Wyoming High School
AP European History
Textbook:
1. R.R. Palmer, Joel Colton and Lloyd Kramer, A History of the Modern
World; 9th edition
2. John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe; 2nd edition
Primary Sources: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html
Course Themes: Due to the scope and content of this course, one cannot approach or
understand the development of European History without using overarching themes.
Success in this course with be predicated on a student’s ability to draw from particular
historical events and relate them to the following themes:
1.
2.
3.
Intellectual and Cultural History
A. Describe the changes in religious thought and institutions
B. Analyze the secularization of learning and culture
C. Identify scientific and technological developments and analyze their consequences.
D. Identify major trends in literature and the arts
E. Explain intellectual and cultural developments and their relationship to social values and
political events
F. Describe major developments in social, economic, and political thought
G. Describe major developments in literacy, education, and communication
H. Analyze the process of diffusion of new intellectual concepts among different social
groups
I. Identify changes in elite and popular culture, such as new attitudes toward religion,
family, work, and ritual
J. Explain the impact of global expansion on European culture
Political and Diplomatic History
A. Describe the rise and functioning of the modern state in its various forms
B. Analyze the relations between Europe and other parts of the world: colonialism,
imperialism, decolonization, and global interdependence
C. Describe the evolution of political elites and the development of political parties and
ideology
D. Analyze the extension and limitation of rights and liberties (personal, civic, economic,
and political); majority and minority political persecutions
E. Describe the growth and changing forms of nationalism
F. Compare and contrast forms of political protest, reform, and revolution
G. Compare and contrast the relationship between domestic and foreign policies
H. Identify and analyze efforts to restrain conflict: treaties, balance-of-power diplomacy,
and international organizations.
I. Describe the origins of, technology, and the consequences of war and civil conflict.
Social and Economic History
A. Describe the role of urbanization in transforming cultural values and social relationships
B. Analyze the shift in social structures from hierarchical orders to modern social classes:
the changing distribution of wealth and poverty
C. Describe the influence of sanitation and health care practices on society; food supply,
diet, famine, disease, and their impact
D. Analyze the development of commercial practices and their economic and social impact
E. Analyze the origins, development, and consequences of industrialization
F. Analyze the changes in the demographic structure of Europe, their causes and
consequences
G. Analyze gender roles and their influence on work, social structure, family structure, and
interest group formation
H. Describe the growth of competition and interdependence in national and world markets
I. Compare and contrast private and state roles in economic activity
J. Analyze the development of racial and ethnic group identities
Course Outline
1st Semester: 1400-1830
Unit I: Foundations (4 weeks, 20 classes)
Readings:
Palmer
 Chapter 1 – The Rise of Europe
 Chapter 2 – The Upheaval of Christendom, 1300-1560
 Chapter 3 – Economic Renewal & Wars of Religion, 1560-1648
Merriman
 Culture during the Two Reformations, pp. 127-132
Primary Source Readings: Augustine of Hippo, The City of God; Machiavelli,
The Prince; Jan Hus, Final Declaration; de las Casas, Apologetic History of the
Indies; Erasmus, In Praise of Folly; Martin Luther, On Marriage and The
Freedom of a Christian; John Calvin, Institutes; Henry IV, The Edict of Nantes
Assignments, Activities, and Readings of Note: The Protestant Revolt: A Move
Towards the Unknown; Peasants: The Other Side of Civilization; Western
Civilization Slide Collection: view slides of historical depictions of events and
art during the era
Evaluations: Multiple Choice Tests; Free Response and Document-Based Essay
Questions (ex. 1982: Child Rearing Among British Upper Classes, 1993:
Purposes and Values of Renaissance Education)
Unit II: The Nation-State (6 weeks, 28 classes)
Readings:
Palmer
 Chapter 4 – The Establishment of West-European Leadership
 Chapter 5 – The Transformation of Eastern Europe, 1648-1740
 Chapter 6 – The Struggle for Wealth & Empire
Merriman
 The Rise of England, pp. 183-190
 The English Civil War, pp. 230-242
Primary Source Readings: Bossuet, Political Treatise on Kingship; Louis XIV,
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes; Montaigne, Of Cannibals; Petition of Right;
English Bill of Rights; Dutch Declaration of Independence
Assignments, Activities, and Readings of Note: The development of Absolutism:
Henry IV to Louis XIV; The Elbe-Triest Line – Analyzing the economic and
social impact of agricultural divisions of Eastern and Western Europe; Western
Civilization Slide Collection: view slides of historical depictions of events and
art during the era.
