AP World History Comprehensive Review Flashcards

300 practice flashcards for AP World History covering key terms, historical concepts, civilizations, and figures from pre-1200 to 1750.

Ethnocentrism

The attitude or bias that one's own ethnic group, nation, or culture is superior to others.

Ship of Theseus

An Athenian thought experiment concerning a ship that had all its parts replaced over time, raising questions about whether it remained the same original object.

BCE and CE

System of dating history meaning Before Common Era and Common Era.

Homo sapiens Evolution

The evolution of modern humans in Africa around 300,000 years ago, who subsequently migrated out of Africa between 100,000 and 60,000 years ago.

Paleolithic Era

The Old Stone Age representing 95% of human history, characterized by stone tools, small nomadic hunter-gatherer societies, and low life expectancy.

Agricultural Revolution

The transition from hunting and gathering to settled agriculture occurring between 12,000 and 4,000 years ago, leading to population growth and early urbanization.

Pastoral Societies

Societies established in areas unsuitable for farming that relied on the domestication of animals, often resulting in conflict and interaction with settled farmers.

Chiefdoms

Agricultural societies ruled by charismatic leaders (chiefs) who distributed resources and organized specialized skills without relying on total political control.

Earliest Civilizations

Complex societies governed by states centered around cities that first emerged between 3500 BCE and 3000 BCE in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Peru.

Peasant Farmers

The foundational labor class that made up the vast majority of populations supporting early civilizations.

Patriarchy

Institutionalized social systems in which men hold primary political, social, and economic authority, taking root across major early civilizations.

Mayan Environmental Collapse

The decline of the Maya civilization caused by overbuilding artificial landscapes that outstripped natural resources and degraded the environment.

Indian Caste System vs. Chinese Bureaucracy

Indian social hierarchy prioritized religious status with rigid groups and no social mobility, whereas Chinese hierarchy prioritized political officials and government bureaucracy.

Neandertholic / Neolithic Revolution Limits

The transition away from hunter-gatherer lifestyles that allowed population growth but introduced malnutrition, strain, disease, and social inequalities.

Surplus

Having extra resources or food beyond immediate survival needs, enabling specialization of labor and social hierarchy.

Social Stratification

The division of society into distinct social classes based on wealth, status, or power.

Hinduism

A polytheistic belief system originating primarily in India, based on sacred texts called the Upanishads, rebirth, karma, and alignment with nature.

Upanishads

Sacred Hindu texts that explore philosophical concepts such as rebirth, karma, and unifying with the ultimate reality of nature.

Buddhism

Religion founded in India by Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) teaching that desire causes suffering and enlightenment is achieved via the Eightfold Path.

Eightfold Path

The core set of practical guidelines in Buddhism used to overcome desire and achieve enlightenment.

Confucianism

A Chinese philosophical system created to establish social stability by emphasizing education, moral duty, filial piety, and five key hierarchical relationships.

Confucian Five Relationships

The essential societal pairings defined by Confucianism: Ruler to subject, Father to son, Husband to wife, Older brother to younger brother, and Friend to friend.

Daoism

A Chinese philosophy advocating disengagement from politics, opposition to formal education, and alignment with the flow and ways of nature.

Judaism

A monotheistic faith originating among the ancient Hebrews, defined by a belief in one God, teachings of prophets, and adherence to moral laws like the Ten Commandments.

Christianity

A monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus, initially persecuted in the Roman Empire before being embraced under Emperor Constantine.

Constantine

The Roman Emperor who converted to Christianity in the 4th century CE and declared religious tolerance, facilitating its spread across the Roman Empire.

Islam

A monotheistic faith revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia, recorded in the Quran, emphasizing social justice and submission to Allah.

Quran

The sacred holy book of Islam containing the divine revelations delivered to the Prophet Muhammad.

Islamic Expansion (900-1500)

The historical geopolitical growth of the Islamic world across Afro-Eurasia via military conquest, Sufi mission work, and long-distance trade routes.

Silk Road

A major land-based trans-Eurasian trade network linking China to Europe for the exchange of luxury goods, ideas, and diseases.

Sea Roads

A vast maritime trade network centered around the Indian Ocean and South China Sea that carried bulk commodities and luxury items across Asia and Africa.

Sand Roads

Trans-Saharan trade routes linking West and North Africa with the Mediterranean, heavily reliant on camel caravans for gold, salt, and slave trading.

Harkness Discussion

A student-led group discussion format developed at Phillips Exeter Academy where the teacher acts primarily as an observer while students collaborate as a team.

Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE)

Chinese dynasty that established Confucianism as state ideology, created the merit-based civil service exam, linked trade with Rome via the Silk Road, and operated under the Mandate of Heaven.

