2013-2014 AP EUROPEAN HISTORY
COURSE SYLLABUS
STRONGSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
Teacher: Mr. Doug Cicerchi
School Phone Number: 572-7100
Website: www.strongnet.org//Domain/220 E-Mail: cicerchi@strongnet.org
Voicemail: 268-5509 (E-Mail is preferred) Twitter: @MisterCicerchi
INTRODUCTION AND PHILOSOPHY
Welcome to Advanced Placement European History! This course will take an in depth look at the social,
political, and economic forces of Europe from the later Middle Ages to the Present. The objective of the
course is to increase students’ understanding and appreciation of European history while helping each
student succeed on the AP® European History Exam. The course will emphasize the development of
interpretative, critical, and analytical skills via documents, art, textbook readings, classroom discussion,
AP document-based essays, AP free response essays, and AP multiple choice questions. Art history will
also be introduced and analyzed throughout the course. We will study issues that affect the way people
throughout the world lived and currently live, the way they thought and currently think about other
cultures, and why people and civilizations believed and currently believe what they do. Class will be
interactive; both group work and individual work will be key components of class. Lastly, a main theme
in our class will be the concept of “why”. Why do events in the past affect future ones? Why does one
group distrust another? The concept of “why” is the glue that binds historical events together. If you
understand “why”, you should understand modern world history better.
COURSE OUTLINE
The following outline is a list of the major topics that will be covered throughout AP European History:
 Introduction and Later Middle Ages (1.5 weeks)
o Famine and Population
o The Black Death
o Hundred Years War
o Decline of the Church
o Urban Life
Documents
 “The Cremation of the Strasbourg Jews” by Jacob von Konigshofen
 Chronicles by Jean Froissart
 The Poem of Joan of Arc by Christine de Pizan
 Unam Sanctum by Pope Boniface VIII
 “Inferno” by Dante
 Unit 1: The Renaissance (2.5 weeks)
o The Italian and Northern Renaissance
o The Intellectual Renaissance in Italy
o The Humanist Movement
o The Rise of New Monarchs throughout Europe
o The Age of Exploration
Documents
 A letter from Alessanda Strozzi to Her Son Filippo on Marriage Negotiations
 The Prince by Machiavelli
 Education of a Christian Prince by Erasmus
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 The Ascent of Mount Ventoux by Petrach
 Oration on the Dignity of Man by Pico della Mirandona
 Defense of the Liberal Instruction of Women by Laura Crereta
 Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari
Unit 2: The Reformation (2 weeks)
o Theories of Theological Thinking
o Protestant Reformation
o Catholic Reformation
o Religious Wars
Documents
 The Praise of Folly by Erasmus
 The Ninety-Five Theses by Martin Luther
 Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants by Martin Luther
 “Rules for Thinking with the Church” within The Spiritual Exercises by
Ignatius of Loyola
 “The Golden Speech” by Queen Elizabeth I
Unit 3: The Age of Absolutism (4 weeks)
o General Role of Absolute Monarchies in Eastern and Western Europe
o Portuguese and Spanish Empires
o British, French, and Russian Lineage to the Crown
o Legislative Role or lack thereof in other European Government Systems
o Impact of European Expansion
o Dissenting Views throughout Europe
o Absolute and Limited Monarchies
o Maintaining and Strengthening Power for the Crown throughout Europe
Documents
 “Letter to Raphael Sanchez” by Christopher Columbus
 Cortes’s Description of Tenochtitlan
 The Tears of the Indians by Bartolome de Las Casas
 A Letter to the King of Tonkin from King Louis XIV
 The King of Tonkin’s Letter Responding to King Louis XIV
 Felix de Azara’s Description and History of Paraguay and Rio de la Plata
 The Witchcraft Trial of Suzanne Gaudry (Minutes from the Trial)
 Excerpt from Simplicius Simplicissimus by Jakob von Grimmelshausen
 Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon
 Oliver Cromwell’s views on the English Civil War (at Naseby and Drogheda)
 Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow on his view of Cromwell
 The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England by Lord Clarendon on
his view of Cromwell
 English Bill of Rights
 Richard II by William Shakespeare
