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AP European History

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AP European History runs from the Renaissance and the age of exploration to contemporary Europe, across nine units: Renaissance and exploration, the Reformation, absolutism and constitutionalism, the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, the late-eighteenth-century crises, industrialisation, nineteenth-century political developments, twentieth-century global conflicts, and the Cold War and contemporary Europe.

Ideas are treated as historical forces here. Humanism, the scientific method, natural rights, nationalism, liberalism and socialism are not background - they are causes, and questions ask what they changed.

Watch the recurring argument about power. Who rules, on what authority, and with what limits is contested in every unit, from the new monarchies through absolutism and constitutional government to twentieth-century regimes and the European Union.

Cultural and intellectual history is examinable. Art, literature and philosophy appear throughout the framework because they carry evidence about how people understood their world.

The notes below follow the College Board framework unit by unit, with each topic's thematic focus and its key concepts.

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Past Papers
  • 1

    Renaissance and Exploration

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    • 1.1 Contextualizing Renaissance and Discovery
    • 1.2 Italian Renaissance
    • 1.3 Northern Renaissance
    • 1.4 Printing
    • 1.5 New Monarchies
    • 1.6 Technological Advances and the Age of Exploration
    • 1.7 Rivals on the World Stage
    • 1.8 Colonial Expansion and Columbian Exchange
    • 1.9 The Slave Trade
    • 1.4 1.5 1.10 How Most Europeans Actually Lived
    • 1.10 The Commercial Revolution
    • 1.11 Causation in the Renaissance and Age of Discovery
    • 1.11 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 1.11 Exam tips
  • 2

    Age of Reformation

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    • 2.1 Contextualizing 16th- and 17th-Century Challenges
    • 2.2 Luther and the Protestant Reformation
    • 2.3 Protestant Reform Continues
    • 2.4 Wars of Religion
    • 2.5 The Catholic Reformation
    • 2.6 16th-Century Society and Politics
    • 2.7 Art of the 16th Century: Mannerism and Baroque
    • 2.8 Causation in the Age of Reformation
    • 2.8 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 2.8 Exam tips
  • 3

    Absolutism and Constitutionalism

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    • 3.1 Contextualizing State Building
    • 3.2 The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution
    • 3.3 Continuities and Changes to Economic Practice
    • 3.4 Economic Development and Mercantilism
    • 3.5 The Dutch Golden Age
    • 3.6 Balance of Power
    • 3.7 Absolutist Approaches to Power
    • 3.8 Comparison in the Age of Absolutism
    • 3.8 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 3.8 Exam tips
    • 3.8 Sources and practice provenance
  • 4

    Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments

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    • 4.1 Contextualizing the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
    • 4.2 The Scientific Revolution
    • 4.3 The Enlightenment
    • 4.4 18th-Century Society and Demographics
    • 4.5 18th-Century Culture and Arts
    • 4.6 Enlightened and Other Approaches to Power
    • 4.7 Causation in the Age of the Enlightenment
    • 4.7 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 4.7 Exam tips
    • 4.7 Sources and practice provenance
  • 5

    Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th Century

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    • 5.1 Contextualizing 18th-Century States
    • 5.2 The Rise of Global Markets
    • 5.3 Britain's Ascendency
    • 5.4 The French Revolution
    • 5.5 The French Revolution's Effects
    • 5.6 Napoleon's Rise, Dominance, and Defeat
    • 5.7 The Congress of Vienna
    • 5.8 Romanticism
    • 5.9 Continuity and Change in 18th-Century States
    • 5.9 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 5.9 Exam tips
    • 5.9 Sources and demand grounding
  • 6

    Industrialization and Its Effects, c. 1815 to c. 1914

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    • 6.1 Contextualizing Industrialization
    • 6.2 The Spread of Industry Throughout Europe
    • 6.3 Second Wave Industrialization
    • 6.4 Social Effects of Industrialization
    • 6.5 The Concert of Europe and European Conservatism
    • 6.6 Reactions and Revolutions
    • 6.7 Ideologies of Change and Reform Movements
    • 6.8 6.9 19th-Century Social Reform and Institutional Responses
    • 6.10 Causation in the Age of Industrialization
    • 6.10 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 6.10 Exam tips
  • 7

    19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments, c. 1815 to c. 1914

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    • 7.1 Contextualizing 19th-Century Perspectives
    • 7.2 Nationalism
    • 7.3 National Unification and Diplomatic Tensions
    • 7.4 Darwinism and Social Darwinism
    • 7.5 The Age of Progress and Modernity
    • 7.6 New Imperialism: Motivations and Methods
    • 7.7 Imperialism's Global Effects
    • 7.8 19th-Century Culture and Arts
    • 7.9 Causation in 19th-Century Developments
    • 7.9 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 7.9 Exam tips
  • 8

    20th-Century Global Conflicts, c. 1914 to present

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    • 8.1 Contextualizing 20th-Century Global Conflicts
    • 8.2 World War I
    • 8.3 The Russian Revolution and Its Effects
    • 8.4 Versailles Conference and Peace Settlement
    • 8.5 Global Economic Crisis
    • 8.6 Fascism and Totalitarianism
    • 8.7 Europe During the Interwar Period
    • 8.8 World War II
    • 8.9 The Holocaust
    • 8.10 20th-Century Cultural and Intellectual Developments
    • 8.11 Continuity and Change in an Age of Global Conflict
    • 8.11 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 8.11 Exam tips
  • 9

    Cold War and Contemporary Europe

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    • 9.1 Contextualizing Cold War and Contemporary Europe
    • 9.2 Rebuilding Europe
    • 9.3 The Cold War
    • 9.4 Two Superpowers Emerge
    • 9.5 Postwar Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Atrocities
    • 9.6 Contemporary Western Democracies
    • 9.7 The Fall of Communism
    • 9.8 20th-Century Feminism
    • 9.9 Decolonization
    • 9.10 The European Union
    • 9.11 Migration and Immigration
    • 9.12 9.13 Technology and Globalization
    • 9.14 Culture, Arts, and Demographic Trends
    • 9.15 Continuity and Change in the 20th and 21st Centuries
    • 9.15 Worked example: a short-answer question
    • 9.15 Exam tips

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