AP World History Review Flashcards

Flashcards reviewing key vocabulary terms and concepts from the AP World History course description.

Land-Based Empires

Empires that relied on control of territory and resources through land-based military power, such as the Manchu, Mughal, Ottoman, and Safavid empires.

Empires Expand

Imperial expansion relied on the increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to establish large empires in both hemispheres.

Empires: Administration

Rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power in land-based empires from 1450 to 1750, including bureaucratic elites, military professionals, religious ideas, art, and monumental architecture.

Empires: Belief Systems

The Protestant Reformation marked a break with existing Christian traditions, and both the Protestant and Catholic reformations contributed to the growth of Christianity during the period from 1450 to 1750.

Comparison in Land-Based Empires

Methods by which various empires increased their influence from 1450 to 1750 involved interconnection of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres made possible by transoceanic voyaging, transformed trade and had a significant social impact on the world.

Transoceanic Interconnections

The interconnection of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres made possible by transoceanic voyaging, transformed trade and had a significant social impact on the world.

Technological Innovations from 1450 to 1750

Cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of technology and facilitated changes in patterns of trade and travel from 1450 to 1750. Developments included the production of new tools, innovations in ship designs, and an improved understanding of regional wind and currents patterns—all of which made transoceanic travel and trade possible.

Maritime Exploration (1450-1750)

New state-supported transoceanic maritime exploration occurred in this period. Portuguese development of maritime technology and navigational skills led to increased travel to and trade with Africa and Asia and resulted in the construction of a global trading-post empire.

Columbian Exchange

The new connections between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres resulted in the exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases.

Maritime Empires Established

Europeans established new trading posts in Africa and Asia, which proved profitable for the rulers and merchants involved in new global trade networks. Driven largely by political, religious, and economic rivalries, European states established new maritime empires, including the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and British.

Maritime Empires Maintained and Developed

Mercantilist policies and practices were used by European rulers to expand and control their economies and claim overseas territories.

Migration (1450-1750)

The Atlantic trading system involved the movement of goods, wealth, and labor, including enslaved persons and the mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples, with all parties contributing to this cultural synthesis.

Internal and External Challenges to State Power from 1450 to 1750

State expansion and centralization led to resistance from an array of social, political, and economic groups on a local level.

Changing Social Hierarchies from 1450 to 1750

Many states, such as the Mughal and Ottoman empires, adopted practices to accommodate the ethnic and religious diversity of their subjects or to utilize the economic, political, and military contributions of different ethnic or religious groups. In other cases, states suppressed diversity or limited certain groups’ roles in society, politics, or the economy.

The Enlightenment

Enlightenment philosophies applied new ways of understanding and empiricist approaches to both the natural world and human relationships and emphasized the importance of reason. Philosophers developed new political ideas about the individual, natural rights, and the social contract.

Nationalism

People around the world developed a new sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs, and territory. This was sometimes harnessed by governments to foster a sense of unity.

Industrial Revolution Begins

Proximity to waterways; access to rivers and canals, Geographical distribution of coal, iron, and timber, Urbanization, Improved agricultural productivity, Legal protection of private property, Access to foreign resources, Accumulation of capital all contributed to growth of industrial production.

Industrial Revolution Spreads

The rapid development of steam-powered industrial production in European countries and the U.S. contributed to the increase in these regions’ share of global manufacturing during the first Industrial Revolution.

Technology of the Industrial Age

The development of machines, including steam engines and the internal combustion engine, made it possible to take advantage of both existing and vast newly discovered resources of energy stored in fossil fuels, specifically coal and oil.

Industrialization: Government’s Role from 1750 to 1900

As the influence of the Industrial Revolution grew, a small number of states and governments promoted their own state-sponsored visions of industrialization.

Economic Developments and Innovations in the Industrial Age

Western European countries began abandoning mercantilism and adopting free trade policies, partly in response to the growing acceptance of Adam Smith’s theories of laissez-faire capitalism and free markets.

