Advanced Placement European History
Course Syllabus
Ms. M. McWilliams
Revised 2015
Advanced Placement European History is designed to increase the student’s
understanding of European History from 1450 through the present. This course
places attention upon understandings equivalent to those gained in a college-level
introductory course. The emphasis is on the general European narrative of
European history but also includes an examination of the political and diplomatic,
intellectual and cultural, and social and economic history of Europe. In covering
these themes it is a goal of the course that the students develop an appreciation for
the rich cultural contributions made by those who created our Western heritage, to
reveal the problems faced by people at any given time in history, to relate these
problems to the present, to investigate the attempts to find remedies for these
problems, and to plot the path toward the future, and to develop an awareness of
the consequences of European contacts with other areas of the world.
The activities of the course are designed around five themes that serve as the focus
of the course. Those five themes are:
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Interaction of Europe and the World
Poverty and Prosperity
Objective Knowledge and Subjective Vision
States and Other Institutions of Power
The Individual and Society
The five themes of the course will be infused into the four historical eras that will be
covered.
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1450-1648
1648-1815
1815-1914
1914-present
Following each of these eras, there will be a quarterly exam.
Classroom Procedures
Supplies Needed:
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Three-ring binder with a set a dividers
Section 1—Reading notes and class notes
Section 2—Tests quizzes and review sheets
Section 3—Worksheets and handouts
Section 4---Primary source readings
Section 5—Art/Maps
Evaluation Process—Throughout the length of this course you will be evaluated
periodically on the basis of tests, quizzes, participation in role plays, simulations and
trials, essays, document based questions, class participation, and homework. You
will be informed at the time of the assignment the weight given to each assignment.
Your final quarter grade will be based on the following formula:
Grades will be reported numerically for all work assigned during the
designated marking period.
Final Exam: Students who take the AP European History exam are “exempt” from the
final exam as are those seniors who choose not to take the exam but have a “90” average
over the course of the year.
AP Exam: AP European History Exam is scheduled for May 6, 2016. It is the afternoon
administration (the US History exam is in the morning). The following is the revised
format for the 2016 exam (it is the same as the revised US History exam)
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Part I (Part A consists of 60 multiple choice questions and Part B consists of 4
short answer questions)
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Part II (Part A consists of a Document-Based Question and Part B consists of a
long essay question)
Plagiarism: You are expected to do your own work unless specifically instructed to
work with others. While I encourage you to work with other students the work you
turn in must be you own. If more than one person turns in identical work, all
involved will receive a grade of “O”. There are no exceptions to this rule. Similarly,
if work is copied and not cited it will receive a grade of “0”.
Materials and Assignments
Texts:
Palmer, R.R. Colton, J. Kramer. A History of the Modern World. 10th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2007
Tierney, Brian and Joan W. Scott. Western Societies: A Documentary History Volumes
I and II. 2nd ed. United States of America: McGraw Hill Companies, 2000.
It is also highly recommended that each student purchase an AP European History
review book as early as possible. Make sure that the book you purchase is aligned
with the new exam format (2016).
Assignments:
1. Free Response Questions (FRQ) and Document –Based Questions (DBQ) will
be assigned frequently throughout the year
2. Student Writing Assignments for each unit of study.
3. Students will make presentations on major European artists, explaining how
each artist embodied her/his artistic movement, as well as what made each
artist unique.
4. Quizzes on maps of Europe and the spread of European influence across the
globe at various points in European history.
5. At the conclusion of each unit of study, students will take in-class exams,
occasionally with the assistance of a small number of their colleagues.
6. Marking period projects
7. Quarterly exams after each historical era
Marking Period Projects—For each marking period (1-4) students will complete
one short research paper. For the fourth quarter students will complete a visual
closure project.
First and Second Quarter Papers:
European Social and Cultural History or Interpretive Biography From 14501648 (First Quarter) or from 1648-1815 (Second Quarter)
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Five pages with normal type and margins,
Minimum of five sources and evidence of their use within the paper.
