AP World History Notes

AP World History Vocabulary Flashcards

Filial piety

practice of honoring one’s ancestors and parents

Imperial bureaucracy:

The Song Dynasty relied on a large bureaucracy to ensure obedience to the emperor’s rule, with positions awarded based on merit through civil service exams.

FOOT BINDING

women had trouble walking, made foot smaller than it started (more seen in elite societies)

Tributary relationship

adopting aspects of Chinese culture (elite members), including Confucian principles and a similar civil service exam system.

Four Noble Truths

1) life is suffering, 2) we suffer because we crave, 3) we cease suffering when we cease craving, 4) the eightfold path leads to the cessation of suffering and craving

Eightfold path

principles and practices that a Buddhist must follow (moral lifestyle + practice of meditation)

Commercialization

China produced excess goods and sold them on the world market, utilizing paper money and credit practices.

Champa rice

a drought-resistant and high-yield crop, led to a population BOOM and increased agricultural output.

Grand Canal

travel cheaper and improvements in navigation with the magnetic compass

Junk ships

ships with rudders that improved shipbuilding techniques

Islam

Founded by the Prophet Muhammad (7th century, Arabian Peninsula). Taught salvation through righteous actions (almsgiving, prayer, and fasting). Spread rapidly throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Facilitated trade and led to the rise of prosperous Islamic states.

Abbasid Caliphate

ethnically Arab + in power during Golden Age of Islam (innovations/advancements)

Seljuk Empire

Central Asia, pastoral people brought in by the Abbasids as a military force to expand their empire by force → Seljuk warriors claimed more political power.

Mamluk Sultanate

Turkic Warriors (Mamluks) seized power in Egypt under the leadership of Saladin

Delhi Sultanate

Turkic Muslims established a state in South Asia.

Sharia Law

code of laws established in the Quran.

Muslim Missionaries (Sufis)

Sufism - emphasized mystical experience, and was available to anyone (significant force for the spread of Islam worldwide).

Nasser

Invented Trigonometry to better understand how planets/stars move through the sky.

House of Wisdom

Established in Baghdad during the Golden Age of Islam (library to study religion, scholars responsible for preserving philosophy by Plato and Aristotle).

Hinduism

Dominant in South Asia (India) Polytheistic belief system; ultimate goal = To reunite their individual souls to all pervasive world soul aka Brahman; Involves cycling through death and rebirth (reincarnation) to achieve; Provided the conditions for a unified culture in India → structured Indian society (caste system, couldn’t move up in status); Ethnic religion: Bound to a particular people in a particular place → don’t spread well

Bhakti Movement

Encouraged believers to worship one particular god in the Hindu pantheon of gods; Rejected the hierarchy of Hinduism; Encouraged spiritual experiences to all people

Sufism

More mystical, spiritual experience-based version of Islam

Rajput Kingdoms

rival and warring Hindu kingdoms, some were conquered by Muslim rulers and some were independent Hindu states

Vijayanagara Empire

Rulers wanted to extend the rule of the Delhi Sultanate to the South → sent emissaries; Emissaries were Hindus who converted to Islam → established this

Srivijaya Empire

Buddhist but influenced by Indian Hindu culture; Had control over the Strait of Malacca (main power source) → imposed taxes on ships passing by

Majapahit Kingdom

originally a Hindu kingdom, but had strong Buddhist influences; Maintained power: Created a tributary system among the states in the region

Sinhala Dynasties

Buddhist state in Sri Lanka

Khmer Empire

founded as a Hindu empire; Prosperous state and created a Hindu building (Angkor wat) → represented the entire Hindu universe; Khmer rulers converted to Buddhism and added Buddha’s all over the temple

Maya civilization

Built urban centers, had a good writing system, math (concept of zero); State structure was a decentralized collection of city-states that were often at war with one another; Fought to create a network of tributary states among neighboring regions; Emphasized human sacrifice (believed the sun was a deity)

