European History

Topics (15)

• 1
  Renaissance & Reformation
• 2
  French Revolution & Napoleon
• 3
  Industrial Revolution
• 4
  World Wars I & II
• 5
  European Union & Contemporary Europe
• 6
  The Concert of Europe (1815-1830)

  Congress of Vienna, Metternich's Era, Concert of Europe and balance of power.

• 7
  Forces of Continuity and Change in Europe (1815-1848)

  Nationalism, liberalism, romanticism, socialism, industrial revolution, colonialism.

• 8
  The Eastern Question (1804-1856)

  Crimean War, Russo-Turkish War 1877 and consequences.

• 9
  Unification of Italy

  Effects of 1848 revolutions, Cavour and the process of Italian unification (1859-1871).

• 10
  Unification of Germany

  Rise of Bismarck, Austro-Prussian War, Franco-Prussian War and unification.

• 11
  The Origins of First World War (1890-1914)

  Alliances, Balkans Wars and outbreak of WWI.

• 12
  Dictatorships in Europe

  Fascism, Nazism, Stalinist USSR, Great Depression, appeasement, Sudetenland crisis.

• 13
  Post-War Europe

  Post-war settlements, UN, Marshall Plan, German question and NATO.

• 14
  Cold War Europe (1955-1991)

  Warsaw Pact, EEC, Non-Proliferation Treaty, De Gaulle and France, spread of communism.

• 15
  Europe (1991-2012)

  Disintegration of USSR, German reunification, Balkan crisis, EU, war on terror, global economic crisis.

The reading list straight from FPSC's revised European History syllabus. Build your core preparation around these texts — examiner-favoured references that questions are routinely drawn from.

1. 1

   A History of Modern Europe (1789-1991)

   H.L. Peacock

2. 2

   The Struggle for Mastery in Europe: 1848-1918

   A.J.P. Taylor

3. 3

   The Cold War: Ideological Conflict or Power Struggle

   A. Grabener

4. 4

   The USSR: A Short History

   Vladimir Poltayev

5. 5

   Developments in Russian Politics

   Stephen White

6. 6

   Mastering Modern European History

   Stuart Miller

7. 7

   A Text Book of European History

   G.W. Southgate

8. 8

   Aspects of European History 1789-1980

   Stephen J. Lee

9. 9

   Europe Since Napoleon

   D. Thompson

10. 10

    European Union: European Politics

    Tim Bale

11. 11

    Modern Europe in the Making from the French Revolution to the Common Market

    G. Fasal

12. 12

    The Norton History of Modern Europe

    F. Gilbert

13. 13

    The Origins of the Second World War

    A.J.P. Taylor

14. 14

    The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

    Paul Kennedy