AP European History, AP exams

Unit 3: Absolutism and Constitutionalism (c. 1648 to c. 1815)

Unit 3 contrasts absolutist state-building with constitutional alternatives in England and the Dutch Republic. Fiscal systems, standing armies, and court culture appear as the machinery that made absolutism work. Comparison between the two models is the reasoning skill the unit builds.

Position: 3 of 9 units
Topics covered: 6 topics in this guide

What is covered

Topics inside this unit.

These topics describe the scope students most often review for this part of AP European History. Treat them as a study checklist rather than an exhaustive list of what a single exam form can sample.

Absolutist approaches to power: Louis XIV's court at Versailles, divine-right theory, and the administrative and military basis of French absolutism.
The English Civil War and Glorious Revolution: Conflict between crown and Parliament, the Commonwealth, and the constitutional settlement of 1688 and 1689.
The Dutch Republic: Commercial dominance, religious toleration, and republican governance in the Dutch golden age.
The rise of Russia and eastern Europe: Peter the Great's westernizing reforms, serfdom, and the emergence of Prussia and Austria as powers.
Mercantilism and economic policy: State-directed commerce, colonial monopolies, and competition for bullion and trade advantage.
The balance of power and warfare: Dynastic and commercial wars, standing armies, and diplomacy aimed at preventing any single hegemon.

Study tips

How to practice Absolutism.

Section-specific guidance that follows from how this material is usually tested.

Keep an absolutism versus constitutionalism chart with taxation, army, religion, and legislature as rows.
Attach every war in this unit to the balance-of-power principle that explains it.
Practice a comparison essay on French and English state development, a recurring AP Euro prompt shape.

Where this fits

Unit 3: Absolutism and Constitutionalism (c. 1648 to c. 1815) is 3 of 9 units in the AP European History guide. Use the full guide to balance it against everything else you have to review.

Back to the AP European History guide Official exam information

Sample Absolutism questions

Practice questions, not yet expert-reviewed

Original practice questions written to the published framework for this section. No expert has reviewed them, and they are not taken from any official exam. Try each one before you open the answer.

Question 1Foundational
Which French king built the palace at Versailles and used court ritual to bind the high nobility to his personal rule?
1. ALouis XIV
2. BLouis XVI
3. CHenry IV
4. DPhilip II
Show answer
Answer: A. Louis XIV
Louis XIV drew the great nobles to Versailles, where competition for royal favor replaced independent provincial power, while intendants governed the provinces on the crown's behalf. Louis XVI is the tempting distractor because he also lived at Versailles, but he ruled a century later and lost his throne in the French Revolution.
Key insight: Absolutism worked through court culture, taxation, and a standing army rather than through theory alone.
Question 2Foundational
Which nearly bloodless change of monarch in 1688 brought William and Mary to the English throne and confirmed the supremacy of Parliament?
1. AThe Glorious Revolution
2. BThe English Civil War
3. CThe Restoration
4. DThe Puritan Commonwealth
Show answer
Answer: A. The Glorious Revolution
Parliamentary leaders invited William of Orange to replace James II, and the settlement that followed made royal authority depend on statute. The English Civil War is the tempting distractor because it also set crown against Parliament, but it was fought in the 1640s and ended with the execution of Charles I.
Key insight: England and France answered the same fiscal and military pressures with opposite constitutional solutions.
Question 3Intermediate
Which document accepted by William and Mary in 1689 barred the monarch from suspending laws or keeping a standing army in peacetime without Parliament's consent?
1. AThe English Bill of Rights
2. BMagna Carta
3. CThe Petition of Right
4. DThe Act of Settlement
Show answer
Answer: A. The English Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights wrote the results of 1688 into statute, requiring frequent parliaments, free elections, and parliamentary consent for taxation and armies. Magna Carta is the tempting distractor because it also limited a king, but it dates from 1215 and bound John to feudal obligations rather than establishing parliamentary government.
Key insight: Constitutionalism is a set of enforceable limits on the ruler, not merely a promise of good government.
Question 4Intermediate
Which Russian ruler moved the capital to a new Baltic city, reorganized the army and bureaucracy on western models, and tied noble rank to state service?
1. APeter the Great
2. BCatherine the Great
3. CIvan the Terrible
4. DAlexander I
Show answer
Answer: A. Peter the Great
Peter built Saint Petersburg, created a navy, imported western technical expertise, and made noble status depend on service through a table of ranks. Catherine the Great is the tempting distractor because she continued westernizing policies, but she ruled later in the eighteenth century and extended serfdom while corresponding with the philosophes.
Key insight: Eastern European rulers modernized the state while strengthening serfdom, the reverse of the western pattern.
Question 5Advanced
Which economic doctrine held that a state's power depended on accumulating bullion through a favorable balance of trade and on protected colonial markets?
1. AMercantilism
2. BPhysiocracy
3. CLaissez-faire liberalism
4. DSocialism
Show answer
Answer: A. Mercantilism
Mercantilist ministers such as Colbert subsidized manufactures, chartered trading companies, and reserved colonial trade to national ships in order to build treasure and naval strength. Physiocracy is the tempting distractor because it was also an early economic theory, but the physiocrats held that land rather than trade surpluses was the source of wealth and favored freer commerce.
Key insight: Mercantilism assumed a fixed quantity of wealth, which is exactly the assumption later liberal economists attacked.

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Unit 3: Absolutism and Constitutionalism (c. 1648 to c. 1815)