Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

 

 

Chapter 1

 

1. Be able to describe the nature and historical significance of the agricultural revolution in the Neolithic Period.
2. Understand what the city-states of Mesopotamia contributed to the development of Western civilization.
3. Describe the most important characteristics of Mesopotamian culture, explain how these characteristics developed, and how they influenced later historical eras.
4. Show the importance of the Nile River to the historical, social, and historical development of ancient Egypt.
5. Discuss the major characteristics of the religion of ancient Egypt, show how religious practices there developed, and how they reflect the larger Egyptian culture.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 2

 

1. Be able to show how the Hebrews created their “united kingdom” and why it later became the “divided kingdom.”
2. Outline the major religious ideas that made the Hebrews a specific people and the ritual practices that supported these ideas.
3. Account for the great military conquests of the Assyrian Empire.
4. Explain the organization and leadership that made the Persian Empire so successful for such a long period of time.
5. List the main tenets of Zoroastrianism and how they influenced other religions, including Judaism and Christianity.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 3

 

1. Be able to explain how the geography of Greece molded Greek history and the culture it produced.
2. Explain the coming of the Greek “Dark Age” and how it produced the works of Homer.
3. Describe the centerpiece of Greek culture, the polis, and show how and why it took such different forms in Sparta and Athens.
4. List the major themes of classical Greek philosophy, the achievements of the great Philosophers, and the ways in which their thought is still alive today.
5. Discuss the Greek ideal of beauty and demonstrate how it found expression in Greek art and architecture.

 

 

 

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 4

 

1. Be able to recount, explain, and show the significance of Alexander’s conquests.
2. Explain how the Hellenistic system worked, its debts to classical Greece, and its legacy for later history.
3. Describe Hellenistic cities and their role in preserving and extending the Greek ideal.
4. Discuss the economic and social structures of the Hellenistic world, their successes and their shortcomings.
5. Describe the cultural achievements of the Hellenistic Age, particularly its scientific and philosophical contributions to history.

 

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 5

 

1. Be able to recount the early development of the Roman people prior to the creation of the Roman Republic.
2. Describe the social and political institutions of early Rome and the consequences of the struggle of the orders.
3. Explain why and how Rome came to dominate the Italian peninsula and then the entire Mediterranean world.
4. Discuss the major characteristics of Roman Republican culture and explain how they were both borrowed from and expanded to meet the needs of the conquered peoples.
5. Explain why the Roman Republic declined and was eventually replaced by the Roman Empire.

 

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 6

 

1. Be able to describe how the empire created by Augustus Caesar worked and why it survived for so long after his reign.
2. Discuss the writers of the Golden Age of Latin Literature and what Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Livy contributed to Roman culture.
3. Understand the kind of emperors who succeeded Augustus, how they were chosen, and how they changed the nature of the empire.
4. Describe the various crises that faced the Roman Empire in the third century and show how Roman leaders did and did not solve the problems they posed.
5. Examine the rise and growth of the Christian religion and explain how it succeeded against such opposition and persecution.

 

 

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 7

 

1. Be able to describe the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine and explain how they both extended the life of the empire and made its demise all the more likely.
2. Describe both the role the Germanic tribes had in bringing down the Roman Empire and how they became its successors.
3. Outline the major features of German social and economic life, and show these features were used to erect a new socioeconomic system after the fall of Rome.
4. Discuss the nature and scope of Byzantine culture and how it was able, against great odds, to perpetuate the Roman Empire in East for a thousand years after it fell in the West.
5. Outline the major teaching of Muhammad, and show how they captured the imagination of a people who changed the Roman world.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 8

 

1. Be able to trace the formation of the Carolingian Empire and explain the significance of Charlemagne’s coronation by the Pope in 800.
2. Discuss the characteristics and achievements of the Carolingian intellectual renewal and its effects on the European Middle Ages.
3. Explain the reasons the manorial and vassalage systems developed, how they address medieval circumstances, and their long lasting effects on European society.
4. Describe the Byzantine Empire’s development between 750 and 1000, and show how it influenced the rising peoples of Central and Eastern Europe.
5. Follow the development of Islamic civilization between 750 and 1000, particularly accounting for its influence in the intellectual world.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 9

 

1. Be able to describe the way of life and practical functions of the aristocracy in the High Middle Ages.
2. Discuss the impact of the revival of trade in the High Middle Ages, how it changed Europe and prepared for the modern age.
3. Trace the development of the medieval city, how it coped with its problems, what it gave to the overall society, including Scholastic Philosophy.
4. Describe why and how the medieval universities began and the impact they had on the various nations where they thrived.
5. Give the major themes of literature and the styles of architecture of the High Middle Ages and why this age is celebrated for their achievements.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 10

 

1. Be able to compare the growth of the English and French monarchies during the High Middle Ages and show how each molded the character of the nation.
2. Trace the Christian re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and the kind of social and religious system that it produced.
3. Account for the decline and recovery of the Catholic Church in the High Middle Ages, and the part the papacy played in the recovery.
4. Describe popular religion in this period of time, how it affected monastic reform and everyday life, and its relationship to intolerance and persecution.
5. Explain the motivations, achievements, failures, and consequences for European society and world history of the Crusades.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 11

