Western Civilization II: 1648 to the Present

Exam type:
CLEP: 120 multiple choice questions in 90 minutes
Typical credits: 3 units
GRE: 220 multiple choice questions
Typical credit: 12 - 18 units

For more details about the GRE click here.

The material covered in the CLEP exam in Western Civilization II (which is reflected in the lecture notes and study guide which follow) is generally considered equivalent to a one semester lower division college course.

The CLEP Exam

NOTE: There is at least one on-line course and many readings that appear to relate directly to the CLEP Exam. I have drawn from several of these as well as some guest lectures. Faculty home pages can be found at the end of this page.
(I didn't promise you a rose garden. See disclaimer.)

The topics in bold face are those The College Board indicates will be found on the exams. Percentages given after the main topic headings are only approximate. Always contact The College Board for latest information.

Getting Started

Here is one way that you can begin. (If you haven't read a general step-by-step guide, this might be a good time. See also How to Budget Your Time)

This is one course where a good encyclopedia can be your best friend. To help orient yourself to the subject start by reading quickly through the topics in the study guide below. Then read the history section of Europe in the encyclopedia though events from 1648. Note cross references as you will want to read these just before you read the lectures at each study session.

In addition to cross references, you will also find a history section under each country (England, France, Germany, Italy, etc.) And you will want to incorporate these as part of your study sessions. You will also want to read the biographies of the major historical figures as they appear.

Using the Free University Project Study Guide

We are fortunate to have an excellent series of lectures from Prof. Gerhard Rempel (Rempel) of Western New England College which form the core of this study guide. For purposes of the examination the subject matter is divided into 12 major sections of unequal length. You can probable best pace yourself by devoting the equivalent of two 1-1/2 hour study sessions per lecture.

A series that contains keywords, suggested study question, an occasional quiz, and good reference links comes from Dr. Tom Costa -- currently unavailable of Clinch Valley College .Professor Paul Brians (Brians) of Washington State University, has a extensive number of lectures and annotated readings as part of a course in World Civilizations. While many of these readings might be considered more in the area of humanities, and cover broader geographic areas, they provide excellent enrichment for this Western Civilization course

Plan of Action

The Study Guide is divided into six major topic areas.

Absolutism and Constitutionalism, 1648-1715

Competition for empire and economic expansion

The scientific view of the world

Enlightenment and nlightened despotism

The French Revolution and Napoleonic Europe

The Industrial Revolution

Political developments, 1815-1848

Politics & diplomacy in the Age of Nationalism, 1850-1914

Economy, culture, and imperialism, 1850-1914

The First World War, the Russian Revolution, and postwar Europe, 1914-1924

Europe between the wars

The Second World War and contemporary Europe

Relevant lectures, grouped by professor, follow each topic Depending upon your own method of study you can either read one group of lectures in sequence, or alternate among the groups, reading lectures by subtopic.

For each lecture:
A) Read the lecture. In order to stay focused, only follow those links within the lectures that seem to be directly related to the subject matter at hand. Take your own notes. If you print out the material, highlight key definitions and concepts for review. Add your own marginal notes.

B) Read corresponding material in a textbook of your choice. Look up key words in an encyclopedia.

C) Follow additional links covering the same time period.

D) Take any on-line quizzes and/or write a draft response to suggested essay questions

Periodically take time to review; do suggested exercises; take a practice CLEP exam and review areas of weakness.

Remember to keep your journal up to date.

Introduction

Absolutism and Constitutionalism, 1648-1715 (7-9%)

Dutch Republic

English Revolution

France of Louis XIV

Formation of Austria and Prussia

Westernization of Russia

Lectures:

• 05. Louis XIV (Rempel)
  
• 06. Oliver Cromwell (Rempel)
  
• 07. Rise of Prussia (Rempel)
  
• 08. Peter's Russia (Rempel)
  
• The Modern State (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Substitute the following from The History Guide by Steven Kreis:
Lectures on Modern European History

