AP Euro Period 2 Review (1648-1815)

AP Euro Review: Units 3-5 (1648-1815)

In AP® European History, the years 1648 to 1815 cover some of the most important material in the course. The following guide will be updated periodically with hyperlinks to excellent resources. As you are reviewing for this era, focus on the key concepts!

🇪🇺 Check the Fiveable calendar for this week's free AP Euro live streams!

---

UNITS 3-5 DATES TO KNOW

STUDY TIP: AP Euro rarely rewards memorizing dates in isolation, but you do need to know the general chronology of major events and be able to place developments in the correct time period. For this reason, we have identified the most important dates to know.

1651 - Hobbes’ Leviathan published

1687 - Newton publishes Principia Mathematica

1688 - Glorious Revolution

1689 - English Bill of Rights

1689 - Locke publishes Two Treatises on Government

1763 - Treaty of Paris ends Seven Years’ War

1775 - American Revolutionary War begins

1776 - Adam Smith published Wealth of Nations

1789-1799 - French Revolution

1799 - Napoleon comes to power

1815 - Congress of Vienna / Age of Metternich

---

Past Essay Questions from 1648-1815

STUDY TIP: Content from this era has appeared on the essays many times. Take a look at these questions before you review the key concepts & vocabulary below to get a sense of how you will be assessed. Then, come back to these later and practice writing as many as you can!

The AP European History exam format has changed over time, most notably with revisions beginning in 2016 and the current course and exam framework taking effect later. Older questions are still useful for content practice, but they are not fully representative of the current exam format, prompt design, or scoring expectations. Always check the latest College Board exam information for the current format. All prompts from 1999-2015 can be found here.

2018 - SAQ 1: French Revolution

2018 - LEQ 3: Glorious vs. French Revolutions

2017 - DBQ: Glorious Revolution

2017 - LEQ 4: Government & Economy

2016 - SAQ 2: Dutch business

2016 - LEQ 2: Women & the Enlightenment

2015 - LEQ 2: Napoleon & the French Rev

2015 - LEQ 7: Religion & Science

2014 - LEQ 3: Absolute Monarchs

2014 - LEQ 4: Roles of Women & Enlightenment

2013 - DBQ: Religious Toleration

2013 - LEQ 4: Newtonian Physics

2012 - LEQ 4: French National Identity

2011 - LEQ 3: Enlightenment vs. Romanticism

2011 - LEQ 4: English Civil War vs. French Rev

2011B - LEQ 2: Challenges to Royal Authority

2011B - LEQ 3: Rise of Russia

2010B - LEQ 2: Russia vs. Netherlands

2010B - LEQ 3: Women & Reformation

2010B: LEQ 6: Locke & Newton

---

UNITS 3-5 KEY CONCEPTS - COURSE OUTLINE

The following outline is adapted to the current AP European History Course and Exam Description (effective Fall 2023). For the years 1648-1815, the relevant material is primarily in Unit 3 (Absolutism and Constitutionalism), Unit 4 (Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments), and Unit 5 (Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th Century).

Unit 3: Absolutism and Constitutionalism

1. Absolute monarchy was established in the 17th and 18th centuries

2. Absolute monarchs included Louis XIV of France, Frederick William the Great Elector and Frederick William I in Brandenburg-Prussia, and Peter the Great in Russia.

3. Power over France extended by Louis XIV and his finance minister Colbert.

4. Enlightened absolutism appeared in central Europe (Frederick II, Joseph II).

5. Poland was partitioned because they could not consolidate authority.

6. Peter the Great westernized Russia, Catherine the Great continued process.

AP Euro often contrasts constitutional systems with absolutist ones. In England, the Civil War, Glorious Revolution, and Bill of Rights limited monarchical authority and strengthened Parliament. The Dutch Republic developed a commercial oligarchy led by wealthy urban elites. By contrast, rulers such as Louis XIV and Peter the Great centralized power through bureaucracy, taxation, military expansion, and control over elites.

The Dutch Golden Age illustrates how a commercial republic could become a major European power. The Dutch combined a strong merchant marine, banking and stock exchange institutions, overseas trade through the Dutch East India Company, and relative religious toleration. In foreign affairs, European states increasingly pursued a balance of power, forming alliances to prevent any one state—especially Bourbon France under Louis XIV—from dominating the continent. On the exam, students should be able to compare absolutist states such as France, Prussia, and Russia with constitutional systems such as England and the Dutch Republic, noting differences in sovereignty, taxation, representation, religion, and the role of elites.

Economic life in this period showed both change and continuity. Traditional agriculture and guild structures still shaped much of European life, but market-oriented production expanded through cottage industry and growing domestic and overseas trade. States increasingly supported commercial development, while older rural and local economic patterns remained important in many regions.

Mercantilism was the dominant economic theory of many European states in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Governments sought to increase state power by regulating trade, imposing tariffs, building colonies, and maintaining favorable balances of trade in order to accumulate bullion. Colbert's policies in France illustrate how rulers used economic regulation, manufacturing, and naval development to strengthen the state.

