easyeuro

[easyeuro]

Wow, i just found your know it all from European history. So interesting! I forgot most what I studied about it years ago and this handy overview brought it all back. Amazing, thank you! I'd like to get the printable versions of the know it alls. How can I get those? Thank you

Hi there! Everyone is welcome to print out and use all the printables here for free! (Just please don't use them in any for-purchase items or events -- I'm big on equitable educational opportunity and all that.) They are high-res and should print just fine on an 8x11 paper -- that said, if you have any trouble, let me know!

[easyeuro]

just want to thank you for all the effort you put into this blog!! not only did you help me throughout the school year, but I passed the AP test with a 3 so big thanks to you!

Congratulations! You should be so incredibly proud of your hard work and how well it paid off. Have a wonderful year!

[easyeuro]

I just came across this blog and I need some help!! My teacher never explained how to write an essay (we only briefly went over how to write an AP conclusion) and I have a test soon! What is the standard format?

Hello!

Thanks for your question! Writing an AP essay, happily enough, is actually a really simple process!

Okay, let’s begin with an overview of the general format:

- Your essay is going to be a five-paragraph paper. These five paragraphs will include an introduction, which includes your thesis (paragraph 1), three body paragraphs arguing three separate facets of your thesis — points 1, 2, and 3 (paragraphs 2, 3, and 4) and a conclusion (paragraph 5). 

- For more details about how to construct an essay in general terms, check out this post!  The post is primarily for SAQ/FRQs, but its principles apply to regular essays as well.

- For more details on how to craft a great thesis, check out this post! 

- If you would like personal essay tutoring from the History Geek, check out our Essay Prep page!

I hope this helps! Please let me know if I can provide anything else.

Best,

The History Geek

[easyeuro]

EASYEURO now offers ESSAY PREP

Hey, guys!

With the beginning of a new year, the History Geek is proud to announce that a new tool has now graced this blog — essay reading and editing. 

In addition to providing informational overviews, printable guides, FAQ, Q&A, test prep and AP Exam prep, this blog will now also provide essay tutoring to students who’d like personalized advising on historical expertise, points, evidence, grammar, structure and argumentation (for those of us who can’t essay to save our lives.) 

Go ahead and check out this link to see what it’s all about and get started!

Best,

The History Geek

[easyeuro]

Welcome, new followers! I’m excited to say this blog is back for another year of Kings, Queens, Witches and Karl Marx!

Some Updates

Hey guys! We’re approaching the beginning of the new school year, which means another year of Kings, Queens, Lords, Ladies, Fascists, Crazy Americans, countries that no longer exist, and Louis XIV’s daddy issues. Here’s a few tips on how the blog goes and how to use it for your Euro-centric purposes:

Questions are welcome, specific or general. Just go ahead and consult the oracle.

Multiple choice and FRQ practice are now available on the Oracle’s Treadmill page, and I’ll keep adding more as we near the exam date.

The posts are done chronologically, but since it’s Tumblr, they’re backwards. If you want to go from earliest to latest, check out the Oracle’s Archives, where everything is listed in order.

Key terms and important things are in bold on all the posts, and brief summaries are at the bottom for quick references.

A few printable guides have been made for various topics, and if you want more on other things, go ahead and consult the oracle!

Let me know if there’s anything else you need! Keep calm and do the reading.

“If you don’t read the textbook you will seriously have no idea what the difference is between Prussia and Russia. Is there a difference? Was it just a spelling thing? Was Archduke Franz Ferdinand shot?” - Socrates

[easyeuro]

Grand Opening of A New Tool from EasyEuro, and A Question

Hey guys!

Starting this coming school year, we’ll be offering The Oracle’s Essay Prep, in which this blog will personally and individually help you:

Plan your essay

Gather evidence

Form a coherent, complex thesis

Craft topic sentences

Organize the essay

Categorize information

Read first drafts

Edit drafts

Proofread for grammar, spelling and clarity

With expertise in European History, the blog will now be able to afford you aid with essays for class and practice for the AP test, to improve your writing skills, essay grades and your score on the AP exam. 

