Readings
What Is the Enlightenment and How Did It Transform Politics?
Explore how calls for liberty, equality, and individual rights caused revolutions around the world, from the American Revolution to the French and Haitian Revolutions.
AP World History
Explore free resources that align with your AP World History curriculum.
CFR Education offers a range of free resources that can supplement your AP World History curriculum. Browse readings, timelines, videos, and simulations covering developments that have shaped the world from c. 1750 to the present.
Skills students learn with CFR Education World History Resources:
- putting historical developments into context
- making connections between and among historical processes
- developing arguments through historical simulations
- evaluating and analyzing primary and secondary sources
Unit 5: Revolutions 1750-1900
- Readings
What Are the Causes and Consequences of Industrialization?
Learn about the Industrial Revolution and how technological innovations from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries continue to shape society today.
- Readings
How Did Humans Come to Live Longer and Healthier Lives?
From the history of vaccines and medical quarantines to the origin of the World Health Organization, explore how innovations in global health increased human longevity and prepared the world for COVID-19.
- Videos
Technology and Development
As Great Britain’s Industrial Revolution and India’s Green Revolution have shown, technological innovation can drive extraordinary development. Explore how digital advancements are further driving progress today.
Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization 1750-1900
- Mini Simulations
Explosion of the USS Maine in 1898
How should the United States intervene against Spanish colonial rule in Cuba? Explore this historical simulation set in 1898.
- Readings
What Is Colonialism and How Did It Arise?
Explore how colonialism enriched empires and fundamentally reshaped countries such as India.
- Videos
History of U.S. Immigration Policy
Explore how the United States has responded to migrants throughout history—from the Chinese Exclusion Act to DACA—and how immigration policy influences the society, economy, and politics of a country.
Unit 7: Global Conflict 1900-Present
- Timelines
250 Years of American Foreign Policy
The United States developed from a fragile union focused on survival to a superpower with global interests. Throughout that journey, the country has grappled with recurring questions about how to protect its interests, articulate its values, and define its role in the world. Trace the path of U.S. foreign policy with the timeline below.
- Mini Simulations
The Zimmerman Telegram in 1917
Should the United States take action against Germany? Explore this historical simulation set in 1917.
- Mini Simulations
Explosion of the USS Maine in 1898
How should the United States intervene against Spanish colonial rule in Cuba? Explore this historical simulation set in 1898.
- Readings
What Is Fascism?
In this free resource, learn how Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler rose to power and the lessons their political journeys hold for today.
- Readings
What Are the Origins of Communism?
Explore the different ways Marx, Lenin, and Stalin interpreted communism and dive into the history of translating an ideology into policy.
- Readings
How Did the United States Become a Global Power?
Learn how domestic expansion and three wars—the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II—transformed the United States’ standing in the world.
- Videos
How Do Countries Decide Whether to Go to War?
Learn how balances and imbalances of power contributed to World Wars I and II in this historical video.
- Readings
Why Did World War II Happen?
In this free resource on World War II, understand the causes of World War II and why these issues drove countries back to battle just two decades after World War I.
- Readings
Why Did World War I Happen?
In this free resource on World War I, explore the causes and effects of the Great War to understand how the conflict shaped world history.
- Readings
Understanding Intrastate Conflict
From civil war to terrorist violence, explore the types, causes, and consequences of conflicts within countries that are increasingly threatening world order.
- Readings
What Is Interstate Conflict?
Bombs and bullets are not always required for countries to come into conflict. From Russia’s war in Ukraine to a U.S. trade war with China, explore the different ways countries come into tension.
- Videos
How Is Conflict Changing?
What is conflict? Explore the reasons why tensions, violence, and war break out and what the consequences are for the world in this video.
- Readings
The Civilian Consequences of Conflict
From World War II to Syria’s civil war, understand the deadly consequences of war and what that means about the changing nature of conflict.
- Readings
Tanks, Sanctions, and Separatists: The Various Challenges to Sovereignty
A government’s authority within its borders gets challenged all the time. Here is how.
- Readings
How Self-Determination Shaped the Modern World
Learn how the world’s nearly two hundred countries came to be, and whether the map is set in stone.
Unit 8: Cold War and Decolonization 1900-Present
- Simulations
NATO Enlargement in 1994 (NSC)
Set in January 1994. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, many former Soviet states express interest in joining NATO.
- Simulations
North Korean Nuclear Threat (NSC)
North Korea has reportedly acquired the technological capability to hit North America with a nuclear weapon.
- Simulations
Russia and NATO in the Baltics in 2016 (NSC)
Set in July 2016. Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a NATO summit approaches as the Baltics face threats from Russia.
- Mini Simulations
Negotiating Ukrainian Security in 1993
How should the United States manage dismantling Ukraine’s nuclear arsenal while safeguarding against renewed conflict in Europe? Explore this historical simulation set in 1993.
- Mini Simulations
Trusting Security Assurances
How should a country under threat by a nuclear-armed power decide its future nuclear plans? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
- Mini Simulations
Peacekeeping
Should the United States support peacekeeping in a country filled with ethnic conflict? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
- Mini Simulations
Deterrence
How should the United States use deterrence to block threats against itself and its allies? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
- Mini Simulations
Arms Control
Should the United States use arms control to reduce the threat of a new type of weapon? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
- Readings
Seven “Hot Wars” During the Cold War
The United States and the Soviet Union never directly clashed, but the Cold War was far from bloodless.
- Readings
How Does AI Influence Conflict?
How is the military using AI? Killer robots have long been a fear and fascination of humankind. Explore how weapons that can locate, target, and kill without human involvement shape today’s conflicts and hold the potential to re-shape future conflicts.
- Readings
Modern History and U.S. Foreign Policy: Sub-Saharan Africa
From European colonialism to independence movements and beyond, learn how foreign influence and history have shaped the region.
