How did interwar Europe try, and fail, to keep the peace and sustain democracy?
Topic 8.7 Europe During the Interwar Period: the fragile politics, society, and culture of the 1920s and 1930s, the struggles of democracy, and the failure of efforts to keep the peace as aggression mounted.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.7, on interwar Europe: the disillusionment after World War I, the struggles of fragile democracies, the cultural ferment of the 1920s, the spread of authoritarianism in the 1930s, and the failure of appeasement and collective security to stop mounting aggression.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 8.7 asks you to explain Europe during the interwar period: the fragile politics, society, and culture of the 1920s and 1930s, the struggles of democracy, and the failure of efforts to keep the peace as aggression mounted. The College Board wants you to see how the years between the wars slid from hope toward catastrophe.
Disillusionment and cultural ferment
The struggles of democracy
The failure to keep the peace
The interwar order could not defend itself.
Why it mattered
The interwar period is the bridge from one world war to the next. It shows the fragility of democracy under the strain of economic crisis and extremism, and the failure of collective security and appeasement to restrain aggression. These failures led directly to the Second World War (Topic 8.8), and they taught lessons, about the dangers of economic instability, weak international institutions, and appeasing aggressors, that would shape the postwar order of Unit 9.
Try this
Q1. What was appeasement, and why did it fail? [Recall]
- Cue. The policy of making concessions to aggressive dictators to avoid war; it failed because each concession emboldened rather than satisfied the aggressors, who read it as weakness.
Q2. Explain why democracy struggled in interwar Europe. [Short explanation]
- Cue. The new democracies were fragile from the start, weakened by the grievances of Versailles and political division, and then the Great Depression struck a devastating blow, so through the 1930s democracy retreated as authoritarian and fascist regimes offered order and national revival where democracy seemed to offer only crisis.
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 2019 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE feature of interwar European society or culture. Briefly explain ONE reason democracy struggled between the wars. Briefly explain ONE reason efforts to keep the peace failed.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: disillusionment and experiment after the war, with new movements in art and thought and shifting social roles.
B. Why democracy struggled: economic crisis, the legacy of Versailles, and the appeal of extremism undermined fragile new democracies.
C. Why peace failed: a weak League and the policy of appeasement let aggressive dictators expand unchecked.
Markers want a cultural or social feature, a reason for democracy's weakness, and a reason peace failed.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the most important reason efforts to preserve peace failed in interwar Europe.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point causation rubric.
Thesis (1): "Efforts to preserve peace failed mainly because a weak League and the policy of appeasement let aggressive dictators expand unchecked, though the legacy of Versailles and the Depression also undermined stability."
Contextualization (1): the flawed Versailles settlement and the rise of fascism.
Evidence (2): the weakness of the League; appeasement of expansionist dictators; the destabilizing effects of the Depression.
Analysis (2): rank the weakness of collective security and appeasement while weighing Versailles and economic crisis, then add complexity by noting the war-weariness behind appeasement.
Related dot points
- Topic 8.4 Versailles Conference and Peace Settlement: the peace settlement after World War I, the Treaty of Versailles and the punishment of Germany, the redrawing of the map, and why the settlement bred future instability.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.4, on the post-World War I peace settlement: the aims of the victors at the Paris Peace Conference, the Treaty of Versailles and the harsh terms imposed on Germany, the new states created from fallen empires, the League of Nations, and why the settlement left lasting grievances.
- Topic 8.5 Global Economic Crisis: the Great Depression of the 1930s, its causes and effects in Europe, and how mass unemployment and economic collapse undermined faith in liberal democracy and capitalism.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.5, on the global economic crisis of the 1930s: the causes of the Great Depression, its devastating effects of mass unemployment and collapse in Europe, the varied government responses, and how the crisis undermined faith in liberal democracy and fuelled extremism.
- Topic 8.6 Fascism and Totalitarianism: the rise of fascist and totalitarian regimes between the wars (Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's USSR), their ideologies, and how they built total control over society.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.6, on fascism and totalitarianism: the rise of Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin, the ideology of fascism (ultranationalism, the leader, the enemy), and how totalitarian regimes used propaganda, terror, and the party to build total control over society.
- Topic 8.8 World War II: the causes, course, and total nature of the Second World War in Europe, from Nazi aggression to Allied victory, and its transformation of Europe and the world.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.8, on the Second World War in Europe: how Nazi aggression and the failure of appeasement led to war, the course from German conquest to Allied victory, the total and genocidal nature of the conflict, and how it left Europe devastated and divided between two superpowers.
- Topic 8.10 20th-Century Cultural, Intellectual, and Artistic Developments: how the new physics, psychology, and the trauma of war reshaped European thought and produced the experiments of modern art and literature.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.10, on early 20th-century thought and culture: how relativity and the new physics, Freudian psychology, and the trauma of the world wars overturned 19th-century certainties and produced the bold experiments of modern art, literature, and philosophy.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)