 

1. Be able to explain the causes and both the short and long term effects on European religion and society of the Black Death.
2. Explain the causes of the Hundred Years’ War, describe its turning points, and account for its outcome.
3. Describe how and why the governments of England, France, and the German lands changed in the late Middle Ages.
4. Account for the decline in the power of the church in the fourteenth century and how religious leaders responded.
5. Show the effects that social upheaval and ecclesiastical decline had on culture, particularly popular religion and literature, in the fourteenth century.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 12

 

1. Be able to describe the social changes that characterize Renaissance life, particularly alterations in the economic system, class structure, and family life.
2. Explain the historical events that led to Machiavelli’s theories of statecraft and how his theories differed from the published works of political theorists before him.
3. Define Renaissance humanism and show how it reached into all branches of edition, politics, learning, and into the arts.
4. Describe the new forms of art and architecture the Renaissance introduced and sustained, from the early works of Masaccio through those of Raphael.
5. Detail the character of the Renaissance Papacy and Church, how it developed skills of survival in a difficult era and how its practices made it vulnerable to attack by reformers.

 

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 13

 

1. Be able to describe the status and character of the Catholic Church just prior to the outbreak of the Reformation, and show how such things contributed to the breakup of Christianity.
2. Outline the major points of contention between Martin Luther and the Church, and show why they did not find a way to compromise and avoid schism.
3. Discuss the various forms Protestantism took and how these groups became dominant in various parts of Europe.
4. Examine the social and economic impact of the Reformation and Protestantism on the continent of Europe.
5. Describe the Catholic Reformation, show how it responded to Protestant criticism, and how it created the modern Catholic Church.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 14

 

1. Be able to explain the motives that fueled Europe’s early modern overseas exploration and expansion and the new technologies that made it possible.
2. Describe the way the Portuguese were able to establish an overseas empire and the way it functioned.
3. Describe the creation and characteristics of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.
4. Discuss the economic philosophies that dominated Europe and the way they affected the world economy Europeans established.
5. Explain the religious, social, and economic effects of European conquests around the globe on both the conquerors and those they conquered.

 

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 15

 

1. Be able to analyze the causes and consequences of the witchcraft craze of the seventeenth century.
2. Describe the absolute monarchy of France, how it was established, how it functioned, and its effects on the nation.
3. Trace the rise of Russia to its status as a world power, giving particular attention to the life and work of Peter Romanov.
4. Examine the experience of the English monarchy in the seventeenth century, and show how it survived its rocky road.
5. Explain why the seventeenth century saw such a flowering of culture, particularly in art and literature, and discuss the achievements of its finest figures.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 16

 

1. Be able to trace the development of the science of astronomy from the work of Copernicus through that of Kepler, Galileo, and Newton.
2. Trace the development of the science of medicine from its early, primitive day through the discoveries of Paracelsus, Vesalius, and Harvey.
3. Explain the role that women played in the early years of modern science, recalling the obstacles that faced them.
4. Describe the competition between science and religion in the seventeenth century, and account for their inability to find common ground as Pascal longed to see.
5. Discuss the new scientific method of learning, the role of the scientific societies on its growth and influence, and the impact it had on European society.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 17

 

1. Be able to discuss the ideas and trends that formed the foundation for the Enlightenment.
2. Outline the assumptions and contributions to historical and human development of the philosophies.
3. Describe the eighteenth century innovations in the visual arts, music, literature, and the writing of history.
4. Trace the changing attitudes toward social development, particularly crime and punishment, during the Age of Enlightenment.
5. Examine the attitude toward religion, both established churches and popular piety, of people great and small during the Enlightenment period.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 18

 

1. Be able to compare and contrast the development of royal power in France and England during the eighteenth century and how this development affected each nation’s future.
2. Explain the reasons for the War of the Austrian Succession and how it reflected international relations on the European continent in the eighteenth century.
3. Discuss trends in marriage, birthrates, and family life across the continent during the eighteenth century.
4. Examine the new development in industry and trade during the century, and show how they prepared the way for the modern era.
5. Compare and contrast the lives of peasants, the nobility, and town and city dwellers during the century.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 19

 

1. Be able to discuss objectively the causes and consequences of the American War for Independence.
2. Explain why and how the French Old Regime was destroyed and the consequences for subsequent European history.
3. Examine the reasons why the French Revolution turned radical and violent and how this affected the career of Napoleon.
4. Trace the rise of Napoleon and how he restructured France as he redirected the energies of the revolution.
5. Recount the way Napoleon created his empire, why it did not last, and its effects on nations outside France.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 20

 