Mandate of Heaven

The Chinese ideological concept that an emperor received divine legitimacy to rule, which could be revoked if the ruler became corrupt or ineffective.

Period of Disunion / Three Kingdoms

Historical era in China following the Han Dynasty's collapse characterized by political fragmentation, nomad invasions, and the growth of Buddhism.

Sui Dynasty (589 CE - 619 CE)

Dynasty that reunified China, promoted Buddhism, restored the scholar-gentry, and executed massive state infrastructure projects like the Grand Canal.

Tang Dynasty (619 CE - 907 CE)

Chinese dynasty known for military expansion into Central Asia, repair of the Great Wall, assimilation of Turkic nomads, and restoration of the civil service exam.

An Lushan Rebellion (755 CE)

A devastating revolt against the Tang Dynasty led by general An Lushan that severely weakened central imperial authority.

Song Dynasty (960 CE - 1279 CE)

A cultural and economic Golden Age in China marked by Neo-Confucian revitalization, commercial expansion, footbinding, technological innovation, and ultimate conquest by the Mongols.

Neo-Confucianism

A revitalization of Confucian thought during the Song Dynasty that incorporated metaphysical ideas from Buddhism and Daoism while emphasizing strict tradition, family order, and high morality.

Footbinding

The tight binding of young girls' feet practiced primarily among elite Song Dynasty women to emphasize delicacy, docility, and elite patriarchal status.

Scholar-Gentry

Elite Chinese bureaucrats educated in Confucian classics who passed civil service examinations to staff government ministries.

Censorate

A specialized agency in the Chinese imperial government tasked with surveilling and evaluating state officials to ensure competence and loyalty.

Champa Rice

A fast-ripening, drought-resistant crop strain introduced to China from Vietnam that prompted a population boom from 50 million to 120 million.

Hangzhou

The bustling southern capital city of the Song Dynasty, home to over a million residents and described as an economic metropolis.

Grand Canal

A key artificial waterway over 1,000 miles long connecting the Yellow and Yangzi rivers, enabling massive internal trade and food transport across China.

Flying Cash

Paper money credit instruments developed in Tang and Song China to avoid carrying heavy loads of metal copper coins.

Koryo / Joseon Korea

Korean dynasties that maintained political independence while participating in China's tribute system and selectively adopting Confucianism and Buddhism.

Hangul

A phonetic alphabet developed in Korea during the 15th century to foster cultural independence from Chinese logographic writing.

Battle of Bach Dang River (939 CE)

Battle in which Vietnamese forces defeated Chinese troops, securing Vietnam's political independence from direct Chinese rule.

Chu Nom

A variation of Chinese writing developed in Vietnam known as southern script, reflecting distinct Vietnamese cultural identity.

Samurai

The warrior class of feudal Japan that adhered to Bushido and served regional military commanders (daimyo) or shoguns.

Bushido

The distinctive code of values followed by Japanese samurai, emphasizing bravery, loyalty, martial skill, and honor over surrender.

Shinto / Kami

Japan's indigenous belief system centered on sacred spirits (kami) associated with natural phenomena and ancestral lineage, which coexisted alongside Buddhism.

Abbasid Caliphate

An Arab Islamic dynasty ruling from Baghdad starting in 750 CE, whose political unity fragmented due to regional warlords and Turkic incursions.

Seljuk Turkic Empire

An empire established by converted Central Asian Turkic pastoralists who took military power within the Abbasid empire, adopting the title Sultan.

Sultan

A Muslim title adopted by Turkic rulers denoting secular ruler or political-military monarch.

Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526)

An Islamic regime established by Turkic invaders in northern India, ruling over a predominantly Hindu majority population.

Vijayanagar Empire

A prominent Hindu empire founded in southern India in the mid-14th century to counter the expansion of Muslim rule from the Delhi Sultanate.

al-Andalus

Islamic Spain, centered at Córdoba, where Muslims, Christians, and Jews engaged in cross-cultural exchanges and intellectual advancements.

Reconquista

The centuries-long military campaign by northern Spanish Christian kingdoms to expel Islamic rulers from the Iberian Peninsula, concluding in 1492.

Byzantine Empire

The eastern continuation of the Roman Empire centered at Constantinople, characterized by Caesaropapism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Caesaropapism

The Byzantine political-religious structure in which the secular emperor also held supreme headship over the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Great Schism (1054)

The formal split between the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Constantinople and the Roman Catholic Church based in Rome.

Kievan Rus

A East Slavic state based around Kiev that adopted Eastern Orthodox Christianity under Prince Vladimir in 988 CE.

