This course is divided into thirds, with a midterm exam given at the conclusion of each third and a final exam taken prior to the AP Exam in May. The purpose of this course is to mimic a college
European History course. Students will be taught European History as it develops from 1450 CE to the present day. The areas under study are broken down into Social, Political, Religious, Intellectual,
Technological, and Economic themes. Students will process at the highest levels of Bloom’s
Taxonomy throughout the course and are expected to work as a historian as they read primary documents. The documents, maps, and supportive textual work will be analyzed and interpreted using the methods of historic scholarship. Frequent practice in analytical and interpretive writing will be demanded as students write both Free Response Essays and Document Based Essays.
This course is taught in an 85-minute block everyday for the first semester and then every other day for the second semester. For each unit the students are given a study guide with between 35 and
80 terms that are the most critical to that unit. They are expected to write the significance of each term on the guide and it is collected/graded on the day of the tests. All tests are timed to match with the AP testing time format. In total, the students are exposed to 93 pieces of art, 42 maps, 29 political cartoons, and 14 documentary clips.
Textbook :
R.R. Palmer, Joel Colton, and Lloyd Kramer. A History of Modern World . New
York: McGraw-Hill Company, 9 th
Edition.
Novel : Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich . New York: Bantam
Books, 1990.
Supplemental Readings/Primary Documents come from the following Textbooks:
Coffin, Judith G., Robert C. Stacey, Robert E. Lerner, and Standish Meacham. Western
Civilization: New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 14 th
Edition.
Kagan, Donald M., Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage: Since
1300, AP Edition: Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall, 8 th
Edition.
Kishlansky, Mark, Patricia O'Brien, and Patrick Geary. Civilization in the West . Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Longman, 5 th Edition.
McKay, John P., Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler. A History of Western Society Since
1400 . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 7 th
Edition.
Merriman, John. A History of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present .
New York: W. W. Norton, 1 st
Edition.

Unit 1: Renaissance (7 Days)
Topics discussed:

Black Death

Hundred Years War

Early Problems with the Church

Why Italy?

Great Schism

Renaissance Values
 Machiavelli’s impact

Authors of importance

Social Changes during the time

Northern vs. Southern Renaissance

Rise of New Monarchies
Test: o 20 Multiple Choice o 5 Term Identification o 1 Essay
Unit 2: Reformation (4 Days)

Reasons for the Reformation
 Martin Luther’s actions/beliefs

Reaction to Luther

Peace of Augsburg
 John Calvin’s actions/beliefs

Henry VIII and the Anglican Church

More and Erasmus

Spanish Inquisition

Counter Reformation

Role Women played
Test: o 25 Multiple Choice o 5 Term Identification o 1 Essay
Unit 3: Economic Renewal and Wars of Religion (7 Days)

European Knowledge of the rest of the world at the time

Navigation Technology

Colonial Differences

Changing Social Structures

Explorers

New Entrepreneurs

Mercantilism

Educational Changes

Eastern vs Western Europe

Various Royal Family intrigue

Wars of Religion – England, Spain, France, and Holy Roman Empire

30 Years War

Test:
Unit 4: Early Western Leadership (5 Days)

Balance of Power

English Civil War through the Restoration

Glorious Revolution
 The reign of the “Sun King”

Versailles vs Escorial

War of Spanish Succession
Test: o 20 Multiple Choice o 1 Essay
Unit 5: Baroque (1 Day) o 40 Multiple Choice o 5 Term Identification o 1 Essay

Major Authors, Artists, Thinkers, Composers

Cervantes, Bodin, Spinoza, Campion, Wren, Racine, La Fontaine,
Boileau, Leibniz, Vivaldi, Milton, Spenser, de Vega, Grotius,
Bekker, Purcell, Corneille, Moliere, Rochefoucauld, Bossuet,
Bach, Handel, de Montaigne
Unit 6: Early Eastern Europe (5 Days)

Formation of Austrian Monarchy

Pragmatic Sanction

Rise of Hohenzollern

Prussian Leadership

Prussian Military Greatness

Social Life in Prussia

Ivan the Terrible

Rise of Romanov Rule

Economic/Social/Political Life under Peter the Great

Polish Liberties and John Sobieski
Test: o 35 Multiple Choice o 1 Essay
Unit 7: Government Changes, Scientific Revolution, & Enlightenment (10 Days)

Popular Culture vs Elite Culture

Post Treaty of Utrecht Europe – political situation
 Louis XV’s Court

Tory vs Whig

George I vs Pretenders

Military changes

War for Austrian Succession

Diplomatic Revolution


Scientific Revolution – players/concepts/events

Copernicus, Brahe, Bacon, Galileo, Kepler, Harvey, Descartes,
Pascal, Boyle, Huygens, Spinoza, Hooke, Newton,
Leeuwenhoek, Deductive and Inductive Reasoning, Cartesian
Dualism, Copernican Theory

Enlightenment – players/concepts/events

Hobbes, Locke, Beccaria, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Voltaire,
Montagu, Smith, Montesquieu, Diderot, Mendelson, Wesley