1. Be able to explain why Britain was the first nation to be industrialized and how it was accomplished.
2. Trace the spread of the industrial revolution onto the continent of Europe and to the United States and show how it differed from country to country.
3. Explain how industrialization affected population growth and life in cities.
4. Describe the effect industrialization had on class structures and the new ways of life for each of the new classes.
5. Outline the various plans of reform offered by people concerned with the working and living conditions of urban laborers and what happened to each plan.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 21

 

1. Be able to discuss the order which the victorious powers imposed upon post-Napoleonic Europe and why it was so successful for such a long period of time.
2. Describe the way the major powers dealt with liberal and nationalistic uprisings in various parts of the continent during the nineteenth century.
3. List the primary tenets of the liberalism that challenged the conservative establishment throughout the century, and determine how successful it was in the challenge.
4. Explain the reasons for and the consequences of the revolutions that swept the continent in 1830 and 1848.
5. Discuss the major assumptions and characteristics of Romanticism, and show how its various representatives affected literature, music, and art.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 22

 

1. Be able to describe the rise of Louis Napoleon and explain why and how he was able to have such an influence on France at the middle of the nineteenth century.
2. Trace the progress of the movement to unify Italy, explaining the effects of ideology, personality, and fortune in its final success.
3. Trace the progress of the movement to unify Germany, explaining the effects of ideology, personality, and fortune in its final success.
4. Explain Karl Marx’s motives and methods as he wrote his books, and account for his certainty that he knew the future.
5. Describe the advances in science during the middle and later nineteenth century, and show how these advances affected European society, including culture.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 23

 

1. Be able to describe the Second Industrial Revolution and show how it was different from the First Industrial Revolution.
2. Discuss the characteristics of the nineteenth century working class and how it related to national political parties.
3. Describe the way the Second Industrial Revolution changed the urban environment and thus the lives of urban dwellers.
4. Trace the development of education and leisure activities in the new urban environment and how these affected nineteenth century families.
5. Compare and contrast political developments in the western and eastern parts of the continent, and explain why they were so different.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 24

 

1. Be able to discuss the “intellectual ferment” of the late nineteenth century and the new ideas that competed for attention.
2. Examine the status of European Jews, why the idea of Zionism proved so appealing to many of them, and why it was not implemented.
3. Discuss the important political changes seen in Western Europe and the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.
4. Explain why Europe pursued a new imperialism toward the end of the nineteenth century and how the creation of broad empires proved so relatively easy.
5. Describe the international rivalries and intrigues that made it likely there would be a major war at the beginning of the twentieth century.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 25

 

1. Be able to outline the conditions that made World War I probable and to explain why and how it began as it did.
2. Trace the most important turning points in the shifting fortunes of the various nations involved in the war.
3. Describe the effects total war had on the home fronts of the nations engaged on the battlefields.
4. Discuss and account for the differing attitudes and goals of the Big Four at Versailles, and show how the differences led to failure.
5. Analyze the peace treaties that ended the war, and show how they gave the world little hope that more wars could be avoided.

 

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 26

 

1. Be able to explain why Europe experienced a great depression in the 1930s and how it affected both domestic politics in the democracies and international affairs.
2. Give the common characteristics of the various totalitarian states that emerged between the two world wars.
3. Trace Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, what methods he used, what conditions made it possible for him to become Germany’s leader, and how his career affected world history.
4. Describe the kind of mass entertainment that attracted people between the wars and how it was used by some governments to control them.
5. Discuss the intellectual and cultural trends of the time between the wars, and explain both what inspired them and their influence on society.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 27

 

1. Be able to explain Hitler’s early successes on the diplomatic front and how he was able to prepare for war without strong enough opposition from the democracies.
2. Trace the path to war both in Europe and in Asia, and point out the mistakes the democracies made in their treatment of Hitler.
3. Describe the Nazi Empire, its structure and policies, and show how Hitler’s philosophy formed and directed it, particularly the treatment of Jews.
4. Show how the war affected civilian populations and how governments mobilized their people to help win the war.
5. Discuss the events and attitudes near the end of the war that precipitated the Cold War that followed it.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 28

 

1.  Be able to trace the history of the Cold War from its inception through the attempts at détente in the early 1970s.
2. Explain why the European nations shed their colonies after war, and show how decolonization affected both Europe and the parts of the world where their colonies were free.
3. Describe the major events in the Soviet Empire during this period, and show they affected policies in the democracies.
4. Discuss the emergence of the United States as a super power and how it reacted to global challenges in its new role.
5. Describe post war culture, and show how art, literature, philosophy, and religion both reflected and molded it.

 

Advanced Placement European History Essential Questions

Chapter 29

 

1. Be able to trace the events that shaped the later part of the Cold War and those that brought it to an end.
2. Describe the way and explain why the Soviet Union dissolved into its several parts, and explain what effect this had on world affairs.
3. Discuss the way the former Soviet dependencies responded to their independence, and explain why some were brilliant successes while others were dismal failures.
4. Describe the way the western democracies have developed over the past thirty years, and show how they have responded to terrorist threats.
5. Discuss recent trends in culture, including the arts, the sciences, and thoughts about globalism.