AP World History Study Guide Flashcards

Flashcards of key vocabulary and concepts from an AP World History study guide, covering global tapestry, networks of exchange, land-based empires, transoceanic interconnections, revolutions, industrialization consequences, global conflict, the Cold War, decolonization, and globalization.

Song Dynasty

A Chinese dynasty that maintained its rule through long-held cultural traditions based in Neo-Confucian principles, Buddhism, and a system of meritocracy.

Khmer Empire

Dominated mainland Southeast Asia with its capital at the Hindu-turned-Buddhist temple complex Angkor Wat.

Majapahit

A Hindu-Buddhist empire of 98 tributary cities centered on the island of Java.

Abrahamic religions

The collective name for the three largest monotheistic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Abbasid Caliphate

A Muslim empire whose decline led to the emergence of new Muslim powers.

Manorialism

A system in Europe organizing rural economies that often made use of serf labor.

Parliamentary System

An absolute monarch government type developing in Britain.

Tenochtitlan

An impressive Aztec capital with architectural monuments and trade networks.

Glyphs

A means of recording historical events for the Aztecs, despite lacking a written alphabet.

Inca

A South American civilization that developed a united monarchy and powerful military in the Andes Mountains.

Mali

A wealthy West African kingdom that produced leaders such as Mansa Musa.

Timbuktu

An important intellectual center in the Mali Empire.

Swahili

A language that emerged from the mixing of Arab and native Bantu languages, uniting the regions along the east coast of Africa.

Silk Roads

Existing trade routes between east and west that experienced an increased volume of trade after the year 1200.

Credit

Improvements in business practices such as this facilitated new markets for luxury goods that crossed regional boundaries along the Silk Roads.

Caravanserai

Improvements in infrastruture such as this facilitated new markets for luxury goods that crossed regional boundaries along the Silk Roads.

Mongols

A nomadic people group from Central Asia that created an enormous land-based empire through conquest

Khanates

Administrative regions that the Mongol empire was split into, each ruled by a khan or leader.

Pax Mongolica

A period during Mongol rule where trade was made relatively easy and safe.

Gujarat and the Sultanate of Malacca

New trading cities that became powerful centers of commerce through the Indian Ocean trade.

Astrolabe

Innovations like this one, along with lateen sails, enabled travelers to more easily navigate maritime routes.

Camel saddle

Innovations in this technology made long-distance journeys much easier, encouraging interregional trade of gold, salt, and slaves along the trans-Saharan trade routes.

Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, and Margery Kempe

An individual whose writings contributed to the spread of literary, artistic, and intellectual traditions through increased connectivity in Afro-Eurasia between 1200 and 1450.

Bubonic Plague

A devastating disease that originated in China and spread to Europe through trade routes, significantly reducing Europe’s population.

Gunpowder Empires

Empires from this period that conducted their expansion in large part through widespread use of gunpowder, cannons, and other technologically sophisticated weaponry.

Manchu

An ethnic group that invaded Beijing, removing the ruling Ming Dynasty and establishing the Qing Dynasty in its place.

Mughal Empire

An Islamic empire that controlled most of South Asia.

Safavid Empire

An Islamic empire that dominated great stretches of land in the Middle East.

Ottoman Empire

An Islamic empire that controlled territory spanning from Southern Europe to the Middle East and North Africa.

Devshirme

A practice where the Ottomans recruited soldiers and bureaucrats.

Zamindars

South Asian military leaders under the Mughal Empire charged with collecting taxes on behalf of the empire.

Sikhism.

The intermingling of Hindu and Muslim cultures led to the emergence of this new syncretic religion.

Caravel

A new ship type enabling Europeans to navigate the oceans and participate in transregional trade.

Carrack

A new ship type enabling Europeans to navigate the oceans and participate in transregional trade.

Galleon

A new ship type enabling Europeans to navigate the oceans and participate in transregional trade.

Mercantilist ideology

An economic policy under which European nations sought to export more than they imported to increase their wealth.

Vasco da Gama

A person who sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in search of a sea route to India, opening up new possibilities for trade and exploration.

Christopher Columbus

A person who sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a new route to Asia, leading to the encounter between Europe and the Americas.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Indentured servitude

Required laborers due to the devastating effects disease had on the indigenous population in the Americas.

Slavery

Economic relationships that the Kingdom of Kongo had with Portuguese colonies.

Encomienda

Systems that were forms of coerced labor used by Spanish colonists in the Americas.

Mercantilism

An economic theory and practice, dominant in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, that promoted governmental regulation of a nation’s economy for the purpose of increasing state power at the expense of rival national powers

joint-stock companies

Business ventures of shared stock in which individuals could invest without fear of bankruptcy.

Pueblo Revolts and King Philip’s War

Revolts that reflected indigenous people's resistance to European colonizers.

Maroon societies

Communities of formerly enslaved people in the Americas that challenged existing power structures and maintained their autonomy.

Queen Nzinga

A ruler of Ndongo who made an alliance with the Dutch in an attempt to resist Portuguese influence.

Cossacks

A revolt that rose up against the government on behalf of the serfs.

Qing China

Policies against ethnically Han Chinese that further marginalized them, although the class system in China afforded them economic opportunities.

The Enlightenment

A new intellectual movement that promoted empiricist thinking.

Nationalism

Ideologies promoted in state-building enterprises, often using people’s sense of unity surrounding religion, language, and social customs.

American Revolution, French Revolution, Haitian Revolution, and various Latin American independence movements

Rebellions and revolts against existing power structures, often inspired by liberal democratic ideals.

Steam engine

Technological creation whose development accompanied environmental and societal changes.

Coal

A fossil fuel that industrializing societies experienced an increased demand for.

Adam Smith

A person whose ideas prompted a move away from long-standing mercantilist policies in favor of laissez-faire economics and free trade.

Karl Marx

A person whose ideas decried the excesses of capitalism and encouraged socialist or communist political reforms.

Survival of the fittest

A concept that Social Darwinists believed had implications beyond biology and could be applied to societal organization and politics to justify imperialistic policies and attitudes.

Ghost Dance

Religious movement in North America, designed to drive away white settlers and restore traditional pre- European ways of life.

Cotton production

The development of this led to an increased demand for slaves in the Americas.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A Chinese policy enacted to limit the number of migrants.

World War I

A war that required each country to completely commit to the conflict, both on the battlefield and on the home front.

Five Year Plans

Plans adopted by the Soviet Union to force the country to industrialize rapidly.

World War II

A global event that caused a breakdown in the global political order, caused by frustrated imperial aspirations (especially on behalf of the Triple Alliance), and the Great Depression.

Aldof Hitler

A member of the Nazi Party who rose to power in Germany by claiming that the Jewish people were responsible for Germany’s economic and political problems.

Nazi

A party that rose to power in Germany by claiming that the Jewish people were responsible for Germany’s economic and political problems.

Mohandas Gandhi

The leader of India who utilized nonviolent methods to orchestrate India’s independence from British colonial rule.

Soviet Union

A superpower that faced high costs due to a nuclear arms race and a costly invasion of Afghanistan, contributing to its decline and eventual dissolution.

United Nations

An organization that was formed as an attempt to ensure that increased interconnection was managed in such a way as to try to ensure world peace and international cooperation.