AP EUROPEAN HISTORY
The AP course is an introductory college course. Compared with an Honors or College preparatory course, it is more challenging and demanding, but also more rewarding. AP courses allow a greater opportunity to master the subject and to explore it in greater depth. This course follows a chronological approach and the relevance of history to today’s world. There is an added emphasis on reading, analysis and writing. Historical issues are examined by a multi-causal approach following three broad themes:
1. Political/diplomatic.
2. Social/economic.
3. Cultural/intellectual.
The course also focuses on man in a changing environment concerning religion, science, politics and art, from the Renaissance to the present.
OBJECTIVES
Students are to understand historical facts and the interaction of social, political, economic and religious factors, the course is:
- Fact intensive
- Reading intensive
- Writing intensive
- Information intensive
REQUIRED READINGS
Required summer reading:
1. The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli
2. Utopia Thomas More
3. A Distant Mirror Barbara W. Tuchman
Required supplemental readings:
1.Candide, Voltaire
2.The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier, Jakob Walter
3.The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
3.Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, Philip Hallie
REQUIRED WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:
Each unit will require either:
One essay from a list of FBQ’s relevant to the unit topic and/or
One DBQ relevant to the subject matter of the unit.
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY CURRICULUM
UNIT I : INTRODUCTION AND THE RENAISSANCE: How was the Renaissance
different from the Medieval past?
UNIT II: REFORMATION AND RELIGIOUS WARS: Was the Reformation
conservative or radical?
UNIT III: AGE OF ABSOLUTISM: In what way does power and economy play a
role in expansionism?
UNIT IV: TRANSFORMATION OF EASTERN EUROPE AND EMPIRE
BUILDING:What was the significance of the Hohenzollerns, the
Hapsburgs and the Hanoverian Political houses?
UNIT V: SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION AND THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
How important is the role of science in affecting society?
In what ways did science and technology most affect Western Society?
Was science and technology the most important factor in Western
Europe’s drive towards dominance?
UNIT VI: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEONIC AGE. What was the
significance and impact of Napoleon on world history?
UNIT VII: REACTION TO NAPOLEON AND THE ADVENT OF “ISMS” What
impact did the end of the Napoleonic era and the fallout of the
Congress of Vienna have on the 1800’s?
UNIT VIII: REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 and MARXISM What were the legacies of
the revolutions of 1848 for the future? What lessons can be learned
from these revolutions. What were the repercussions of Marx’s ideas?
UNIT IX: THE CONSOLIDATION OF LARGE NATION STATES. What was the
effect of the unification of two previously splintered regions into a
powerful nation state in an organized Europe?
UNIT X: EUROPE’S NEW SUPREMACY: NEW IMPERIALISM AND
EMPIRES. Was the new imperialism different from the imperialism of
the 15th through 17th centuries? Does Imperialism sow seeds of
genocide? Of superiority?
UNIT XI: World War One and the Russian Revolution. What were the critical
factors that were the immediate causes of WWI and what were the
hidden causes?
UNIT XII: THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION. What were the critical factors that
allowed the Bolsheviks to succeed?
UNIT XIII: ORIGINS OF WWII Analyze the similarities and differences of
20thCentury dictators Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin. Are they more
alike or different?
UNIT XIV: POST WAR WORLD Was the Cold War inevitable? What are the
major factors leading to the fall of the Soviet Union? What are the
major factors connecting Europe to the Arabian peninsula and
modern day crises?
UNIT XV: NEW WORLD ERA Globalism. What is it and is everyone a player?