AP European History Flashcards: Continuity and Changes in an Age of Global Conflict
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Review key ideas with interactive flashcards. This set includes 10 cards to help you master important concepts.
How did the period of total war and political instability contribute to the Cold War?
The immense loss and challenges from WWI and WWII, along with the resulting political instability, gave way to the polarized state order of the Cold War.
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How did the period of total war and political instability contribute to the Cold War?
The immense loss and challenges from WWI and WWII, along with the resulting political instability, gave way to the polarized state order of the Cold War.
According to the text, what three historical periods represented immense challenges to European civilization?
World War I, the peace settlement that followed, and World War II were periods of immense loss and significant challenge to European civilization.
What is meant by "total war" in the context of this period?
Total war refers to conflicts like WWI and WWII where the entire resources and population of a nation were mobilized for the war effort, creating immense societal stress.
How might the questioning of objective knowledge (KC-4.3) have impacted the ideological battles of the era (KC-4.2)?
The decline in faith in reason and objective truth may have made people more receptive to all-encompassing ideologies like fascism and communism that offered their own versions of reality.
What were the three major ideological systems that battled over the relationship between the individual and the state?
The three competing ideologies were democracy, communism, and fascism, each offering a different vision for the individual's role in society and relationship to the government.
What is a key characteristic of the intellectual and cultural movements of this era?
A key characteristic was the questioning of objective knowledge and the ability of reason to provide universal truths.
What two major factors influenced new conceptions about the relationship between the individual and the state in this era?
Economic challenges, such as economic collapse, and conflicting ideological beliefs shaped new ideas about the state's role and the individual's place within it.
What was the connection between total war and the ideological battle between democracy, communism, and fascism?
The stresses of total war, combined with economic collapse, directly fueled the creation and conflict of these competing ideologies regarding the individual and the state.
What was the primary effect of the stresses of economic collapse and total war on political thought?
These stresses created conflicting conceptions of the relationship between the individual and the state, sparking an intense ideological battle between different political systems.
What is meant by the "polarized state order" that emerged after the period of total war?
The polarized state order refers to the Cold War, a period where global politics was dominated by the conflict between two opposing ideological blocs.