European History Flashcards

What is European History?

Honestly, it’s a terribly interesting subject. Some people might say European history is boring, but truth be told, it's as enthralling as the top-selling fiction books at the bookstores.

In fact, European history consists of a plethora of fascinating concepts that are Europe’s life story. If you are interested in the Renaissance or the Enlightenment, you’ll be right at home while you scrutinize the lingering effects of each.

Victory, tragedy, war, conflict, pain, angst, and triumph will play a significant part in your whirlwind of education, spanning from the Hundred Years War, the black death, Luther's posting of his 95 theses, the rise and fall of Napoleon’s empire, and World War I to World War II. It is full of hope, and passionate conflicts that are driven by love or deeply held beliefs amalgamated with pride, love of power, lust, and ambition. It involves the story of emperors, popes, and revolutionaries like Luther; as well as knights and kings like Louis XIV, who ended feudalism in France.

Within the field, discussions may include geography, music, arts, poetry, mathematics, philosophy, laws, religion, sociology, anthropology, humanities, civics, architecture, engineering, agriculture, health, and modern life.

Your studies in European history might be as a major in some universities or colleges or as a minor in others. You’ll probably dissect the role of other countries and how they played in European affairs or vice versa. By studying these concepts in European history, you’ll gain (hopefully) a new understanding of the attitudes, culture, and politics of modern Europe.

Careers in European History

Among the jobs that you can consider after getting a degree in European History include Biographer, Historian, University Professor, Historical Site Guide, Curator, Conservation or collection manager, Museum educators, and Artifact Conservator-Restorers.

Learning European History

While many individuals entirely believe that history is a lot like storytelling, many students enrolled in any history class would say that it can cause headaches. This can be true because one thing that makes history different from storytelling is the presence of many pieces of evidence and facts. Nevertheless, good knowledge of these facts and historical evidence is essential, not only because history involves dates and events; but also, because it is a subject that provides actual context to the reality of a place or a culture which can be applied to current affairs and to simple moments of everyday life.

European history is also based on the succession of events (from ancient hierarchical societies to the commercial revolution, reformation, enlightenment, to Bonaparte’s revolt, and to the formation of the European Union). It may sound simple, even trivial at some point, but it is crucial nonetheless. Therefore, in studying European history, it is beneficial if you ensure that your notes are arranged in chronological order.

In most cases, you will be advised to memorize an extensive catalog of pointers and notes to cover principal and essential events in a lot of detail. Memorizing might be okay but, it is best to establish a link or connection between one event from the other. For instance, the French Revolt led to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte and not the other way around.

While it is useful to watch European history documentaries or crash course videos to specific major events in European History like WWI, the use of study tools like flashcards and mind maps or charts can be extremely helpful to reinforce your memory of all the facts on European history.

European History in Brainscape

In Brainscape, you’ll find several classes, decks, and study cards for European History – beginning with the Certified European History 101 Class below. This is the most viewed class by different users across the globe. It contains important facts and concepts created by a team of top European History lovers and experts. This class is also tested by AP European History students who recently scored a 5 on their exams – covering the foundations of European History through the post-Soviet Era.

We also have another Brainscape Certified class on AP European History, authored by tutors, textbook publishers, top instructors, and former exam writers who know what’s the most essential concepts on test days. The AP European history class comprises critical facts, events, and concepts from European history, as well as a detailed review of the context and implication of the key trends and developments in Europe.

If in case you need more flashcards on European History, we have classes created by users around the world, summarizing and categorizing all the necessary concepts you need to know about European History, covering the Late Middle Ages through the events after the Cold War.

To top it all, one of the most exceptional benefits that Brainscape offers is that you can create your own set of flashcards! Various studies show that making your own study cards leads to higher levels of memorization. It helps your brain to remember important bits of information – another strategy to learn European History faster as well as other related subjects.

Learn Faster in Brainscape

Brainscape is a web and mobile study platform dedicated to helping individuals learn effectively and efficiently. Wanna know how?

Well, Brainscape applied the principles of the existing cognitive theories to boost the learning process – giving rise to a new technologically accessible pedagogy called “Cognitive Based Repetition” (CBR). This new method makes use of the most highly-effective cognitive science techniques: Active Recall, Metacognition, and Spaced Repetition help you remember longer and learn faster.

Active Recall occurs when you make a mental effort to recall the answer before you turn over the flashcards and check the correct answers. This process of "actively" retrieving the right answer from your memories (than just passively "selecting" the correct answer), reinforces the connection between your brain and what you need to remember. Research claims that this process leads to a better informational recall, which can help lessen the time studying overall. Who would say no to that?

Metacognition, on the other hand, requires you to reflect on how deeply you understand the concept. Brainscape will ask you to rate (on a 1-5 scale) “How well did you know this?” upon displaying each answer. This process aids in memory trace – the actual method of storing memories.

Brainscape also devised an algorithm to apply the process of Spaced Repetition. It works side by side with metacognition. As metacognition assesses how well you knew the answer, Spaced Repetition determines how soon the cards will appear again. In short, it will skip over certain cards you already know (if you rate it 5), and frequently repeats specific cards (cards you rated 1 or 2). Therefore, it allows you to focus on concepts you need to spend more time on. This is more effective than just studying the entire sub-topics repeatedly because retrieval efforts after the initial learning is a chief contributor to successful learning.

Brainscape can be an excellent supplementary tool to your study plan. For more details on the cognitive science methods behind Brainscape, you can check out our complete white paper.

How to Get Started

To begin using the most powerful study platform in the form of Brainscape, try browsing some of the European History classes listed below. You may also browse further into any of the classes to see how they are structured into decks. Once you have selected classes that you want to use, jump in, and join millions of app users who love Brainscape!