Unit 4: The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment (4 weeks)
o Advances in Medicine and Chemistry
o Enlightened Despots and Public Reaction
o Economics and Society in the 18th Century
o The Institutional Church during the Enlightenment
o Enlightened Despotism
o Natural Rights
o Economic Expansion
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o Social Class, Socioeconomic Worldviews, and Social Order
Documents
 On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres by Nicolaus Copernicus
 Letters between Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler on the Scientific
Community
 The Starry Messenger by Galileo Galilei
 Rules of Reasoning in Philosophy by Sir Isaac Newton
 A Political Treatise by Benedict de Spinoza
 Discourse on Method by Rene Descartes
 The Pensees by Blaise Pascal
 “Of the Constitution of England” by Baron de Montesquieu
 The Ignorant Philosopher by Voltaire
 Candide by Voltaire
 Supplement to the Voyage of Bougainville by Denis Diderot
 The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
 Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
 “The Broken Man” by Restif de la Bretonne
 Memoirs of the Comtesse de Boigne
 The Rivals by Richard Sheridan
 Travels During the Years 1787, 1788, and 1789…in the Kingdom of France by
Arthur Young
Unit 5: The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era (2 weeks)
o The American Revolution
o The French Revolution
o The Reign of Terror
o Instability in French Governance
o The Rise and Fall of Napoleon
Documents
 The Declaration of Independence
 A Parisian Newspaper Account of the Fall of the Bastille
 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
 Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen
 The Revolutionary Tribunal by J.G. Milligen
 A Speech on Revolutionary Government by Maximilien Robespierre
 “Proclamation to the French Troops in Italy” by Napoleon Bonaparte
Unit 6: The Industrial Revolution (2 weeks)
o Agricultural Revolution
o Economic Theorists and Theories (Smith, Malthus, Bentham, Mill, Marx)
o Urbanization
o Socioeconomic Relationships Between Social Classes in Industrialized Cities
o Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution
Documents
 The History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain by Edward Baines
 “Factory Rules, Foundry and Engineering Works of the Royal Overseas
Trading Company, Berlin”
 Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
 The Last Conquest of Ireland by John Mitchel
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“Living Conditions of London’s Poor” (Visual Images from the British
Museum in London and the Bibliotheque des Arts Decoratifs in Paris)
 The Report of Sadler’s Committee regarding Child Labor in Textile Mills
Unit 7: Revolution, Nationalism and Romanticism (1 week)
o Liberalism
o Early Socialism
o Revolutionary Movements in Western Europe and Poland
o Romanticism in Art, Music, and Religion
Documents
 Memoirs of Klemens von Metternich
 On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
 “Speech of March 2, 1831 to Parliament” by Thomas Babington Macaulay
 Reminiscences by Carl Schurz
 The Young Italy Oath by Giuseppe Mazzini
 “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe
Unit 8: Restoration, Nationalism, Realism, and Reform Movements (2 weeks)
o Ideologies and Political Upheaval in Europe
o Effects of the Congress of Vienna
o Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
o Nationalism in Western and Eastern Europe
o Unification of Italy and Germany
o Mass Politics of Britain, France, Germany, and Russia
Documents
 “Proclamation to the People, 1851” by Louis Napoleon
 “Speech to the Prussian Reichstag, 1862” by Otto von Bismarck
 “Speech to the German Reichstag, 1888” by Otto von Bismarck
 “The Imperial Decree of Tsar Alexander II” on March 3, 1861
 “Emancipation Proclamation” by Abraham Lincoln
 The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels
 The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin
 Account from the First Public Demonstration of Ether Anesthesia, October 16,
1846
 The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Unit 9: Reform Movements and European Imperialism (2 weeks)
o Growth of Industrial Prosperity and Consumerism
o Evolutionary Socialism
o Role of Women in an Imperial Society
o Concept of the White Man’s Burden across Africa and Asia
o Old Imperialism and Mercantilism
o Women’s Rights
o New Imperialism and Empire
o International Rivalry
Documents
