APMWH Societies to Know

Pastoral

Pastoral

practiced herding/raising animals instead of plants; moved between grazing grounds

Greek City States

cities of the Greek Peninsula that self-governed and developed their own ways of life

Hellenistic Empire

relatively small population in comparison to Persia; made up of many Greek city-states that claimed autonomy until unification was forced when Persia attacked them around 500 BCE

Roman Empire

encompassed the entire Mediterranean basin and beyond; grew out of city-state in Italy that began as an insignificant, small village initially ruled by a king; aristocrats overthrew the monarchy and established republic; republic was overthrown soon after conquering began by military leaders; after a civil war, Augustus took over as first emperor

Moche

South American flourished between 100-800 CE; economy was rooted in a complex irrigation system that required constant maintenance; led by warrior priests and had highly skilled craftspeople

Qin

first unified dynasty of China; lasted a short period before being overthrown and replaced by Han

Han

second dynasty of unified China; lasted for over four centuries; established key trade routes to India, which opened up the rest of the world to Chinese goods through the Silk Roads and the Indian Ocean trade network

Teotihuacan

giant city in Mesoamerica that was the largest city in all of America at the time, and one of the largest in the world; most information is unknown about it (even original name)

Mesoamerica

area from central Mexico to northern Central America that was incredibly diverse while being relatively small in size

Sui

reunified China; built Grand Canal; didn't last long, though, because of its ruthlessness and military futility

Tang

cosmopolitan dynasty, expanded control into the Silk Roads; beginning of "golden age" of China

Song

Chinese dynasty famous for the economic production and modernization, took over 50 years after fall of Tang China; ruled from 960-1279; end of "golden age" of China

Byzantine

the eastern part of the late Roman Empire, dating from 330, when Constantine I rebuilt Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople, to 1453, when it fell to the Ottoman Turks

Umayyad

Islamic caliphate that took power after the period of governance/civil war of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (661 CE); expanded the empire greatly but non-Arabs were not treated equally

Khanates

territories governed by Mongols after their conquest of Asia

Ghana/Mali

West African empire that largely accepted Islam voluntarily after its peaceful pervasion through Trans-Saharan trade routes

Songhay

West African empire that largely accepted Islam voluntarily after its peaceful pervasion through Trans-Saharan trade routes

Seljuks

Turkish empire, real power behind the end of the Abbasid throne; third major carrier of Islam after Arabs/Persians; brought it to India and Anatolia

Mamlukes

defeated Mongols, establishing the outer limit of Mongol control in the Middle East

Al Andalus

Conquered by Arab/Berber forces in the 8th Century; although initially Spain and Islam worked well together, discrimination began to occur between Islamic rulers and Catholic members of society; this resulted in the expulsion of the conquerors by 1492

Delhi Sultanates

First of Muslim Turkish conquerors of India;

Inca

kingdom that spanned the entire Andes mountain range; had a relatively bureaucratic empire that had socialist ideology that stressed patriotism and state-run farms that collected tax directly for the good of the people

Aztec

Mexican civilization that was a force in Central America; held religion/sacrifice in high regard

Feudal Europe

involved land owners having power over their respective areas; serfdom was prevalent

Feudal Japan

dominated by the powerful regional families (daimyo) and the military rule of warlords (shoguns, stretched from 1185 to 1868

Kievan Rus

Russian city-state ruled by Prince Vladimir I; took on Byzantine Christianity as national religion after considering many other religions

Venice/Italian City States

cities which were famous for their participation in long-distance trade and production of art during the Renaissance; constantly battling among themselves

Swahili City States

set of commercial cities stretching along the East African coast from Somalia to Mozambique; flourished between 1000-1500 CE in thoroughly urban fashion

Malacca

strategically located on the waterway between Sumatra and Malaya; transformed from a fishing village to a major Muslim port city and became springboard for Islam in Oceania

Maya

major classical civilization of Mesoamerica focused on the Yucatan Peninsula; incredibly advanced for the time (250-900 CE), using "engineered" landscaping and multiple classes of society, among other things; many theories as to how Mayan society collapsed, but nothing definite

Vikings

a member of any of the Scandinavian peoples who carried out seaborne raids and invasions of various parts of northwestern Europe from the 8th-11th Centuries. They usually came by sea in longships, raiding mainly coastal regions, and often settled in the areas they invaded, as in Britain

Turks

name given to descendants of Seljuks who spread throughout Central Asia, to new borders of India and Anatolia