Evaluations: Multiple Choice Tests; Free Response and Document-Based Essay
Questions (ex. 2004: Attitudes and responses to the poor in Europe, 1450-1700;
1987: Variations in the levels of literacy in Old Regime France)
Unit III: The Enlightenment & French Revolution (6 ½ weeks, 34 classes)
Readings:
Palmer
 Chapter 7 – The Scientific Revolution
 Chapter 8 – The Age of Enlightenment
 Chapter 9 – The French Revolution
 Chapter 10 – Napoleonic Europe
 Chapter 11 – Reaction vs. Progress, 1815-1848
Merriman
 Chapter 10 – Eighteenth Century Economic & Social Change
 Industrial Work and Workers, pp. 579-591
 The Middle Classes, pp. 618-623
 Middle Class Culture, pp. 624-632
Primary Source Readings: Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws; Rousseau, The
Social Contract; The August 4th Reforms; The Oath of the Tennis Court;
Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women; Sieyes, What Is the Third
Estate?; Robespierre, Speech to the National Convention; Bentham, On the
Principle of Utility; excerpts from Parliamentary debates on Factory Legislation
and Mines Acts; Testimony on the impact of Industrialization on the physical
condition of workers
Assignments, Activities, and Readings of Note: Analysis of a Cahiers of the
Third Estate; Crane Brinton’s “Anatomy of a Revolution” – students apply
Brinton’s theory of democratic revolution to the United States and France; Group
research and presentations on important Rationalist, Empiricist, and
Enlightenment philosophers; The Emerging Political Spectrum; Assessing
working conditions during the Industrial Revolution; Comparison Chart of
Joseph II and Catherine the Great; R.R. Palmer: The Age of Democratic
Revolution; Western Civilization Slide Collection: view slides of historical
depictions of events and art during the era
Evaluations: Multiple Choice Tests; Free Response and Document-Based Essay
Questions (ex. 2001: Views on the character and condition of Greeks in the
Ottoman Empire; 1997: Attitudes and reactions toward the participation of
women in the sciences during the 17th and 18th centuries; 1991: The views of
those addressing slavery during the Enlightenment and French Revolution)
2nd Semester: 1830-Present
Unit IV: The Age of Revolutions (5 weeks, 25 classes)
Readings
Palmer
 Chapter 12 – Revolution & the Reimposition of Order, 1848-1870
 Chapter 13 – The Consolidation of Large Nation-States, 1859-1871
 Chapter 14 – European Civilization, 1871-1914: Economy & Politics
 Chapter 15 – European Civilization, 1871-1914: Society & Culture
Merriman
 The Political Unification of Italy, pp. 708-719
 The Unification of Germany, pp. 720-735
Primary Source Readings: Fichte, Addresses to the German Nation; Arndt, The
German Fatherland; Hertzl, The Jewish State; The Austrian Constitution of
1867; Nietzsche, Also sprach Zarathustra (selections), Parable of a Madman;
Schopenhauer, On the Sufferings of the World; John Henry Newman, Faith and
Private Judgment; Bismarck, Blood and Iron Speech; Marx, The Communist
Manifesto
Assignments, Activities, and Readings of Note: The Revolutions of 1848: A
Case study in Nationalism; Shapers of Nationalism; Analysis of the 1861
Emancipation Manifesto of the Russian Serfs; Analysis of the Ems Dispatch;
Musical comparison of Triumphal, Cultural, and Liberal Nationalism; Western
Civilization Slide Collection: view slides of historical depictions of events and
art during the era; Comparison of nationalism using the 1992, 1994, and 1999
DBQ’s.
