Christopher Columbus, journal of the first voyage (1492): "I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold." Which motive for exploration does the entry show?Christopher Columbus, extracts from the journal of the first voyage (1492), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 1.6
In The Praise of Folly (1509) Erasmus has Folly mock "a kind of people the world calls monks, cardinals, priests, and the most holy popes." What does the satire show about humanism north of the Alps?Desiderius Erasmus, The Praise of Folly (1509), translated by John Wilson, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 1.3
In Utopia (1516) Thomas More has a traveler say that English sheep "may be said now to devour men, and unpeople, not only villages, but towns." What change is he describing?Thomas More, Utopia (1516), book I, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 1.10
The Library of Congress calls the Gutenberg Bible, completed about 1455 at Mainz, "the first great book printed in Western Europe from movable metal type." What was the chief effect of the new press?Library of Congress, "The Gutenberg Bible"; course topic 1.4
Show all 63 questions (59 more)
Unit 1: Renaissance and Exploration, continued
Machiavelli wrote in The Prince that Ferdinand of Aragon had "risen, by fame and glory, from being an insignificant king to be the foremost king in Christendom." Ferdinand and Isabella count among the new monarchs because theyNiccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter XXI, translated by W. K. Marriott, Project Gutenberg; course topic 1.5
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince: "it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with." The advice is typical of Renaissance political thought in that itNiccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter XVII, translated by W. K. Marriott, Project Gutenberg; course topic 1.2
The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) set a line "three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands." What was the line for?Treaty between Spain and Portugal concluded at Tordesillas (June 7, 1494), The Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 1.7
Unit 2: Age of Reformation 7
Article XXXVII of the Thirty-nine Articles (1571): "The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England." The article shows that the English ReformationThe Thirty-nine Articles (1571), article XXXVII, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.3
The Council of Trent met between 1545 and 1563. What were its two main aims?Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912), New Advent, "Council of Trent"; course topic 2.5
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) confirmed the princes and states of the Holy Roman Empire in their "antient Rights" and the "free exercise of Territorial Right, as well Ecclesiastick, as Politick ..." What was the result for the empire?Treaty of Westphalia (Münster, October 24, 1648), article LXIV, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 2.4
Thesis 62 of Luther's Ninety-five Theses (1517): "The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God." What was Luther setting the gospel against?Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses (1517), theses 62 to 64, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.2
Which principle, tied to the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, is summed up as "religion goes with the land"?Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912), New Advent, "The Reformation"; course topic 2.4
Which religious order, approved by Pope Paul III in 1540, became known for its colleges and its missions?Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912), New Advent, "The Society of Jesus"; course topic 2.5
Witchcraft accusations in Europe peaked between about 1580 and 1650. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, who mostly conducted the witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries?Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912), New Advent, "Witchcraft"; course topic 2.6
Unit 3: Absolutism and Constitutionalism 7
An account of about 1730 says that Peter the Great made gentlemen and merchants "pay a tax of one hundred rubles a year if they wished to keep their beards." The measure was part of his effort toJean Rousset de Missy, Life of Peter the Great (c. 1730), in "Peter the Great and the Rise of Russia", Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 3.7
The Duc de Saint-Simon wrote that Louis XIV kept his court in the country, at Versailles, where "the movements and temporary absences of any of its members would be more easily noticed." What was the king's purpose?Duc de Saint-Simon, The Court of Louis XIV, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 3.7
English Bill of Rights (1689): "levying money for or to the use of the crown by pretense of prerogative, without grant of parliament ... is illegal." What principle does the clause set down?English Bill of Rights (1689), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 3.2
In October 1685 Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, under which French Protestants had worshipped since 1598. The act is best understood as part of his effort toLouis XIV, Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (October 22, 1685), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 3.7
Jean-Baptiste Colbert complained in 1664 that French manufactures were "almost entirely ruined": "The Dutch have inhibited them all and bring us these same manufactures." The complaint is evidence ofJean-Baptiste Colbert, Memorandum on Trade (1664), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 3.5
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651), on life without a common power: "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Written in the years of the English civil wars, the argument supportsThomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651), chapter XIII, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 3.2
Thomas Mun, England's Treasure by Forraign Trade (1664): the rule is "to sell more to strangers yearly than wee consume of theirs in value." Which economic doctrine does the rule express?Thomas Mun, England's Treasure by Forraign Trade (1664), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 3.4
Unit 4: Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments 7
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776): "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." Smith used the point to argue forAdam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776), book I, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.3
Catherine the Great's Instruction to her law commission (1767): "The Sovereign is absolute; for there is no other Authority but that which centers in his single Person." Set beside its borrowings from the philosophes, the line shows that enlightened rulersCatherine the Great, documents on Enlightenment and government, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.6
Francis Bacon, Novum Organum (1620): "Our only hope therefore lies in a true induction." What method was Bacon recommending?Francis Bacon, Novum Organum (1620), first book of aphorisms, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; date from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Francis Bacon"; course topic 4.2