Primary and secondary sources need to be embedded within the
paper
Footnotes or endnotes
100 points
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Bibliography in correct format
Social and Cultural History
Find out a lot about an experience in everyday life of Early Modern Europe. Choose
from among various classes, genders, and ages under various conditions in different
countries. The idea is to understand the experience from the point of view of those
who were living it, AND ALSO to put the experience in a broader context—to
interpret it as a reflection of the values and limitations of the times, and the trends
of change it may represent. That’s a lot of thinking and learning! Then choose an
assertion you know is true and want to prove to your reader: that’s your THESIS!
In general the longer you think about your project, and the more you talk about it,
the better your question will be, the better your understanding will be, the better
your thesis will be, and therefore, the better your paper will be.
Interpretive Biography, or The Life and Times of…
Find out a lot about a person who interests you who was relevant to European
History between 1450 and 1648 or between 1648-1789. Your essay will
INTERPRET the person’s life: discussing it in the context of his/her times,
evaluating his/her importance, judging his/her contributions, successes, failure by
his/her own standards or by modern ones. You will explain the MEANING of your
subject’s life, interpret his/her actions, or otherwise explain something significant
about him/her to your reader. That means, naturally, that you will need a thesis
about what that meaning is. Of course, you will NOT use the first person in your
writing.
Use the life of the person you study to enrich your understanding of the period in
which he/she lived and worked. Be sure to consider the appropriate social, political,
economic, religious or military events/issues he or she lived through.
Third Quarter Paper
European Historians and Historiography
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Five pages with normal type and margins,
Minimum of five sources and evidence of their use within the paper.
Primary and secondary need to be embedded within the paper
Footnotes or endnotes
100 points
Bibliography with correct format
Your goal is write an essay discussing different historians’ treatments or one topic in
European History from the period 1815-1914 OR the body of work of ONE historian.
Make your choice from the list I provide or talk with me about your own ideas.
For Historiography
Historiography is the history of history. How have people thought about and
written about an historical person or event over the course of time.
After reading and pondering the works you choose, you will write a paper
discussing our topic in light of the similarities and differences in the works you read.
OR you will write a paper discussing the historical debate surrounding the event or
issue you choose.
You may try to discover a trend in historical interpretation or to trace how the
different interpretations of you topic changed over time. If you are really good you
can relate the historiographical changes to the other cultural ideas of the period in
which they were written. Sometimes historians will argue over interpretation of
events or personalities. Discuss their different positions. How do the combatants
use the same evidence, or different evidence to make their points?
Here are some ideas, not an exhaustive list, to consider as you read and
prepare to write:
 What is each author’s thesis
 Author’s political, social, religious, or economic biases
 Context in which each work was written
 Do the authors consciously argue with each other or refer to each other
 Are the authors doing the same kind of history
 How does each work contribute to an understanding of the topic
 Do any of the authors contradict each other
 If they do, what sense can you make of the disagreement
 Authors motives
 Are any of their interpretations generally accepted
 Have any interpretations been accepted in the past but are now discredited
 What evidence does each author use
 What questions remained unasked or unanswered
For Historians:
You will read several of his/her works and you will also read assessments by other
historians of his/her work. Your paper will discuss his/her contributions to
scholarship, personal point of view, changes in how his/her work is perceived by
historians, ways in which the work reflects the time in which it was written, or ways
in which the work reflects the ideological biases of the author
Fourth Quarter Project
Visual Closure Project for European History
Devise and be able to defend a visual project worth 100 points relevant to European
History from 1450-2000. It is supposed to be a learning tool, for you and for others.
You may make a map or series of maps, create a piece of art, make a graph, table, pie
chart, creative “safety net” project, concept map, flow chart, family tree, cartoon or
series of cartoon, or something else with my approval.
You may choose to use other kinds of media such as videos, music videos,
powerpoint (not encourage) original art work (encouraged) or miscellaneous
evidence of genius. You must provide a bibliography showing the sources of your
information.
Unit I: Medieval Europe
1. Background to the History of Modern Europe
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Chapter 1 in A History of the Modern World
Readings in primary source book
Compare and contrast the arguments made by Millard Meiss in “The Black
Death: A Socioeconomic Perspective” with those made by William L. Langer
in “A Psychological Perspective of the Black Death”
Student Writing Assessment: What problems plagued the Church during the
Middle Ages? Identify the figures and events that attempted to address these
issues.