Major Enlightenment philosophies

Social Contract, Tabula Rasa, Crime & Punishment, Role of
Women, Separation of Powers, Laissez-Faire, Freedom of
Press/Religion/Speech, Free Market

Encyclopedia

Print Culture emerging

Coffeehouses

Enlightened Despots

Maria Theresa, Joseph II, Catherine the Great, Frederick the
Great

The changing role of family in the economy.
Test: o 25 Multiple Choice o 1 Essay
Midterm Test :
40 Multiple Choice
2 Essays
Art Lessons (Lecture and PowerPoint Presentations):
Renaissance
Baroque
Primary Documents (selections from the following) :
Book of the Courtier , Castiglione
The Prince , Machiavelli
The Decameron , Boccaccio
Book of the City of Ladies , de Pisan
Execution of Archbishop Cranmer , Bystander
A Diatribe Against the Pope , Erasmus
Witchcraft Trial in France , Unknown
Simplicius Simplicissimus , Jakob von Grimmelshausen
They Judged Nothing Worthy of…Celebrating Except what was Rare in our Sex
, van Schurman
Emile , Rousseau
Encyclopedie , Diderot

Unit 8: French Revolution and Napoleon (7 Days)

Differences in Estates – socially and economically

Abuses of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Economic conditions in France

Storming of the Bastille

Estates General to the National Assembly

Political Clubs

Tennis Court Oath

Night of August 4 th
 Women’s March to Versailles

Flight and Capture of the Royal Family

Reign of Terror

Rise of Napoleon

Actions of Napoleon – social, economic, political

Women and the Napoleonic Code

Congress of Vienna
Test: o 30 Multiple Choice o 1 Essay
Unit 9: Industrialization and Ism’s (9 Days)

What is industrialization?

In depth look at Manchester, England

Child Labor

Environmental effects

Agricultural Revolution

Iron Law of Wages and Law of Diminishing Returns

Potato Famine

Social impact of industrialization

Role of Women and Children

Irish Potato Famine
 Look at Ism’s

Liberalism, Socialism, Feminism, Republicanism,
Conservativism, Radicalism, Humanitarianism, Nationalism

Revolution of 1830

Revolution of 1848

Impact of Georg Hegel

Realpolitik

Concert of Europe/Metternich

Chartist Movement

Rise of Whigs and Tories in Britain

Decembrist Revolt

Karl Marx and his philosophy
Test: o 50 Multiple Choice o 1 Essay

Unit 10: Unification and Pre-WWI (6 Days)

Italian Unification

German Unification

Dual Monarchy

Russian Reforms under Tsar Alexander II

Differences between Inner and Outer Europe (Economic, Social,
Technological)

Urban Life

Atlantic Migration

Globalization of Economy

Paris Commune and 3 rd
Republic

Dreyfus Affair and Zionism

Gladstone vs. Disraeli

Victoria Age

Ulsterman conflict

Fabian Socialists vs. Marxists

Pankhurst and the Feminist movement

Social Darwinism

Science of Mendel, Pavlov, Freud, Curie, Becquerel, Einstein

Nietzsche – Genius or Madman?
Test o 40 Multiple Choice o 10 Art Identifications o 2 Essays
Unit 11: Imperialism (3 Days)
 White Man’s Burden

European Scramble for Africa

British methods of control in India

Suez Canal fight

Boxer Rebellion

Ottoman Empire as the Sickman of Europe

Sepoy Mutiny
Unit 12: WWI (6 Days)

Generalizations

Causes

Balkan Crisis

Zimmerman Telegram

Schlieffen Plan

Women and the War

Homefront

Tactics and Technology unleashed in this War

The Lost Generation

Treaty of Versailles and its effect
Test: o 20 Multiple Choice o 10 Map and Political Cartoon Identifications

Midterm Test :
41 Multiple Choice
2 Essays
Art Lessons (Lecture and PowerPoint Presentations):
Neoclassicism
Goya
Romaticism
Primary Documents (selections from the following) :
What is the Third Estate?, de Sieyes
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
French Women Petition to Bear Arms , Leon
, Lafayette
Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen , de Gouges
An Essay on the Principle of Population , Malthus
The Black Holes of Worsley , British Government Report
How They Kept the Children Awake
, Report of Sadler’s Committee
Treatise on the Management of Pregnant and Lying-In Women, Young
Concerning Germany , De Stael
On Liberty , Mill
Philosophy of History , Hegel
Communist Manifesto
Confessions of Faith
, Marx
, Rhodes
Manifesto for the Society for German Colonization , Peters
The Boxers Demand Death for all “Foreign Devils”,
I-ho-ch’uan
Gunga Din, Kipling
Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925 , Brittain
Unit 13: Russian Revolution (7 Days)

Economic condition in Russia circa 1917

Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov

Tolstoy

Political Parties during the Revolution

Reforms of Stolypin

Bloody Sunday
 Rasputin’s influence

March and November Revolutions

Kerensky and the Provisional Government

War Propaganda

Reds vs Whites vs Greens

Rise of Lenin and Trotsky

War Communism

Methods of Control

Rise of Stalin

Government and Communist Party Structure

New Economic Policy

Battleship Potemkin


Role of Women in Revolution

Role of Women in Soviet Society

Collectives

Purges

Third International

Discussion on the major themes of One Day in the Life …
Test: o 22 Multiple Choice o 2 Essays
Unit 14: Between the Wars (6 Days)

