World History Review Flashcards

Timeline of Main Events (c. 1200-1450)

• East Asia:
  • Song Dynasty reigns, utilizing Neo-Confucianism and the Civil Service Exam.
  • Champa rice is grown for food.
  • These practices spread to Korea and Japan.
• Dar al-Islam:
  • The Caliphate system (specifically the Abbasids) ends, giving way to sultanates.
  • Focus on contributions to math, science, and medicine.
  • Sufism gains converts.
• South and Southeast Asia:
  • Buddhism and Hinduism influence the region.
  • Sufism attracts converts.
• The Americas:
  • Inca Empire centralizes power through a road system and mita labor.
  • Aztec Empire centralizes power through human sacrifice and uses chinampas (lake farms).
• Africa:
  • Mali and the trans-Saharan trade flourish.
  • Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili coast are important for state building.
• Europe:
  • Feudalism is prevalent, with serfs working on manors in a decentralized government system.

Connectivity through Trade Routes

• Silk Road:
  • Connects East and West.
  • Trading cities like Kashgar and Samarkand emerge.
  • Luxury goods (silk, porcelain) and economic innovations (banking houses, flying cash) are traded.
• Indian Ocean Trade:
  • Maritime Silk Road.
  • Same trade cities, luxury goods, and technology exchanged.
  • Diaspora communities (e.g., Chinese in Malacca) emerge.
  • Admiral Zheng He makes voyages.
  • Monsoon winds are crucial for navigation.
• Trans-Saharan Trade:
  • Reconnects Dar al-Islam to sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Trades salt and gold, and spreads Islam.
  • Ibn Battuta travels this route.
  • Mansa Musa makes his famous Hajj.

Consequences of Trade

• Environmental impacts:
  • Spread of the bubonic plague.
  • Champa rice.
  • Citrus fruits.
• Cultural impacts:
  • Spread of religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam).
  • Travel writers (Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta).
  • Gunpowder, algebra, and the compass spread.
• The Mongols:
  • Mongol Empires turn into khanates.
  • They expedite the exchange of ideas, technologies, and diseases across the trade routes.

Rise of Land-Based Empires (Gunpowder Empires): c. 1450-1750

• Manchus (Qing Dynasty):
  • Invade China and establish the final Chinese empire.
  • Maintain Neo-Confucianism, the Civil Service Exam, and the dynasty system.
  • Implement the Q haircut and centralize power through the Banner System.
• Ottomans:
  • Conquer Constantinople (1453) and rename it Istanbul.
  • Sunni Muslim.
  • Clash with the Shia Safavids.
  • Utilize the Devshirme system for military and bureaucracy (Janissaries).
  • Practice tax farming.
• Mughals:
  • Islamic group ruling a Hindu majority in India.
  • Religiously tolerant (Akbar the Great is an example).
  • Build monumental architecture like the Taj Mahal.
• Safavids:
  • Shia Empire located between the Sunni Ottomans and Mughals.
• Other Land-Based Powers:
  • Aztecs and Incas (from Unit 1).
  • Songhai replaces Mali in West Africa.
  • Tokugawa Japan establishes a military shogunate, eventually implementing Sakoku (locked country) policy.

Belief System Changes

• Protestant Reformation:
  • European Christian split initiated by Martin Luther around 1500.
• Sikhism:
  • New religion based on the teachings of Guru Nanak in the Mughal Empire, blending Hindu and Islamic beliefs.

Rise of Maritime Empires

• Enabled by technological advancements:
  • Portuguese and Spanish caravels.
  • Dutch fluyts.
  • Islamic astrolabes.
  • Chinese compasses.
  • Latin sails.
  • Knowledge of winds.
• Portuguese:
  • First European maritime empire.
  • Prince Henry seeks a route around Africa and means to spread Christianity.
  • Establish a school for navigators.
  • Reach Brazil and India (1498).
  • Engage in trade and the transatlantic slave trade.
• Spanish:
  • Focus on the Americas.
  • Establish viceroyalties.
  • Conquer the Aztecs and Incas.
  • Implement the encomienda system.
  • Extract cash crops (sugar, coffee) and silver (Potosi).
  • Spread Catholicism (Bartolomé de las Casas, Our Lady of Guadalupe).
• Trading Post Empires:
  • European empires establish small trading posts rather than taking over vast territories (except in the Americas).
• Joint-Stock Companies:
  • Government-sponsored monopolies that allowed investment and spread risk.
  • Examples include the British East India Trading Company (dominates South Asia) and the Dutch VOC (dominates modern-day Indonesia and the spice trade).
• Columbian Exchange:
  • Massive exchange of plants, animals, and diseases across the Atlantic.
  • Has significant impact on both the Old and New Worlds.
• Resistance to Empires:
  • Revolts of the enslaved (Queen Nanny in Jamaica).
  • Resistance against Europeans in Africa (Anna Nzinga in Angola).
  • Local group resistance (Hindu Marathas against the Mughals, Cossacks against the Russian Empire).
  • Tokugawa Japan's Sakoku policy against foreigners.
• Social System Changes:
  • Caste system in the Americas.
  • Banner system in China.
  • Millets in the Ottoman Empire.
  • Social changes due to the slave trade in Africa and the Americas.
  • Coerced labor systems (chattel slavery, encomienda system).