Student Writing Assignment: What was life like for women in the Middle
Ages? Remember to include the impact of economic class and how women
were viewed by men.
Map quiz on Europe, 1250
Unit II: The Renaissance and Reformation
1. The Growth of National Monarchies, The Renaissance, and The Reformation
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Chapter 2 in A History of the Modern World
Machiavelli’s, The Prince
Selections from Luther’s 95 Theses
Western Societies: Renaissance Statecraft, Northern Humanists, The Break
with Rome, The Catholic Reformation,
Contrast the arguments made in Euan Cameron’s “What was the
Reformation?” with those in G.R. Elton’s “A Political Interpretation of the
Reformation.”
Contrast the arguments made in Jacob Burckhardt’s “The Civilization of the
Renaissance in Italy” with those made in Peter Burke’s “The Myth of the
Renaissance”
Student Writing Assignment: Contrast the religious and political views of
John Calvin and Martin Luther
Student Writing Assignment: Identify Humanism and explain the ideas of
the major Humanists of the Italian and Northern Renaissance
Student Writing Assignment: Who were the New Monarchs and how did
they go about consolidating their power?
Student Writing Assignment: What was life like for women during the
Renaissance?
2011 DBQ: Analyze the influence of ideas about gender on the reign of
Elizabeth I and explain how Elizabeth responded to those ideas.
FRQ: Analyze the aims, methods, and degree of success of the Catholic
reformation (Counter Reformation) in the 16th century.
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Map quiz of 16th century Europe
2. Renaissance Art and Architecture
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Image study: “The School of Athens” and “Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride
Video: “Sister Wendy’s Story of Art”
Student presentations of Renaissance Art and Architecture: Sophonisba
Anguissola, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Jan Van Eyck, Durer,
Holbein, Bruegel, etc.
Video: “The Renaissance” Was it a Thing?”—Crash Course World History
#22 and “Venice and the Ottoman Empire”—Crash Course World History
#19.
3. Europe’s Wars of Religion and the Commercial Revolution
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Chapter 3 in A History of the Modern World
FRQ: Analyze the various ways in which the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
represented a turning point in European History
Western Societies: Reformation and Politics
2008 DBQ: Analyze the causes of and the responses to the peasants’ revolts
in the German states, 1524-1626
Map quiz of Europe, 1648
Unit III: Expansion of Europe
1. The Scientific Revolution
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Chapter 6 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies: Scientific Method, Scientific Achievement, Witchcraft—
Superstition and Persecution
Web Quest: Witchcraft
“The Rise of Science” from The Science of Liberty by Timothy Ferris
FRQ: Analyze how Galileo, Descartes, and Newton altered traditional
interpretations of nature and challenged traditional sources of knowledge
FRQ: Compare and contrast the political ideas of Thomas Hobbes and John
Locke
2. The Age of Encounter, Discovery and Expansion
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Chapters 2 and 3 from A History of the Modern World
“Collision at Cajamarca” from Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human
Societies by Jared Diamond
Western Societies: New Found Lands
Image Study: “The Conquest of Mexico as Seen by the Aztecs”
Map study: “Exploration, Expansions, and Politics.”
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Map quiz on the exploration of North and South America
Video: “The Columbian Exchange”: Crash Course World History #23
3. Mannerist and Baroque Art
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Sister Wendy’s Story of Art
Student presentations on Baroque and Architecture: Bernini, Caravaggio,
Rubens, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Artemisia Gentileschi, etc.
4. The Development of Skepticism
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Selections from Montaigne’s Essays
Western Societies Volume II: Skepticism, Fanaticism, and Satire
5. Peasant Culture
Unit IV: The Age of Absolutism
1. The Era of Louis XIV, Britain: 1603-1689, and The Rise of the Dutch Republic
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Chapter 4 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies: Theories of Absolutism, The Court of Louis XIV,
Absolutism in Practice
Image Study: “The Early Modern Chateau”
Student Writing Assignment: Explain the events that led to the Glorious
Revolution of 1688 (Start with the Restoration in 1660)
Student Writing Assignment: How did Louis XIV attempt to make France
a nation under one king, one law, and one faith during the 17th century?
