AP World History Vocabulary

Flashcards based on lecture notes for AP World History exam review.

Confucianism

A hierarchical understanding of reality that influenced Song China and emphasized civil order and merit.

Imperial Bureaucracy

Appointed officials throughout the Song empire that spread the rulers demands.

Champa Rice

A type of rice from Vietnam that allowed for multiple harvests per year, boosting the Song economy.

Grand Canal

An internal waterway in China used as a transportation system.

Delhi Sultanate

An Islamic political entity that emerged as the Abbasid Caliphate declined.

Dar al-Islam

Areas where the religion of Islam is practiced.

Jizya

A tax imposed on non-Muslims in the Delhi Sultanate.

Shrivijaya

A Southeast Asian kingdom known for its trade along sealanes.

Tribute System

A system used by the Mexica (Aztec) empire where conquered peoples provided goods or labor.

Swahili

A new language that developed in Africa through the Indian Ocean trade network.

Feudalism

A system in Europe where land was exchanged for service, with peasants working the land.

Manor

A self-sufficient village in feudal Europe.

Three-Field System

An agricultural innovation in Europe that helped lead to a population explosion.

Silk Roads

Networks of exchange that primarily traded luxury goods like silk.

Caravanserai

Inns along trade routes where merchants could rest.

Paper Money

A lighter and more convenient form of currency that started in China.

Astrolabe

A technological innovation that aided in navigation in the Indian Ocean.

Diasporic Communities

Communities of merchants living away from their homeland that facilitated trade.

Mansa Musa

A powerful and influential ruler of Mali who facilitated trade.

Zen Buddhism

A syncretic form of Buddhism that developed in Japan.

Ibn Battuta

A Muslim scholar who traveled extensively in Dar al-Islam and wrote about different cultures.

Black Death

A disease that spread along trade routes with significant environmental consequences.

Gunpowder

A key technology that facilitated the expansion of land-based empires from 1450-1750.

Safavid Empire

A Shia Islamic dynasty that had conflicts with the Sunni Mughal Empire.

Akbar

A ruler of the Mughal Empire.

Tokugawa Shogunate

A Japanese military government that developed a professional military.

Divine Right

The belief that European rulers derived their authority from God.

Tax Farming

A system used in the Ottoman Empire where the right to collect taxes was auctioned off.

Martin Luther

A key figure in the Protestant Reformation who challenged the Catholic Church.

Catholic Reformation

A counter-reformation to reform the Roman Catholic Church.

Maritime Empires

Sea-based empires developed through transoceanic trade.

Mercantilism

An economic theory that drove European state-sponsored exploration and colonization.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of animals, plants, food, and diseases between Europe and the Americas.

Coerced Labor

Systems of forced labor used in European colonies, such as slavery and the mita system.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A diplomatic solution between Spain and Portugal that divided their colonial claims.

Hacienda System

A system of coerced labor in Spanish colonies where laborers were paid low wages but had high debts.

Mita System

A system of coerced labor adapted from the Inca by the Spanish.

Triangle Trade

A trade pattern between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Syncretism

The blending of indigenous religions with new belief systems.

Enlightenment

A new way of thinking that emphasized natural rights and social contracts, leading to reform and revolution.

Nationalism

Pride in one's nation.

Industrial Revolution

A change in how goods were made, beginning in Britain due to its access to waterways, raw materials, and improved agriculture.

Trans-Siberian Railroad

A railroad in Russia.

Adam Smith

Advocated that the government should leave the economy alone and consumers should make their own choices.

Karl Marx

Believed that capitalism was exploitative and advocated for socialism and communism.

Social Darwinism

The belief that strong states should eat week states.

Berlin Conference

A conference where European powers split up Africa.

Opium Wars

Wars between Britain and China caused by British opium smuggling and unequal trading terms.

Spheres of Influence

Exclusive trading rights in China held by imperial powers.

White Australia Policy

Racist legislation in Australia.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Racist legislation in the US.

World War I

A global conflict caused by a combination of militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism.

Total War

A war in which all resources are directed towards the war effort.

Propaganda

Biased communication used to mobilize populations during WWI.

New Deal

A series of programs and reforms implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat the Great Depression.

Fascism

A political ideology characterized by a strong government and extreme nationalism.

World War II

Another total war caused by the unsustainable peace agreement of WWI, economic crisis, and the rise of fascist regimes.

Final Solution

A Nazi plan for the genocide of the Jewish population.

Cold War

A decades-long ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Proxy Wars

Smaller conflicts that represent the ideas of bigger countries.

Green Revolution

a period of significant agricultural technology and production advancements, primarily focused on increasing food crop yields in the developing world, especially in the 1960s.

Globalization

An era that increased globalization due to new technologies and that had widespread effects on the global population in the 20th and 21st centuries.