AP WORLD HISTORY MODERN

SPRING 2026 SEMESTER EXAM REVIEW

the Neolithic Revolution

Dramatic shift from hunting and gathering to farming and domestication animals (8000 B.C. - 3500 B.C.E)

agriculture changed the lifestyles of societies by . . .

Allowing hunter gatherers or hunter-foragers to settle down in one place (nomadic → sedentary).

lifestyles of farmers vs pastoralists

Farmers - sedentary; domesticate animals & agriculture

Pastoralist - nomadic/semi-nomadic; only domesticate animal

original purpose of writing (an advantage for Sumerian society)

Original purpose - record keeping; allowed the Sumerians to efficiently manage their complex society – improving administration, trade, and taxation

Hammurabi & contributions made to Mesopotamia

A significant Babylonian emperor who established a code of laws (Hammurbi’s code), unified city-states within the empire.

“Era of the Warring States”

A period of time where people were not united and there was no religion or political system that brought the peoples together in China.

Mandate of Heaven & its purpose

A Chinese political idea where Heaven granted a ruler the divine right to govern:

• New dynasty arises, takes control of China

• Strengthens rule, reestablishes prosperity, peace

• Weakens, becomes lazy, problems arise (lose the mandate of heaven)

• Invasions, revolts toss out reigning dynasty

*repeat cycle forever

Purpose; to justify overthrowing the corrupt e.g. Shang Dynasty

ideas of Confucianism

• Believed social order, harmony and good government should be based on family relationships.

• Education is important

• Has secular views of political virtue & good government

• Lacks a spiritual side because of secular views

Role of women in Confucian society

Due to strict gender roles, a woman's duty was to be subject to her husband, foster and nurture children, and household chores e.g. foot binding

two religions impacted Japanese society the most (one is native to Japan)

Shintoism 

• Based on respect for natural forces & the worship of ancestors.

• They believed that kamis live within all people, animals, and nature(native to Japan)

&

Buddhism

Japanese Feudal society

Hinduism

Oldest religion, which is polytheistic,  and views religion as a way of liberating the soul from suffering.

Caste system in India & purpose when combined with Hinduism

1. Brahmins (Priests)

2. Kshatriyas (Rulers and Warriors)

3. Vaisyas (peasant merchants)

4. Shudras (peasants and Laborers)

* The Dalit or Untouchables

Purpose: intended to create a disciplined society with clear roles, where people performed duties (dharma)

Siddhartha Gautama

• A former prince who became a spiritual leader

• renounced his rich life to seek the meaning of sufferment → achieving enlightenment.

• Founder of Buddhism, later became known as the Buddha

tenets/beliefs of Buddhism

Four Noble Truths

• All life involves suffering

• Desire is the cause of suffering

• Elimination of desire brings an end to suffering

• The Noble Eightfold Path brings the elimination of desire

buddhism spread throughout Asia through . . .

Silk Road/Routes

Judaism

Monotheistic religion of the Jews founded by Abraham and Moses

10 Commandments

Laws based on ethics/morals & new covenant with God; became the basis for civil & religious laws of Judaism.

Christianity (tenets) & where did it derived its basic beliefs from

Jesus’s teaching, Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and Apostolic writings

* derived from Judaism

Muhammad

A prophet/messager of Allah god; founder of Islam

Islam: a unifying force for who . . .

Provided a religion that Arab in origin which erased clan divisions & brought an end to clan feuding; provided ethical system

office created for the political & religious successor of Muhammad after his death

Caliph

Muslims preserve ___________ during the “Golden Age of Islam”

Preserved ancient greek, persian, and india texts by translating into arabic

areas the Muslims added to the sciences.

Mathematics, astronomy, medicine, optics, chemistry, and natural philosophy

innovations Muslim merchant sailors introduce to Europe from China

Magnetic compass and rudder

invaders that destroyed Bagdad in 1258, bringing an end to the Abbasid Caliphate

The Mongols

How Islam first introduced to North Africa

Muslim armies of 650 pushed westward from Arabia, military power and gunpowder

Mongols & their accomplishment

A nomadic East Asian ethnic group who, under Genghis Khan and his successors in the 13th century, created the largest contiguous land empire in history

the Chinese dynasty that was controlled by Mongols in the late 13th century

Yuan Dynasty

Feudalism

a dominant social, economic, and political system in medieval Europe (9th–15th centuries) where land was granted by lords to vassals (landholders) in exchange for loyalty, military service, and labor

defining characteristics of the Ottoman Empire. (SPICE-T)

1. Social – multi-ethic/religious empire; millet system allowed non-Muslim communities to have their own religious and legal autonomy – if they paid a tax 

2. Political – an absolute monarchy which meant the sultan had complete power and control over people; government; military (basically everything), was both political & religious leader

3. Interactions (human/environmental) – relied heavily on agriculture and use of natural resources (e.g. timber, water, and minerals) to sustain their economy and military conquests.