Arabs

populace of Arabian Peninsula; original followers of Islam

Berbers

pastoral peoples in North Africa, become Muslim

Bantu

West African people that slowly migrated to Eastern and Southern Africa over many centuries; that migration generated 400 distinct yet closely related languages that are spoken throughout the area of the continent exposed to the mass movement

Polynesia

one of three major divisions of the Pacific Islands, encompassing a number of island groups in the central and southern Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, Samoa, and the Cook Islands

Portugal

colonial power that ventured into modern-day Brazil in the Americas, but mainly focused on establishing trade routes along the African coasts and throughout the Indian Ocean; did not last long however, as the Dutch took control of the Portuguese trading empire rather swiftly

Spain

European monarchy that expelled Jews and Muslims while branching out in terms of global trade and conquest in the late 15th Century

France

absolute monarch that influenced major events in Europe; established colonial territories in North America mainly;

Britain

created most powerful navy in the world; focused on India, North America, and South Africa for colonial ventures; originally Catholic, but split off into its own form of Christianity (Anglican) during the time of Henry VIII

Dutch

European republic, gained freedom from Spanish Hapsburgs;

largely took over Portugal's holdings in the East Indies in the form of harsh colonial rule of natives; focused most on Indonesian spice trade

Ming

directly followed Mongol rule; wished to return China to old Confucian ways; featured Zheng He's voyages and subsequent retreat from such matters

Qing/Manchu

vastly enlarged territorial boundaries of China while incorporating a number of non-Chinese entities; much military expansion was viewed as defensive, to guard against attack; did not aim to assimilate those conquered into Chinese society

Mughal

meld between Islamic and Hindu peoples; went through different levels of religious toleration, going from no acceptance to acceptance with Akbar, then no acceptance under Aurangzeb

Russia

absolutist empire that expanded immensely through fur trade, eventually spanning from Central Europe to the Alaskan coast

Ottomans

formed central Muslim presence in Anatolia, the Middle East, Southeastern Europe, and North Africa; tolerated other religions rather well; to Christians outside of the empire, though, the Ottomans were a big threat

Safavid

Persian dynasty; clashed with the Ottomans over Sunni vs. Shi'a issues

Aztec

Mexican civilization formed from Triple Alliance; used pochteca, performed human sacrifices before it was encountered and taken over by the Spanish (Cortes)

Inca

Peruvian civilization famous for its feats of engineering and infrastructure; goods were shared with all; had a labor tax before it was encountered and taken over by the Spanish (Pizarro)

Songhay

West African nation divided in terms of religious observance (Islam vs. native beliefs); over time became a center of Islamic learning and commerce by 16th century

Shogunates

unified Japan after centuries of feudal civil war; closed of the country to foreigners except a few Dutch traders confined to a single port

Kongo

heavily damaged by the slave trade; famous letter from ruler Afonso begged Portugal to cease slave activities, did not have effect

British

great naval power led to Britain's leading of the imperialist charge; Indian rebellions caused British to step in and take control from the B.E.I.C

German

unified under Otto von Bismark; led to Germany's contributions to the European peace until the start of WWI

Dutch

lost much of its initial imperial power as European nations ceased dependence on trading post empires and switched to colonial empires

French

took most of West and North Africa, as well as Madagascar and Indochina/Vietnam

Belgian Congo

area used by Belgians for its rubber; brutally treated natives there to horrible circumstances and beatings for years

Italian Empire

relatively small player in imperial times; most famous for being defeated by the Ethiopians in 1896

Tsarist Russia

sole outpost of absolute monarchy; serfs were finally freed in 1861, though said freedom was limited; tsarist oppression led to revolutions of 1905 and 1917

Meiji Japan

came into being after Tokugawa Shogunate was overthrown; focused on industrialization, Westernization, and overall modernization

US

used conflicts like the Spanish-American War to take on more territory, as well as establishing fueling stops throughout the Pacific

Qing

became apathetic in terms of modernization, deeming the rest of the world fit to catch up to China (not the other way around); lost status as world power, falling prey to European and Japanese imperialism

Mughal

initially happy with the cooperation and syncretism exhibited between Hinduism, religion of natives, and Islam, religion of the invaders; over time, this policy lost favor in the eyes of the Islamic rulers, leading to persecutory laws against Hindus, Sikhs, etc.

