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

9 dot points across 9 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Why did Britain emerge as the dominant commercial and naval power of the 18th century?

Topic 5.3 Britain's Ascendancy: the rise of Britain to commercial and naval dominance, the Anglo-French rivalry, the role of finance and constitutional government, and the costs of victory.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.3, explaining Britain's rise to commercial and naval dominance in the 18th century: its constitutional government and financial system, its victory over France in the contest for trade and empire, and the war debts that shaped the age of revolution.
11 min answer →

What pressures on 18th-century states set the stage for the age of revolution?

Topic 5.1 Contextualizing 18th-Century States: the global rivalries, fiscal strains, and Enlightenment ideas that destabilized the old order and led toward revolution at the end of the 18th century.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.1, setting the scene for Unit 5: the global commercial and colonial rivalries, the fiscal strains of costly warfare, and the spread of Enlightenment ideas that together destabilized the 18th-century state and opened the age of revolution.
10 min answer →

How do historians reason about what changed and what stayed the same across the revolutionary age?

Topic 5.9 Continuity and Change in the 18th Century: applying the historical reasoning skill of continuity and change over time to the revolutionary and Napoleonic era and the reaction that followed.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.9, the continuity-and-change reasoning skill applied to Unit 5: what the revolutionary and Napoleonic era changed (rights, nationalism, the end of feudal privilege) and what it left unchanged or restored (monarchy, the balance of power), and how to structure a continuity-and-change LEQ or DBQ.
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How did Napoleon rise to power, dominate Europe, and fall, and what did he preserve of the Revolution?

Topic 5.6 Napoleon's Rise, Dominance, and Defeat: Napoleon's seizure of power, his reforms and the Napoleonic Code, his conquest of Europe, and his defeat by coalition and nationalist reaction.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.6, covering Napoleon Bonaparte: his rise from general to emperor, his reforms (the Napoleonic Code, concordat, administration), his conquest and domination of Europe, and his defeat by coalition armies and the nationalist reaction he provoked.
12 min answer →

How did Romanticism challenge the Enlightenment's faith in reason?

Topic 5.8 Romanticism: the Romantic movement's reaction against the Enlightenment, its emphasis on emotion, nature, and the individual, and its influence on art, thought, and nationalism.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.8, covering Romanticism: its reaction against the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason, its celebration of emotion, nature, imagination, and the individual, and its influence on art, literature, and the rise of nationalism in the early 19th century.
10 min answer →

How did the Congress of Vienna try to restore order and contain revolution after Napoleon?

Topic 5.7 The Congress of Vienna: the conservative settlement of 1814 to 1815, the restoration of the balance of power and legitimate rulers, and the attempt to contain revolution and nationalism.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.7, covering the Congress of Vienna (1814 to 1815): the conservative principles of Metternich, the restoration of the balance of power and legitimate monarchs, the Concert of Europe, and the attempt to contain the revolutionary and nationalist forces unleashed since 1789.
11 min answer →

What caused the French Revolution, and how did it move from reform to radicalism?

Topic 5.4 The French Revolution: the causes of the Revolution, its liberal opening phase, the radical phase and the Terror, and the collapse of the old regime in France.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.4, covering the French Revolution: its causes (fiscal crisis, social inequality, Enlightenment ideas), the liberal phase of 1789 (the National Assembly, the Declaration of the Rights of Man), and the radical phase (the Republic, the Terror under the Jacobins).
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How did the French Revolution reshape France, Europe, and the wider world?

Topic 5.5 The French Revolution's Effects: the spread of revolutionary ideals, mass mobilization and nationalism, the role of women, and the Revolution's reach beyond France, including the Haitian Revolution.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.5, covering the effects of the French Revolution: the spread of liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty; mass conscription (levee en masse) and modern nationalism; debates over women's rights; and the Revolution's wider reach, including the Haitian Revolution.
12 min answer →

How did global trade reshape European economies and societies in the 18th century?

Topic 5.2 The Rise of Global Markets: the expansion of global trade, the Atlantic economy and the slave trade, the growth of a consumer society, and the competition that linked Europe to the wider world.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 5.2, covering the rise of global markets in the 18th century: the expansion of Atlantic and global trade, the plantation and slave economies, the consumer society it fed, and the commercial competition that linked European prosperity to the wider world.
11 min answer →