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  • acc. PHILLIPS
  • America
    • I: Early America
      • Course Info
      • 1492-1763
      • 1763-1783
      • 1783-1789
      • 1789-1815
      • 1815-1849
      • 1850-1865
      • 1865-1877
    • II: Modern America
      • Course Info
      • 1865-1890
        • The Western Frontier
        • The Gilded Age
      • 1890-1920
        • Progressivism
        • Imperialism & the First World War
      • 1920-1941
        • The Roaring Twenties
        • The Great Depression
      • 1941-1962
        • The Second World War
        • The Early Cold War
      • 1950-1975
        • The Great Society
        • The Vietnam War
      • 1968-1991
        • The Late Cold War
        • Pop Culture
      • 1991-Today
        • The Culture Wars
        • The War on Terror
  • Europe
    • Course Info
    • 1200-1450
    • 1450-1648
      • Renaissance
      • Reformation
      • Exploration
      • Links
      • Assignments
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Rick Steves Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
    • 1648-1815
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      • Society
      • Revolution
      • Links
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        • John Green Videos
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    • 1815-1914
      • Industry
      • Ideologies
      • Empire
      • Modernity
      • Links
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        • John Green Videos
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    • 1914-Today
      • WWI
      • WWII
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      • EU
      • Links
      • Assignments and Readings
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
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  • World
    • Ancient
    • Modern
      • Course Info
        • Goals
        • Rules, Grading, Etc.
        • Core Documents
        • Links
        • Themes
        • Thinking
        • Exam
      • 1200-1450
        • Asia
        • Africa
        • Europe
        • Americas
        • Trade
        • Videos
      • 1450-1750
        • Discovery
        • Maritime Empires
        • Land Empires
        • Videos
      • 1750-1900
        • Revolutions
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        • Videos
      • 1900-Today
        • World Wars
        • Postwar World
        • Globalization
        • Videos
  • Research
  • Shop
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  • Contact
  • acc. PHILLIPS
  • America
    • I: Early America
      • Course Info
      • 1492-1763
      • 1763-1783
      • 1783-1789
      • 1789-1815
      • 1815-1849
      • 1850-1865
      • 1865-1877
    • II: Modern America
      • Course Info
      • 1865-1890
        • The Western Frontier
        • The Gilded Age
      • 1890-1920
        • Progressivism
        • Imperialism & the First World War
      • 1920-1941
        • The Roaring Twenties
        • The Great Depression
      • 1941-1962
        • The Second World War
        • The Early Cold War
      • 1950-1975
        • The Great Society
        • The Vietnam War
      • 1968-1991
        • The Late Cold War
        • Pop Culture
      • 1991-Today
        • The Culture Wars
        • The War on Terror
  • Europe
    • Course Info
    • 1200-1450
    • 1450-1648
      • Renaissance
      • Reformation
      • Exploration
      • Links
      • Assignments
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Rick Steves Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
    • 1648-1815
      • Sovereignty
      • Commerce
      • Reason
      • Society
      • Revolution
      • Links
      • Readings and Assignments
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
    • 1815-1914
      • Industry
      • Ideologies
      • Empire
      • Modernity
      • Links
      • Readings and Assignments
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
    • 1914-Today
      • WWI
      • WWII
      • Cold War
      • EU
      • Links
      • Assignments and Readings
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
  • World
    • Ancient
    • Modern
      • Course Info
        • Goals
        • Rules, Grading, Etc.
        • Core Documents
        • Links
        • Themes
        • Thinking
        • Exam
      • 1200-1450
        • Asia
        • Africa
        • Europe
        • Americas
        • Trade
        • Videos
      • 1450-1750
        • Discovery
        • Maritime Empires
        • Land Empires
        • Videos
      • 1750-1900
        • Revolutions
        • Industrialization
        • Imperialism
        • Videos
      • 1900-Today
        • World Wars
        • Postwar World
        • Globalization
        • Videos
  • Research
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact

Themes and
​Essential Questions

Picture
AP European History has seven major themes:
  • Global Interaction of Europe and the World
  • Commercial Developments
  • Cultural Developments
  • Political Power
  • Social Organization
  • National and European Identity
  • Science and Technology

Global

Global Interaction of Europe and the World
  • Why have Europeans sought contact and interaction with other parts of the world?
  • What political, technological, and intellectual developments enabled European contact with other parts of the world?
  • How have cross-cultural encounters shaped Europe in its culture, politics, and society?
  • How have Europeans impacted non-European societies?  
Picture
British WWI officer
​T.E. Lawrence "of Arabia"
Picture
The Mikado is an 1885 British
comic opera set in Japan.
Picture
British-educated lawyer
​Mohandas Gandhi
Picture
Japanese Meiji Emperor 
​by Takahashi Yuichi, 1880.