Would this service be helpful for students? The only goal is to offer you a way to improve your essays and get feedback from an expert without having to use an expensive resource or spend extra time going somewhere after class.

Thank you guys so so much!

Best,

The History Geek

[easyeuro]

Hey I'm taking AP Euro next year as my first AP class and I'm afraid that our teacher won't go as in depth as the test will. Since it will be my first ever AP test I wanna really make sure I'm prepared. Any advice?

Hello!

If it turns out that you, or anyone, has a poor instructor for AP European History, here’s what to do:

Read your textbook. Most teachers will generally use the textbook to teach the information anyway, but it’s a great way to double down. Even if your instructor doesn’t go in-depth, any approved textbook for AP Euro certainly will. Unlike your instructor’s teaching, they were written by experts and subject to accredited editors. Go chapter-by-chapter and follow the two pass system explained in this study post.

Get yourself a prep book. They’re brief but they cover the information you need to know in a way that’s easy to understand. I recommend Birdsall S. Viault’s Modern European History for content and the Princeton Prep for test prep.

Take good notes that you can study from, explained in this same post.

Use extra materials like this blog! At the Oracle’s Archives you can find substantive explanations for almost every event covered in a textbook. Feel free to consult the Oracle with any questions you have about the material.

Also, keep in mind that the AP Euro test is not as in-depth as you might think it is. The information is broad, but shallow - meaning you need to know a lot of events, people and culture, but you don’t really need to know any of it in any super in-depth manner. You could teach an entire two-semester college course on Henry VIII’s England, but AP Euro barely spends even a week or two on it. Don’t get too nervous about knowing everything super well - you’re taking an AP course, not getting a degree - despite the fear-mongering and “do-your-work” warnings that high school will feed you.

I hope this helps! Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do.

Best,

The History Geek

[easyeuro]

Hey there! I just got back from my test and I wanted to say thank you SO MUCH for all of the hard work and time you put into this blog. Your explanations of things are so helpful (and funny, some of them made me laugh so hard.) Anyways, you are an awesome and wonderful person and thank you for running such a helpful, hilarious blog about all of the weird stuff people did hundreds of years ago <3

Thank you so much!

[easyeuro]

CONGRATULATIONS!

Great job, everyone! Congrats - you have successfully completed European History! IT’S OVER AND YOU’RE DONE

First, I’d like to commend you all on your hard work and dedication, and let you know what an amazing pleasure it has been to work with you all this year. You have all achieved something very difficult and very important, and I am incredibly honored to have helped in any way.

You signed up for this class, you got into it, you stuck with it, you did the work and pushed through, and now, it will pay off. The amount of information you learned and the work you put into it were both huge and you stuck with it. You should be proud of yourself, as should everyone else you know. You have accomplished something great; I have nothing but the sincerest respect for each and every one of you.

Anyway, even with all of the Ferdinands and Fredericks out of the way, I still happen to have a little bit of valuable information for you all:

Here’s how to access your scores when they become available in July:

-Make a College Board account

-Enter your AP Number from your 2015 AP Number Card, attached to your AP Student Pack.

-Go to apscore.org to get your scores in July.

Remember, the AP Number is the same number on the stickers in your student pack. I would also advise, if you have the number with you now, type your AP Number into a word document and save it into your computer.

-If you lost your AP Number Card, find your student pack! If you cannot locate either, contact your school immediately, as some schools may keep records with your AP Numbers.

Another note:

You all have done fabulously this year, but since AP Euro isn’t being obliterated from the known universe after you all leave for summer break, we’ll have another batch of kids who might be able to use this blog as a study tool. If this helped you out, please please please tell anyone you might know who’s taking this next year. I don’t advertise the blog, and the AP Euro tag is pretty small, so the History Geek relies only on word of mouth.

In addition, if there are any concerns you might have about scores, go ahead and consult the oracle. 