Student Writing Assignment: How did the Dutch use the Balance of Power
to check the power of France in the 17th and early 18th centuries?
DBQ: Describe and analyze the concept of nobility in France over the
period from the late 16th century to the late 18th century.
2. European Art and Music of the Age of Absolutism
3. The Transformation of Eastern Europe
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Chapter 5 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies: Eastern Europe
4. European Interactions with India, China, Africa, and the Americas
Unit V: The Age of Enlightenment
1. Thinkers of the Enlightenment
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Chapter 8 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: Nature and Man, G-d and Nature, Progress and
Reform, Political Ideas
“The Science of Enlightenment” from The Science of Liberty by Timothy Ferris
FRQ: Analyze the ways in which the ideas of seventeenth-century thinkers
like John Locke and Isaac Newton contributed to the ideas of eighteenthcentury Enlightenment thinkers.
Student presentations of the Enlightenment: Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau,
Beccaria, Emilie du Chatelet, Kant, Montesquieu, Condorcet, etc.
Enlightenment Salon
Student Writing Assignment: How did the Enlightenment impact on
European approach to government, economics, religion, education, and
gender equality?
2. “Enlightened” Government
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Readings from primary source readings book
FRQ: Analyze the extent to which Frederick the Great of Prussia and
Joseph II of Austria advanced and did not advance Enlightenment ideals
during their reigns.
3. The Global Economy/Worldwide Wars of the 18th century
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Chapter 7 in A History of the Modern World
The Aristocracy Plays at War
4. Religious Movements of the 18th century
Unit VI: The Age of Rebellion and Change
1. 18th century Art and Literature
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Sister Wendy’s Story of Art
Student presentations on Rococo and Neoclassical Art: Fragonard, Bouchard,
Watteau, David, Ingres, Piranesi, etc.
2. Background to the French Revolution
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The Feast of Ortolans
Western Societies Volume II: The Debate Over Noble Privilege, The Third
Estate Triumphant, Challenges to Liberal Revolutionaries
Chapter 9 in A History of the Modern World
Contrast the arguments presented in George Lefebvre’s “The Coming of the
French Revolution” with those made in Donald M.G. Sutherland’s “The
Revolution of Notables”
Map Study: Internal Disturbances and the Reign of Terror”
FRQ: Compare and contrast the ways in which women participated in
and influenced two of the following: The Renaissance, the Reformation,
and/or the French Revolution
Video: “The French Revolution”—Crash Course World History #29 and
“Haitian Revolution”—Crash Course World History #30.
Unit VII: The Napoleonic Era
1. The Career of Napoleon
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Chapter 10 in A History of the Modern World
Image Study: “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” and “Bonaparte Visiting the
Plague Victims at Jaffa”
Western Societies Volume II: Napoleonic Consolidation
Contrast the arguments presented in Louis Bergeron’s “France Under
Napoleon: Napoleon as an Enlightened Despot” with those in Martyn Lyons’
“Napoleon Bonaparte and the Legacy of the French Revolution”
FRQ: Analyze the ways in which the events of the French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic period (1789-1815) led people to challenge
Enlightenment views on society, politics, and human nature.
Student Writing Assignment: Defend the assertion that Napoleon was a
“Child of the French Revolution” who spread his ideals throughout
Europe.
Student Writing Assignment: Explain the development of Nationalism
throughout Europe, as a result of Napoleon and the French Revolution
Map Quiz on Napoleonic Europe
2. The Rise of the Pax Brittanica
3. The Congress of Vienna
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Chapter 11 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies: Conservatism
Image Study: “Abbey Graveyard in the Snow” and “The Genius of
Christianity” vs. “Liberty Leading the People” and “Working Class
Disappointment: Rue Transnonian”
4. The Romantic Movement in Art and Literature
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Student presentations on Romantic Art: Gainesborough, Constable, Gericault,
Millet, Delacroix, Goya, Turner, etc.