Aztec Empire

CONEXT Mexica people (semi-nomadic) who migrated South and built their military prowess; By 1428, they consolidated a lot of power in the region → alliance with two other Mesoamerican states → established the Aztec empire; To secure their legitimacy as rulers → Mexica claimed heritage from older, more renowned Mesoamerican people; Expansion: War provided human blood for the Sun (religious motivation) + Tributary system; Capital City: Tenochtitlan

Inca Empire

Established the Mit’a System = required the labor of everyone for a period of time each year to work on state projects (mining or military service)

Mississippian culture

established in the Mississippi River Valley + represented the first large-scale civilization in North America; society was developed around agriculture + thoroughly hierarchical

Swahili Civilization

collection of city-states + popular due to their location gave them access to the Indian Ocean trade; Muslim Merchants who came here were interested in → Gold, Ivory, Timber, and Enslaved people

Great Zimbabwe

Got rich by being in the Indian Ocean Trade by controlling ports on the coast; Imported gold, but their economic prosperity revolved around farming and cattle herding → with extra money, the rulers built the capital city (the largest structure in Africa) and represented the seat of power for the state

Hausa Kingdoms

a collection of city-states that were politically independent and gained power/wealth through trade across the TRANS-SAHARAN trade network

Constantine

made Christianity the official state religion which united Romans

Eastern Orthodox Christianity

helped rulers justify and consolidate their power structure (highly centralized)

Ottoman Empire

attacked the capital city: Constantinople and renamed it to Istanbul → END TO THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

FEUDALISM

a system of allegiances between powerful lords, monarchs, and knights; Greater lords and kings gained allegiance from lesser lords/kings + Land was exchanged to keep everyone loyal

Manorialism

peasants (serfs) bound to land and worked in exchange for protection from the lord and his military forces; Serfs vs Slaves (serfs weren’t owned by the lord)

THE SILK ROADS

network of roads and trails that facilitated trade and the spread of culture and ideas (cultural diffusion) across Eurasia in and before the period 1200-1450

Caravanserai

series of guest houses on routes used for rest areas + provided safety and were centers of cultural diffusion

Pax Mongolica

happened after they ruled and conquered a lot

Mandate of Heaven

Ruler who brings peace must be the rightful ruler

Yam system

a series of communication and relay stations spread across the empire

Indian Ocean Trade Network

A network of sea routes that connected the various states throughout Afro-Eurasia through trade

Malacca

Controlled the Strait of Malacca → got rich from the Indian Oc. Trade and expanded their power (taxed ships that passed through the Strait)

Gujarat

With its massive coastline and rich agricultural areas → traded cotton textile and indigo + exchanged for gold and silver (taxed ships coming and going from its ports → increased wealth)

Diasporic Communities

group of people from one place who establish a home in another place while retaining their cultural customs

Trans-Saharan Trade Network

a series of trade routes that connected North Africa and the MEditerranean world with the interior of West Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa

HANGZHOU

One of China’s most significant trading cities → urbanization + increase population

Ibn Battuta

Muslim Scholar from Morocco who Traveled all over Dar Al Islam + Took notes about places, people, rulers, and cultures

Marco Polo

Traveled from Italy to China + traveled throughout Indian Oc. → wrote about court of Kublai Khan and China

BUBONIC PLAGUE

Emerged in North China → spread rapidly across the Silk Roads and the Indian Oc. Trade routes

Gunpowder empires

expanding geographically main cause of expansion: adoption of gunpowder weapons

Devshirme System

System where ottomans staffed their bureaucracy with high-trained individuals (enslaved) → registering enslaved christian boys

Janissaries

Devshirme system → elite soldiers formed the core of the Ottoman army which was increasing in size

Zamindar system

implemented Zamindars (local land owners) to collect taxes for the Mughal rulers

Tax Farming

The right to tax subjects of the empire went to the highest bidder

INDULGENCES

promised the forgiveness of sins

Simony

high church positions up for sale

The Protestant Reformation

Luther’s work was published using the Printing Press. Church decided that the complains might be right → Catholic/Counter Reformation → church gathered at a series of meetings (Council of Trent) + tossed out many corrupt practices + Catholics reaffirmed their ancient doctrines

Columbian Exchange

transfer of new diseases, food, plants, and animals between the Eastern and Western hemispheres which columbus created by contacting the two worlds

Maritime Empires

Were motivated by Gold, God, and Glory.