It has been a pleasure to have worked with you all. My warmest regards,

-The History Geek

[easyeuro]

TEST DATE: TOMORROW.

GO TO BED AND GOOD LUCK!

I'm Going To Be Your Mom for Five Seconds

GO TO BED

WHEN YOU WAKE UP:

EAT PROTEIN

EAT SUGAR THAT WON’T MAKE YOU CRASH (NO CANDY)

BRING A SNACK

BRING TO THE TEST:

A LOT OF #2 PENCILS

A BIG ERASER

A SMALLER AND LESS ASSUMING ERASER

EARPLUGS (trust me it’s amazing how much they help)

THREE OR FOUR BALLPOINT PENS WITH DARK BLUE OR BLACK INK

YOUR AP BOOKLET (unless your school collected it, in which case they’ll have it for you)

A SCHOOL ID OR STATE ID, ANYTHING WITH YOUR NAME AND A PICTURE (a year ago, a kid brought a report card and they let him in. They just need proof that you’re you.)

A SNACK THAT HAS PROTEIN AND SUGAR

CONFIDENCE

STYLE

You’re all going to ACE THIS THING. Now good luck, and for the last time,

GO TO BED.

-Pesky!Oracle

[easyeuro]

Fourth in the KNOW-IT-ALL series! Leaders of the English Civil War! Copyright © EasyEuro 2016.

Made in high-res, perfect to print for your binder, notebook, desk, etc. Enjoy, guys!

[easyeuro]

hello! first of all I just wanted to thank you for all your efforts and work to help others. I was wondering if you had any MC strategy for the redesigned exam? I've been doing practice questions but I can never get more than 60% right.

Hello @sixfeetunder----thestars!

So your multiple choice section is a bit trickier than students from last year or the year before - this time around, you’re not only being asked to remember historical information, but you also need to analyze graphs, charts, and primary sources at the same time.

Here is my advice: (I know I do everything in bullet lists these days but I hope it’s more brief and helpful!)

Pay attention to what the chart/graph/account is talking about. If it seems straightforward, it is. Look at key clues that show you what the point is.

If it’s a primary source, look at the speaker’s nationality, time period, class, race, vocation if it is provided, and religion. These will give you clues as to how their bias affects what they’re describing or why they might be describing it.

Annotate primary sources. Underline, circle peculiar words, make notes of what event(s) they’re describing and how they’re describing it.

If it’s a graph, take the time to read it correctly. They’ll tell you this in the math and science AP’s, but if you misread the graph, you just gave up every question about it - even if its subject is your wheelhouse.

If it’s a map, pay particular attention to the era. I promise they’re about to give you maps of Poland after partitions and Germany after major wars like the Thirty Year’s War and World War I/II, so know what changed.

If it’s art, look at the era/style. Is there a political or social point? Are they making a statement about the regime, the society, gender, class?

Remember, every single multiple choice question is going to relate to a) one of the course themes and b) one of the skills you have to learn. Look at the questions like a test writer - what’s the point? What are you trying to figure out?

Because all of the questions relate to the graphic, you only have one minute per question, which is more than enough. Trust me, you don’t need that much time, because the questions themselves will be short and all pertaining to the same topic. Spend your time on the material provided, don’t stress about the questions themselves.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you need anything else.

Best,

The Oracle

[easyeuro]

Which major political/economic/social/religious events of each century should we know?

Hello!

I don’t want to scare anyone right before the test, but to be honest, I am very tempted to simply answer “all of them.” European History is incredibly dense, complex and long, and the small amount of events covered in AP European History do not even compare to the amount that actually occurred and were important.

That said, in terms of brevity, the course already ignores plenty of events. If you want to pare that down even further, look to a prep book. Those will take the textbook/course events and bring it down to only the most important. That’s really the best you can do.

I could never simply answer this question with a ten-to-twelve point bullet list of the “important” events, mostly because I cannot divine what will be on the test and as you know, anything in that textbook is fair game.