Ottomans

believed they were ahead of the world in terms of technology and religious belief, and therefore did not try too hard to advance themselves, not even bothering to take on advancements made by other nations; Islamic thought curtailed whatever scientific advancements made despite this apathetic sentiment

Portugal

Iberian kingdom; led exploration of Africa and later Americas and Asia; after losing its tradingpost empire, focused on small scale colonization efforts, excluding the big effort in Brazil

Spain

Took over most of South and Central America, utilizing the silver mines there to enrich the Spanish monarchy in Europe

Marathas

at its peak, the Maratha Empire established a protectorate over the Mughal emperor and paramount over the numerous Rajput chieftains of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Central India and elsewhere; taken down by the B.E.I.C.

Egypt (Muhammad Ali)

nationalist sentiments in Egypt sparked and "Egypt for Egyptians" movement that pushed against European dominance

Ashanti

developed a large and influential empire in West Africa prior to European colonization; eventually developed the powerful Ashanti Confederacy and became the dominant presence in the region

Zulu

warrior nation of South Africa that took up arms against the invaders

Liberia

state in West Africa formed by freed US slaves seeking greater freedoms

Haiti

first successful rebellion/revolution of South and Central America

Latin American Nations

slowly threw European colonizers out with various independence movements, though remained dependent on Europe's industrialized economic system

Cherokee

Native American tribe that assimilated well into US society, even owning slave plantations; even so, were brutally treated to the Trail of Tears

Siam

only South Asian territory that avoided colonization

Turkey

after attaining autonomy, it became a secular state (in stark contrast to Ottoman Empire); gradually allowing slight religious gains in regards to public policy, etc.

Soviet Union/Russia

dropped out of WWI in 1917 due to the very first Communist Revolution; the USSR was formed, and was a key component to the Allies' victory in WWII (was responsible for the entire Eastern Front), at the cost of 20 million Russian lives; Cold War with US until last decade of 20th Century; became democratic state after overthrow of Communist Party

Britain

key ally to the US in both World Wars; in WWII, the nation survived months of bombing by German planes to beat back the enemy's offensive; was hit hard by the GD

France

failed to pull its own weight in both world wars, needing Britain and the US to help out each time; exacted revenge on Germany through the "war reparations" after WWI

Portugal

lost Brazilian territory in 1822; global significance deteriorated after that

Dutch

infamous for their terrible treatment of native populations; lost almost all power in the world

Germany

was pulled into WWI against its will, yet was blamed almost entirely for starting the conflict; Hitler brought them out of economic collapse only to instill in them the belief that the world should belong to them, which caused the death of over 60 million people

Italy

where fascism originated; sole European ally of Germany in WWII

Yugoslavia

was created by the Treaty of Versailles after WWI; originally part of Austria-Hungary; member of USSR that fell apart, becoming multiple independent nations (Bosnia, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia) among massive ethnic conflicts

Armenia

the Ottoman Empire subjected one million Armenians to a deadly march, the first account of true genocide

Communist China

second largest communist state to exist during the Cold War; gradually broke away from USSR influence as their communist ideologies began to differ; rapid economic growth caused inequality between rural and urban people

Taiwan

one of the Asian Tigers; experienced huge economic growth due to focus on industrialization after independence movement

Japan

began expansion into South Pacific in the early 1900s; joined forces with Germany in WWII; attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing US into the war; suffered incredible losses before finally surrendering; has recovered to become one of the most influential countries in the world

Vietnam

declared autonomy from the French after WWII; later taken over by northern pro-Communist forces in the '70s

Cambodia

was communist; China invaded it in 1979 even so; site of mass killings/genocide

Philippines

went through brutal dictatorship following independence

India

gained independence from Britain after WWII; place of great ethnic and religious strife; over a million died in its partition (creation of Pakistan)

Pakistan

result of the partition of India after WWII; took place to satisfy the desires of both the Hindu and Muslim populations of India, with Pakistan becoming an Islamic state and India remaining a Hindu state

Afghanistan

constant area of strife, with its people being torn apart by global struggles between al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Global North

Israel

fought back numerous advances made by the Arab world to eliminate the new Jewish State; leading economic/military power in the world; lone representative of democracy in Middle East

Saudi Arabia

one of the oil capitals of the world; Islamic capital of the world; famous for outlawing female drivers

Iran

after the Shah's reign, government reigned in deference to Shariah law; constantly disobeys international orders made by the UN; is under extreme pressure to cease such actions

Iraq

achieved independence after WWII; Saddam Hussein governed in a brutal dictatorship; Hussein was ousted by US attack in early 2000s

Egypt

first Arab country to acknowledge Israel's right to exist