Feudalism in Western Europe

A decentralized socio-political system based on mutual obligations between landowning lords, military knights, and serfs.

Serfdom

A labor system in which peasant farmers were legally bound to their landlord's estate and forced to provide labor and rent.

High Middle Ages (1000-1300)

A period of demographic recovery, urban expansion, commercial growth, and university development in Western Europe.

Crusades

A series of holy wars declared by the Roman Catholic Papacy starting in 1095 to reclaim Jerusalem and Christian holy lands from Islamic control.

Thomas Aquinas

A medieval Christian theologian who synthesized Christian doctrine with the rational philosophy of Aristotle.

European Renaissance

A cultural movement starting in 14th-century Italy that revived classic Greco-Roman art, literature, and humanistic philosophy.

Maya Civilization (250-900 CE)

A Mesoamerican civilization known for its advanced mathematics, calendar system, monumental architecture, and competing city-states.

Aztec Empire (1345-1528)

A powerful Mesoamerican empire based in Tenochtitlán that demanded tribute from conquered subjects and practiced large-scale human sacrifice.

Tenochtitlán

The capital city of the Aztec Empire built on an island in Lake Texcoco featuring large pyramid structures and artificial farming islands (chinampas).

Inca Empire (1438-1533)

A vast, highly centralized Andean empire stretching along western South America, known for its extensive road network and labor service system.

Mita System

A mandatory labor service tax required of conquered communities by the Inca government for state construction projects and farming.

Gender Parallelism

A social structure present in the Aztec and Inca empires where men and women operated in separate but equivalent social and religious spheres.

Caravanserai

Roadside inns along the Silk Roads where long-distance merchants could rest, re-supply, and exchange culture.

Dunhuang

A major Silk Road oasis city in western China that became a major hub of Buddhist worship, artwork, and manuscript caves.

Pure Land Buddhism

A widespread popular branch of Buddhism in China emphasizing salvation by repeating the name of the Amitabha Buddha.

Monsoons

Predictable seasonal wind patterns in the Indian Ocean that facilitated maritime trade between East Africa, Arabia, India, and Southeast Asia.

Astrolabe and Magnetic Compass

Navigational technological tools adapted to maritime trade to measure latitude and direction at sea.

Diasporic Communities

Communities of foreign traders living abroad who introduced their native culture, language, and religion into foreign commercial ports.

Srivijaya

A maritime empire in Southeast Asia controlling the strategic Strait of Malacca, drawing wealth from trade taxes and promoting Buddhism.

Borobudur

The world's largest Buddhist monument, located in Java, reflecting the diffusion of Indian Buddhist culture into Southeast Asia.

Angkor Wat

A massive architectural temple complex constructed by the Khmer Empire in modern Cambodia, displaying syncretism between Hinduism and Buddhism.

Sultanate of Malacca

A major Islamic maritime trade hub located along the Strait of Malacca that fostered multicultural trade and the spread of Islam.

Swahili Civilization

A network of independent, urbanized commercial city-states along the East African coast that converted to Islam and traded African goods across the Indian Ocean.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful interior East African inland state known for its stone architecture, enriched by trade routes connecting inland gold fields to Swahili ports.

Zheng He's Voyages

A series of seven massive Indian Ocean maritime expeditions launched by Ming Dynasty Emperor Yongle between 1405 and 1433 to enroll states in the Chinese tribute system.

Arabian Camel

Pack animal whose introduction to North Africa transformed the Sahara Desert into a major commercial trade corridor.

Timbuktu

A major West African commercial and intellectual center in the Mali Empire, renowned for its libraries, Quranic schools, and book trade.

Mansa Musa

The Muslim ruler of the Mali Empire whose famous 1324 pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca distributed enormous amounts of gold and raised West Africa's profile across Islam.

Cahokia

A prominent Mississippian chiefdom near modern St. Louis known for its massive earthen mound architecture and regional trade connection.

Chaco Phenomenon

A cluster of major ancestral Puebloan settlements in modern New Mexico, linked by hundreds of miles of roads and active in regional turquoise trade.

Americas Pre-Columbian Trade Pattern

Macro-historical trade pattern characterized by extensive regional commerce within empires or specific zones, but very limited direct trade between separate distant American empires.

Pochteca

Professional Aztec merchants who conducted large-scale, long-distance trade expeditions inside and outside the empire.

Quipus

Knotted cord record-keeping devices used by Inca accountants to record numerical data, population counts, and goods stored in state warehouses.

Temujin (Genghis Khan)

Mongol leader who unified the warring pastoral tribes of Mongolia in 1206 and initiated the creation of the largest contiguous land empire in history.