 On Parisian Department Stores by Pierre Emile Lavasseur
 Evolutionary Socialism by Eduard Bernstein
 Homes of the London Poor by Octavia Hill
 Woman in Her Social and Domestic Character by Elizabeth Poole Sanford
 A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
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Art and Images of the Middle-Class Family from The Art Archive in Oxford,
The Art Archive in London, and the Harrogate Museums and Art Gallery from
The Bridgeman Art Library
 Memoirs of Louise Michel
 Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
 The Drunken Boat by Arthur Rimbaud
 My Own Story by Emmeline Pankhurst
 The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl
 An Account of Bloody Sunday by Father Gregory Gapon
 “Pears’ Soap” Advertisement from the North Wind Picture Archives
 The White Man’s Burden by Rudyard Kipling
 The Black Man’s Burden by Edward Morel
 The Real White Man’s Burden by Ernest Crosby
 Interview with Emperor William II by the Daily Telegraph
Unit 10: World War I and the Russian Revolution (2 weeks)
o Causes of World War I
o Treaty of Versailles
o Effects of World War I
o Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the League of Nations
o Rise of the Bolsheviks and Russian Internal Strife
o Russian Civil War and Revolution
Documents
 “Communications between Berlin and Saint Petersburg on the Eve of World
War I”
 The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
 Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
 An excerpt from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
 German War Song “The Watch on the Rhine”
 British War Song “The Old Barbed Wire
 American War Song “Over There” by George M. Cohan
 “Munition Work” by Naomi Loughnan
 A Letter from a Soldier in Leningrad to Lenin on January 6, 1918
 A Letter from a Peasant to the Bolshevik Leaders on January 10, 1918
 Speeches from Woodrow Wilson on Peacemaking from May 26, 1917, April 6,
1918, and January 3, 1919
 An Excerpt from Grandeur and Misery of Victory by Georges Clemenceau
Unit 11: Economic Upheaval and the Rise of Dictators during the Interwar Period and
World War II (3 weeks)
o Democracy in the West
o Collapse of the German Economy
o Great Depression
o Socialist and Communist Influence in Russia and throughout Europe
o Totalitarianism and the Rise of Hitler and Mussolini
o The Spanish Civil War and Franco’s Rise to Power
o Appeasement
o Axis Successes
o Allied Recovery and Victory
o Post-War Conferences and Tribunals
o The Costs of the War
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Documents
 “With Germany’s Unemployed” by Heinrich Hauser
 “A Woman in the Slums” by George Orwell
 “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism” by Benito Mussolini
 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
 A Speech at the Nuremberg Party Rally by Adolf Hitler
 An Account of a Hamburg School Teacher’s Impression of a Hitler Rally in
1932
 The History of a Collective Farm by Max Belov
 The Crime Was in Granada by Antonio Machado
 Francisco Franco by Manuel Machado
 Triumph of the Will by the Nazi Party
 Demian by Hermann Hesse
 Secret Book on Adolf Hitler’s foreign policy goals, written in 1928
 A Speech to the House of Commons on the Munich Conference by Winston
Churchill, October 5, 1938
 A Speech to the House of Commons on the Munich Conference by Neville
Chamberlain, October 6, 1938
 The Diary of an unknown German Soldier at Stalingrad in 1942
 Commandant Hoss’ Description of the Equipment of the Extermination Camp
at Auschwitz-Birkenau
 A French Doctor Describes the Victims at Auschwitz-Birkenau
 Civilian Responses to the bombings in London, 1940, Hamburg, 1943, and
Hiroshima, August 6, 1945
Unit 12: 1945 to the Present (3 weeks)
o Concept of Good vs. Evil in a Cold War Worldview (East vs. West)
o Decolonization
o Recovery and Renewal in Western Europe
o Feminism and Protest Movements in the West
o Stagnation of Economies and Conformity in the East
o The Vietnam War
o China’s Impact on the Cold War
o Détente and Perestroika
o Reunification of Germany
o Collapse of Communism/Economic Integration
o Balkan and Baltic Nationalism
o Globalization
o Western Culture Today
o Terrorism
o The Digital Age
Documents
 “The Long Telegram” by George Kennan
 “Telegram” by Nikolai Novikov
 Address to Congress on The Truman Doctrine by Harry Truman
 Khrushchev Remembers by Nikita Khrushchev
 The Wretched of the Earth: Colonial War and Mental Disorders, Series B by
