AP European History — Unit 5: Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th and 19th Centuries (c.1648–1914)
Practice questions, answers, and key terms for Unit 5, aligned to the College Board CED.
Exam weighting: Unit 5 is 15% of the AP European History exam.
What AP European History Unit 5 covers
The College Board Course and Exam Description breaks Unit 5 into 9 topics:
- 5.1 Contextualizing 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments
- 5.2 The French Revolution
- 5.3 Napoleon's Rise
- Dominance
- and Defeat
- 5.4 The Congress of Vienna
- 5.5 The Concert of Europe and European Nationalism
- 5.6 Romanticism
- 5.7 Causation in 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments
AP European History Unit 5 practice questions
After 1648, European states stop fighting over religion almost entirely. So what keeps them at war for the next 150 years?
Maintaining the balance of power among states. It prevented any single state from growing dominant enough to threaten the others.
A diplomat insists no nation should ever become too strong — even an enemy deserves to survive a war intact. What principle is driving this?
The balance of power — no single state may dominate the rest. European stability depends on keeping every state roughly even.
Portugal got to the Indian Ocean spice trade first and dominated it for a century. Trace what knocks them out of the top spot.
Dutch, English, and French joint-stock companies muscled in. The Dutch VOC seized Portuguese holdings in the East Indies in the 1600s.
Investors buy shares in a risky overseas venture, spreading both the cost and the losses across hundreds of people. What financial innovation is this — and which company made it famous?
The joint-stock company, made famous by the VOC. The Dutch East India Company raised capital by selling shares to private investors.
The Portuguese ran trading posts and treated locals as business partners. The Dutch took the same Asian ports and did the opposite. What changed — and where did each end up dominant?
The Dutch seized the East Indies; the British took India. They subjugated locals and seized direct control, not trading as partners.
Britain passes a law forcing all goods bound for its colonies onto British ships only. Which rival's Atlantic trade dominance does this quietly destroy?
The Navigation Acts broke Dutch Atlantic dominance fast. They guaranteed British merchants a shipping monopoly.
Two European powers fight on three continents at once — Europe, India, and North America. Which conflict earns the label 'first world war,' and who comes out on top?
The Seven Years' War (1756–63), won by Britain. This global 'first world war' left Britain supplanting France as the greatest power.
In the North American theater of the Seven Years' War, Native nations side with France, not Britain. What calculation drives that choice?
French traders wanted trade; settlers wanted Native land. Britain's endless hunger for land made it the bigger danger to Native nations.
+ 42 more AP European History cards in the app.
Key terms in Unit 5
These 12 terms show up in the Unit 5 cards. Each one links to its definition in the AP European History key-term reference.
Drill all of Unit 5 with spaced repetition
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