How do historians reason about the causes and effects of nationalism and imperialism?
Topic 7.9 Causation in 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments: applying the historical reasoning skill of causation to nationalism, unification, imperialism, and the new ideas of the period.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.9, the causation reasoning skill applied to Unit 7: distinguishing the causes and effects of nationalism, unification, and imperialism, weighing motives, and structuring a causation LEQ or DBQ on the later 19th century.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 7.9 is a reasoning-skill topic. The College Board is not adding new content; it is asking you to apply the historical reasoning skill of causation to Unit 7. You should be able to distinguish the causes and effects of nationalism, unification, and imperialism, weigh competing motives, and build a causation argument about the later 19th century.
What the skill means on the AP exam
The exam tests three reasoning skills: causation (anchored here), comparison, and continuity and change. A prompt that says "evaluate the most important cause of" or "evaluate the effect of" is signalling causation.
Causes and effects in Unit 7
Unit 7 hands you clear causal problems to reason about.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Nationalism and Realpolitik | Unification of Italy and Germany |
| Unification of Germany | Transformed balance of power, new rivalries |
| Industrial rivalry and nationalism | The New Imperialism |
| Imperial conquest | Exploitation, resistance, anti-colonial nationalism |
| Industrial confidence and science | The Age of Progress (and its doubts) |
Ranking, mechanism, and motive versus means
Adding complexity
Why it mattered
Causation is the reasoning skill most central to Unit 7, because the unit is a web of causes and effects: nationalism causing unification, rivalry causing imperialism, imperialism causing resistance and tension. Mastering the skill here, ranking causes, distinguishing long-term from immediate factors, separating motive from means, prepares you for the causation prompts that run through the whole course, including the parallel skill anchored in Unit 6.
Try this
Q1. Name the three historical reasoning skills tested on the AP exam. [Recall]
- Cue. Causation, comparison, and continuity and change over time.
Q2. Explain the difference between a motive and a means in explaining the New Imperialism. [Short explanation]
- Cue. The motives (nationalist rivalry, economic gain, Social Darwinist ideology) explain why Europeans sought empire, while the means (industrial technology such as steamships, the Maxim gun, and quinine) explain how rapid conquest became possible; a strong causation answer keeps the two distinct.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2020 (style)6 marksEvaluate the most important cause of the New Imperialism in the period c. 1870 to c. 1914.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point causation rubric.
Thesis (1): "The most important cause of the New Imperialism was great-power rivalry and nationalism, with economic motives and Social Darwinist ideology reinforcing it, all enabled by industrial technology."
Contextualization (1): nationalism, industrialization, and Social Darwinism.
Evidence (2): nationalist competition and the scramble; economic demand for materials and markets; the technologies of conquest.
Analysis (2): rank rivalry and nationalism while weighing economic and ideological motives, then add complexity by distinguishing motive from means.
AP 2021 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE cause of national unification. Briefly describe ONE effect of unification. Briefly explain ONE reason historians must distinguish long-term from immediate causes.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ) testing causation, 3 points.
A. Cause: the rise of nationalism and the leadership of states like Prussia and Piedmont using Realpolitik.
B. Effect: a transformed balance of power, with a strong unified Germany at the center of Europe.
C. Why distinguish them: long-term forces (nationalism) made unification possible, but immediate factors (Bismarck's wars) made it happen; conflating them weakens the argument.
The key is to keep causes and effects, and long-term and immediate factors, distinct.
Related dot points
- Topic 7.2 Nationalism: the idea of the nation, its romantic and liberal roots, and how it became the dominant political force of the 19th century, uniting some peoples and dividing others.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.2, on 19th-century nationalism: the idea that peoples sharing a language, culture, and history should form their own nation-state, its romantic and liberal roots, and how it both unified peoples (Italy, Germany) and threatened the multinational empires.
- Topic 7.3 National Unification and Diplomatic Tensions: the unification of Italy and Germany through Realpolitik and war, and the diplomatic tensions and shift in the balance of power that followed.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.3, on the unification of Italy and Germany: the role of Cavour, Garibaldi, and Bismarck, the use of Realpolitik and war to build nation-states, and how the rise of a unified Germany shifted the European balance of power and bred new diplomatic tensions.
- Topic 7.6 New Imperialism: Motivations and Methods: the economic, political, and ideological motives for the late 19th-century scramble for empire, and the technologies and methods that made rapid conquest possible.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.6, on the New Imperialism: the economic, political, nationalist, and ideological motives that drove the late 19th-century scramble for Africa and Asia, and the technologies and methods (steamships, the Maxim gun, quinine, the Berlin Conference) that made rapid European conquest possible.
- Topic 7.7 Imperialism's Global Effects: the effects of European imperialism on colonized peoples (exploitation, resistance, and disruption) and on Europe itself (rivalry, wealth, and new tensions).
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.7, on the global effects of imperialism: the exploitation, disruption, and resistance experienced by colonized peoples in Africa and Asia, the responses ranging from rebellion to nationalism, and the effects on Europe, including economic gain, great-power rivalry, and rising tensions.
- Topic 6.10 Causation in the Age of Industrialization: applying the historical reasoning skill of causation to the origins, spread, and effects of industrialization.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 6.10, the causation reasoning skill applied to Unit 6: distinguishing causes from effects, weighing the conditions behind industrialization against its social and political consequences, and structuring a causation LEQ or DBQ on the industrial age.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)