APWH: Modern 1200 - Present

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major themes, events, and figures in World History from 1200 CE to the present day, emphasizing industrialization, global conflicts, and trade networks.

Imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force, driven by the need for raw materials like rubber, cotton, oil, tin, and diamonds, as well as captive markets.

Social Darwinism

An ideological motive for imperialism based on the concept of 'survival of the fittest' applied to human races.

White Man's Burden

A poem by Rudyard Kipling ($1899$) representing the ideological belief that Europeans had a duty to 'civilize' non-Western people.

Berlin Conference $1884-85$

A meeting hosted by Bismarck where European powers divided Africa without any Africans present; by $1914$, only Ethiopia and Liberia remained independent.

Sepoy Mutiny $1857$

A rebellion in India against the East India Company triggered by the use of greased cartridges; led to the British Crown taking direct control as the British Raj in $1858$.

Opium Wars ($1839-42$, $1856-60$)

Conflicts between Britain and the Qing Dynasty over the tea-opium trade, resulting in unequal treaties such as the Treaty of Nanjing in $1842$ and the ceding of Hong Kong.

Taiping Rebellion ($1850-64$)

Led by Hong Xiuquan, it was the biggest civil war in history with over $20$ million dead, attempting to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.

Neo-Confucianism

A movement in Song China ($960-1279$) led by Zhu Xi that revived Confucianism while incorporating elements of Buddhism and Daoism.

Champa Rice

A drought-resistant, fast-ripening rice from Vietnam that led to a population boom in Song China.

Pax Mongolica

A period of relative peace and stability across Eurasia under the Mongol Empire that revived trade along the Silk Roads.

Delhi Sultanate ($1206-1526$)

Turkic Muslim rule over Northern India that introduced the jizya tax and saw the rise of the syncretic Bhakti movement.

Mita System

An Incan labor system based on mandatory public service, later adapted by the Spanish for intensive silver mining at Potos%%.

Devshirme

An Ottoman system where Christian boys were recruited by force to serve the state, often becoming part of the elite Janissary corps.

Canton System

A restrictive trade policy in Qing China that limited foreign trade to a single port to control outside influence.

Sakoku

The isolationist policy of Tokugawa Japan ($1603-1868$) which restricted foreign entry and allowed trade only with the Dutch at Deshima.

Mercantilism

An economic theory where wealth was measured in bullion and colonies existed to benefit the mother country through a zero-sum trade balance.

Columbian Exchange

The global transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds; Old World smallpox killed $50-90$% of Indigenous Americans, while New World potatoes and corn fueled population booms elsewhere.

Casta System

A social hierarchy in Spanish America based on racial ancestry, ranking peninsulares at the top, followed by criollos, mestizos, and mulattos.

Caravanserai

Rest stops located every $20$ miles along the Silk Roads to support camel caravans and facilitate trade.

Green Revolution ($1940s-60s$)

A period of increased agricultural production worldwide due to high-yield seeds and chemical fertilizers, pioneered by Norman Borlaug.

Laissez-faire

An economic environment described by Adam Smith in 'Wealth of Nations' ($1776$) characterized by free markets and the 'invisible hand' without government intervention.

Meiji Restoration ($1868$)

A period of rapid modernization and industrialization in Japan after the overthrow of the Shogunate, making it the only non-Western industrial power of the era.

Glasnost and Perestroika

Policies of 'openness' and 'restructuring' introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the $1980s$ that contributed to the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the USSR.

Non-Aligned Movement ($1961$)

A group of nations, led by figures like Nehru and Nasser, that rejected the Cold War binary of the US and USSR.

Armenian Genocide ($1915-17$)

The systematic killing of approximately $1.5$ million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, recognized as the first modern genocide.