1. Challenges to absolutism led to alternative systems.

2. English Civil War and Glorious Revolution asserted the rights of Parliament.

3. The Dutch Republic established an oligarchy of urban gentry.

4. War was common because of expanding colonial empires.

5. Prussia rose to power and the Habsburgs shifted their empire eastward.

6. Ottoman expansion west ceased after defeat by Austria at Battle of Vienna.

7. Louis XIV almost always at war - Dutch War, 9 Years’ War, War of Spanish Succession

8. Britain and France were major imperial rivals. Their competition contributed to the global Seven Years’ War and later shaped the international dimensions of the American Revolution.

🎥Live Stream Replay - Economics & Society (1450-1789)

Unit 4: Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments

The Scientific Revolution transformed European understandings of the natural world. Thinkers such as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Bacon promoted heliocentrism, empirical observation, mathematical reasoning, and experimentation, challenging Aristotelian and Church-backed understandings of nature. These developments helped inspire Enlightenment thinkers to apply reason to government and society.

1. Enlightenment thought challenged traditional norms.

2. Intellectuals applied principles of Scientific Rev to society (Voltaire, Diderot).

3. Locke & Rousseau developed new political models based on natural rights.

4. Women were still excluded from political life.

5. Enlightenment ideas were popularized through public venues and print media.

6. Salons, coffeehouses, and academies were centers of public discourse.

7. Expansion of literacy and printed materials, despite censorship, spread ideas.

8. Europeans were increasingly exposed to cultures of peoples outside of Europe.

9. Absolutism and mercantilism were challenged by new theories.

10. John Locke argued that the state was driven by consent of the governed.

11. Adam Smith argued for free trade and a free market.

12. Religious practices were challenged by rationalism and toleration.

13. Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire and Diderot criticized religious intolerance and challenged traditional Church authority through deism, skepticism, and, in some cases, more secular or materialist ideas. Voltaire was associated especially with deism and toleration, while some other philosophes expressed stronger skepticism toward organized religion.

14. Enlightenment criticism weakened some traditional religious authority and encouraged toleration, but religion remained publicly significant, and revival movements such as Methodism expanded in the eighteenth century.

15. Religious toleration of all Christians and, sometimes Jews, became common.

16. Art shifted to emphasize private life rather than religious themes.

17. Baroque art promoted religious feelings until about 1750.

18. Neoclassicism expressed Enlightenment ideas.

19. Public expression of emotions and feeling challenged Enlightenment ideas.

20. Rousseau questioned reliance on reason and emphasized moral improvements.

21. Romanticism challenged rationality.

22. Religious revival occurred in Europe including movements such as Methodism.

23. The power of mass politics and nationalism were embodied in rebellion.

In the eighteenth century, population growth accelerated because of improved food supply, changes in disease patterns, and earlier marriage in some regions, while urbanization increased. Culturally, Baroque art and music gave way to Rococo and then Neoclassicism, reflecting changing elite tastes and Enlightenment values. Enlightenment thinkers included Montesquieu, who argued for separation of powers; Voltaire, who criticized intolerance; Rousseau, who emphasized the general will; and Beccaria, who criticized torture and arbitrary punishment. Demographic growth and commercialization affected family life and social structure: peasants and artisans remained the majority, elites maintained legal and social privileges in much of Europe, and changing consumption patterns increasingly shaped middle-class and urban identities. Enlightened absolutists such as Frederick II, Joseph II, and Catherine the Great adopted some Enlightenment-inspired reforms, including religious toleration, educational reform, legal codification, and administrative centralization. However, they did not surrender sovereignty to representative institutions. Students should be able to explain how enlightened absolutism differed from constitutional monarchy in Britain, where Parliament limited royal power.

Enlightened absolutists adopted reforms unevenly. Frederick II promoted religious toleration and legal reform while maintaining serfdom and military monarchy. Joseph II pursued broader reforms, including toleration and efforts to reduce Church influence, but faced resistance and reversed policies. Catherine the Great corresponded with philosophes and pursued administrative reform, yet strengthened noble authority after rebellions such as Pugachev's.

🎥Live Stream Replay - Scientific Revolution

Unit 5: Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th Century

The rise of global markets linked Europe more tightly to the Atlantic world and to Asian trade. Colonial goods such as sugar, coffee, tea, and tobacco fueled consumer demand, while plantation labor and the slave trade generated wealth for European merchants and states. Expanding financial institutions, insurance, and shipping helped integrate Europe into a global commercial system.

Britain's ascendency rested on naval supremacy, a strong fiscal-military state, access to credit through the Bank of England and national debt system, expanding overseas trade, and victory in the Seven Years' War. These advantages allowed Britain to outcompete France in imperial conflict and dominate global commerce by the later eighteenth century.

