Unit 1-5 ap euro

🏰 UNIT 1: Renaissance & Discovery (1450–1648)

The Intellectual Shift (CID / TSI)

  • Italian Renaissance: Centered in Florence; driven by Medici patronage. Shift from religious focus to Secular Humanism and individualism.

  • Humanism: Revival of classical Greek/Roman texts. Petrarch (Father of Humanism) and Bruni (Civic Humanism).

  • New Scholarship: Challenged Church authority and medieval scholasticism using reason.

  • Vernacular Literature: Dante, Cervantes, and More wrote in local languages, weakening the dominance of Latin.

  • Renaissance Art: Focused on perspective, naturalism, and idealized forms. Key figures: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael.

  • Northern Renaissance: Focused on Christian Humanism and social/moral reform. Key figure: Erasmus (In Praise of Folly).

  • Printing Press: Gutenberg (c. 1450); the primary driver for spreading Reformation and Scientific ideas.

  • Machiavelli: The Prince; introduced Secular, Pragmatic Politics (SOP). Rulers should be feared, and "the ends justify the means."

  • New Monarchs: Centralized power by taxing and curbing nobles. Louis XI (FR), Henry VII (UK), Ferdinand & Isabella (SP).

  • Sovereignty: Jean Bodin and Hugo Grotius developed theories on the centralized state and international law.

Exploration & Global Trade (INT / ECD)

  • Motivations: The "3 G’s" (Gold, Glory, God). State sponsorship of spice trade and Christianity.

  • Technology: Caravel, compass, astrolabe, and better cartography made deep-sea travel possible.

  • Portugal & Spain: Portugal (Prince Henry) led the African coast; Spain (Columbus, Cortes, Pizarro) followed to the New World.

  • Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): The Pope divided the Americas between Spain and Portugal.

  • Mercantilism: Economic theory that colonies exist to provide raw materials for a favorable trade balance.

  • Columbian Exchange: Global transfer of plants, animals, and disease (Smallpox decimated up to 90% of indigenous people).

  • Slave Trade: The Middle Passage and plantation economies grew to support sugar and tobacco production.

  • Price Revolution: Massive influx of American silver caused inflation and shifted power to the Atlantic.

⛪ UNIT 2: Age of Reformation (1450–1648)

The Protestant Break (CID / SOP)

  • Martin Luther: 95 Theses (1517); challenged indulgences and Church corruption. Doctrines: Sola Fide (Faith alone) and Sola Scriptura (Bible alone).

  • Diet of Worms (1521): Luther defies Charles V; saved by German princes seeking independence from Rome.

  • Calvinism: John Calvin; doctrine of Predestination. Established a theocracy in Geneva. Spread to Huguenots (FR) and Puritans (UK).

  • Anabaptists: Radical reformers; advocated for adult baptism and separation of church and state.

  • Henry VIII: Act of Supremacy (1534); broke with Rome for political/dynastic reasons, making the King head of the Church of England.

  • Peace of Augsburg (1555): Established "Cuius regio, eius religio"; princes chose Lutheranism or Catholicism (excluded Calvinists).

Catholic Response & Wars (SOP / INT)

  • Council of Trent: Reaffirmed Catholic doctrine but reformed internal corruption (ended sale of indulgences).

  • Jesuits: Founded by Ignatius Loyola; focused on education and missions to win back Protestant lands.

  • Inquisition: Used to suppress heresy; created the Index of Forbidden Books.

  • Wars of Religion (France): Huguenots vs. Catholics; included the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

  • Edict of Nantes (1598): Issued by Henry IV; granted limited religious toleration to Huguenots.

  • Thirty Years' War (1618-48): Began as a religious conflict in HRE; ended as a political struggle (Habsburgs vs. Bourbons).

  • Peace of Westphalia (1648): MAJOR TURNING POINT. Established state sovereignty; ended universal Christendom and religious wars.

Society & Art

  • Gender Roles: Women subordinate; Protestantism promoted "companionate marriage." Witch trials spiked due to social/religious anxiety.