Galileo, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (1615), repeats a churchman's remark that the Holy Ghost means "to teach us how one goes to heaven," and "not how heaven goes." What was Galileo arguing?Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany (1615), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.2
John Locke, Second Treatise of Government (1690): all men are naturally in a state of nature "till by their own consents they make themselves members of some politic society." On what does Locke rest political authority?John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1690), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.3
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu wrote from the Ottoman Empire in 1717 that smallpox "is here entirely harmless, by the invention of engrafting." What practice was she describing?Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, letter on smallpox in Turkey (1717), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.4
Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1748): "When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty." What did he propose?Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1748), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 4.3
Unit 5: Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th Century 7
Abbé Sieyès, 1789: "what is the Third Estate? Everything; but an everything shackled and oppressed." What was he demanding?Abbé Sieyès, What is the Third Estate? (1789), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; date from Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, George Mason University; course topic 5.4
By the Treaty of Paris of 1763, which ended the Seven Years' War, France gave up its territories in mainland North America. What did the settlement confirm?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Treaty of Paris, 1763"; course topic 5.3
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789), article 3: "The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation." Which older claim did the article reject?Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789), articles 1 and 3, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 5.4
Decree of the National Convention, August 1793: "The young men shall go to battle; the married men shall forge arms and transport provisions; the women shall make tents and clothing." What did the decree introduce?The Levée en Masse (August 23, 1793), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 5.4
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, writing of the English: "We wished at the period of the Revolution, and do now wish, to derive all we possess as an inheritance from our forefathers." On what ground did Burke oppose the French Revolution?Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 5.5
The Imperial Catechism of 1806 taught French children that Christians owe Napoleon "love, respect, obedience, fidelity, military service, and the taxes levied for the preservation and defense of the empire." What does it show about his rule?The Imperial Catechism (1806), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 5.6
Maximilien Robespierre, 1794: "virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless." What was he defending?Maximilien Robespierre, Justification of the Use of Terror (1794), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 5.4
Unit 6: Industrialization and Its Effects 7
Cloth workers of Leeds petitioned in 1786: "the Scribbling-Machines have thrown thousands of your petitioners out of employ, whereby they are brought into great distress." The petition is evidence ofLeeds Woolen Workers' Petition (1786), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 6.2
Emmeline Pankhurst told an American audience in 1913 that the British government had been brought to a choice in which "women are to have the vote." Which reform movement was she leading?Emmeline Pankhurst, "Militant Suffragist" (1913), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 6.8
Friedrich Engels described Manchester in 1844: off the main street lie courts of "filth and disgusting grime, the equal of which is not to be found." What consequence of industrialization was he recording?Friedrich Engels, Industrial Manchester (1844), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 6.4
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859): "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others." Which ideology does the principle express?John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859), chapter I, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; date from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "John Stuart Mill"; course topic 6.7
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto: "The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles." What did they expect to come of the struggle of their own time?Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, part I and closing lines, Project Gutenberg; course topic 6.7
The People's Petition of 1838 declared: "WE DEMAND UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE." Which other demand did the Chartists make in the same petition?The People's Petition (1838), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 6.7
Prince Metternich wrote in 1820 that the evil troubling Europe "may be described in one word": "presumption." As the leading minister of the Austrian Empire after 1815 he worked toPrince Klemens von Metternich, Political Confession of Faith (1820), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 6.5
Unit 7: 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments 7
Friedrich Nietzsche, parable of the madman: "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him." The passage belongs to a late 19th-century current of thought thatFriedrich Nietzsche, Parable of the Madman, from The Gay Science, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 7.5
Giuseppe Mazzini, 1852: "The question of nationality can only be resolved by destroying the treaties of 1815, and changing the map of Europe and its public Law." What was Mazzini calling for?Giuseppe Mazzini, On Nationality (1852), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 7.2
In the later 19th century some writers applied ideas such as "adaptation" and "survival of the fittest" to human societies. What is this line of thought called?Herbert Spencer, Progress: Its Law and Cause, editor's introduction, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 7.4
J. A. Hobson, Imperialism (1902): more capital exists "than can find remunerative investment. It is this economic condition of affairs that forms the taproot of Imperialism." According to Hobson, what drove the new imperialism?John A. Hobson, Imperialism (1902), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 7.7
Rudyard Kipling's poem of 1899 urged its readers to "Take up the White Man's burden" and "serve your captives' need." Which justification for empire does the poem express?Rudyard Kipling, The White Man's Burden (1899), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 7.6
Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State (1896): "The Governments of all countries scourged by Anti-Semitism will be keenly interested in assisting us to obtain the sovereignty we want." Herzl's proposal is known asTheodor Herzl, On the Jewish State (1896), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 7.2
