How do historians reason about what changed and what stayed the same across the contemporary era?
Topic 9.15 Continuity and Change in the 20th and 21st Centuries: applying the historical reasoning skill of continuity and change over time to the Cold War and contemporary era, and across the whole course.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.15, the continuity-and-change reasoning skill applied to Unit 9 and the whole course: what the contemporary era changed (the end of the Cold War, integration, prosperity, diversity) and what persisted (nationalism, great-power tension), and how to structure a continuity-and-change LEQ or DBQ across long spans.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 9.15 is a reasoning-skill topic, and the last in the course. The College Board is not adding new content; it is asking you to apply the historical reasoning skill of continuity and change over time to Unit 9 and, often, across the whole sweep of the course. You should be able to explain what the contemporary era changed and what persisted, and to weigh the two across long spans.
What the skill means on the AP exam
The exam tests three reasoning skills: causation, comparison, and continuity and change (anchored here). A prompt that says "evaluate the extent of change" is signalling this skill, and as the final topic, 9.15 often invites reasoning across the whole course.
Two columns: change and continuity
Unit 9 hands you a clear set of changes and continuities to weigh.
| Change | Continuity |
|---|---|
| End of the Cold War and communism | Nationalism persists and revives |
| European integration and the EU | Great-power and ideological tension endures |
| Welfare-state democracy and prosperity | The nation-state remains central |
| Greater diversity and secularization | Religious and cultural divisions linger |
| Globalization and interconnection | Backlash reasserts national identity |
Reaching a judgement
Reasoning across the whole course
Why it mattered
Continuity and change is one of the three reasoning skills the AP exam tests, and as the course's final topic, 9.15 is the place to consolidate it across the whole sweep of European history. Mastering it, weighing change against continuity, reaching a judgement, and reasoning across long spans, completes your command of the AP Euro reasoning skills, alongside the parallel continuity-and-change topics in Unit 5 and Unit 8.
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 why nationalism is a good example of continuity and change across the whole course. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Nationalism was born as a master political force in the 19th century (Unit 7), drove the catastrophes of the world wars (Unit 8), and revived in the contemporary era through the Yugoslav wars and the backlash against globalization (Unit 9); it changed form repeatedly but persisted throughout, showing both deep change and powerful continuity.
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 extent of change in European politics and society from the start to the end of the Cold War in the period c. 1945 to the present.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point continuity-and-change rubric.
Thesis (1): "The contemporary era transformed Europe, ending the Cold War division, building integration and prosperity, and embracing diversity, though older forces like nationalism and great-power tension persisted in new forms."
Contextualization (1): the devastated, divided Europe left by World War II.
Evidence (2): the Cold War and its end; integration, the welfare state, and prosperity; the persistence of nationalism and ethnic conflict.
Analysis (2): weigh the profound changes against the continuities, then add complexity by linking the persistence of nationalism to globalization's backlash.
AP 2021 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE major change of the contemporary era. Briefly describe ONE continuity across it. Briefly explain ONE reason the change proved lasting.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ) testing continuity and change, 3 points.
A. Change: the end of the Cold War division and the integration of Europe in the European Union.
B. Continuity: the persistence of nationalism, which revived with globalization and the end of communism.
C. Reason change endured: integration and prosperity bound Western Europe so tightly that the postwar order proved durable.
The key is to keep change and continuity distinct and then explain why change lasted.
Related dot points
- 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.
- Topic 9.7 The Fall of Communism: the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, its causes (economic failure, Gorbachev's reforms, popular movements), and the end of the Cold War.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.7, on the fall of communism: the economic stagnation and political repression that undermined the Soviet bloc, Gorbachev's reforms, the popular movements that swept eastern Europe in 1989, and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
- Topic 9.10 The European Union: the project of European integration from the postwar coal and steel community to the European Union, its causes, achievements, and tensions.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.10, on European integration and the European Union: how postwar Europe moved from war toward cooperation, starting with coal and steel and widening to a common market and then the European Union in 1993, its causes and achievements, and the tensions over sovereignty and identity that it raised.
- Topic 9.13 Globalization: the deepening economic, technological, and cultural interconnection of the contemporary world, its effects on Europe, and the tensions and reactions it provoked.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.13, on globalization: the deepening economic, technological, and cultural interconnection of the contemporary world, its transformation of European economies and societies, the role of migration and integration, and the tensions and backlash it provoked.
- Topic 8.11 Continuity and Change in an Age of Global Conflict: applying the historical reasoning skill of continuity and change over time to the era of the world wars, revolution, and totalitarianism.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.11, the continuity-and-change reasoning skill applied to Unit 8: what the age of the world wars and totalitarianism changed (Europe's global power, democracy, the role of the state) and what persisted, and how to structure a continuity-and-change LEQ or DBQ.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)