4. Culture – a syncretic blend of Turkic, Islamic, Persian, and Byzantine traditions; cosmopolitan society

5. Technology – GUNPOWDER EMPIRE

conflict between the Ottoman and Safavid Empires.

a brutal, long-term struggle driven by intense religious rivalry (Sunni vs. Shia) and geopolitical competition for territory, notably Iraq and the Caucasus

European motives for exploring the seas

acquiring wealth (spices, silk, gold), spreading Christianity, competing for colonial dominance, and satisfying Renaissance curiosity (basically God, Gold, and Glory)

the Renaissance & its origins.

a fervent "rebirth" of European culture, art, and intellect that bridged the Middle Ages and modern history, roughly spanning the 14th to 17th centuries. It began in Italy, focusing on humanism

Renaissance man

a well-rounded individual with deep knowledge, proficiency, or expertise in a wide range of, often unrelated, fields, such as arts, sciences, and physical pursuits.

three artists that were considered Renaissance men.

1. Leonardo da Vinci

2. Michelangelo Buonarroti 

3. Raffaello Sanzio (Rapheal)

the first full-sized book the Gutenberg press copied

The Gutenberg Bible

Protestant Reformation

a 16th-century religious, political, and cultural upheaval that split Western Christianity, challenging the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church; initiated by Martin Luther in 1517 

Causes of the Reformation

• dissatisfaction with corruption in the Roman Catholic Church, specifically the sale of indulgences

• rise of Renaissance humanism

• invention of the printing press

• political desires for independence from papal authority

Identify the founder of each of the first Protestant Churches:

1. Lutheran – Martin Luther, a German monk, initiated the Reformation in 1517 by questioning Catholic practices (95 Theses). Lutheranism developed from his teachings.

2. Calvinist – John Calvin

3. Anglican – King Henry VIII

4. Presbyterian – John Knox

Isaac Newton

• laws of motion

• universal gravitation

The Enlightenment

a 17th–18th century intellectual and cultural movement in Europe and the Americas that championed reason, individualism, and scientific empiricism over tradition, superstition, and faith

philosophies associated with the following Enlightenment thinkers:

John Locke – natural rights (life, liberty, and property); social contract; consent of governed

Jean Jacques Rousseau – social contract, general will, popular sovereignty

Montesquieu – separation of powers, critique of absolutism, environmental determinism

Voltaire – religious tolerance, freedom of speech and thought, rationalism and empiricism

Wollstonecraft – of women’s equality, critique of patriarchy

revolutionary document included enlightenment ideas e.g. the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and the consent of the governed

The Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson (honorable mention: John Locke)

divine right

The idea that rulers have God’s blessing and are seen as god’s messengers which legitimizes their power

Estates System

A system of social stratification that divided French Society into three estates: the clergy, nobility, and the commoners

Napoleon’s effort to stabilize France after the Revolution

centralized the French government, reformed the education system, created the Bank of France, and established the Napoleonic Code to stabilize France after the Revolution.

Napoleonic code

a civil code established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804 that served as a model for the civil law codes adopted in many countries.

Nationalism.

an ideology and movement holding that the nation—a group sharing a common culture, language, or history—should be congruent with a sovereign state, placing the interests of the nation above other concerns

Industrial Revolution

a pivotal period of transition (roughly 1760–1840) from agrarian, handicraft economies to machine-driven, centralized manufacturing and industrialized urban societies

impact technological advances had on the industry

driving massive productivity gains, shifting from manual labor to automation. Key impacts e.g. mass production via assembly lines

proletariat and the bourgeoisie

• Bourgeoisie: capitalist class who own the means of production (factories, mines, land, banks)

• Proletariat: the working class who own no property and must sell their labor to the bourgeoisie to survive.

Laissez faire capitalism & proponent of this philosophy

an economic system advocating for minimal or zero government intervention, allowing free markets to operate based on self-interest, competition, and supply and demand promoted by Adam Smith

Karl Marx’s communist theory.

posits that capitalism is inherently exploitative and unstable, driven by a class struggle between owners (bourgeoisie) and workers (proletariat). He predicted a working-class revolution would abolish private property, leading to a stateless, classless society where the means of production are commonly owned

impact of worldwide industrialization effects the relationship between industrialized nations and non-industrialized nations.

shifted global power dynamics, creating a, often exploitative, core-periphery relationship where industrial nations (the core) dominated non-industrialized regions (the periphery) through imperialism, economic dependency, and forced trade imbalances

purpose of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885

To regulate European colonization and trade in Africa, aiming to prevent conflict between competing European powers during the "Scramble for Africa"

immediate cause of WWI

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

“total war”

a military conflict in which combatants are willing to make any sacrifice in lives and resources to achieve complete victory, blurring the lines between combatants and civilians

event that effectively brought the United States into WWI

The Zimmermann Telegram: Intercepted by British intelligence, this message revealed a German proposal to Mexico to form an alliance against the U.S., promising to help Mexico reclaim Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

the peace treaty that brought an end to WWI

Treaty of Versailles