What to Watch to Prep for AP Euro
Television shows and movies—while certainly not always accurate—provide a great way to get started learning the material for the AP exam. These shows and films can get you familiar with the people and events of the past, while also giving you a sense for how people spoke, interacted, and conducted themselves in different historical eras.
Check out a list of curated tv shows and films below to get started on your AP Euro studies!
A Little Chaos
Enter the extravagant world of Louis XIV’s palace Versailles as we follow the story of the gardeners who are tasked with controlling nature, marshalling it into shapes and forms that reflect the power of France and its Sun King.
Amadeus
A biographical film about one of the greatest composers of all time—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—this film also gives a glimpse into the court culture and patronage system of early modern Europe, to which Mozart struggles to adapt himself.
Chernobyl
An engrossing miniseries about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union. The show offers a vivid portrayal of life and bureaucracy in the Soviet Union—from official cover-ups to the blind insistence that facts were not facts—and poignantly depicts how these politics created personal hardships for the people in and around the nuclear power factory of Chernobyl.
The Crown
This history chronicling the history of the British monarchy in the 20th century also shows the wider changes across Britain and indeed the world in the past 80 years. Learn about changing social opportunities, decolonization, and a world economy in flux while watching the trials of the rich and (supposedly not) powerful.
Downton Abbey
This show offers a glimpse into the lives of British estates in the early 20th century. You can learn about the lavish lives lived by the aristocratic family and also see the struggles of the working-class members of staff who make the estate run.
The Illusionist
This film is one of the few that is casually set against the backdrop of Austria-Hungary in its heyday. Check out Vienna at its peak before the outbreak of World War I, learn about Austro-Hungarian politics, and also get engrossed in the quest of one magician to create the ultimate illusion.
Jane Austen adaptations
These films can help get you familiar with British history in the early 19th century, the changes that an industrializing world brought into everyday lives, and especially how women pressed for their own fortunes in this male-dominated time. Check out Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park.
The King’s Speech
Learn about Britain in the long, agonizing leadup to World War II through the eyes of the man who would become the reluctant figurehead of the British Empire during its wartime years.
Outlander
A perfect fit for the AP Euro exam, since the protagonist time travels between the 1940s and the 1740s. Learn about both centuries and the long-lasting conflict between England and Scotland, between small European states and their more powerful neighbors, as you enjoy the natural beauty of the Scotland.
Suffragette
Learn about the lengths to which women in Britain—and by extension women across the globe—went through to gain equal voting rights.
Tudor adaptations
It seems as if there is an infinite appetite for films and tv shows about the Tudors—Henry VII, Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. Any of these will give you great insight into early modern monarchies as well as into the culture of the Renaissance. Check out, for instance, Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Tudors, and Wolf Hall.
World War I and II adaptations
World War II (and increasingly World War I) have provided inspiration for countless films and tv shows. Check out films like Dunkirk, Imitation Game, Life is Beautiful, Sound of Music, War Horse, and Woman in Gold.
Preparing for AP Euro?
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