Western Societies: Romanticism
Unit VIII: Industrialism and Social Change
1. Spread of the Industrial Revolution/Eastern vs. Western Europe
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Chapter 11 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: Manufacture, Political Economy, The
Map Study: “Industrialism and Demographic Change”
Image Study: “Lunch Hour: The Working Class and “The Stages of a Workers
Life”
FRQ: Discuss how the Arch of Triumph and the Crystal Palace reflect the
societies and cultures that produced them
2. The Revolutions of 1848
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Chapter 12 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: The Revolutions of 1848
Map quiz on Europe, 1848
3. Reactions to Industrialization: Classical Liberalism, Socialism, Humanitarianism,
Romanticism
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Western Societies Volume II: The Challenge of Labor, The Triumph of the
Bourgeoisie
Excerpts from Charles Dickens’ novels
“What the Luddites Really Fought Against”
Excerpt from Rerum Novarum
Student Writing Assignment: Identify the philosophies and the major
figures involved with each that developed in the wake of, and in
contrast to, the Industrial Revolution and Classical Liberalism
4. The World of the 18th and 19th Centuries—Decline of China and India/Turbulence
in Africa/The Ottoman Empire/The Rise of the United States
Unit IX: Nationalism
1. The National Movements: Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia
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Chapter 13 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: Liberal Nationalism, The Unification of Italy, the
Hapburg Empire, German Unification
Student Writing Assessment: What events led up to the return of Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte to France and what missteps led, ultimately, to the
end of his reign?
Student Writing Assessment: What steps did Otto Von Bismarck take to
unite the German states under Prussian rule?
Makers of Nationalism: A Roundtable Discussion
2. Art: Realism/Impressionism/Post-Impressionism
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Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting
Student presentations on Realist, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist
artists: Monet, Manet, Rodin, Renior, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Matisse, Gauguin,
Degas, etc.
3. Ethnicity/Rise of Japan/Russia in the 19th century
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FRQ: In the period 1815-1900, political liberalization progressed much
further in Western Europe than in Russia. Analyze the social and economic
reasons for this difference.
Unit X: Imperialism
1. Imperialism, Social Darwinism, and the White Man’s Burden
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Chapter 16 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: Imperialism
Contrast the arguments presented in Eric Hobsbawn’s “The Age of Empire”
with in Carlton J.H. Hayes’ “Imperialism as a Nationalistic Phenomenon”.
Image Study: Imperialism in Africa”
Student Essay Assignment: Write a comparison essay analyzing the
distinctiveness of the African way of life before and after the European
acquisition from 1880 to 1914.
Map quiz on Africa during European imperialism
Student Writing Assignment: What made the Ottoman Empire the “Sick
Man of Europe”? How successful were the Ottomans in curing
themselves?
Student Writing Assessment: What were the factors that led to the
outbreak of the “New” Imperialism?
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Student Writing Assignment: Trace Japanese modernization, 1853-1905.
What was the impact of the Russo-Japanese War?
Student Writing Assignment: What circumstances led up to the Fashoda
Crisis and the Boer War? What lesson did these crises teach the British?
2. The Second Industrial Revolution
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Chapter 14 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: An International Monetary System and a World
Market, Governments and Industry
3. European Culture/Mass Migration
4. African History Overview
5. De-Colonization and Modern Results of European Imperialism
Unit XII: Progress and the Belle Epoque
1. Middle Class Culture
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Chapter 14 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: The Labor Movement
Image Study: “The Hatch Family: The Upper Middle Class”, “The Ages of
Women”, and “The City”
2. Cubism/Expressionism/Surrealism
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Sister Wendy’s Story of Art
Student presentations on the art of Kandinsky, Braque, Kahlo, Rivera, Grosz,
Ernst, Picasso, Munch, Dali, Magritte
3. European Politics, 1870-1914
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Chapter 15 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: The Socialist Movement
FRQ: Describe and analyze responses to industrialization by the working
class between 1850 and 1914
4. Papacy in the 20th century
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Western Societies Volume II: Science and Human Values
Unit XII: World War I and the Russian Revolution
1. Background/Progress/End of World War I
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Chapter 17 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: The Road to War, Strategies and Battles, The
Home Front, The Decline of the West
Image Study: “World War I: The Front Lines” and “The Paths of Glory”
Chart Study: “Women in the Labor Force, Great Britain 1914-1918
Student Writing Assignment: In the years leading up to World War I, what
were the conditions that favored a continued peace and what were the
conditions that favored the outbreak of war?
