TERMS

1200–1450

Silk Roads: Overland trade routes connecting East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. They spread goods, religions, technologies, and disease.

Indian Ocean Trade Network: Maritime trade network linking East Africa, Arabia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China. It relied heavily on monsoon winds.

Trans-Saharan Trade: Trade across the Sahara Desert linking North Africa, West Africa, and the Mediterranean. Gold, salt, slaves, and Islam moved through this network.

Mongol Empire: Largest contiguous land empire in history, created in the 1200s by Mongol conquest across Eurasia.

Pax Mongolica: “Mongol Peace,” a period when Mongol control made Eurasian trade routes safer and more connected.

Neo-Confucianism: A revived form of Confucianism in China that blended Confucian ethics with Buddhist and Daoist ideas. It emphasized social hierarchy and proper behavior.

Feudalism: A decentralized political and social system based on landholding, loyalty, and military service.

Serfdom: A labor system where peasants were legally tied to the land and owed labor or payments to landlords.

Tributary System: A system where neighboring states gave tribute to a stronger empire, often China, in exchange for recognition, trade access, or protection.

Dar al-Islam: “House of Islam,” the regions of the world under Islamic rule or strong Islamic influence.

Abbasid Caliphate: Sunni Islamic empire centered in Baghdad, known for scholarship, trade, and the Islamic Golden Age.

Song Dynasty: Chinese dynasty known for commercialization, bureaucracy, Confucian learning, population growth, and technological innovation.

Yuan Dynasty: Mongol-led dynasty in China founded by Kublai Khan.

Mansa Musa: Ruler of Mali who expanded the empire and became famous for his wealth and pilgrimage to Mecca.

Swahili Coast: East African coastal region shaped by Indian Ocean trade and a blend of African, Arab, and Islamic cultures.

Bhakti Movement: Hindu devotional movement in India that emphasized personal devotion to a deity and challenged some caste barriers.

Sufism: Mystical form of Islam focused on personal spiritual experience and devotion. Sufi missionaries helped spread Islam.

Crusades: Christian military campaigns, mostly against Muslims, to control the Holy Land. They increased European contact with the Islamic world.

Black Death: Bubonic plague pandemic in the 1300s that spread through trade routes and killed large portions of Afro-Eurasian populations.

Gunpowder: Chinese invention that spread across Eurasia and changed warfare.

Caravanserai: Roadside inns along trade routes where merchants could rest, trade, and protect goods.

Astrolabe: Navigation tool used to determine latitude by measuring the position of stars.

Grand Canal: Major Chinese waterway linking northern and southern China, helping move grain, goods, and people.

Mit’a System: Inca labor tax system requiring people to perform public labor for the state.

Chinggis Khan: Founder of the Mongol Empire. Also spelled Genghis Khan.

1450–1750

Columbian Exchange: Transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and crops between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia after 1492.

Atlantic Slave Trade: Forced migration of enslaved Africans to the Americas, mainly for plantation labor.

Triangular Trade: Atlantic trade system linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas through manufactured goods, enslaved people, and raw materials.

Mercantilism: Economic system where states sought wealth through colonies, exports, and control of trade.

Encomienda System: Spanish labor system in the Americas where colonists demanded labor or tribute from Indigenous people.

Hacienda System: Large landed estate system in Spanish America, often using coerced or dependent labor.

Indentured Servitude: Labor system where people worked for a set number of years in exchange for passage, debt repayment, or survival.

Commercial Revolution: Expansion of trade, banking, joint-stock companies, and global commerce in early modern Europe.

Joint-Stock Company: Business funded by investors who shared profits and risks. Example: Dutch East India Company.

Protestant Reformation: Religious movement that challenged Catholic Church authority and created Protestant Christianity.

Martin Luther: German monk who criticized Catholic abuses like indulgences and helped start the Protestant Reformation.

Scientific Revolution: Period when Europeans developed new methods of scientific inquiry based on observation, experimentation, and reason.

Enlightenment: Intellectual movement emphasizing reason, natural rights, liberty, and challenges to absolute authority.

Gunpowder Empires: Large empires that used gunpowder weapons to expand and rule. Usually Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal.

Ottoman Empire: Sunni Muslim empire based in Anatolia that conquered Constantinople and ruled much of the Middle East, North Africa, and southeastern Europe.

Safavid Empire: Shi’a Muslim Persian empire that often fought the Sunni Ottomans.

Mughal Empire: Muslim-ruled empire in South Asia known for centralized rule, religious diversity, and architecture.

Tokugawa Shogunate: Japanese military government that unified Japan and restricted foreign influence from the 1600s to 1800s.

Absolute Monarchy: Government where a monarch holds strong centralized power.

Divine Right: Belief that monarchs receive their authority from God.

