AP European History (AP Euro): complete guide to the exam, units and skills

AP European History (AP Euro) is a College Board course that surveys European history from about 1450 to the present across nine chronological units. This page is the index for our AP Euro content: below is a map of the exam, the units and reasoning skills, and the study approach, with links to the dot-point pages we have published.

The exam at a glance

The AP European History exam is scored 1 to 5 and has two sections:

• Section I. 55 stimulus-based multiple choice questions (55 minutes) and 3 Short Answer Questions (SAQs) (40 minutes). This section is 60 percent of the score.
• Section II. One Document Based Question (DBQ) (60 minutes, including a 15-minute reading period) and one Long Essay Question (LEQ) (40 minutes). This section is 40 percent of the score.

The four question types

Each type is marked differently, so practice them separately.

1. Stimulus-based multiple choice. Read a source (text, image, map, or chart) and answer questions analyzing it.
2. Short Answer Question (SAQ). Three short, specific responses (parts A, B, and C). No thesis is required; markers reward concrete, accurate evidence.
3. Document Based Question (DBQ). Build an argument using seven provided documents plus your own outside evidence, scored on a 7-point rubric (thesis, contextualization, evidence, analysis, and complexity).
4. Long Essay Question (LEQ). Build an argument from your own knowledge, scored on a 6-point rubric.

The nine units

AP Euro runs chronologically through nine units:

• Unit 1: Renaissance and Exploration, c. 1450 to c. 1648.
• Unit 2: Age of Reformation, c. 1450 to c. 1648.
• Unit 3: Absolutism and Constitutionalism, c. 1648 to c. 1815.
• Unit 4: Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments, c. 1648 to c. 1815.
• Unit 5: Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th Century.
• Unit 6: Industrialization and Its Effects, c. 1815 to c. 1914.
• Unit 7: 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments.
• Unit 8: 20th-Century Global Conflicts.
• Unit 9: Cold War and Contemporary Europe.

The three reasoning skills

Every essay rewards one or more of the historical reasoning skills:

1. Causation. Explaining causes and effects and weighing their importance (see Unit 1 Topic 1.11 and Unit 2 Topic 2.8).
2. Comparison. Explaining similarities and differences and the reasons for them.
3. Continuity and change over time. Explaining what changed and what stayed the same.

How to study AP Euro

1. Learn each unit as a story anchored to the Course and Exam Description topics.
2. Layer in specific evidence: names, dates, events, and treaties turn a vague answer into a top-band one.
3. Drill the four question types separately against their rubrics.
4. Automate the rubric moves: thesis, contextualization, and a complexity statement.
5. Use released exams from AP Central to practice timing and wording.

Unit 1 (Renaissance and Exploration): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 1, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing Renaissance and Discovery
• Italian Renaissance
• Northern Renaissance
• Printing
• New Monarchies
• Technological Advances and the Age of Exploration
• Rivals on the World Stage
• Colonial Expansion and the Columbian Exchange
• The Slave Trade
• The Commercial Revolution
• Causation in the Renaissance and Age of Discovery

Unit 2 (Age of Reformation): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 2, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing 16th- and 17th-Century Challenges and Developments
• Luther and the Protestant Reformation
• Protestant Reform Continues
• Wars of Religion
• The Catholic Reformation
• 16th-Century Society and Politics
• Art of the 16th and 17th Centuries: Mannerism and Baroque
• Causation in the Age of Reformation and the Wars of Religion

Unit 3 (Absolutism and Constitutionalism): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 3, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing State Building, Expansion, and Conflict
• The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution
• Continuities and Changes to Economic Practice and Development
• Economic Development and Mercantilism
• The Dutch Golden Age
• Balance of Power
• Absolutist Approaches to Power
• Comparison in the Age of Absolutism and Constitutionalism

Unit 4 (Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 4, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
• The Scientific Revolution
• The Enlightenment
• 18th-Century Society and Demographics
• 18th-Century Culture and Arts
• Enlightened and Other Approaches to Power
• Causation in the Age of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment

Unit 5 (Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th Century): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 5, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing 18th-Century States
• The Rise of Global Markets
• Britain's Ascendancy
• The French Revolution
• The French Revolution's Effects
• Napoleon's Rise, Dominance, and Defeat
• The Congress of Vienna
• Romanticism
• Continuity and Change in the 18th Century

Unit 6 (Industrialization and Its Effects): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 6, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing Industrialization
• The Spread of Industry Throughout Europe
• Second-Wave Industrialization and Its Effects
• Social Effects of Industrialization
• The Concert of Europe and European Conservatism
• Reactions and Revolutions
• Ideologies of Change and Reform in the 19th Century
• 19th-Century Social Reform
• Institutional Responses and Reform
• Causation in the Age of Industrialization

Unit 7 (19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 7, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments
• Nationalism
• National Unification and Diplomatic Tensions
• Darwinism and Social Darwinism
• The Age of Progress and Modernity
• New Imperialism: Motivations and Methods
• Imperialism's Global Effects
• 19th-Century Culture and Arts
• Causation in 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments

Unit 8 (20th-Century Global Conflicts): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 8, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing 20th-Century Global Conflicts
• World War I
• The Russian Revolution and Its Effects
• Versailles Conference and Peace Settlement
• Global Economic Crisis
• Fascism and Totalitarianism
• Europe During the Interwar Period
• World War II
• The Holocaust
• 20th-Century Cultural, Intellectual, and Artistic Developments
• Continuity and Change in an Age of Global Conflict

Unit 9 (Cold War and Contemporary Europe): the dot points

Our complete coverage of Unit 9, one page per College Board topic:

• Contextualizing Cold War and Contemporary Europe
• Rebuilding Europe
• The Cold War
• Two Superpowers Emerge
• Postwar Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Atrocities
• Contemporary Western Democracies
• The Fall of Communism
• 20th-Century Feminism
• Decolonization
• The European Union
• Technology
• Globalization
• 20th- and 21st-Century Culture, Arts, and Demographic Trends
• Continuity and Change in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Deep-dive guides

• How to write the AP Euro DBQ and LEQ, a full walkthrough of the essay rubrics.

For the official Course and Exam Description

The College Board publishes the full AP European History Course and Exam Description, past free-response questions, and scoring guidelines at AP Central. Always study from the current CED and the College Board's own released exams, because the units, topics, and rubrics are set by the board.