control.
10. The ________________ kings paid for explorations of their own and started
colonies including ________________ in Canada and islands in the Caribbean,
the Indian Ocean, the South Pacific, the North Pacific, and the North Atlantic.
11. France in the 1780s was Europe’s ________________ country by population.
Name: ___________________________Date: ______________ Class: ____________________
World Studies for Georgia Students-Grade 6
Chapter 4: The Geography and History of Europe
Section 3: Modern Europe
Guided Reading
Instructions: Read the section and complete each item with words from
the passages in this section.
1. Economic rivalries fueled by __________________ created a tense atmosphere in
Europe. Small feuds set the stage for two ______________ ______________.
2. The result was the ________________ for Africa between 1885 and 1910. During
this period, European countries divided control of the ________________ continent
among themselves.
3. ________________ and ________________ also led to increased colonization.
European nations showed national ________________ by competing for African
colonies.
4. Due to competitive colonization efforts, _________________ (the love of one’s
country) and __________________ (using strong armies and threats of war) were on
the rise in Europe.
5. In 1914, a series of events caused _________________ to declare war on Russia and
France. The _______________ joined France and Russia and formed the
_______________ Powers. Austria-Hungary, the ________________ Empire
(Turkey and its colonies), and Bulgaria joined the Germans as the _______________
Powers.
6. Because these large countries controlled lands around the world, the war was called
the _______________ ________________.
7. At the end of World War I, leaders from the countries involved met at Versailles
Palace outside Paris, France, to write a ______________. The Treaty of Versailles
explained what the winners would gain and what the losers would ______________.
8. France and Great Britain wanted to make sure __________________ could not
attack them again. Their goal was to make German a _______________ country.
Name: ___________________________Date: ______________ Class: ____________________
World Studies for Georgia Students-Grade 6
Chapter 4: The Geography and History of Europe
Section 3: Modern Europe
Guided Reading
9. People felt good about the ________________, but an economic
_________________ (a severe economic downturn) was already beginning.
10. Businesses around the world ________________ with the United States, and as
Americans stopped buying goods, businesses in other countries ________________.
11. What followed was called the __________________ ___________________.
12. Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist or ________________ Party claimed they
could fix the country’s problems, which they blamed on the _______________ of
Versailles and on the _________________, who they alleged had control over
money and the banks.
13. In 1933, Hitler became _________________ (head of government) of Germany and
soon gained complete control of the government.
14. By 1938, German troops controlled ________________ and Czechoslovakia. His
1939 invasion of ________________ finally forced France and Great Britain to
declare war on Germany. This was the start of ______________ ______________
____.
15. As a solution to their “Jewish problem,” the Nazi regime initiated the
_______________— a systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of Jews
and other groups they considered _______________ in the countries they controlled.
16. Before the war ended, the Nazis had killed as many as _____ __________________
in concentration camps.
17. To rebuild the country, the Allies divided _________________ into four zones
controlled by four countries: the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet
Union. ________________, the capital city, was in the Soviet zone, but it was
divided into four zones, too.
Name: ___________________________Date: ______________ Class: ____________________
World Studies for Georgia Students-Grade 6
Chapter 4: The Geography and History of Europe
Section 3: Modern Europe
Guided Reading
18. The “hot war” of bombing and fighting became the _______________ War in which
countries threatened to attack each other with _________________ weapons.
19. After World War II, ______________ dictator Joseph Stalin placed most of Eastern
European countries under communist control and took over the businesses and
property. These countries became known as the Eastern _______________.
20. As the _______________ War continued, the United States and Soviet Union had
ever-growing ________________. As countries allied with one side or the other, the
United States and Soviet Union had the ability to influence _________________
events and project an image of ________________ power.
21. During the Cold War, the countries of Europe increased their efforts to live
________________ together on their small continent.
22. Using the ________________ made trade much easier for citizens of the
_______________ Union.
23. With freedom of movement and a common _______________, the small countries of
Europe were finally united in a large single market that could _______________
with countries like the United States.