AP® European History 2024 Free-Response Questions Set 1 - Section I, Part B

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

AP® European History 2024 Free-Response Questions Set 1 provides Section I, Part B prompts requiring short-answer responses within a 40-minute limit. Students choose to answer Question 1 and Question 2, and then either Question 3 or Question 4, addressing subparts a–c with complete sentences. The questions use a scientific-excerpt source, a nationalist painting, and comparative themes across early modern expansion, interwar versus postwar democracy, and European political change from 1600–1800 and 1450–2000.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Section I, Part B

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Section II

Question 1 (Document-Based Question)

2024 AP® European History Free-Response Questions Set 1 © 2024 College Board. College Board, Advanced Placement, AP, AP Central, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of College Board. Visit College Board on the web: [collegeboard.org](collegeboard.org). [AP Central is the official online home for the AP Program: apcentral.collegeboard.org](AP Central is the official online home for the AP Program: apcentral.collegeboard.org). AP® European History 2024 Free-Response Questions EUROPEAN HISTORY SECTION I, Part B Time—40 minutes Directions: Answer Question 1 and Question 2. Answer either Question 3 or Question 4. Write your responses in the Section I, Part B: Short-Answer Response booklet. You must write your response to each question on the lined page designated for that response. Each response is expected to fit within the space provided. In your responses, be sure to address all parts of the questions you answer. Use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable. You may plan your answers in this exam booklet, but no credit will be given for notes written in this booklet. “In the exhilarating period between the years 1600 and 1700, . . . empirical inquiry evolved from the freewheeling, speculative frenzy [of previous centuries] into something with powers of discovery on a wholly new level. . . . [This was] a regimented process that subjected theories to a pitiless interrogation by observable evidence, raising up some and tearing down others, occasionally changing course or traveling in reverse but making in the long term unmistakable progress. [The new method] permitted nothing but matters of explanatory power, nothing but a theory’s ability to account for the observable, to determine the course of scientific argument. Theology, philosophy, even beauty [became] strictly off limits. Scientists, if they chose to dispute, were obliged to do so in the empirical manner.” Source: Michael Strevens, The Knowledge Machine, 2020 1. Using the excerpt, respond to parts a, b, and c. a. Describe an argument made in the excerpt. b. Explain how one piece of historical evidence not in the excerpt would support an argument about science made in the excerpt. c. Explain one way in which the change discussed in the excerpt affected European society in the period 1600 to 1800. © 2024 College Board. Visit College Board on the web: [collegeboard.org](collegeboard.org). 2 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. AP® European History 2024 Free-Response Questions Germania, nationalist painting attributed to German artist Philipp Veit, 1848 Artepics / Alamy Stock Photo The figure holds an olive branch (symbol of peace) and a sword. The tricolor flag represents Germany. 2. Using the image, respond to parts a, b, and c. a. Describe a goal that the artist likely intended to support by creating the painting. b. Explain one way in which political conditions in the period 1800 to 1850 hindered a goal expressed in the painting. c. Explain one way in which political developments in the period after 1850 helped to achieve a goal expressed in the painting. © 2024 College Board. Visit College Board on the web: [collegeboard.org](collegeboard.org). 3 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. AP® European History 2024 Free-Response Questions Question 3 or 4 Directions: Answer either Question 3 or Question 4. 3. Respond to parts a, b, and c. a. Describe one similarity between Portuguese and Spanish overseas expansion in the period 1450 to 1650. b. Describe one difference between Portuguese and Spanish overseas expansion in the period 1450 to 1650. c. Explain one reason why the rise of new colonial powers such as England, France, and the Dutch Republic led to conflicts in the 1600s and 1700s. 4. Respond to parts a, b, and c. a. Describe one difference between challenges faced by democracies in Europe in the interwar period (1919 to 1939) and challenges faced by democracies in Europe in the po

FAQs

What questions must be answered in Section I, Part B?

Answer Question 1 and Question 2, then either Question 3 or Question 4.

How should responses be written for Section I, Part B?

Use complete sentences. Address every part of each question you answer, and write each response in the lined booklet area designated for that response.

What is required for Section II Question 1 (DBQ)?

Develop a historically defensible thesis, provide broader historical context, support the argument with at least four documents, use additional specific evidence outside the documents, and explain relevance for at least two documents.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Adam