World History Flashcards

Modern Humans:

• When/Where did they evolve?

• When did they reach the Americas?

• 300,000 years ago in East Africa

• 15-20,000 years ago

Effects of the Neolithic Revolution (6)

• Agriculture/Domestication = increased food production, settled communities, population growth, specialized labor, trade development, social hierarchies

• Need for agriculture/irrigation = tech advancement

• Specialization/surplus = hierarchies and social stratification

• Time for art/architecture/religion

• Changes to the natural environment

Sumer

• Two major cities?

• Writing system?

• Major achievments (5)

• Ur and Uruk

• Cuneiform

• Wheel, first writing system, math/astronomy, plow, domesticated horses

Babylon

• Law code and social structure

• Hammurabi’s Code

• King, priests, nobles, commoners

Assyrians

• Society description

• Military strength?

• militaristic, centralized

• Horses, enciricling settled societies and starving them out

Hittites

• Location?

• Strength?

• Turkey

• Iron

Kassites

• Where’d they come to power?

• Took over babylon (1300BC)

Twelve Tribes of Israel

• Time in power?

• 12000-1050BC

Phoenicia

• Timeline?

• Location?

• Strength?

• Invention?

• Timeline: 2500-1200BC

• Mediterranean Coast

• Maritime and Trade Power

• Alphabet and shipbuilding

Bronze Age & Iron Age Timeline

• Bronze Age (c. 3300 – 1200 BCE)
  Marked by the production of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), allowing for harder, more durable tools and weapons. It also accompanied the rise of early writing systems (e.g., cuneiform), Ox-drawn plows, and early trade networks. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

• Iron Age (c. 1200 – 500 BCE)
  Characterized by the mass production of iron and steel. Iron became widespread due to a global tin shortage that made bronze difficult to produce, as well as iron's superior abundance and durability. [1, 2, 3]

Egypt:

• Timeline?

• Politics?

• Economy?

• Upper & Lower Egypt: 6000BC - 3000BC

• Dynastic Egypt: 3000BC - 322BC (Ptolemaic 322-240)

• hierarchical, monarchy: Pharaoh = God King

• Agricultural: Flooding of the Nile (more dependable than Tigris/Euphrates)

Mycenae

• Timeline?

• Location?

• Writing?

• Impact on Literature/History

• 1600-750BC

• Greek mainland

• Linear B: early form of Greek

  • Linear A is lost (Minoans)

• Tojan War: the Greeks were Mycenaean

Early Chinese Civilizations? (2)

Location?

Timeline?

Very early predecessor?

Shang & Zhou

Yellow River Valley

(c. 1600 – 256 BCE)

Xia

Shang and Zhou:

• Transition of power marked what?

• Cultural achievements:

• Econ?

• Mandate of Heaven: dynasty based on divine approval

• Script, bronze metallurgy, astonomy/calendar

• Silk Road

Indus River Valley Early Civ:

• Major City?

• Social Structure

• Achievments

• Harappan & Mohenjo-Daro

  • Location in modern-day Pakistan and northwest India

  • Timeline: c. 2500 – 1500 BCE

• Caste System: Brahmins (priests) at top

• Urban planning with grid patterns

• Advances in drainage and sanitation

Aryan Invasion Theory

A hypothesis suggesting that Indo-European-speaking nomads, known as Aryans, invaded and settled in the Indian subcontinent, leading to significant cultural and social changes, including the establishment of the caste system.

Now disproven

Kushites:

• Culture

• Conquered Egypt

• Pyramids, trade

• Bantu migration: spread Bantu language/agriculture/culture throughout Africa

Olmec

• Location and Timeline?

• Culture?

• Mexico Gulf Coast; c. 1200 – 400 BCE

• first complex societies in Mesoamerica

• Mesoamerican civilization known for colossal head statues and jade carvings.

• Influenced later cultures like the Maya and Aztec.

Khmer Empire

• Timeline

• Culture

Timeline: c. 802 – 1431 CE

Hindu-Buddhist

advanced architecture, including the temple complex of Angkor Wat,

Aborigines

• Culture?

• Kinship-based, connection to ancestors; Dreamtime mythology, rock art, didgeridoo, ritual dance

Maori

• Culture

• Geneology based hierarchi and strong connection to land and sea; rich traditions of carving, weaving, and performance.

Three Periods of Ancient Greece?

Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic

Archaic Greece:

• 700-480BC

• City States (polis)

• Archaic Renaissance: Homer

Classical Greece

• Timeline

• Start?

• Society?

• Culture

• 480-323BC

• Started w/ the Persian War (end of war = rise of Athens)

• Demokratia: every adult male can join Assembly; rules Athens not King

• Built Parthenon and Acropolis

• Flourishing of arts, philosophy, and democracy

  • Key figures include Hippocrates, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

• Peloponnesian War: Sparta wins and Athens falls

Greek Demokratia vs. American Democracy

Legislature:

• Lower and Upper House

Judiciary:

• Highest Court?

Legislature:

• Greece:

  • Lower House: Assembly; any nautral born citizen; decisions made by popular vote

  • Upper House: Boule (Council of 500); 50 men from each Athenian tribe; chosen at random; ran daily governance; dealt with foreign affairs

• America:

  • Lower House: 435 members of Congress

  • Upper House: 100 Senators; treaties; impeachment

Judiciary:

• Greece: Dikasteria (The Jury); 30 men chosen at random each day;

• America: Supreme Court and Lower Courts

Hellenistic Greece

• Timeline

• Politics

• 323-30BC

• Characterized by the spread of Greek culture following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Defeated Persians

• Cultural fusion w/ Persian and Egyptian culture

• Politics were dominated by kingdoms such as the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt.

