How did the Second World War become the deadliest conflict in history, and how did it reshape the world?
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.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 8.8 asks you to explain the Second World War in Europe: its causes, its course from Nazi aggression to Allied victory, its total and genocidal nature, and how it transformed Europe and the world. The College Board wants you to grasp both the war itself and the new world it created.
The causes of the war
The course of the war
Total war and Allied victory
The war was even more total than the first.
How the war transformed the world
Why it mattered
World War II is the climax of Unit 8 and one of the central events of all human history. It was the deadliest conflict ever fought, the setting of the Holocaust, and the end of Europe's global supremacy. Its outcome, the defeat of fascism and the rise of the American and Soviet superpowers, created the divided world of the Cold War and shaped the postwar reconstruction, decolonization, and integration of Europe in Unit 9. No event did more to make the modern world.
Try this
Q1. What event began the Second World War in Europe, and what turned the tide? [Recall]
- Cue. The German invasion of Poland in 1939 began the war; the tide turned when Germany overreached by invading the Soviet Union and provoking the United States, bringing overwhelming Allied resources against it.
Q2. Explain how the Second World War transformed Europe's place in the world. [Short explanation]
- Cue. It devastated and exhausted the continent, killed tens of millions, included the Holocaust, ended Europe's centuries of global dominance, and divided the world between two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, setting the stage for the Cold War.
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 2018 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE cause of World War II. Briefly explain ONE reason the Allies defeated Nazi Germany. Briefly explain ONE way the war transformed Europe.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: Nazi aggression and expansionism, enabled by the failure of appeasement and the grievances of Versailles and the Depression.
B. Why the Allies won: the combined power of the alliance, above all Soviet manpower, American industry, and overwhelming resources.
C. How it transformed Europe: it devastated the continent, killed tens of millions, ended Europe's global dominance, and left it divided between two superpowers.
Markers want a cause, a reason for Allied victory, and a transformation.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the most important reason the Allies defeated Nazi Germany in the period 1939 to 1945.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point causation rubric.
Thesis (1): "The Allies defeated Nazi Germany mainly because of the overwhelming combined resources of the alliance, above all Soviet manpower and American industrial production, against a Germany that overreached."
Contextualization (1): Nazi aggression and the failure of appeasement.
Evidence (2): the vast Soviet war effort on the Eastern Front; American industrial and military power; German strategic overreach.
Analysis (2): rank combined Allied resources while weighing German errors, then add complexity by noting the role of the Eastern Front in particular.
Related dot points
- 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.
- 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 8.9 The Holocaust: the Nazi genocide of European Jews and other targeted groups, its roots in fascist ideology and antisemitism, how it was carried out, and its place in modern history.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.9, on the Holocaust: how Nazi antisemitism and racial ideology escalated from persecution to genocide, the industrialized mass murder of six million Jews and millions of other victims, and the significance of the Holocaust as the central atrocity of the 20th century.
- 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 9.3 The Cold War: the ideological and geopolitical struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, the division of Europe, and the crises and competition that defined the conflict without direct war.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.3, on the Cold War: the ideological and geopolitical struggle between the capitalist West and the communist East, the division of Europe and Germany, the policy of containment, the arms race and rival alliances, and how the conflict shaped Europe without direct superpower war.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)