Revolutions (Unit 5): c. 1750 - Present

• Political Revolutions:
  • Inspired by Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and reason.
  • American Revolution (against taxation without representation).
  • French Revolution (against absolute monarchy, Louis XVI).
  • Haitian Revolution (slave revolt against the French).
  • Latin American Revolutions (led by Bolívar against Spain).
• Rise of Nationalism:
  • Idea that a nation (people with shared beliefs) should govern the state.
• Industrial Revolution:
  • Begins in Great Britain (access to resources, capital, urban areas).
  • Spreads to the United States and Europe.
  • Based on the factory system and mass production.
  • Technological Innovations:
    • Steam engine (James Watt).
    • Internal combustion engine (fossil fuels).
    • Railroads.
    • Telegraph.
  • Decline in production in Asia as European factories grow.
  • Governments attempt to industrialize:
    • Meiji Restoration (Japan) is successful.
    • Self-Strengthening Movement (Qing China) is less successful.
    • Egypt (Muhammad Ali) nationalizes its cotton industry.
  • Growth of Capitalism (Adam Smith, laissez-faire). End of mercantilism.
  • Rise of transnational businesses (Unilever, HSBC).
  • Social Changes:
    • Women's push for equality.
    • Emergence of a working class.
    • Karl Marx's ideas about worker revolution.

Effects of Industrialization and Imperialism (Unit 6)

• Industrial powers turn trading posts into empires.
• Excuses for expansion:
  • Racist policies.
  • Religious civilizing missions.
  • Social Darwinism.
• Real reasons:
  • Economic access to raw materials and markets.
• Major Empires:
  • American, British, Japanese, Russian, French.
• Settler Colonies:
  • Small populations settle and attempt to replace indigenous culture (e.g., British in Australia).
• Key Events:
  • Berlin Conference (divides Africa).
  • Sepoy Mutiny (India, leads to British Raj).
  • Century of Humiliation (China: Opium Wars, Taiping Rebellions, Sino-Japanese Wars, Boxer Rebellions).
• Economic Dominance:
  • Industrial powers economically control areas without physical takeover (e.g., Banana Republics in Latin America, British and French in China during Opium Wars).
• Export Economies:
  • Focus on raw materials like cotton, rubber, palm oil, guano.
• Resistance to Imperialism:
  • Sepoy Mutiny (India).
  • Tupac Amaru (Peru).
  • Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement (South Africa).
  • Most resistance is unsuccessful against industrial powers.
• Migrations:
  • Consequences of industrialization. Growth of cities and global travel.
  • People move to cities (London, New York, Buenos Aires).
  • Push factors:
    • Irish Potato Famine.
    • Chinese Century of Humiliation.
  • Pull factors:
    • Job opportunities.
  • Formation of migrant enclaves (Little Italy, Chinatown).
  • Resistance to migration (Chinese Exclusion Act, White Australia Policy).

Global Conflicts and Changes (Unit 7)

• Decline of Old Empires:
  • Qing, Russian, Ottoman Empires decline/fall.
  • China becomes a republic.
  • Russians overthrown by Bolsheviks.
  • Ottomans broken up after WWI.
• World War I:
  • Causes include imperialism, alliance systems, nationalism (Serbian nationalism and assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand).
  • Total War:
    • Utilization of national resources for victory.
    • Propaganda and Media Restrictions: Governments mobilize populations.
    • New Military Tactics:
      • Machine guns, gas, tanks, Zeppelins lead to high casualties.
• Inter-War Period:
  • Great Depression:
    • Governments (US, Soviet Union) intervene in economies.
  • Growing Tensions:
    • Empires continue to grow, increasing resistance.
  • Rise of Dictatorships:
    • Italy, Spain, Germany.
• World War II:
  • Catalysts include aggression of totalitarian states (Nazi Germany, Empire of Japan).
  • Total War, propaganda, new military technology (firebombing).
  • Atomic Bombs:
    • Change the game and end the war in 1945.
  • Mass Atrocities:
    • Holocaust (mentioned by name).
    • Armenian Genocide.
    • Cambodian communist genocide as other examples.