Frantz Fanon
 An Address to the Twentieth Party Congress, February 1956 by Nikita
Khrushchev Denouncing Stalin
 “Statement of the Soviet Government on Hungary, October 30, 1956”
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“The Last Message of Imry Nagy, November 4, 1956”
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
Song: “The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Bob Dylan
A Student Manifesto in Search of a Real and Human Educational Alternative,
University of British Columbia, June 1968
 Student Inscriptions on the Walls of Paris, May and June 1968
 “Two Thousand Words Manifesto” by Czech Communist intellectuals
 “Brezhnev Doctrine” by Leonid Brezhnev
 The Path to Power by Margaret Thatcher
 Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng
 Small is Beautiful by E. F. Schumacher
 Perestroika by Mikhail Gorbachev
 An Address to the People of Czechoslovakia, January 1, 1990 and February 21,
1990 by Vaclav Havel
 Zlata’s Diary, A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic
 A Speech to Catholics on Peace by Pope John Paul II
Unit 13: AP European History Exam Review (1-2 weeks)
TEXTS AND OTHER MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
Multiple resources will be used in our study of European History. Much of the focus of our study will be
on primary source documents. Document integration (listed in the Course Outline above) will be read,
analyzed, and interpreted multiple days each week. Many textbooks will also be utilized by the teacher
and students to ensure a variance of point of view and an attempt to marginalize bias as much as possible.
Textbook
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization: Since 1300. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012.
Supplemental Reader
Caliguire, Augustine, Leach, Roberta J., and Ober, Lawrence M. Advanced Placement European History,
Book 3: Reviewing for the Examination. Student ed. Cleveland: The Center for Learning, 2009.
Reprinted from 2006.
Resources
Anderson, Sheldon. Condemned to Repeat It: “Lessons of History” and the Making of U.S. Cold War
Containment Policy. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2008.
Barber, Peter and Harper, Tom. Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art. London: The British
Library, 2010.
Bentley, Jerry H. and Ziegler, Herbert F. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past. 5th
Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.
Brophy, James, Cole, Joshua, Robertson, John, Safley, Thomas M., and Symes, Carol. Perspectives from
the Past: Primary Sources in Western Civilization. 5th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company, 2012.
Campbell, Miles W., Holt, Niles R., and Walker, William T. The Best Test Preparation for the Advanced
Placement Examination: European History. Piscataway: Research & Education Association,
2001.
Chambers, Mortimer, Hanawalt, Barbara, Rabb, Theodore K., Woloch, Isser, and Tiersten, Lisa. The
Western Experience. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Eder, James M. and Roberts, Seth A. Barron’s AP European History. 5th Ed. Hauppauge: Barron’s,
2010.
Gerard, Susie, Harrold, Patti, and VerWiebe, Richard. Fast Track to a 5: Preparing for the AP European
History Examination. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012.
Goldberg, Steven and DuPre, Judith Clark. Brief Review in Global History and Geography. Upper
Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.
Kagan, Donald, Ozment, Steven, Turner, Frank M., and Frank, Alison. The Western Heritage: Since
1300. 11th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014.
Kidner, Frank L., Bucur, Maria, Mathisen, Ralph, McKee, Sally, and Weeks, Theodore R. Making
Europe: The Story of the West Since 1300. 2nd ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2014.
Lockard, Craig A. Societies, Networks, and Transitions: A Global History. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011.
Malthus, Thomas R. An Essay on the Principle of Population. Mineola: Dover Publications, 2007.
Reprinted from 1798.
McKay, John P., Hill, Bennett D., Buckley, John, Crowston, Clare H., and Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. A
History of Western Society Since 1300. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2008.
Merriman, John. A History of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present. 3rd ed. New York:
W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.