So, disclaimers aside, here’s my advice:

POLITICS: Pay attention to the balance of power and how wars change it. Make sure you know which dynasty was where and when (check out this printable guide on that) and you know anchor dates for the major political events (like those on this guide) like, for instance, Congress of Vienna - 1815. Pay attention to major political changes, like revolution in France or the rapid change from imperial Russia to communist USSR.

SOCIAL: Look at art, emergence of the middle class and rights for women. Here’s our post on art, the middle class generally starts to emerge in Western Europe in the 18th century and balloons during the Industrial Revolution, and rights for women start happening during Enlightenment days and continue into suffrage during WWI/WWII.

RELIGIOUS: Not to be too callous, but honestly just know the Great Schism and the Reformation/Counter-reformation and you’re fine. There might be one or two questions on weird English protestant religions like Methodism or Puritanism, but I wouldn’t worry about it.

I hope this helps! Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do.

Best,

The History Geek

[easyeuro]

Hi! Do you have any tips for utilizing the last few days of studying time? My test is on Friday and I'm a homeschooled student, so I've been teaching myself all year and I just feel a little unprepared. I've mostly been reading a review book and writing down notes because that helps me remember things, but I'd just appreciate any sort of advice, if you have any. Thanks!

Hello!

First, kudos to you for preparing for this test on your own. Many many students have all the help they could possibly receive from public or private school instructors, tutors, prep books, practice tests, this blog and the lot and still go into the test feeling incredibly nervous and under-prepared.

As far as studying right before the test, I actually already received a question about that, and you can find our answer right here!

For your specific situation, and for those followers who might also be in your same predicament, here’s my advice:

First, take advantage of all the materials on the blog! Part of what this blog is meant to offer is an interactive complement to dense and stagnant materials, like twenty-pound textbooks and prep books that, while nice and brief, can’t exactly sit up and answer your specific questions.

Our best supplements for students without instructors/class are our one-page printable guides, the Oracle’s Treadmill (which includes practice tests, quizzes, and how-to’s for the multiple choice and free-response sections) this post on last-minute FRQ/DBQ prep, this (very long) post on how to most effectively take notes/cram from textbooks and prep books (and how to do pretty much everything else - this post will probably help you the most in your position.)

Good luck! Please let me know if you need any help with anything, want clarification on anything in your prep/textbook, or really anything else.

Best,

The History Geek

[easyeuro]

What were the main events of WW1?

Hello! Here’s WWI in a nutshell:

Causes: militarism, cross-continental alliances, imperialism in Africa, nationalism at home.

There’s another crisis in the Balkans, and tensions are running high among the different Slavic groups. A Bosnian extremist, Gavrilo Princip, shot the Archduke Franz Ferdinand while working for the Serbian terrorist organization Black Hand. Austria wants to declare war on Serbia.

Austria asks Germany for backup. Germany says do whatever the fuck you want, here’s a blank check, meaning no matter how much shit you fuck up, we’ll help you.

Austria waits until the French president is out of Russia (he was visiting on diplomatic terms, but you don’t want the guy parked on your Western border suddenly teaming up with the guy parked on your Eastern border. Remember, communication took a while back then - if the French president is all the way in France, chances are low that they’ll be able to respond in time.) and then they send an ultimatum to Serbia.

Their demands are too extreme and Serbia is forced to reject them.

Austria declares war on Serbia and hopes to God they are declaring war only on Serbia.

Nicholas II is like wow, Russians are Slavic, and wow, Serbs are Slavic, so wow, maybe I should help. Can I mobilize just half of my army?

Generals say no, it’s all or nothing.

Nick says okay let’s just send our entire military to protect this tiny Slavic nation.

Germany is like wow okay stop in the next 12 hours or face Premium Ass Kicking™

The Russians don’t.

War

Germany knows that France and Russia are buds and assumes France is probably mobilizing at this point so they come up with the Schlieffen Plan, that diverts more troops to attacking France than fighting off the Russians.