Cold War and Decolonization (Unit 8)

• Cold War:
  • Post-WWII split between two ideologies: US (capitalism, democracy) and Soviets (dictatorship, communism).
  • Alliances:
    • NATO (US).
    • Warsaw Pact (Soviet).
    • Non-Aligned Movement (India, Egypt, Ghana).
  • Proxy Wars:
    • Conflicts between US and Soviet proxies (Vietnam, Afghanistan).
• China:
  • Turns communist after WWII under Mao Zedong.
  • Great Leap Forward mirrors Stalin's five-year plans with devastating effects.
• End of Cold War (1991):
  • Fall of the Soviet Union due to Afghan War, economic failures, and US dominance.
• Decolonization:
  • Anti-imperialist movements lead to the end of most empires.
  • United Nations: Guarantees states the right to self-determination.
  • Methods:
    • Non-violence (Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Gandhi in India).
    • Violence (Algeria, Vietnam).
  • Consequences of New Borders:
    • Conflicts (India, Israel).
  • Economic Growth in Newly Independent States:
    • Tanzania, Egypt, India.

Globalization and Connectivity (Unit 9)

• Technology:
  • Planes, radio, cell phones, container ships increase global connection.
• Energy Sources:
  • Petroleum, nuclear, solar, wind.
• Birth Control:
  • Allows women to control reproductive rights.
• Green Revolution:
  • Increases crop production to feed a growing population.
• Medical Advancements:
  • Antibiotics and vaccines combat diseases.
• Persistent Diseases:
  • Alzheimer's, HIV/AIDS.
  • Pandemics (1918 Spanish Flu).
• Environmental Impact:
  • Release of greenhouse gases leads to climate change.
• Economic Policies:
  • Push for free market policies (Deng Xiaoping in China, Chile).
• Regional Trade Networks:
  • NAFTA, ASEAN.
• Cultural Globalization:
  • Bollywood, World Cup.
• International Institutions:
  • UN formed to maintain peace after WWII.

Cast of Characters

• Admiral Zheng He: Famous Chinese Admiral who made voyages along the Indian Ocean trade route.
• Ibn Battuta: Traveler who journeyed along the trans-Saharan trade route.
• Mansa Musa: Ruler of Mali known for his wealthy pilgrimage (Hajj) along the trans-Saharan trade route.
• Akbar the Great: Mughal emperor known for his religious tolerance.
• Martin Luther: Figure who initiated the Protestant Reformation around 1500.
• Guru Nanak: Founder of Sikhism in the Mughal Empire.
• Prince Henry (the Navigator): Portuguese figure who sought a route around Africa and a means of spreading Christianity, establishing a school for navigators.
• Bartolomé de las Casas: Priest who advocated for indigenous peoples in the Spanish Americas and helped spread Catholicism.
• Our Lady of Guadalupe: Figure whose arrival in 1531 is mentioned in the context of Spanish Catholicism in the New World.
• Queen Nanny: Leader of a revolt of enslaved people in Jamaica.
• Anna Nzinga: Figure who resisted European arrivals in Angola.
• Louis XVI: Absolute monarch of France who was overthrown during the French Revolution.
• Bolívar: Leader of multiple revolutions against Spain in Latin America.
• James Watt: Improved the steam engine, a key innovation of the Industrial Revolution.
• Adam Smith: Figure associated with the rise of capitalism and laissez-faire economic policies.
• Karl Marx: Figure who championed the plight of the new working class and envisioned a worker revolution.
• Tupac Amaru: Figure who led resistance against empires in Peru.
• Archduke Franz Ferdinand: Austrian figure whose assassination by Serbian nationalists was a cause of World War I.
• Kwame Nkrumah: Figure who led a non-violent independence movement in Ghana.
• Gandhi: Figure who led a non-violent independence movement in India.
• Mao Zedong: Leader of China after it turned communist, implementing policies like the Great Leap Forward.
• Deng Xiaoping: Figure who pushed for free market policies in China in the later period.