Mercantilism

system that emphasizes the buildup of mineral wealth by maintaining a favorable balance of trade (merchants wanted exports > imports)

Joint-Stock Companies

limited liability business (often chartered by the state) that was funded by a group of investors

Casta System

organized society by race/heredity

The Enlightenment

An intellectual movement that applied new ways of understanding (rationalism/empiricist approaches) to the natural world and human relationships

Rationalism:

reason > emotion/external authority is the most reliable source of true knowledge

Empiricism:

true knowledge is gained through the sense (mainly through rigorous experimentation

Deism

believed that a God created everything and then left everything until it runs out

Natural Rights

humans are born with certain rights that cannot be infringed upon by govts/entities

Social contract

societies given natural rights must have govts of their own will to protect their natural rights -> IF that govt becomes a tyrannical turd then the people have the right to overthrow the govt

Nationalism:

sense of commonality among people based on shared language, religion, social customs, and linked with a desire for territory

Industrial Revolution:

Process where states transitioned from agrarian economies to industrial economies (goods made by hand → goods made by machine)

crop rotation

fertility of the soil maintained

seed drill

seeds could be planted more efficiently → less waste + greater harvests

factory system

Concentrated production in a single location + powered by moving water due to the Water Frame

Imperialism:

to extend a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Scientific Racism

The idea that humans can be hierarchically ranked in distinct biological classes based on race

Social Darwinism

western industrial societies proved their ways are best suited to live

Civilizing Mission

A sense of duty western (industrial) societies possessed to bring the glories of their civilization to “lower” societies

Diplomacy

act of making political agreements by means of dialogue/negotiation, NOT warfare

Export economies:

economies focused on the export of raw materials or goods for distant markets

Commodity

any good that can be bought/sold on the market

Nativism

a policy of protecting the interests of native born people over against the interest of immigrant

Sick Man Of Europe

Another name for the Ottoman Empire due to their maritime and land-based empires dwindling and the rise of new states

Young Ottomans

A group of youthful Ottomans that had been educated in Western ideas and called for liberal political reforms

Taiping Rebellion

A rebellion that was defeated by the Qing authorities, but ended up losing millions of lives and costing a lot of money

Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists

A group that ended up starting the Boxer Rebellion

Boxer Rebellion

a rebellion against the Ching authorities, but had to rely Western Powers for financial support and benefit

Sun Yat Sin

A Western educator who resulted in the abdication of the Ching emperor, leading to china emerging a communist state under Mao Zedong.

Porfirio Diaz

angered every social class in Mexico with his policies, but ended up getting overthrown by a decade of civil war and peasant armies

Militarism

The belief that states ought to build up strong militaries and employ them aggressively to protect their interests.

Triple Alliance

An alliance consisting of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungarian empire during the war.

Triple Entente

An alliance consisting of Britain, France, and Russia during the war.

Gavrilo Princip

The Serbian nationalist who shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austria-Hungarian empire over a regional dispute that ended up triggering WWI.

Total War

A war that requires the mobilization of a country's entire population, both military and civilian, to fight.

Treaty of Versailles

treaty that ended WWI, but ended up punishing Germany which caused WWII

Vladimir Lenin

Bolshevik leader during the russian revolution with the vision of transforming Russia into a communist state.Instituted the New economic policy which introduced some limited free market principles and died without those policies being set in place