Lecture 1: Modern European Intellectual History: An Introduction
Lecture 2: The Medieval World View (1)
Lecture 3: The Medieval World View (2)
Lecture 4: The Medieval Synthesis and the Renaissance Discovery of Man
Lecture 5: The Medieval Synthesis Under Attack: Savonarola and the Protestant Reformation
Lecture 6: The Medieval Synthesis and the Secularization of Human Knowledge: The Scientific Revolution, 1543-1642 (1)
Lecture 7: The Medieval Synthesis and the Secularization of Human Knowledge: The Scientific Revolution, 1642-1730 (2)

Online Resources:

Reading About the World, Vol. 2 (Brians)

Competition for empire and economic expansion ( 4-6%)

Global economy of 18th Century

Western Europe after Utrecht 1713-1740

Economic and demographic change in the 18th Century

Lectures:

• 09. Scientific Revolution (Rempel)
  

The scientific view of the world (5-7%)

Bacon, Descartes, and Newton

New knowledge about the individual and society

Political theory

Lectures:

• The Scientific Revolution (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Enlightenment and enlightened despotism (7-9%)

The Philosphes

Enlightened despotism

Partitions of Poland

The British Reform Movement

Lectures:

• 10. Enlightenment (Rempel)
  
• The Enlightenment (Costa -- currently unavailable)
• 11. Mercantilism (Rempel)
  
• 12. Colonial Empires (Rempel)
  
• 13. Peasants / Aristocrats (Rempel)
  
• 14. 18th C. Towns (Rempel)
  
• The Expansion of the West (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Substitute the following from The History Guide by Steven Kreis:
Lectures on Modern European History

Lecture 8: The New Intellectual Order: Man, Nature and Society
Lecture 9: The Triumph of Science and the Heavenly City of the 18th Century Philosophe
Lecture 10: The Vision of Human Progress: Vico, Gibbon and Condorcet

The French Revolution and Napoleonic Europe (10-12%)

Revolution of 1789

Revolution and Europe

Terror

Constitutional Republic

Consulate

French Empire

Continental system

Overthrow of Napoleon

Lectures:

• 15. French Rev. I (Rempel)
  
• 16. French Rev. II (Rempel)
  
• 17. French Rev. Chron (Rempel)
  
• 18. Napoleonic Rev. (Rempel)
  
• The American and French Revolutions (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Substitute the following from The History Guide by Steven Kreis:
Lectures on Modern European History

Lecture 11: The Origins of the French Revolution
Lecture 12: The French Revolution: The Moderate Stage, 1789-1792
Lecture 13: The French Revolution: The Radical Stage, 1792-1794
Lecture 14: The Language of Politics: England and the French Revolution
Lecture 15: Europe and the Superior Being: Napoleon
Lecture 16: The Romantic Critique of the Enlightenment
Lecture 17: The French Revolution and the Socialist Tradition: Early French Communists (1)
Lecture 18: The French Revolution and the Socialist Tradition: English Democratic Socialists (2)

The Industrial Revolution (7-9%)

Causes of the Industrial Revolution

Impact of industrialization on the working and middle classes

The advent of the "isms"

Lectures:

• 19. Industrial Revolution (Rempel)
  
• 20. Marx and History (Rempel)
  
• Science and Industry in the 19th Century (Costa -- currently unavailable)
• Political Ideologies in the 19th Century (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Online Readings:

Reading About the World, Vol. 2 (Brians)

Political developments, 1815-1848 (6-8%)

Conservative politics

Liberalism

Nationalism

Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

Lectures:

• 21. 1848 Revolution (Rempel)
  

Politics & diplomacy in the Age of Nationalism, 1850-1914 (9%)

Second French Empire, 1852-1914

Uification of Italy

Founding of the German Empire

Austria-Hungary

Russia

Third French Republic

Socialism and labor unions

Waning of classical liberalism

European diplomacy, 1871-1900

Lectures:

• 22. Victoria's London (Rempel)
  
• 23. Dickens's London (Rempel)
  
• 24. German Unification (Rempel)
  
• Late 19th Century Thought and Culture (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Substitute the following from The History Guide by Steven Kreis:
Lectures on Modern European History