  • Baroque Art: Bernini and Caravaggio; used drama and intense emotion as Catholic Reformation propaganda.

👑 UNIT 3: Absolutism & Constitutionalism (1648–1815)

Absolutist States (SOP)

  • Louis XIV (France): The "Sun King." "L'Ă©tat c'est moi." Used the Palace of Versailles to control the nobility.

  • Jean-Baptiste Colbert: Perfected mercantilism to fund Louis’s military and industry.

  • Edict of Fontainebleau (1685): Revoked Edict of Nantes; forced Huguenots to flee, damaging the French economy.

  • Peter the Great (Russia): Forced Westernization. Built St. Petersburg and established the Table of Ranks (meritocracy).

  • Frederick the Great (Prussia): Built a massive military state; "Enlightened Despot."

  • Divine Right: Bishop Bossuet; argued monarchs are God's representatives and answerable only to Him.

Constitutionalist States (SOP / ECD)

  • English Civil War: Conflict between Parliament and Charles I (executed 1649). Led to Cromwell’s military rule.

  • Glorious Revolution (1688): William & Mary replaced James II; established Parliamentary Supremacy.

  • English Bill of Rights (1689): Created a Limited Monarchy and protected Parliament’s power.

  • John Locke: Two Treatises; argued for Natural Rights (Life, Liberty, Property) and the right to rebel.

  • Dutch Republic: Ruled by a merchant oligarchy; practiced religious tolerance; dominated trade via the VOC.

  • Balance of Power: Diplomatic goal to prevent any single state (like France) from dominating (e.g., Treaty of Utrecht).

🔭 UNIT 4: Scientific & Intellectual Revolutions (1648–1815)

Scientific Revolution (TSI / CID)

  • Heliocentrism: Copernicus (theory) and Galileo (proof via telescope); challenged the geocentric worldview.

  • Newton: Law of Gravity; Principia Mathematica; viewed the universe as a "Mechanical Clock."

  • Methodology: Bacon (Inductive/Empiricism) vs. Descartes (Deductive/Logic: "I think, therefore I am").

  • Medicine: Harvey (blood circulation) and Vesalius (anatomy) challenged ancient views of Galen.

  • Deism: Belief in a God who created natural laws but does not interfere in daily life.

The Enlightenment (CID / SOP)

  • Voltaire: Champion of religious tolerance and critic of the Catholic Church (anti-clericalism).

  • Montesquieu: Spirit of the Laws; Separation of Powers and checks and balances.

  • Rousseau: General Will; popular sovereignty; the social contract.

  • Adam Smith: Wealth of Nations; Laissez-faire; free markets; challenged mercantilism.

  • Beccaria: Argued against torture and the death penalty.

  • The Public Sphere: Spread of ideas in coffeehouses, salons, and pamphlets.

  • Enlightened Despots: Frederick II, Catherine II, Joseph II; used reason to reform but kept absolute power.

🇫🇷 UNIT 5: Conflict, Crisis, & Reaction (1789–1815)

The French Revolution (SOP / ECD)

  • Causes: The Three Estates system (tax burden on the 3rd Estate), financial crisis, and Enlightenment ideas.

  • Liberal Phase (1789): National Assembly; Declaration of the Rights of Man; Tennis Court Oath.

  • Radical Phase (1792): Jacobins and Robespierre; Reign of Terror; total war (levee en masse).

  • Women: Olympe de Gouges; visibility increased, but women were ultimately excluded from political rights.

Napoleon & Reaction (SOP / NEI)

  • Napoleon Bonaparte: Napoleonic Code (legal equality); Concordat with the Church; declared himself Emperor.

  • The Fall: Continental System failed; Invasion of Russia (1812) was a catastrophic defeat.

  • Nationalism: Napoleon’s conquests sparked national identity/resistance in Spain and Germany.

  • Congress of Vienna (1815): Led by Metternich. Restored the Balance of Power and Conservative Order.

  • Romanticism: Reaction against reason; focused on emotion, nature, and nationalism.

  • Haitian Revolution (1804): Toussaint L'Ouverture; only successful slave revolt; challenged European racial ideology.