Reactions to the Industrial Economy from 1750 to 1900

In response to the social and economic changes brought about by industrial capitalism, some governments, organizations, and individuals promoted various types of political, social, educational, and urban reforms.

Rationales for Imperialism from 1750 to 1900

A range of cultural, religious, and racial ideologies were used to justify imperialism, including Social Darwinism, nationalism, the concept of the civilizing mission, and the desire to religiously convert indigenous populations.

Indigenous Responses to State Expansion from 1750 to 1900

Increasing questions about political authority and growing nationalism contributed to anticolonial movements.

Global Economic Development from 1750 to 1900

The need for raw materials for factories and increased food supplies for the growing population in urban centers led to the growth of export economies around the world that specialized in commercial extraction of natural resources and the production of food and industrial crops.

Economic Imperialism from 1750 to 1900

Industrialized states and businesses within those states practiced economic imperialism primarily in Asia and Latin America.

Causes of Migration in an Interconnected World

Migration in many cases was influenced by changes in demographics in both industrialized and unindustrialized societies that presented challenges to existing patterns of living.

Causes of World War I

The causes of World War I included imperialist expansion and competition for resources. In addition, territorial and regional conflicts combined with a flawed alliance system and intense nationalism to escalate the tensions into global conflict.

Conducting World War I

Governments used a variety of strategies, including political propaganda, art, media, and intensified forms of nationalism, to mobilize populations (both in the home countries and the colonies) for the purpose of waging war.

Shifting Power After 1900

The West dominated the global political order at the beginning of the 20th century, but both land-based and maritime empires gave way to new states by the century’s end.

Causes of World War II

The causes of World War II included the unsustainable peace settlement after World War I, the global economic crisis engendered by the Great Depression, continued imperialist aspirations, and especially the rise to power of fascist and totalitarian regimes that resulted in the aggressive militarism of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler.

Conducting World War II

Governments used a variety of strategies, including political propaganda, art, media, and intensified forms of nationalism, to mobilize populations (both in the home countries and the colonies or former colonies) for the purpose of waging war.

Mass Atrocities After 1900

The rise of extremist groups in power led to the attempted destruction of specific populations, notably the Nazi killing of the Jews in the Holocaust during World War II, and to other atrocities, acts of genocide, or ethnic violence.

The Cold War

The global balance of economic and political power shifted during and after World War II and rapidly evolved into the Cold War. The democracy of the United States and the authoritarian communist Soviet Union emerged as superpowers, which led to ideological conflict and a power struggle between capitalism and communism across the globe.

Effects of the Cold War

The Cold War produced new military alliances, including NATO and the Warsaw Pact and led to nuclear proliferation and proxy wars between and within postcolonial states in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Decolonization After 1900

Nationalist leaders and parties in Asia and Africa sought varying degrees of autonomy within or independence from imperial rule. After the end of World War II, some colonies negotiated their independence, while others achieved independence through armed struggle.

Newly Independent States

The redrawing of political boundaries after the withdrawal of former colonial authorities led to the creation of new states.

Advances in Technology and Exchange After 1900

New modes of communication—including radio communication, cellular communication, and the internet—as well as transportation, including air travel and shipping containers, reduced the problem of geographic distance.

Technological Advances and Limitations After 1900: Disease

Diseases, as well as medical and scientific developments, had significant effects on populations around the world.

Technological Advances: Debates About the Environment After 1900

As human activity contributed to deforestation, desertification, a decline in air quality, and increased consumption of the world’s supply of fresh water, humans competed over these and other resources more intensely than ever before.

Economics in the Global Age

In a trend accelerated by the end of the Cold War, many governments encouraged free-market economic policies and promoted economic liberalization in the late 20th century.

Globalized Culture After 1900

Political and social changes of the 20th century led to changes in the arts and in the second half of the century, popular and consumer culture became more global.