Lecture 21: The Age of Ideologies: General Introduction (1)
Lecture 22: The Age of Ideologies: Reflections on Karl Marx (2)
Lecture 23: The Age of Ideologies: The World of Auguste Comte (3)
Lecture 24: The Age of Ideologies: Charles Darwin and Evolutionary Theory (4)
Lecture 25: The Revolt Against the Western Intellectual Tradition: Friedrich Nietzsche and the Birth of Modernism

Economy, culture, and imperialism, 1850-1914 (7-9%)

Demography

World economy of the nineteenth century

Science, philosophy, and the arts

Imperialism in Africa and Asia

Russo-Japanese War

Balkan Wars

Lectures

• 25. Revolution of 1905 (25)
  
• 26. China and West (Rempel)
  
• 27. New Imperialism (Rempel)
  
• Imperialism (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Substitute the following from The History Guide by Steven Kreis:
Lectures on 20th Century Europe

Lecture 1: Random Thoughts on the Intellectual History of Modern Europe
Lecture 2: Nietzsche, Freud and the Thrust Toward Modernism Part 1
Lecture 3: Nietzsche, Freud and the Thrust Toward Modernism Part 2

The First World War, the Russian Revolution, and postwar Europe, 1914-1924 (10-12%)

Causes of the First World War

Economic and social impact of the war

Peace of Paris, 1919

Revolution of 1917

Impact of the Russian Revolution on Europe

Lectures:

• 28. World War One (Rempel)
  
• 29. Russian Revolution (Rempel)
  
• The Great War (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Substitute the following from The History Guide by Steven Kreis:
Lectures on 20th Century Europe

Lecture 4: The Great War and Modern Memory (in progress)
Lecture 5: The Russian Revolution: February - October 1917 Part 1
Lecture 6: The Russian Revolution: Red October and the Bolshevik Coup Part 2

Europe between the wars 7-9%

Stalin's five-year plans and purges

International politics, 1919-1939

The Great Depression

Italy and Germany between the wars

Lectures:

• 30. Age of Anxiety (Rempel)
  
• 31. Great Depression (Rempel)
  
• 32. Totalitarian Rule (Rempel)
  
• Between the Wars (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Substitute the following from The History Guide by Steven Kreis:
Lectures on 20th Century

Lecture 8: The Age of Anxiety: Europe in the 1920s Part 1
Lecture 9: The Age of Anxiety: Europe in the 1920s Part 2
Lecture 10: The Age of Totalitarianism: Stalin and Hitler
Lecture 11: Hitler and World War Two

The Second World War and contemporary Europe (8-10%)

The causes and course of the Second World War

Postwar Europe

Science, philosphy, the arts, and religion

Contemporary social developments

Lectures:

• 33. World War Two (Rempel)
  
• 34. The Cold War (Rempel)
  
• 35. European Union (Rempel)
  
• 36. Gorbachev Rev. (Rempel)
  
• 37. Revolution of 1989 (Rempel)
  
• World War II and the Cold War (Costa -- currently unavailable)
• The Contemporary World (Costa -- currently unavailable)

Substitute the following from The History Guide by Steven Kreis:
Lectures on 20th Century

Lecture 12: The Existentialist Frame of Mind Lecture 13: George Orwell and "The Last Man in Europe" Lecture 14: The Origins of the Cold War Lecture 15: 1968: The Year of the Barricades Lecture 16: 1989: The Walls Came Tumbling Down

Online Readings

Links to faculty home pages
NOTE: Please don't bug the professors. They have been generous enough just by taking the time and effort to put their material on the Web. And please don't e-mail responses to their tests. Such responses are limited to students actually enrolled in the class.

Paul Brians Washington State University
Thomas M. Costa -- currently unavailable Clinch Valley College
Samuel Goldberger Capital Community Technical College
Gerhard Rempel Western New England College

Related On-Line Texts

Eurodocs: Primary Historical Documents from Western Europe

Reading Aboutthe World, Vol. 2 (Brians)
Texts and Documents: Europe from the Hanover College Historical Texts Project.

Internet Resources
Historical Text Archive. Click on Europe

Good Luck!

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