AP European History
Timeline Assignment
Fall and Spring Semesters
Assignment: You will create a timeline of at least 200 dates from the fall semester in AP European History
(Black Death through the Congress of Vienna) and 200 dates from the winter semester (Congress of Vienna
through present) that will be due at the time you take your semester exams (mid-December, mid-April). Each
date must have the following essential information: date (exact or year), where, event/what happened, and
significance (relate the date to the past and, where appropriate, the future – just saying what happened is not
enough! Stretch your mind!).
Format: I suggest a three column format in Excel or a Word table. I do NOT recommend a table in OneNote –
create your timeline in World or Excel and then print to OneNote. The following is an example of good dates:
Date
1648
Where
Westphalia; PanEurope
What Happened
Peace of Westphaliaend of the 30 Years’
War
1919
Versailles; PanEurope
Treaty of Versailles;
ends First World War
(with Germany)
Significance
Includes Calvinism in 1555 Peace of Augsburg
settlement, official decline of Spain and
disintegration of HRE, semi-independence of
German states. Will usher in Absolutism to
France. Shakes up political system in Europe as
a whole- new order and separation of religion
and politics (rise of secularism)
Peace settlement of the First World War;
includes extremely harsh reparations, war guilt
clauses, and the Weimar Republic; will damage
not only the economy, but also the morale of
Germany, which will result in their embracing
intense nationalism and the charismatic leader
of the National Socialists, Adolf Hitler. Shows
lasting divide in European powers that will
color the alliances of the Second World War.
Notes:
-
Complete sentences NOT required!  Feel free to use arrows, dashes, semicolons, etc. You just need to
show cause and, most importantly, effect.
-
Do NOT leave this until the week before your timeline is due or you will be in big trouble. Try to work
on it daily by highlighting dates in your textbook or notes and each weekend by entering a few dates
onto your timeline in your “spare time”.
-
This assignment is an individual assignment and will be worth the same as a major paper. It is not meant
to be a “stressor” but a useful study tool when you need a quick reference as you study for the College
Board’s exam in May. I still have mine that I made in AP Euro and I used it all the way through college!
In the worlds of a former AP Euro student, “My timeline helped me make friends in my history classes
in college!”