Germany’s like let’s just redeploy to the other side once we’re done kicking French ass

Germany needs to march through Belgium

“Let us march, Belgium”

“But I’m supposed to be neutral-”

“LET US MARCH, BELGIUM”

Britain is sitting quietly, then they see that someone has marched through Belgium.

NO BITCH

August 4th, Britain goes to war on the side of France and Russia.

The French and Germans have machine guns and shovels. Trench warfare. Everyone’s getting mowed down. It’s hideous. Probably most bloody war in European history is the Western front. Don’t read books about it. They’re more depressing than Marley & Me. And that was a fucking depressing movie.

Germany and Austria beat the living shit out of Russia until it almost can’t fight anymore because of the number of casualties they suffered.

Russia runs away but Serbia’s ass is thoroughly destroyed.

Battle of Verdun on the Western front, 600k killed.

Germans redirect focus to Western front.

Ugly, ugly war

Ugly

British colonizers in Arabia convince everyone to revolt against the Ottomans, so on a side note, the Ottoman empire dies. ottomans like

Battles in Africa because of colonization, wonderful

Japan joins so that it can have England and France’s stuff in East Asia?? okay

So the British blockade on Germany stops the Americans from shipping & selling shit which, as we all know, is all the US likes to do, so now they’re pissed too because they want to sell their shit

The Germans start submarine warfare thinking the Americans won’t give a shit

The Americans are angry about not selling shit and also they are friends with Britain, so they declare war in 1917

TOTAL WAR

Britain is starting to sweat, Ministry of Munitions under David Lloyd George mobilizes like everything to make sure they still have artillery

France puts Georges Clemenceau up to bat.

German ass begins to get kicked

All the men are fighting and dying so now women get to do stuff

America - 19th amendment, thanks ladies

Nicholas II starts having internal problems, March Revolution and April Theses

Things really go to shit

Bolshevik Revolution

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany

Russian Civil War

Armistice in 1918 on the Western front

Treaty of Versailles signed

League of Nations

I hope this helps! Let me know if you need anything else.

Best,

The History Geek

[easyeuro]

hi!! please explain when the British parliament really took power and where the Tories, Whigs and etc came about?? it feels like one moment they weren't there and then appeared out of nowhere. thanks!

Hello!

The British parliament became the dominant governing power after the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. Check out our post on the war, the King, and Parliament.

The two factions that later were known as the Tories and Whigs arose during the Civil War and later formed into established parties. During the 18th century, the Tories came to be known as the party that supported Anglicanism, traditional values and conservatism. The Whigs supported the financial desires of the aristocratic and upper-middle classes and were less concerned with ideology, like patriotism or Anglicanism.

I hope this helps! Please let me know if there’s anything more I can do.

Best,

The Oracle

[easyeuro]

Hello! I'm feeling overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information and I feel like I won't be able to remember what happened when, and I was hoping you could give me some advice on how to keep all my information in order? Thank you😊

Hello!

Here’s a way to organize all of the information of European History into understandable bits:

Organize by era/time period. Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Absolutism, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, etc.

Within each era, know one or two anchor dates. For instance, Reformation - Peace of Augsburg 1555, Peace of Westphalia 1648.

Use those anchor dates to logically center whatever event you’re thinking of. If you know that the French Revolution began in 1789 and the Congress of Vienna was in 1815, then you know Napoleon I operated between those dates - even if you couldn’t remember the time period just by thinking to yourself, “hmm, Napoleon…” your anchor dates can still save you.

Art, surprisingly enough, can serve as a great indicator of era. For instance, Rococo is pink and frilly and wealthy - just like the aristocracy of pre-Revolutionary France. On the other hand, Neoclassicism was used to support the values of the Revolution, so that would be Revolutionary or post-Revolutionary France. Therefore, if something’s going down during the Rococo period, you know it’s before 1789.

The best way to organize anything is simply to categorize, and it’s a skill the human brain is made for. Take advantage of evolutionary gifts! Make sections and lists!

Best,

The History Geek