Commerce

Picture
London East End slum, 1950s
  • What were the causes and consequences of economic and social inequality?
  • ​What were the responses to inequality from individuals, groups, and the state? 
Commercial Developments
  • How has capitalism developed?
  • How has society changed as a result of capitalism?
Picture
Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, 1780s

Culture

Cultural Developments
  • What role have traditional sources of authority played in the  transmission of knowledge?
Picture
Medieval depiction 
of Mary and Jesus
Picture
Medieval depiction 
of Jesus as the Christ
Picture
Medieval depiction 
of Jesus' crucifixion
Picture
First Edition Gutenberg Bible
New York Public Library
Picture
  • How and why did Europeans come to rely on the scientific method and reason in place of traditional authorities?
Picture
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN. the European Organization for Nuclear Research
  • How and why did Europeans come to value subjective interpretations of reality? 
Picture
Tête de Femme by Pablo PIcasso, 1935.
Picture
Galatea of the Spheres by Salvador Dalí, 1952.

State

State Political Power
  • How have Europeans governed?
Picture
Henry VIII was the English monarch and head of the Church of England.
Picture
Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party established the Soviet Union, the world's first communist regime.
  • How have European governments moved closer to and farther from democracy?
Picture
The European Union emerged slowly after WWII.
Picture
Vladimir Putin has returned Russia towards authoritarianism.
  • How have non-governmental institutions impacted European states?
Picture
Symbol of the Dutch East India Company, the world's first multinational corporation.
Picture
Solidarity was a Catholic-inspired labor union movement that pressured an end to Communist Party rule in Poland in 1989.
  • How did changes in warfare affect the balance of power?
Picture
The Dukes of Brittany and of Bourbon locked in single combat (1460)
Picture
The Cannon Shot (1707) depicts an 18th-century Dutch man-of-war.
Picture
The Maxim machine gun (1883) enabled imperial conquests.
Picture
British pilots flew Spitfire and Hurricane fighters during WWII.
Picture
A Russian Yars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile system

Society

Social Developments
  • What forms have family, class, and social groups taken in European history, and how have they changed over time?
Picture
  • How and why have tensions arisen between the individual and society over the course of European history?
Picture
  • ​How and why has the status of specific groups within society changed over time? 
    ​
Picture

Identity

National and European Identity
  • Who is and who is not part of a national community?
  • To what degree should nations be incorporated into the larger European community?
Picture
Picture
Over 1 million protested in favor of Catalonia's national independence from Spain in 2018.
Picture
Picture
General polling showed 46.7% of Catalans said they wanted an independent state while 44.9% did not. 

Technology

Scientific and Technological Developments
  • How have new technologies impacted society and changed daily life?
  • How have scientific discoveries altered our view of the natural world?
Picture
The printing press revolutionized the spread of information in the 15th century.
Picture
Cell phones have eased communication and tied people closer together than ever before.

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© COPYRIGHT 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • acc. PHILLIPS
  • America
    • I: Early America
      • Course Info
      • 1492-1763
      • 1763-1783
      • 1783-1789
      • 1789-1815
      • 1815-1849
      • 1850-1865
      • 1865-1877
    • II: Modern America
      • Course Info
      • 1865-1890
        • The Western Frontier
        • The Gilded Age
      • 1890-1920
        • Progressivism
        • Imperialism & the First World War
      • 1920-1941
        • The Roaring Twenties
        • The Great Depression
      • 1941-1962
        • The Second World War
        • The Early Cold War
      • 1950-1975
        • The Great Society
        • The Vietnam War
      • 1968-1991
        • The Late Cold War
        • Pop Culture
      • 1991-Today
        • The Culture Wars
        • The War on Terror
  • Europe
    • Course Info
    • 1200-1450
    • 1450-1648
      • Renaissance
      • Reformation
      • Exploration
      • Links
      • Assignments
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Rick Steves Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
    • 1648-1815
      • Sovereignty
      • Commerce
      • Reason
      • Society
      • Revolution
      • Links
      • Readings and Assignments
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
    • 1815-1914
      • Industry
      • Ideologies
      • Empire
      • Modernity
      • Links
      • Readings and Assignments
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
    • 1914-Today
      • WWI
      • WWII
      • Cold War
      • EU
      • Links
      • Assignments and Readings
      • Videos
        • John Green Videos
        • Tom Richey Videos
        • Assorted Videos
      • Slideshows
  • World
    • Ancient
    • Modern
      • Course Info
        • Goals
        • Rules, Grading, Etc.
        • Core Documents
        • Links
        • Themes
        • Thinking
        • Exam
      • 1200-1450
        • Asia
        • Africa
        • Europe
        • Americas
        • Trade
        • Videos
      • 1450-1750
        • Discovery
        • Maritime Empires
        • Land Empires
        • Videos
      • 1750-1900
        • Revolutions
        • Industrialization
        • Imperialism
        • Videos
      • 1900-Today
        • World Wars
        • Postwar World
        • Globalization
        • Videos
  • Research
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact