<p>I'm self-studying AP European History this year, and as I start reading through MEH, I'm beginning to wonder if we needed to memorize any specific dates. Like the years a king was king, the year a particular war started, etc.</p>
<p>Like should we know that Pope XYZ did Q in year 1215? Or does the APEH test (which I hear is very detailed) really only fuss on specific names of people and places? I would think at the least, as with any AP history test, you should kind of know generally when something happened, like in the Middle Ages or in some early BCE antiquity.</p>
<p>You will need to know specific dates of major events starting with the Italian Renaissance (1450). You do not need to know anything before it, nor do you need to know what years a king was a king (though it doesn’t hurt).</p>
<p>What makes an event major enough that we need to know it? Events like WWI or WWII are one thing, but there are countless other events that all would have equal significance.</p>
<p>Knowing ‘circa dates’ is most useful. You don’t have to know the Thirty Years’ war was 1618-1648, but you should know it was early-mid 17th century. Don’t stress over years - just try to place things in the correct century + early/mid/late. Try to be as specific as you can in essays, but you won’t lose much from saying mid-18th century instead of 1756.</p>
<p>One thing that I am reminded of that could cause trouble though:
When essays give you a time frame. I can’t imagine them asking anything too weird, but if you can recognize the dates - you should be fine.</p>
<p>Also, knowing the chronological order of rules is quite useful. Especially the Russian and English monarchs.</p>
<p>You will need a good sense of order, to say the least (i.e. Italian Renaissance–>Northern Renaissance–>Sci Rev–>Enlightenment–>Fr Rev–>Ind Rev–>Romanticism–>WWI–>WWII–>Cold War). Of course, a lot happened within those times, but if you know that order I just gave you (hopefully I didn’t screw up somewhere) and which period each specific event falls under (like the Crimean War was 1850ish, so Romanticism), you should be OK.</p>