Student Writing Assignment: Evaluate how effectively the Treaty of
Versailles dealt with the conditions/problems that led Europe into
World War I
Simulation: The Treaty of Versailles
DBQ (2003): Describe and analyze the changing views toward the concept of
a “civil peace” in Germany from 1914-1918.
2. The Russian Revolution
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Chapter 18 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: The Road to Revolution, Economy and Society
in the 1920s, Stalin and the Consolidation of the Modern Soviet State
Choices
Image Study: “Revolutionary Propaganda”
FRQ: Compare and contrast the extent to which the French Revolution
(1789-1799) and the Russian Revolution (1917-1924) changed the
status of women.
3. Lenin and Stalin
 Image Study: Socialist Realism
Unit XIII: The Interwar Years and World War II
1. The Interwar Years (1919-1939): Political and Social Unrest Europe, Asia, the
Rise of Fascism, and Totalitarianism
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Chapters 17, 19, and 20 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: Economic Depression and Social Unrest, The
Rise of Fascism
Image Study: “Decadence in the Weimar Republic” and “Unemployment and
the Appeal to Women
Choices
Chart Study: “Elections to the German Reichstag 1924-1932
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Video: Evil Rising
Map Study: “Authoritarianism and Totalitariansism, 1919-1937
DBQ (2010): Analyze the factors that contributed to the instability of the
Weimar Republic in the period 1918-1933
2. World War II and its Aftermath
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Chapter 21 in A History of the Modern World
Western Societies Volume II: World War II, the War Ends
Map Study: “The Destruction of Europe”
Image Study: “Nazi Mythology”
FRQ: Considering the period 1933-1945, analyze the economic, diplomatic,
and military reasons for Germany’s defeat in the Second World War
Unit XIV: The World from 1945 to the Present
1. Art, Science, and Thought in the 20th and 21st centuries
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Film: Segments from The Rape of Europa (2006)
Image Study: “Number 1” by Jackson
2. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, “The Redstockings Manifesto” by the
Redstockings
3. The Cold War Era and Decolonization (1945-1980)
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Chapters 22, 23, and 24 in A History of the Modern World
Compare the arguments made in “Appeasement at Munich Attacked” by
George Kennan and “The Origins of the Second World War: Appeasement
Defended” by A.J.P. Taylor
Student Essay Assignment: Compare the positions outlined in “The
Balfour Declaration, “the UN Resolution 242” and “ A Palestinian
Memoir” with respect to each author’s point of view, intended audience,
and purpose, within its overall historical context
Western Societies Volume II: the Cold War Begins, The Cold War Ends, Israel
and the Arabs, Human Rights—Ideals and Realities
Map Study: Decolonization in Asia and Africa
Image Study: “Televised Violence”
Student Writing Assignment: Identify the major figures and explain what
factors contributed to the onset, continuance, and ultimate end to the
Cold War
Student Writing Assignment: Identify the major figures and explain what
factors contributed to decolonization and the end of the empires of
Europe following World War II
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DBQ (2009) Analyze the causes of and responses to the 1968 crisis in
France.
4. The Fall of the Soviet Union and the Modern Age (1980-Present)
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Chapters 25 and 26 in A History of the Modern World
Readings in primary source readings book
Map Study: “War, Oil, and Instability in the Middle East”
How does John Lukacs defend his assertion that the 20th century was over by
1989 in “The Short Century: It’s Over?
Student Writing Assignment: Identify and explain the external and
internal events/policies that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union
FRQ: Analyze the economic and social challenges faced by Western
Europe in the period from 1945-1989
DBQ (2005) Analyze the varying views regarding Western European unity
from 1946-1989
Map quiz on modern Europe