AP World History

Free resources that align with your AP World History curriculum

A compass sitting on top of a map of the world

CFR Education offers a range of free resources that can supplement your AP World History curriculum. Browse articles, 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

Technology and Development Video	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.
How Did Humans Come to Live Longer and Healthier Lives? Reading	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.
What Are the Causes and Consequences of Industrialization? Reading	Learn about the Industrial Revolution and how technological innovations from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries continue to shape society today.
What Is the Enlightenment and How Did It Transform Politics? Reading	Explore how calls for liberty, equality, and individual rights caused revolutions around the world, from the American Revolution to the French and Haitian Revolutions.
Essential Events Before 1900 Timeline	From the Silk Road and Christopher Columbus to the Ottoman Empire and the Revolutionary War, explore this history timeline covering major moments in global history before the twentieth century.

Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization 1750-1900

Explosion of the USS Maine in 1898 Mini Simulation	How should the United States intervene against Spanish colonial rule in Cuba? Explore this historical simulation set in 1898.
History of U.S. Immigration Policy Video	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.
What Is Colonialism and How Did It Arise? Reading	Explore how colonialism enriched empires and fundamentally reshaped countries such as India.
Essential Events Before 1900 Timeline	From the Silk Road and Christopher Columbus to the Ottoman Empire and the Revolutionary War, explore this history timeline covering major moments in global history before the twentieth century.

Unit 7: Global Conflict 1900-Present

What Are the Origins of Communism? Reading	Explore the different ways Marx, Lenin, and Stalin interpreted communism and dive into the history of translating an ideology into policy.
How Self-Determination Shaped the Modern World Reading	Learn how the world’s nearly two hundred countries came to be, and whether the map is set in stone.
Essential Events Between 1900 and 1945 Timeline	Learn how two world wars and other major historical developments from the Spanish-American War to World War II reshaped global affairs in the first half of the twentieth century.
Tanks, Sanctions, and Separatists: The Various Challenges to Sovereignty Reading	A government’s authority within its borders gets challenged all the time. Here is how.
What Is Fascism? Reading	In this free resource, learn how Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler rose to power and the lessons their political journeys hold for today.
The Civilian Consequences of Conflict Reading	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.
Explosion of the USS Maine in 1898 Mini Simulation	How should the United States intervene against Spanish colonial rule in Cuba? Explore this historical simulation set in 1898.
How Is Conflict Changing? Video	What is conflict? Explore the reasons why tensions, violence, and war break out and what the consequences are for the world in this video.
The Zimmerman Telegram in 1917 Mini Simulation	Should the United States take action against Germany? Explore this historical simulation set in 1917.
What Is Interstate Conflict? Reading	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.
Understanding Intrastate Conflict Reading	From civil war to terrorist violence, explore the types, causes, and consequences of conflicts within countries that are increasingly threatening world order.
Why Did World War I Happen? Reading	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.
Why Did World War II Happen? Reading	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.
How Do Countries Decide Whether to Go to War? Video	Learn how balances and imbalances of power contributed to World Wars I and II in this historical video.
How Did the United States Become a Global Power? Reading	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.

Unit 8: Cold War and Decolonization 1900-Present

How Does History Inform the Chinese Communist Party’s Domestic and Foreign Policy Goals? Reading	Learn how China’s transformation from a state of economic and political collapse to its rise as a global power shapes the motivations of its leaders today.
Peacekeeping Mini Simulation	Should the United States support peacekeeping in a country filled with ethnic conflict? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
How Did Mass Production and Mass Consumption Take Off After World War II? Reading	Discover how consumer goods have become cheap and ubiquitous in the global era.
Russia and NATO in the Baltics in 2016 (NSC) Simulation
How Did Decolonization Reshape the World? Reading	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.
Trusting Security Assurances Mini Simulation	How should a country under threat by a nuclear-armed power decide its future nuclear plans? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
How Did the Cold War Stay Cold? Video	Learn how the world’s superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR), avoided nuclear war.
North Korean Nuclear Threat (NSC) Simulation
Eleven Global Issues That Will Shape the Future Reading	Understand the challenges that will define our lifetime.
NATO Enlargement in 1994 (NSC) Simulation
Modern History: Sub-Saharan Africa Reading	For centuries, sub-Saharan Africa was home to prosperous empires that made groundbreaking advances in architecture, mathematics, and metalworking.
Korean War in 1950 (NSC) Simulation
The Marshall Plan Video	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.
How Does AI Influence Conflict? Reading	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.
Negotiating Ukrainian Security in 1993 Mini Simulation	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.
How Self-Determination Shaped the Modern World Reading	Learn how the world’s nearly two hundred countries came to be, and whether the map is set in stone.
Eight “Hot Wars” During the Cold War Reading	The United States and the Soviet Union never directly clashed, but the Cold War was far from bloodless. From Cuba to Korea, explore the proxy wars these superpowers fueled in this historical resource.
Tanks, Sanctions, and Separatists: The Various Challenges to Sovereignty Reading	A government’s authority within its borders gets challenged all the time. Here is how.
Two Koreas, Two Development Policies Reading	How did North Korea and South Korea turn out so differently? Learn about the history of Korea after World War II and how economic policies shaped the region.
Understanding Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’ Reading	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.
Arms Control Mini Simulation	Should the United States use arms control to reduce the threat of a new type of weapon? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
NATO: The World’s Largest Alliance Timeline	What is NATO? Trace NATO’s history and learn how the organization’s mission has evolved over seventy-five years, from the end of World War II to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Deterrence Mini Simulation	How should the United States use deterrence to block threats against itself and its allies? Explore this hypothetical simulation.

Unit 9: Globalization 1900-present

U.S. Arctic Policy Mini Simulation	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.
Dispute in the East China Sea in 2016 (UNSC) Simulation
Dispute in the East China Sea in 2016 (NSC) Simulation
Global Climate Change Policy (NSC) Simulation
Global Climate Change Policy (UNSC) Simulation
Humanitarian Intervention in South Sudan in 2014 (NSC) Simulation
Humanitarian Intervention in South Sudan in 2014 (UNSC) Simulation
Economic Sanctions Mini Simulation	How should the United States apply sanctions to influence a crisis abroad? Explore this hypothetical simulation.
Solar Geoengineering Mini Simulation	Should the United States consider the use of solar geoengineering to combat climate change? Explore this simulation.
Stopping Deforestation in the Amazon Mini Simulation	Should the United States take action to stop deforestation in the Amazon to combat climate change? Explore this simulation.
Trade Policy Mini Simulation	How should the United States leverage trade to respond when a rivalry between growing trade partners threatens regional stability? Explore this hypothetical simulation.