Part 2 - World Civilizations and War

Mesoamerican & Asian Intellectual Revolutions

Mesoamerican Civilization

Native pre-Columbian cultures of Mexico and Central America before Spanish conquest.

Olmec Civilization

Earliest major Mesoamerican culture (c. 1150 BCE), known for colossal heads.

Cascajal Block

Olmec artifact evidencing an early Mesoamerican writing system.

Long Count Calendar

Mesoamerican calendar foundation laid by the Olmec.

Monte Albán

Zapotec site producing the earliest writing and written calendar in Mesoamerica.

Mayan Civilization

Mesoamerican culture (peak 250–900 CE) using hieroglyphs, calendars, and pyramids.

Codices

Maya books made from bark paper containing hieroglyphic writing.

Tikal

Major Classic-period Maya city-state.

Kukulkan

Maya serpent deity.

Chaac

Maya rain deity.

Aztec Empire

Nahuatl-speaking civilization ruling central Mexico in the 15th–early 16th centuries.

Tenochtitlán

Aztec capital founded 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco.

Triple Alliance

1427 coalition of Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan forming the Aztec Empire.

Chinampas

Aztec 'floating gardens'; reclaimed wetland mounds enabling multiple harvests yearly.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who captured Aztec emperor Montezuma II in 1519.

Montezuma II

Ninth Aztec emperor (1502–1520) captured during Spanish conquest.

Huitzilopochtli

Aztec war god central to ritual human sacrifice.

Quetzalcóatl

Aztec Feathered Serpent deity embodying divinity and cultural heroism.

Inca Civilization

Andean empire calling itself Tawantinsuyo, 'Land of the Four Quarters.'

Quechua (Runasimi)

Language of the Inca whose speakers held elite status.

Sapa Inca

Inca ruler regarded as a deity, 'child of the sun.'

Quipus

Inca knotted-cord recording system used in place of written language.

Mita System

Inca labor obligation requiring work on government lands or projects.

Ayllus

Inca kinship groups forming the basis of community organization.

Andenes

Inca agricultural terraces engineered into Andean mountains.

Túpac Amaru II Rebellion (1780–1783)

Major indigenous Peruvian revolt against Spanish colonial rule.

J■mon Culture

Earliest major prehistoric Japanese culture (c. 10,500 BCE), known for cord-patterned pottery.

Yayoi Culture

Successor culture to J■mon, emerging around 300 BCE.

Gojoseon

First Korean state, emerging in the 7th century BCE.

Three Kingdoms Period

Korean era (c. 57 BCE–668 CE) of Baekje, Silla, and Goguryeo.

Hwacha

Korean multiple-rocket launcher invention.

Hangul

Korean alphabet, a notable invention of Korean civilization.

Ayurveda

Indian 'science of life' focused on healthful living, hygiene, and diet.

Veda

Indian concept of sacred knowledge highly esteemed in their intellectual tradition.

African Civilizations & Islamic Golden Age

Pharaoh Narmer

Unifier of Egypt around 3100 BC, marking the First Dynasty and centralized bureaucracy.

Hieroglyphic Writing

Early Egyptian script (c. 3000 BC) combining logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic elements.

Aksumite State

Ancient Eritrean/Ethiopian kingdom (c. 300 CE) that minted coins and traded across the

Mediterranean.

Lebombo Bone

c. 35,000 BCE African artifact possibly used for counting or lunar calendars.

Metallurgy in Africa

Iron technology adapted in North Africa and the Nile Valley, advancing tools and society.

Islamic Golden Age

Period under the Abbasid Caliphate marked by major advances in science, math, and medicine.

Abbasid Caliphate

Islamic dynasty that ruled during the Islamic Golden Age, centered in Baghdad.

House of Wisdom

Major Baghdad institution where scholars translated Greek, Persian, and Indian works into Arabic.

Al-Khwarizmi

Father of Algebra; introduced 'al-jabr' and the Hindu-Arabic numeral system.

Hindu-Arabic Numeral System

Number system popularized by Al-Khwarizmi that replaced Roman numerals.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

Father of Early Modern Medicine; wrote The Canon of Medicine.

The Canon of Medicine

Ibn Sina's encyclopedia that systematized diagnosis, disease classification, and hospital

practice.