Evaluations: Multiple Choice Tests; Free Response and Document-Based Essay
Questions (ex. 2002: Issues raised by the growth of Manchester during the 19th
century Industrial revolution; 1998: Views of those concerned about the
problems of political, economic, and social order of the German states before
1848)
Unit V: The Emergence of Modern Europe (6 ½ weeks, 33 classes)
Readings
Palmer
 Chapter 16 – Europe’s World Supremacy, 1871-1914
 Chapter 17 – The First World War
 Chapter 18 – The Russian Revolution & the Soviet Union
 Chapter 19 – The Apparent Victory of Democracy
 Chapter 20 – Democracy and Dictatorship
Merriman
 Social Change (2nd Industrial Revolution), pp. 831-846
 Cultural Changes, pp. 847-851
 The Consumer Explosion, pp. 852-856
Primary Source Readings: Bolshevik Party Platform of 1905; Lenin, April
Theses, Hanging Order of the Kulaks; Mussolini, Fascism; Hitler, National
Socialism
Assignments, Activities, and Readings of Note: Revisionist Socialism: Roots
and Fruits; The Alliance System: A search for security; The Sidney Bradshaw
Fay Thesis on the start of World War I; Application of Crane Brinton’s
“Anatomy of a Revolution” to the Russian Revolution; Research and presentation
of art movements of the 20th century; Comparison of editorials in London Times
on the Munich Conference; Films: The Hangman & Sgt. Schultz; Western
Civilization Slide Collection: view slides of historical depictions of events and
art during the era
Evaluations: Multiple Choice Tests; Free Response and Document-Based Essay
Questions (ex. 1990: The ways in which the defenders of the Spanish Republic
represented their aims and attitudes; 1999: Russian perceptions on the conditions
of Russian peasantry; 2003: Changing views on the “Civil Peace” in Germany,
1914-1918)
Unit VI: Europe in the Postwar Era (3 weeks, 16 classes)
Readings
Palmer
 Chapter 21 – The Second World War
 Chapter 22 – The Postwar Era: Cold War and Reconstruction
 Chapter 23 – Empires into Nations: The Developing World
 Chapter 24 – A World Endangered: Coexistence & Confrontation in
the Cold War
 Chapter 25 – A World Transformed
Merriman
 Economic and Social Stability, pp. 1077-1082
 Changing Contours of Economic Life, pp. 1281-1286
 Opposition to Globalization, pp. 1356-1357
 The Threat of Terrorism, pp. 1358-1363
Primary Source Readings: Baruch, Proposals to Control Atomic Energy; de
Beauvoir, The Second Sex; Sartre, The Philosophy of Existentialism; 1992
Maastricht Treaty
Assignments, Activities, and Readings of Note: The Cold War: Who was
responsible?; The United Nations and Collective Security; Schlesinger Jr., The
Origins of the Cold War; Western Civilization Slide Collection: view slides of
historical depictions of events and art during the era
Evaluations: Multiple Choice Tests; Free Response and Document-Based Essay
Questions (ex. 2003: French views of the Vichy regime, 1940-1944; 2005:
Views regarding Western European unity, 1946-1989)
Presentations & Study Groups: At the end of each unit, your study group will give a
45 minute presentation about a topic of your choice. I will provide a list of suggested
topics, but you may “go off the board” and present your own findings as well. The
presentations should seek to develop one of the course themes presented at the beginning
of this syllabus. These should be informative and enriching. The idea is to expand our
knowledge of European history and to complement what we are learning. Each group
will make two presentations the course of the year. If you choose to subdivide the work
in some manner that is perfectly acceptable, as long as you understand that the entire
group will receive a grade. Presentations will be worth 200 points.
Attendance & Make-up Work: Miss class as little as possible. You are responsible for
everything you miss. Do not expect me to remind you about homework, quizzes, etc.
How to Read Palmer: Rapidly survey the reading assignment. Briefly review the Study
Questions and Key Sentences from the study guide. Study questions will focus you in on
the most important aspects of each section. The key discussion questions will draw the
reader’s attention to the central ideas in each section. These sentences are meant to be
analyzed and discussed. Notice the headings in large type at the beginning of each
section. Notice subdivisions. How is the assignment organized? In your notes, write
down information about the source: Text. pp. 42-49. Do this for every reading
assignment! Next, write a one-sentence summary of the contents of the reading,
describing what Palmer is attempting to do in this period. All of this should take no more
than a few minutes. Next, read the section, taking notes on the more specific
information. Take down specific information such as names, dates, and events. Attempt
to take notes in an outline form using proper indentation and organization. Notations
should be brief and in your own terminology. As you get better at reading, develop
additional questions that may arise in your mind note connections to material that we
have already read. Underline the most important factual information or themes.