AP®︎ European History: Topic 1.10 Practice Test

Thematic Focus: Economic and Commercial DevelopmentsECD

Economic development, especially the development of capitalism, played an important role in Europe's history, often having significant social, political, and cultural effects.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.I.A

Innovations in banking and finance promoted the growth of urban financial centers and a money economy.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II

Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the seasons, the village, or the manor, although economic changes began to alter rural production and power.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II.A

Subsistence agriculture was the rule in most areas, with three-crop field rotation in the north and two-crop rotation in the Mediterranean; in many cases, farmers paid rent and labor services for their lands.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II.B

The price revolution contributed to the accumulation of capital and the expansion of the market economy through the commercialization of agriculture, which benefited large landowners in western Europe.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.III.A

Population recovered to its pre-Great Plague level in the 16th century, and continuing population pressures contributed to uneven price increases; agricultural commodities increased more sharply than wages, reducing living standards for some.

Thematic Focus: Social Organization and DevelopmentSCD

Economic, political, and cultural factors have influenced the form and status of family, class, and social groups in European history, which has, in turn, affected both the individual and society.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.I

Economic change produced new social patterns, while traditions of hierarchy and status continued.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.I.B

The growth of commerce produced a new economic elite, which related to traditional land-holding elites in different ways in Europe’s various geographic regions.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II.C

As western Europe moved toward a free peasantry and commercial agriculture, serfdom was codified in the east, where nobles continued to dominate economic life on large estates.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II.D

The attempts of landlords to increase their revenues by restricting or abolishing the traditional rights of peasants led to revolt.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.III.B

Migrants to the cities challenged the ability of merchant elites and craft guilds to govern, and strained resources.

Historical Developments: KC-1.4.IV.C

From the late 16th century on, Europeans responded to economic and environmental challenges, such as the Little Ice Age, by delaying marriage and childbearing. This European marriage pattern restrained population growth and ultimately improved the economic condition of families.