Palmer, R. R., Colton, Joel, and Kramer, Lloyd. A History of the Modern World. 10th ed. Boston:
McGraw-Hill, 2007.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. World History: The Human Odyssey. Cincinnati: West Publishing Company,
1998.
Strickland, William D. AP Achiever: Advanced Placement Exam Prep Guide—World History. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 2009.
Vincent, Nicholas. Magna Carta: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Watson, Howard. Atlas of History’s Greatest Heroes & Villains: The 50 Most Significant People
Explored in Words and Maps. New York: Metro Books, 2013.
Course Evaluations:
Since this is an AP Course, the pace of the class will be quite quick.
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Homework/In-Class Work
o Primary Source Documents
o Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and other assorted elements of Art History
o Main Idea Identification
o Point of View Activities
There will not be much written, nightly homework, but reading will be extensive. When an assignment is
given, it is expected to be done thoroughly and with analysis. Assignments include, but are not limited to,
DBQ/FRQ skills work (point of view activities, grouping activities, thesis paragraph writing), map skills
(identification and analysis questions based on maps from the time period studied), and art analysis.
Specifically, the Magnificent Maps text has many works of art throughout the second half of the second
millennium with rationale for reader feedback. Our main textbook and numerous texts within the class
library also have multiple works of art. Students will also receive a CD of study skills/PDF textbook to
give themselves additional preparation as needed for the exam. Internet searches will also allow the
teacher to more clearly illuminate works of art listed above in the various resources. Projection of the
images for the class as a whole will allow better pedagogy and clarity for students. Multiple texts are
used for primary source accumulation and allows the teacher to have a wider range of options to pull
from.
 Exit Tickets
Students will often need to show knowledge before exiting the classroom on the topics of the day. This
formative assessment could be done in a traditional pencil/paper format or through technological means
like Poll Everywhere. Students will work in small groups often within class, so the quick check at the end
of class will hit big ideas throughout the day to ensure learning has taken place.
 Chapter Quizzes
Chapter quizzes will not be given often, but will be given on particularly challenging material or on topics
that are consistently used on the end-of-year AP Exam.
 AP Unit Tests
AP unit tests will consist of actual AP questions pulled from previous exams. DBQs, FRQs, and MC
questions will be given. Student preparation for these exams will help them with their preparation for the
final test in May. The number of questions given and time allotted will mimic the proportion of MC to
FRQ/DBQ questions and time given on the actual AP Exam in May. Scoring will be done with adherence
to the usual AP procedures and converted as needed to points for the students’ high school class.
 Essays: DBQ and FRQ
Separate from AP Unit Tests, which will include DBQs and FRQs, Document-Based Questions and Free
Response Questions will be given to students to better prepare their writing style for the AP scoring
system. Essays will be scored based upon the AP rubric and converted as needed to points for my
Strongsville High School class. Within each quarter, at least one FRQ and at least one DBQ will be
assigned to students to prepare them for the end-of-course exam. In addition, a previously College Board
approved DBQ will be used as a pre-assessment early in the school year, then re-tested later in the year to
determine the level of growth students have shown over time. This should give some measure of
readiness for the test with several weeks to go.
CLASS RULES AND EXPECTATIONS
Expectations:
To have the greatest potential for success in our class, you should:
 Class participation is no longer encouraged. It is mandated. I am instituting a “No Opt Out”
policy in class this year. “I don’t know” is not an acceptable answer when I call on you (and I
will call on you and come back to you if you try to “opt out” of answering a question). A
legitimate attempt and an incorrect answer will happen at times—that’s okay—but this year
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you will be pushed. We will analyze various texts and look at things from both the dominant
and non-dominant perspectives. All people’s opinions are to be respected. All people’s
opinions will not be agreed with. When more viewpoints are shared, all of us learn more.
READ!!!!!!! If you don’t read this year, you will definitely struggle. We will be reading from
multiple texts often. Make sure you can handle the workload before you commit to this
college-level class.
It is highly recommended that AP students purchase a supplemental review book.
Do your homework. Do your in-class work. Be an ACTIVE member of your group during
group work.
Come to class each day prepared to work with an open, critical mind.