By the late eighteenth century, Britain emerged as the leading global power because of naval strength, commercial expansion, financial institutions, and victory in the Seven Years' War. The growth of global markets tied Europe more closely to colonial raw materials, plantation labor, and consumer demand. The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), led by Metternich and other conservative statesmen, sought to restore stability through legitimacy, compensation, and the balance of power rather than simply "turning back the clock." Romanticism reacted against excessive faith in reason by emphasizing emotion, nature, heroism, and national feeling in literature, music, and art.

1. The French Revolution challenged Europe’s existing political and social orders.

2. Causes of the French Rev. = peasant & bourgeois grievances, bread shortage, Enlightenment ideas, and the French involvement in the American Revolution.

3. First phase established constitutional monarchy, increased popular participation, nationalized the Catholic Church, and abolished hereditary privileges.

4. Second phase was dominated by the Reign of Terror, led by Robespierre.

5. Revolutionary ideas spread from France to the rest of Europe.

6. Women were a major part of the revolution (March on Versailles, Olympe de Gouges)

7. Revolutionary ideas spread to Haiti, led by l’Ouverture.

8. Many were inspired by emphasis on equality and human rights, but others were upset by violence and disregard for traditional authority.

9. Napoleon imposed French control over Europe, which sparked nationalistic reactions.

10. As emperor, Napoleon initiated domestic reforms and curtailed other rights.

11. New military tactics allowed him to expand control over much of Europe.

12. Nationalistic responses to Napoleon included student protests in Germany, Russian scorched earth policy, and guerilla war in Spain.

13. Napoleon was defeated by a coalition of states and the balance of power was restored through the Congress of Vienna.

Across the eighteenth century, European states showed both continuity and change. Monarchies and elite privilege remained powerful, but Enlightenment ideas, revolutionary politics, and Napoleon's reforms challenged inherited authority. After 1815, rulers restored conservative order, yet representative ideas, legal equality, administrative centralization, and national consciousness continued to shape Europe.

🎥Live Stream Replay - French Revolution, Part I

🎥Live Stream Replay - French Revolution, Part II

🎥Live Stream Replay - Napoleon

🎥Live Stream Replay - Congress of Vienna

Unit 4-5 Social and Cultural Change in Everyday Life

1. Agricultural improvements contributed to population growth.

2. Food supply increased because of improved productivity, crop rotation, enclosure in some regions, and better transportation.

3. Changes in disease patterns and improved nutrition helped reduce mortality in many areas.

4. Consumer Revolution encouraged purchases and created new venues for leisure.

5. New concerns for privacy, new goods for homes, new leisure venues

6. Commercialization and demographic change affected family and private life.

7. In some regions, changing marriage patterns influenced household formation and family size.

8. Declining infant and child mortality and new ideas about domesticity led to greater attention to childhood and family privacy.

9. Cities attracted migrants because of opportunities.

10. More food could be produced using fewer people, so many migrated to the cities.

11. Growth of cities created new issues in sanitation and health.

12. Poor communities in cities led to greater awareness of poverty, crime, and prostitution, which expanded the efforts of policing.

🎥Live Stream Replay - European Families in the 1700s

How AP Euro tests this period

For Units 3-5, AP Euro frequently asks students to compare absolutist and constitutional states, explain causes and effects of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, and trace continuity and change from the Old Regime through the French Revolution and Napoleonic era. When reviewing, practice causation, comparison, and continuity/change rather than memorizing isolated facts.

---

LIST OF CONCEPTS & VOCABULARY FROM UNITS 3-5

STUDY TIP: These are the concepts and vocabulary from this era that most commonly appear on the exam. Create a quizlet deck to make sure you are familiar with these terms!**

• absolute monarchy
• Adam Smith
• Agricultural Revolution
• American Revolution
• Atheism
• Baron de Montesquieu
• Baroque
• nationalism
• Battle of Vienna
• Catherine the Great
• Cesare Beccaria
• chattel slavery
• classical liberalism
• Concordat of 1801
• Congress of Vienna
• consumer culture
• Consumer Revolution
• cottage industry
• Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
• Deism
• Denis Diderot
• Dutch East India Company
• Dutch Golden Age
• Empiricism
• English Bill of Rights
• Enlightened Absolutism
• Enlightenment
• Frederick II of Prussia
• Frederick William I of Prussia
• free trade
• French Revolution
• Georges Danton
• Glorious Revolution
• Haitian Revolution
• Immanuel Kant
• inoculation
• Jacobin Republic
• Jean-Baptiste Colbert
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• John Locke
• laissez faire
• Levee en Masse
• Louis XVI of France
• March on Versailles
• market economy
• mercantilism
• Maximilien Robespierre
• Middle Passage
• Napoleon Bonaparte
• Napoleonic Code
• national feeling
• natural rights
• neoclassicism
• Nine Years' War
• Olympe de Gouges
• Partition of Poland
• Peter the Great of Russia
• plantation economy
• Reign of Terror
• religious toleration
• Revolutionary Army
• Rococo
• Romanticism
• salons
• separation of powers
• Seven Years' War
• Skepticism
• social contract
• stock exchange
• Toussaint l'Ouverture
• Voltaire