Interwar Culture: Artist and Intellectuals

German Governmental Changes under the Weimar Republic

Reactions to the Treaty of Versailles

Economic impact of Reparations

Spirit of Locarno

Kemal (Ataturk) and his changes to the Turkish Empire

Impact of Inflation and Currency Depreciation

Causes of the Great Depression

Rise of Fascism

Stream of Consciousness

Popular Front and Leon Blum

Political Party Changes in Great Britain

Impact of the Radio upon Politics

Rise of Mussolini

Rise of Hitler
 Hitler’s policies of anti-Semitism and on women

Politics in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, & Austria during time
Unit 15: WWII (5 Days)

Maginot Line
 League of Nations’ failures

Spanish Civil War

German Territorial Gains

Munich Conference

Anschluss

Technology and tactics of the War

Miracle at Dunkirk – Churchill

Vichy France (Laval and Petain)

Home front

Resistance Movements through Europe

Turning Points in the War (Pearl Harbor, Stalingrad, Operation Overlord,
Hitler’s Suicide, VE-Day)

Holocaust and Final Solution

Conferences to End the War (Casablanca, Teheran, Yalta, Potsdam)
Test o 15 Multiple Choice o 2 Political Cartoon Analysis o 4 Art Identification o 5 Term Identification

Unit 16: Cold War – Western Europe (7 Days)

Changes to the Map due to WWII

United Nations structure and powers

Balfour Declaration and UN Resolution 242

Causes of the Cold War

NATO vs. Warsaw Pact

Division of Germany and the ensuing problems

Berlin Wall – rise and fall

Differences in economic handling of German Rebuilding (East & West)

Population changes (pyramids)

Economic Miracles of Rebuilding

Marshall Plan

Mixed Economy

Welfare State

Guest Worker problem

Keynesian Economic Policy

Decolonization

Christian Democrats vs. Social Democrats vs. Free Democrats
 Britain’s political party woes

Actions of Charles DeGaulle

Italians and Euro communism

Modern Feminism

The Permissive Society/Drug Culture

Student Revolts (esp. 1968 France)

New European Economic Organizations (GATT, WTO, IMF, World Bank,
Council of Europe, Benelux, EEC, EU)

French Fifth Republic

Britain – Labor vs. Conservatives

New German Government Structure

Stagflation and Supply-Side Economics
 Thatcher’s Throw-Back policies
Test o 2 Map Identification o 2 Essays o 50 Multiple Choice
Unit 17: Cold War – Eastern Europe (5 Days)

Why did the Soviet Union Collapse?

Comecon and the Economic Trading Blocs

Dr. Zhivago

Space Race

Yugoslavia and Tito

Soviet Repression in Eastern Bloc countries

Suez Crisis

Hungarian Uprising

SALT talks

Brezhnev Doctrine
 Détente


Prague Spring

Velvet Revolution and Vaclav Havel

Solidarity and Lech Walesa

Perestroika and Glasnost

Rock Music and Protests

Nuclear Proliferation

Gorbachev as a reformer
 The “German Question”

Rise of Yeltsin and end of USSR
Test: o 35 Multiple Choice o 1 Essay
Unit 18: Post Cold War (2 Days)

Purges in Eastern Bloc countries

Economic and Social problems faced by Yeltsin

Social issues faced in Yugoslavia

Dayton Accords

IRA

Green Party Movement

Chernobyl

Revival of Religion

Mass Sports

Globalization of Civilization

Velvet Divorce

Existentialism

Growth of Terrorism
Unit 19: Review for AP Exam

Break down of each unit based on the themes of AP program
Unit 20: Post Exam Final Project
Midterm Test :
55 Multiple Choice
1 Essay
Art Lessons (Lecture and PowerPoint Presentations):
Impressionism
Post-Impressionism
Expressionism
Fauvism
Cubism
Surrealism
Abstract Expressionism
Primary Documents (selections from the following) :
Five Sister: Women Against the Tsar , Kovalskaia
Stalinism as a Way of Life: A Narrative in Documents , Siegelbaum and Sokolov
Women in a Changing Civilization , Holtby
On Emancipation of Women , Hitler

The Use of Radio for Political Propaganda , Goebbels
Hitler’s Secret Conversations, October 17, 1941
, Hitler
Diary of a German Soldier , Unknown
Night , Wiesel
Diary of Anne Frank , Anne Frank
The Second Sex , de Beauvoir
A Student Manifesto in Search of a Real and Human Educational Alternative , Student at
University of British Columbia
The Secret Speech , Khrushchev
Speech to Congress, February 21, 1990
Perestroika , Gorbachev
Final Exam:
, Havel
The entire released AP Exam. Timed and scored according to the guidelines
80 Multiple Choice
1 DBQ
2 FRQs