AP Euro Cram Sheet

Unit 1: Renaissance and Exploration (c. 1350-1648)

  • Renaissance (Italian & Northern):

    • Humanism: Focus on human potential and achievements, classical texts (Petrarch, Valla). Civic vs. Christian Humanism.

    • Key Artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael (Italian); Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer (Northern).

    • New Monarchies: Centralization of power (France - Valois, Spain - Ferdinand & Isabella, England - Tudors). Consolidated power, weakened nobility.

  • Exploration & Expansion:

    • Causes: "God, Gold, Glory," technological advancements (caravel, compass).

    • Key Explorers: Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Cortes, Pizarro.

    • Columbian Exchange: Exchange of plants, animals, diseases, culture between the Old and New Worlds. Impact on demographics and economics.

    • Mercantilism: Economic theory where government control trade to maximize exports and accumulate bullion.

Unit 2: Age of Reformation (c. 1517-1648)

  • Protestant Reformation:

    • Martin Luther: 95 Theses (1517), sola fide, sola scriptura, priesthood of all believers. German Peasant's War (1524-1525).

    • John Calvin: Predestination, the elect, Geneva as a theocracy. Spread to Netherlands (Huguenots), Scotland (Presbyterians).

    • English Reformation: Henry VIII (Act of Supremacy), Anglican Church. Mary I (Catholic reaction), Elizabeth I (Anglican settlement).

  • Catholic Reformation (Counter-Reformation):

    • Council of Trent (1545-1563): Reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, reformed church practices.

    • Jesuits (Society of Jesus): Ignatius Loyola, education, missionary work, combating Protestantism.

    • Baroque Art: Emotional, dramatic, grandeur (Bernini, Caravaggio), often used to express Catholic piety.

  • Religious Wars:

    • French Wars of Religion: Guise vs. Bourbon vs. Montmorency. St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Edict of Nantes (1598): Granted religious toleration to Huguenots (Henry IV).

    • Dutch Revolt: Netherlands vs. Spain. Rise of Dutch Republic.

    • Thirty Years' War (1618-1648): Began as religious conflict (Protestants vs. Catholics), became political. Devastated Germany.

    • Peace of Westphalia (1648): Ended 30 Years' War and 80 Years' War. Recognized sovereignty of states, limited Holy Roman Emperor's power, confirmed religious pluralism.

Unit 3: Absolutism and Constitutionalism (c. 1648-1815)

  • Absolutism: Monarchy holds absolute power, unchecked by law or constitution. Divine Right of Kings.

    • Louis XIV (France): "Sun King." Versailles, intendants, mercantilism (Colbert). Wars: War of the Spanish Succession. Balance of Power.

    • Eastern Absolutism:

      • Prussia: Hohenzollern dynasty, Frederick William I (Soldier King), Frederick II (the Great) (Enlightened Absolutist).

      • Russia: Peter the Great (Westernization, St. Petersburg, Table of Ranks). Catherine the Great (Enlightened policies, territorial expansion).

    • Decline of Poland: Lack of strong central government, partitions by Russia, Prussia, Austria.

  • Constitutionalism: Power of government limited by law.

    • England:

      • English Civil War: Cavaliers vs. Roundheads. Oliver Cromwell, Commonwealth.

      • Glorious Revolution (1688): William and Mary, English Bill of Rights (1689). Established parliamentary supremacy, constitutional monarchy.

    • Dutch Republic: States General, wealthy merchant class, religious toleration.

Unit 4: Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments (c. 1648-1815) - HIGH SAQ FOCUS: 18th Century

  • Scientific Revolution: Shift from geocentric to heliocentric model, emphasis on observation and reason.

    • Key Scientists:

      • Copernicus: Heliocentric theory.

      • Kepler: Planetary orbits elliptical.

      • Galileo: Telescope, observable evidence for heliocentrism. Conflict with Church.

      • Newton: Laws of motion, universal gravitation. Synthesized earlier work.

    • Philosophical Implications: Francis Bacon (empiricism), René Descartes (deductive reasoning, "I think, therefore I am").

  • Enlightenment (18th Century): Application of reason to society and politics. Emphasis on natural rights, progress, individual liberty.

    • Key Thinkers (Philosophes):

      • Locke: Natural rights (life, liberty, property), social contract, government by consent of the governed. Influenced American Revolution.

      • Rousseau: Social contract (general will), importance of education, Emile, The Social Contract.

      • Voltaire: Religious toleration, freedom of speech. Against fanaticism and oppression. "Crush the infamous thing!"

      • Montesquieu: Separation of powers (checks and balances). Spirit of the Laws.

      • Adam Smith: Laissez-faire economics, Wealth of Nations. Invisible hand.

      • Diderot: Encyclopedia (dissemination of knowledge).

    • Impact: Influenced Enlightened Absolutists (Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, Joseph II of Austria), American Revolution, French Revolution.

    • Salons: Informal gatherings, often hosted by women, to discuss Enlightenment ideas.

  • 18th-Century Society and Economics:

    • Agricultural Revolution:

      • New Crops: Potato, corn.

      • New Methods: Crop rotation (Townshend), selective breeding (Bakewell), seed drill (Tull).

      • Enclosure Movement: Privatization of common lands. Led to urbanization and commercial farming.

    • Proto-Industrialization (Cottage Industry/Putting-Out System): Merchants supplied raw materials to rural households; challenged guild system.

    • Population Growth: Improved food supply, less disease. Strain on resources.

    • Family Structure: Nuclear families, later marriages among poorer classes.

Unit 5: 18th-Century Dynastic & Napoleonic Europe (c. 1750-1815)

  • 18th-Century Warfare & Diplomacy:

    • Wars of Austrian Succession: Prussia gained Silesia (Frederick the Great).

    • Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): Global conflict. Great Britain gained immense colonial territory (North America, India).

    • Enlightened Absolutism: Rulers who adopted Enlightenment ideals (reform, religious toleration, patronized philosophes) but maintained absolute power (e.g., Joseph II of Austria, Frederick the Great).

  • French Revolution (1789-1799):

    • Causes: Financial crisis, Enlightenment ideas, social inequality (Estates System).

    • Phases:

      • Moderate Phase: Estates-General, Tennis Court Oath, Storming of the Bastille, Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, Constitutional Monarchy.

      • Radical Phase (Reign of Terror): Jacobins (Robespierre), Committee of Public Safety, de-Christianization, mass executions. Levee en masse (mass conscription).

      • Directory: Reactionary government, unstable.

  • Napoleonic Era (1799-1815):

    • Rise of Napoleon: Coup d'état (1799), crowned Emperor (1804).

    • Napoleonic Code: Legal reform, equality before law (for men), protection of property, end of feudalism.

    • Conquests: Expanded French Empire, Continental System (economic blockade against Britain).

    • Decline: Invasion of Russia (1812), peninsular war, Battle of Waterloo (1815).

    • Congress of Vienna (1814-1815): Metternich. Restored old order, balance of power, legitimacy of monarchs. Avoided another continent-wide war for decades.