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AP courses

AP European History

Europe from the Renaissance to the present, through the sources, art, and arguments historians actually use.

12 units · 115 lessons · 1261 practice items · 99 videos

AP European History follows Europe from about 1450 to the present. The course opens with the Renaissance and the age of exploration, then moves through the Reformation, absolutism and constitutionalism, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and Napoleon, industrialization, nationalism and imperialism, the world wars, and the Cold War and contemporary Europe. Every reading is written to stand on its own, with maps, timelines, artworks, and primary sources doing real work on the page.

Practice runs on stimulus-based questions in the style of the exam: passages, paintings, cartoons, charts, and maps travel with each question, and writing skills such as thesis, contextualization, and sourcing are trained through graded, auto-checked exercises. Every unit closes with a writing workshop and a unit test; two semester finals built to the exam's four-section shape and a seven-lesson exam review sit on the course map as units of their own.

This course follows the College Board's published AP European History framework.

Syllabus

Every published lesson in this course, by unit.

1Renaissance and exploration13 lessons
  1. 11.1 Contextualizing Renaissance and discovery
  2. 21.2 Italian Renaissance
  3. 31.3 Northern Renaissance
  4. 41.4 Printing
  5. 51.5 New monarchies
  6. 61.6 Technological advances and the age of exploration
  7. 71.7 Rivals on the world stage
  8. 81.8 Colonial expansion and Columbian Exchange
  9. 91.9 The slave trade
  10. 101.10 The commercial revolution
  11. 111.11 Causation in the Renaissance and age of discovery
  12. 12Unit 1 writing workshop
  13. 13Unit 1 test
2Age of Reformation10 lessons
  1. 12.1 Contextualizing 16th- and 17th-century challenges and developments
  2. 22.2 Luther and the Protestant Reformation
  3. 32.3 Protestant reform continues
  4. 42.4 Wars of religion
  5. 52.5 The Catholic Reformation
  6. 62.6 16th-century society and politics
  7. 72.7 Art of the 16th century: Mannerism and Baroque art
  8. 82.8 Causation in the age of Reformation and the wars of religion
  9. 9Unit 2 writing workshop
  10. 10Unit 2 test
3Absolutism and constitutionalism10 lessons
  1. 13.1 Contextualizing state building
  2. 23.2 The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution
  3. 33.3 Continuities and changes to economic practice and development
  4. 43.4 Economic development and mercantilism
  5. 53.5 The Dutch Golden Age
  6. 63.6 Balance of power
  7. 73.7 Absolutist approaches to power
  8. 83.8 Comparison in the age of absolutism and constitutionalism
  9. 9Unit 3 writing workshop
  10. 10Unit 3 test
4Scientific, philosophical, and political developments9 lessons
  1. 14.1 Contextualizing the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
  2. 24.2 The Scientific Revolution
  3. 34.3 The Enlightenment
  4. 44.4 18th-century society and demographics
  5. 54.5 18th-century culture and arts
  6. 64.6 Enlightened and other approaches to power
  7. 74.7 Causation in the age of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
  8. 8Unit 4 writing workshop
  9. 9Unit 4 test
5Conflict, crisis, and reaction in the late 18th century11 lessons
  1. 15.1 Contextualizing 18th-century states
  2. 25.2 The rise of global markets
  3. 35.3 Britain's ascendency
  4. 45.4 The French Revolution
  5. 55.5 The French Revolution's effects
  6. 65.6 Napoleon's rise, dominance, and defeat
  7. 75.7 The Congress of Vienna
  8. 85.8 Romanticism
  9. 95.9 Continuity and change in 18th-century states
  10. 10Unit 5 writing workshop
  11. 11Unit 5 test
ExamSemester 1 final1 lesson
  1. 1Semester 1 final
6Industrialization and its effects12 lessons
  1. 16.1 Contextualizing industrialization and its origins and effects
  2. 26.2 The spread of industry throughout Europe
  3. 36.3 Second wave industrialization and its effects
  4. 46.4 Social effects of industrialization
  5. 56.5 The Concert of Europe and European conservatism
  6. 66.6 Reactions and revolutions
  7. 76.7 Ideologies of change and reform movements
  8. 86.8 19th-century social reform
  9. 96.9 Institutional responses and reform
  10. 106.10 Causation in the age of industrialization
  11. 11Unit 6 writing workshop
  12. 12Unit 6 test
719th-century perspectives and political developments11 lessons
  1. 17.1 Contextualizing 19th-century perspectives and political developments
  2. 27.2 Nationalism
  3. 37.3 National unification and diplomatic tensions
  4. 47.4 Darwinism, social Darwinism
  5. 57.5 The age of progress and modernity
  6. 67.6 New imperialism: motivations and methods
  7. 77.7 Imperialism's global effects
  8. 87.8 19th-century culture and arts
  9. 97.9 Causation in 19th-century perspectives and political developments
  10. 10Unit 7 writing workshop
  11. 11Unit 7 test
820th-century global conflicts13 lessons
  1. 18.1 Contextualizing 20th-century global conflicts
  2. 28.2 World War I
  3. 38.3 The Russian Revolution and its effects
  4. 48.4 Versailles conference and peace settlement
  5. 58.5 Global economic crisis
  6. 68.6 Fascism and totalitarianism
  7. 78.7 Europe during the interwar period
  8. 88.8 World War II
  9. 98.9 The Holocaust
  10. 108.10 20th-century cultural, intellectual, and artistic developments
  11. 118.11 Continuity and changes in an age of global conflict
  12. 12Unit 8 writing workshop
  13. 13Unit 8 test
9Cold War and contemporary Europe17 lessons
  1. 19.1 Contextualizing Cold War and contemporary Europe
  2. 29.2 Rebuilding Europe
  3. 39.3 The Cold War
  4. 49.4 Two superpowers emerge
  5. 59.5 Postwar nationalism, ethnic conflict, and atrocities
  6. 69.6 Contemporary Western democracies
  7. 79.7 The fall of communism
  8. 89.8 20th-century feminism
  9. 99.9 Decolonization
  10. 109.10 The European Union
  11. 119.11 Migration and immigration
  12. 129.12 Technology
  13. 139.13 Globalization
  14. 149.14 20th- and 21st-century culture, arts, and demographic trends
  15. 159.15 Continuity and change in the 20th and 21st centuries
  16. 16Unit 9 writing workshop
  17. 17Unit 9 test
10AP exam review7 lessons
  1. 1Exam review 1: text-stimulus MCQ strategy
  2. 2Exam review 2: visual, quantitative and map stimulus MCQ
  3. 3Exam review 3: secondary-source and paired-source MCQ
  4. 4Exam review 4: SAQ clinic
  5. 5Exam review 5: DBQ full run
  6. 6Exam review 6: LEQ full run
  7. 7Exam review 7: chronology and themes
ExamSemester 2 final1 lesson
  1. 1Semester 2 final