Patterns in World History: Pre-1200 to the Present

These flashcards cover major historical eras, religions, social structures, and political movements from the Paleolithic Era through the 20th century as described in the lecture notes.

Paleolithic Era

Also called the Old Stone Age, representing over 95% of human history, characterized by small nomadic hunting and gathering bands of 25-50 people.

Agricultural Revolution

Also known as the Neolithic or New Stone Age Revolution, it involved the deliberate cultivation of plants and domestication of animals between 12,000 and 4,000 years ago.

Pastoral Society

Societies of herders and nomads who relied heavily on animals in regions where farming was difficult or impossible.

Chiefdoms

Societies where inherited positions of power and privilege governed through generosity, ritual status, or charisma rather than force, often collecting and redistributing tribute.

Patriarchy

A social system characterized by gender inequality and male dominance that became prominent with the rise of the First Civilizations.

The Upanishads

A collection of sacred Hindu texts aimed at a uniform understanding of reality, centering on the ideas of Brahman (the world soul) and Atman (the individual soul).

Moksha

The ultimate goal in Hinduism, representing the union of the individual atman with Brahman, achieved over many lifetimes.

Samsara

The central process of reincarnation or rebirth in Hindu belief, governed by the law of Karma.

Nirvana

The goal of Buddhist teaching, which involves achieving enlightenment or the extinguishing of individual identity and ego.

Mahayana Buddhism

A version of Buddhism that gives the religion a supernatural dimension, making enlightenment accessible to all in ordinary life with the help of Bodhisattvas.

Bodhisattvas

Fully enlightened beings in Mahayana Buddhism who postpone their final liberation in order to assist suffering humanity.

Confucianism

A Chinese philosophical tradition based on the teachings of Confucius, emphasizing moral behavior, unequal relationships, filial piety, and education as the key to order.

Dao

The central concept of Daoism, meaning 'the way of nature,' which is the underlying principle governing all natural phenomena.

Umma

The community of all believers in Islam, united by common belief rather than territory, language, or tribe.

Dar-al Islam

The innovative civilization created by the spread of Islam, encompassing parts of Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Foot Binding

A Chinese practice during the Song dynasty associated with female beauty and eroticism that kept women restricted to the house and tightened patriarchal control.

Bushido

The 'way of the warrior,' a distinctive set of values followed by the Japanese samurai.

Angkor Wat

The largest religious structure in the premodern world, located in Southeast Asia, showing the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Caesaropapism

The political-religious system in the Byzantine Empire where the emperor was the head of both the state and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Feudalism

A highly fragmented and decentralized society in Western Europe where landowning warrior elites exercised power.

The Great Dying

The demographic collapse of Native American societies following the arrival of Old World diseases, resulting in mortality rates up to 90%.

Columbian Exchange

The massive network of communication, migration, trade, disease, and transfer of plants and animals that linked the Americas with the Eastern Hemisphere.

Mercantilism

The economic theory that governments should encourage exports and accumulate gold and silver (bullion) to serve their countries, often through closed colonial markets.

Encomienda

A legal system of forced labor in Spanish America, often leading to gross abuse and exploitation of indigenous peoples.

Mestizo

Individuals of multiracial descent in Spanish colonial societies, typically born of Spanish men and Native American women.

Soft Gold

The term used to describe the abundant furs that drove Russian expansion into Siberia.

Wahhabi Islam

An Islamic renewal movement originating in the Arabian Peninsula that aimed to restore absolute monotheism and eliminate 'idols' and unauthorized taxes.

Scientific Revolution

An intellectual and cultural transformation between the mid-16th and early 18th centuries that relied on rational inquiry and evidence rather than religious tradition.

Enlightenment

An 18th-century European movement that believed knowledge and reason could transform human society and challenge arbitrary government and religious intolerance.

Abolitionist Movement

An international movement that successfully pressured nations to end the slave trade and the practice of slavery between 1780 and 1890.

Anthropocene

The human-dominated geological age brought about by the Industrial Revolution and the massive use of fossil fuels.

Socialism

A political and economic ideology, most notably articulated by Karl Marx, that advocated for the common ownership of the means of production as a response to industrial capitalism.

Scientific Racism

The use of pseudo-scientific methods and hierarchies during the industrial age to justify European superiority and the duty to 'civilize' other races.

Social Darwinism

The application of Darwin's evolutionary theory to human history, suggesting that the 'survival of the fittest' applied to nations and races.

Bolsheviks

The radical socialist group led by Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) that seized power during the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Totalitarianism

A form of government that exercises total control over all aspects of public and private life, as seen in the Soviet Union under Stalin and Nazi Germany under Hitler.

Fascism

A political ideology characterized by intense nationalism, charismatic leadership, and the celebration of traditional values while opposing liberalism and communism.

The Holocaust

The state-sponsored genocide during WWII in which Nazi Germany murdered approximately 6 million Jews and millions of others in concentration camps.

Marshall Plan

A U.S. program after WWII that sent $12 billion and technical advice to help rebuild European economies and prevent the spread of communism.

Perestroika

A policy of 'restructuring' introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s that allowed for some private farming and joint enterprises with foreign countries.

Glasnost

A policy of 'openness' introduced by Gorbachev that allowed new cultural and intellectual freedoms in the Soviet Union.

Nonalignment

A Cold War-era policy adopted by some Third World countries, such as India, to avoid being used as pawns by either the U.S. or the USSR.