Ancient Rome

• Roman Republic vs. US Democratic Republic

  • Executive, Leg, Judicial

• Rome:

  • Executive: Consuls; elected officials with significant power; controlled military

  • Legislative: Senate; advisory council of patricians and plebeians; held most control

  • Judicial: Praetors; legal officials who administered justice; Magistrate (local courthouses)

• America:

  • Executive: President; elected head of state

  • Legislative: Congress; two chambers, House and Senate

  • Judicial: Supreme Court; highest court interpreting laws

Punic Wars

• A series of three conflicts between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC, primarily for control over trade routes and territory in the Mediterranean. They culminated in the destruction of Carthage and solidified Roman dominance in the region.

• Second Punic War: Hannibal; elephants across Alps invaded Rome

Julius Caesar

• First Triumvirate?

• Further conquest?

• Second Triumvirate?

First Triumvirate: A political alliance formed in 60 BC between Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus to consolidate power and pursue their individual political ambitions.

Further Conquest: Egypt (Cleopatra); defeated Ptolemaic Greece

Assassinated on March 15, 44 BC; led to the rise of Octavian and the end of the Roman Republic.

Second Triumvirate: An official political alliance established in 43 BC between Octavian, Mark Antony, and Lepidus, aimed at defeating the assassins of Julius Caesar and sharing control of the Roman Republic.

Roman Innovations

Pax Romana, aqueducts, Colosseum, roads/trade

Fall of Roman Empire

• When/Why

• Emperor Constantine (2)

the gradual decline and eventual collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD due to internal strife, economic troubles, and invasions by barbarian tribes.

Emperor Constantine moves capital to Byzantium (Constantinople) in 330 AD, marking a significant shift in power and influence.

Council of Nicea: A meeting of Christian bishops convened in 325 AD by Emperor Constantine to establish uniform Christian doctrine and Christianity as official religion, resulting in the Nicene Creed.

Following Const death, rome divided into Eastern Roman Empire known as the Byzantine Empire

Western Roman Empire sacked by Vandals; Attila the Hun invaded; Europe in the Dark Ages

Dynasties of China (13)

Xia (c. 2070-1600 BC)

Shang (c. 1600-1050 BC)

Zhou (c. 1046-256 BC)

Qin (c. 221-206 BC)

Han (206 BC-220 AD)

Six Dynasties Period

Sui (589-618 AD)
Tang (618-907 AD)

Five Dynasties Period
Song (960-1279 AD)
Yuan (1271-1368 AD)
Ming (1368-1644 AD)
Qing (1644-1912 AD)

Xia

2070 to 1600 BC.

Developed Flood Control system

Shang Dynasty

2100 to 1600 BC.; early writing (pictographs), bronze tech

Zhou Dynasty

1046 to 256 BC; known for the Mandate of Heaven; coined money; chopsticks; Taoism established and Confucianism began to develop.

Qin Dynasty

221 to 206 BC; first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi unified China, initiated the Great Wall, and standardized weights and measures.

Han Dynasty

206 BC to 220 AD; centralized/bureaucratic government based on Confucian principles; govn’t officials based on civil service exam; Buddhism established; paper/porcelain/gunpowder; known for the Silk Road

Sui Dynasty

581 to 618 AD; unified China after centuries of division, constructed the Grand Canal, and promoted Buddhism and Daoism.

Tang Dynasty

618 to 907 AD; extended the Silk Road, Golden Age—known for cultural flourishing and the civil service system, and significant advances in art and technology.

Song Dynasty

960 to 1279 AD; marked by economic prosperity, advancements in technology (such as movable type), and a flourishing of the arts and culture. It saw significant development in trade, particularly with the expansion of the maritime trade routes. Paper Money

Yuan Dynasty

1271 to 1368 AD; established by Kublai Khan, it marked the first time that all of China was ruled by a non-Han dynasty, known for its inclusiveness of different cultures, innovations in trade, and the Mongolian Empire's expansion.

Ming Dynasty

1368 to 1644 AD; known for restoring Han Chinese rule after the Yuan, it emphasized cultural revival; constructed Forbidden City

Qing Dynasty

1644 to 1912 AD; the last imperial dynasty of China; Manchu ethnicity; Opium Wars; Taiping Rebellion in 1850s; it expanded the empire to its greatest territorial extent;

Kushan Empire

An ancient empire in Central Asia, existing from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, known for facilitating trade between India and China, as well as promoting the spread of Buddhism.

Mauryan Empire

An ancient Indian empire that existed from 322 to 185 BC

Chandragupta Maurya centralized government and bureaucracy

Known for its significant contributions to governance, architecture, and the spread of Buddhism under Emperor Ashoka.

Ashoka rock edicts don’t sleep

Gupta Empire

240 to 550 AD; Indian golden age

It saw notable achievements such as the invention of the concept of zero and significant developments in literature.

Revival of Hinduism; Sanskrit language = Ramayana and Mahabharata

Brahmanism

Ancient religious/philosophical system predates Hinduism

Based on Vedic Texts

Brahman: ultimate/eternal/unchanging reality that underlies the universe

Caste System

Reincarnation (Samsara) and Karma

Meditation, asceticism, self-realization, spiritual growth