- Videos
How Did the Cold War Stay Cold?
Learn how the world’s superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR), avoided nuclear war.
- Readings
How Did Decolonization Reshape the World?
From India and the Palestinian Territories to Vietnam and Sudan, learn how former colonies sought independence—and how the shadow of colonialism still affects many regions today.
- Readings
How Did Mass Production and Mass Consumption Take Off After World War II?
Discover how consumer goods have become cheap and ubiquitous in the global era.
- Readings
Understanding Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’
More than twenty years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, challenges remain for Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland long after the conflict ended.
- Readings
Tanks, Sanctions, and Separatists: The Various Challenges to Sovereignty
A government’s authority within its borders gets challenged all the time. Here is how.
- Readings
How Self-Determination Shaped the Modern World
Learn how the world’s nearly two hundred countries came to be, and whether the map is set in stone.
- Readings
Two Koreas, Two Development Policies
How did two countries with the same language, culture, and history turn out so differently?
- Videos
The Marshall Plan
Understand how the Marshall Plan, one of the first large foreign aid programs, helped Europe rebuild after World War II, but also served the foreign policy interests of the United States.
Unit 9: Globalization 1900-present
- Simulations
Dispute in the East China Sea in 2016 (UNSC)
Set in September 2016. Japan and China challenge each other in the airspace above the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
- Simulations
Dispute in the East China Sea in 2016 (NSC)
Set in September 2016. Japan and China challenge each other in the airspace above the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
- Simulations
Global Climate Change Policy (NSC)
A major international climate summit approaches, and all eyes are on the United States.
- Simulations
Global Climate Change Policy (UNSC)
A major summit approaches where the UN Security Council will meet to discuss the effects of climate change on security.
- Simulations
Humanitarian Intervention in South Sudan in 2014 (UNSC)
Set in May 2014. An ongoing civil war means South Sudan faces the threat of mass violence, reprisals, and possibly genocide.
- Readings
Why Energy Storage is Essential for a Green Transition
Learn how energy storage can provide reliable renewable energy.
- Readings
Why Electric Grids Need to Be More Resilient
Severe weather is causing costly disruptions. To protect the energy grid, countries need a smarter plan.
- Readings
How Climate Change Worsens Inequality
Climate Change is bad for everyone, but it’s worse for some.
- Videos
How Climate Change is a Collective Action Problem
The world can work together in the fight against climate change, but there are challenges to international cooperation.
- Videos
How the Paris Agreement Helps Stop Climate Change
The Paris Agreement offers the world a pathway for addressing climate change, but challenges persist.
- Readings
How Humans Cause Climate Change
Every aspect of modern life carries hidden environmental costs. Recognizing the human-driven causes of climate change can help build a more sustainable future.
- Readings
How Climate Change Can Get Even Worse
Climate change can amplify itself through feedback loops. It can also trigger catastrophic “tipping points.”
- Readings
How Are International Agreements Helping Fight Global Warming?
Explore the challenges facing international cooperation and the major treaties where the world has agreed to work together.
- Simulations
Humanitarian Intervention in South Sudan in 2014 (NSC)
Set in May 2014. An ongoing civil war means South Sudan faces the threat of mass violence, reprisals, and possibly genocide.
- Mini Simulations
U.S. Arctic Policy
Should the United States launch a new Arctic policy in response to climate change and investments from countries like China and Russia in the region? Explore this simulation.
- Mini Simulations
Trade Policy
How should the United States leverage trade to respond when a rivalry between growing trade partners threatens regional stability? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
- Mini Simulations
Stopping Deforestation in the Amazon
Should the United States take action to stop deforestation in the Amazon to combat climate change? Explore this simulation.
- Mini Simulations
Solar Geoengineering
Should the United States consider the use of solar geoengineering to combat climate change? Explore this simulation.
- Mini Simulations
Economic Sanctions
How should the United States apply sanctions to influence a crisis abroad? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
- Readings
How Can AI Combat Climate Change?
In this free climate change resource, learn how AI is helping countries reduce carbon emissions, but some innovations could ultimately contribute to a warming planet.
- Readings
How Do Governments Combat Climate Change?
In this free resource, explore seven ways countries are responding to a changing environment, from cap and trade policies to clean energy standards.
- Readings
What Is Water Scarcity?
Is there a global water crisis? In this free resource, learn how climate change is causing water scarcity to worsen worldwide.
- Readings
Climate Change Inequality
In this free resource, explore how climate change disproportionately affects certain communities and could drastically increase global inequality.
- Readings
The Sustainable Development Goals
Learn about the formation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and review the opportunities and challenges for meeting them.
- Readings
Sources of Energy: A Comparison
Learn how turning toward cleaner energy sources means factoring in economic and energy needs alongside environmental ones.
- Readings
The Greenhouse Effect
How do greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming? Learn why the world is getting warmer in this free climate change resource.
- Readings
Why Scientists Are Watching Greenland
In this free climate change resource, learn why melting ice in Greenland is causing global sea level rise.
- Videos
Climate Change and the Coffee Industry
In this educational video, learn how climate change’s effects on agriculture can have serious economic consequences for the world.
- Readings
Who Releases the Most Greenhouse Gases?
Learn how the world measures greenhouse gas emissions and how different approaches imply different levels of responsibility.
- Videos
Who Is Responsible for Climate Change?
Why do developed and developing countries disagree about who is responsible for climate change? Explore the history of industrialization and its impacts on climate in this video.
- Videos
What Is Climate Change?
In this educational video, learn why the climate is changing, how it affects us, and what we can do about it.
- Readings
Climate Change Adaptations
Explore how eleven countries are adapting to the effects of climate change in this free resource.