Treaty between Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1879: should one empire "be attacked by Russia the High Contracting Parties are bound to come to the assistance one of the other with the whole war strength of their Empires." How did agreements like this shape Europe by 1914?The Dual Alliance between Austria-Hungary and Germany (October 7, 1879), article 1, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 7.3
Unit 8: 20th-Century Global Conflicts 7
Benito Mussolini, "What is Fascism" (1932): Fascism "believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace." Which feature of fascism does the statement show?Benito Mussolini, What is Fascism (1932), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 8.6
Joseph Stalin told party leaders in 1928 that the Soviet Union was "seriously backward technically and economically" and "behind Germany." Which policy followed from this argument?Joseph Stalin, Industrialization of the Country (1928), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 8.6
Munich Agreement, September 1938: Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy set terms "for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory." The agreement is the best-known example ofMunich Pact (September 29, 1938), The Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 8.7
The Nuremberg Laws, announced on 15 September 1935, were the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. What did they do?United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia, "The Nuremberg Race Laws"; course topic 8.9
Treaty of Versailles (1919), article 231: "Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage" suffered by the Allied governments. The article was the legal basis forTreaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919), part VIII, article 231, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 8.4
V. I. Lenin wrote to his party in 1917 that the crisis was not to be solved "by conferences or congresses (even congresses of Soviets), but exclusively by peoples, by the masses, by the struggle of the armed people." What was Lenin urging?V. I. Lenin, Call to Power (1917), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 8.3
Woodrow Wilson, Fourteen Points (1918), point XIV: "A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity." Which body grew from this proposal?President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (January 8, 1918), The Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 8.4
Unit 9: Cold War and Contemporary Europe 7
According to the European Union's own history, what was launched in 1993 with the "4 freedoms" of movement for people, goods, services and money?European Union, "History of the European Union 1990-99"; course topic 9.10
After Warsaw Pact forces ended the "Prague Spring" in Czechoslovakia in 1968, Soviet leaders claimed a right to act against "anti-socialist forces" in allied states. What is this policy called?The Brezhnev Doctrine (1968), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 9.4
The Beveridge Report (1942) called Want "one only of five giants on the road of reconstruction," the others being "Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness." What did the report help to found in Britain?Sir William Beveridge, Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 9.6
George Marshall, 5 June 1947: "Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos." What did the program he announced provide?George C. Marshall, speech at Harvard University (June 5, 1947), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 9.2
On 9 November 1989 crowds of Germans brought down what historians at the U.S. State Department call "the most visible symbol of division at the heart of Europe." What was it?Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, "Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, 1989"; course topic 9.7
The Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950 proposed that "Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority." Which organization did it lead to?European Union, "Schuman declaration May 1950"; course topic 9.10
Winston Churchill, 5 March 1946: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." What was he describing?Winston S. Churchill, "Iron Curtain Speech" (March 5, 1946), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 9.3
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the nine units of the College Board's AP European History Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf, and to the exam page https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-european-history/exam, both read 2026-10-07. Each fact was read on 2026-10-07 in the public page named under its question: the Internet History Sourcebooks Project at Fordham University, the Avalon Project at Yale Law School, Project Gutenberg, the Library of Congress, the Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the European Union and the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1912) at New Advent; three publication years come from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and George Mason University's Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents named under each question.
How it works
This AP Euro practice test has 63 questions of our own, seven for each unit of AP European History, most built on a short primary source. It is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.
Read the full guide
The real multiple-choice section
Section I, Part A of the AP European History Exam has 55 questions in 55 minutes and counts for 40% of the exam score, by the College Board's exam page, read October 7, 2026. Exam mode uses the same 55 and 55.
The nine units
The course runs from about 1450 to the present in nine units, each weighted 10 to 15% of the exam.
Where the answers come from
Each explanation names the public page its fact was read on: mostly the document itself, at Fordham's Internet History Sourcebooks, Yale's Avalon Project or Project Gutenberg.
Read the author and date of a source before the choices. Knowing the period often removes answers from the wrong century.
The real section asks three or four questions per source, including images, graphs and maps. Here each question carries its own short text.
Questions and answers
Are AP Euro practice tests like this one the real exam?
No. Every question was written for this site from the College Board's published course outline and a public document. None repeats or rewords a real or released exam question, and a result here does not forecast an AP score.
Is this AP Euro practice test multiple choice?
Yes, all 63 questions, each with four choices, like Section I, Part A. The real exam also has three short-answer questions, a document-based question and a long essay, which this page does not cover.
How long is the AP European History exam?
Section I gives 55 minutes for multiple choice and 40 for short answers. Section II gives 1 hour 40 minutes for the document-based question and the long essay. It is a fully digital exam, taken in the Bluebook app.
Can I take an AP Euro practice test online for free?
Yes. This page is free, needs no account and keeps your answers on your own device.
What units are on the AP Euro exam?
Nine: Renaissance and Exploration; Age of Reformation; Absolutism and Constitutionalism; Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments; Conflict, Crisis, and Reaction in the Late 18th Century; Industrialization and Its Effects; 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments; 20th-Century Global Conflicts; Cold War and Contemporary Europe.