Ibn al-Haytham

Father of Modern Optics who pioneered experimental observation foundational to the scientific

method.

Nahda

19th-century Arab Renaissance promoting political reform, science, and translation of Western works.

War, Peace & Military Technology

Pre-Industrialized Warfare

Era of brute force using simple weapons like swords, bows, and battering rams.

Gunpowder

Saltpeter-sulfur-charcoal explosive invented by Tang Dynasty Taoist alchemists in 800s AD.

Fire Lance

Earliest gunpowder weapon, igniting powder to propel shrapnel at opponents.

Heilongjiang Hand Cannon

Oldest dated firearm, an early Chinese hand-held cannon.

Arquebus

Early matchlock firearm allowing untrained peasants to defeat skilled warriors.

Tanegashima

Japanese matchlock firearm introduced via European trade.

Ashigaru

Japanese mass-conscripted peasant infantry of the Sengoku Period.

Pike and Shot

Tactic combining arquebus gunmen with long-spear pikemen for protection.

Tercio

Elite Spanish military unit famed for pike-and-shot tactics.

Landsknecht

German mercenary infantry employing pike-and-shot warfare.

Siege of Constantinople (1453)

Battle where the basilica cannon toppled high walls, ending the Byzantine Empire.

Star Fort (Goryukaku)

Angled-wall fortification designed to deflect heavy cannon projectiles.

Yi Sun Shin

Korean naval general who defeated the Japanese Navy in the Imjin War (1592–1598).

Panokseon

Heavy Korean warship armed with 26 cannons of four types.

Gobukseon (Turtle Ship)

Iconic armored Korean warship of the Imjin War.

Battle of Myeongnang

Naval battle where 13 Panokseon defeated 333 Japanese ships.

Maxim Gun

First fully automatic recoil-operated machine gun.

Total War

Warfare mobilizing a nation's entire resources, blurring military and civilian lines.

Industrial Arms Race

Competitive technological weapons development between rival superpowers.

MG-42

Deadliest German machine gun of WWII; one soldier could decimate a platoon.

Trench Warfare

Defensive WWI tactic of digging trenches across 'no man's land.'

Mark I

First operational tank, an armored vehicle impervious to small firearms.

Blitzkrieg

German 'lightning war' using massed tanks, artillery, and bombardment for rapid conquest.

Dogfight

Aerial combat between warplanes.

U-boat

German submarine (Untersee Boot) used to attack enemy ships unseen.

Depth Charge

Anti-submarine weapon developed to counter U-boats.

London Blitz

Eight-month German bombing campaign on London killing about 40,000 civilians.

Manhattan Project

Allied WWII program that developed the first atomic bomb.

Hydrogen Bomb

Thermonuclear weapon with destructive yield 20+ times greater than the first atomic bombs.

Tsar Bomba

Most destructive nuclear weapon ever made, ~3,300 times more lethal than the first nukes.

ICBM

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile; nuclear-capable, striking 5,500 km in under 30 minutes.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Doctrine that full nuclear use guarantees total destruction of both sides.

Nuclear Deterrence

Concept that nuclear arsenals discourage attacks via retaliation threat.

Nash Equilibrium

Game-theory state where no player gains by deviating; applied to nuclear strategy.

Cold War

Indirect ideological conflict between the U.S. and USSR fought through proxy wars.

Pax Atomica

'Atomic peace'; concept that nuclear weapons have prevented large-scale wars.

Leo Tolstoy

Author whose 'War and Peace' holds history is driven by the 'sum of human wills.'

Democratic Peace Theory

Political theory that established democracies rarely go to war with one another.

'New' Wars

Post-Cold War conflicts marked by ethnic strife, advanced tech, and non-state actors.

Civil War

Armed conflict between organized groups within a state for control or new statehood.

Conventional Warfare

Warfare between regular, uniformed national militaries using non-nuclear weapons.

Hegemonic War

Conflict to establish global dominance by restructuring the world balance of power.

Guerrilla War

'Little war' by irregular troops relying on mobility and surprise.

Negative Peace

Mere absence of violence or war.

Positive Peace

Attitudes, institutions, and structures that actively sustain peaceful society.

Global Peace Index

Annual ranking of nations by peacefulness; Iceland, Denmark, Ireland top recent rankings.