Spanish Conquest: Spanish conquest of Indigenous empires in the Americas, including the Aztec and Inca empires.

Caravel: Portuguese sailing ship that was fast, maneuverable, and useful for Atlantic exploration.

Treaty of Tordesillas: 1494 agreement dividing newly claimed lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal.

Little Ice Age: Period of cooler climate from roughly the 1300s to 1800s that affected agriculture and societies.

Plantation Economy: Economic system based on large farms producing cash crops, often using enslaved or coerced labor.

1750–1900

Industrial Revolution: Shift from hand production to machine production, beginning in Britain, powered by coal, factories, and new technology.

Nationalism: Belief that people with shared culture, language, or history should have their own nation-state.

Imperialism: Expansion of a state’s political, economic, or military control over other regions.

Liberalism: Political ideology supporting individual rights, constitutional government, and limited government power.

Socialism: Ideology arguing that society or the state should control major resources to reduce inequality.

Communism: Radical socialist ideology calling for classless society and collective ownership of property.

Karl Marx: Thinker who criticized capitalism and argued that class struggle would lead to communist revolution.

Adam Smith: Enlightenment economist who supported free markets and capitalism in The Wealth of Nations.

Capitalism: Economic system based on private ownership, investment, profit, and markets.

Factory System: Method of production where workers and machines are concentrated in factories.

Urbanization: Growth of cities, especially due to industrialization and migration.

French Revolution: Revolution beginning in 1789 that challenged monarchy, aristocracy, and traditional hierarchy in France.

Haitian Revolution: Successful slave revolt that created independent Haiti in 1804.

Latin American Revolutions: Independence movements in Spanish and Portuguese America during the early 1800s.

Napoleon Bonaparte: French military leader who expanded French power and spread some revolutionary reforms across Europe.

Congress of Vienna: 1815 meeting that restored conservative order in Europe after Napoleon’s defeat.

Social Darwinism: Misuse of Darwin’s ideas to justify imperialism, racism, and inequality.

Scramble for Africa: Rapid European colonization of Africa in the late 1800s.

Berlin Conference: 1884–1885 meeting where European powers set rules for colonizing Africa without African representation.

Sepoy Rebellion: 1857 Indian revolt against British East India Company rule.

Meiji Restoration: Japanese modernization and centralization beginning in 1868.

Opium Wars: Conflicts between Britain and China over trade, especially British opium sales, leading to unequal treaties.

Boxer Rebellion: Anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising in China around 1900.

Emancipation of Serfs: 1861 reform by Tsar Alexander II freeing Russian serfs.

Unification of Germany: Creation of a unified German Empire in 1871 under Prussian leadership.

1900–Present

World War I: Global war from 1914 to 1918 caused by militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, and assassination.

World War II: Global war from 1939 to 1945 involving Axis and Allied powers, caused partly by fascism, expansionism, and unresolved tensions after WWI.

Cold War: Ideological conflict between the United States and Soviet Union after WWII, fought through arms races, alliances, and proxy wars.

Decolonization: Process by which colonies gained independence, especially after WWII.

Globalization: Increasing worldwide connection through trade, migration, technology, culture, and finance.

League of Nations: International organization created after WWI to prevent war, but it was weak and failed to stop WWII.

United Nations: International organization created after WWII to promote peace, security, and cooperation.

Fascism: Authoritarian nationalist ideology emphasizing dictatorship, militarism, and loyalty to the state.

Totalitarianism: Political system where the state seeks total control over public and private life.

Nazism: German fascist ideology under Hitler based on extreme nationalism, racism, antisemitism, and expansionism.

Holocaust: Nazi genocide of six million Jews and millions of other victims during WWII.

Russian Revolution: 1917 revolutions that overthrew the Russian monarchy and brought Bolsheviks to power.

Mao Zedong: Communist leader who founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Chinese Communist Revolution: Revolution that ended with Communist victory over Nationalists in China in 1949.

Great Leap Forward: Mao’s campaign to rapidly industrialize China through communes, causing famine and mass death.

Cultural Revolution: Mao’s campaign to attack “old” culture and perceived enemies, causing political chaos and persecution.

Gandhi / Nonviolent Resistance: Indian nationalist leader who used civil disobedience and nonviolent protest against British rule.

Partition of India: 1947 division of British India into India and Pakistan, causing mass migration and violence.

Genocide: Intentional destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.

Green Revolution: Agricultural innovations using high-yield crops, fertilizers, and irrigation to increase food production.

Neoliberalism: Economic approach favoring free markets, privatization, deregulation, and reduced state control.

Proxy War: Conflict where major powers support opposing sides instead of fighting directly.

NATO: Military alliance formed in 1949 by the U.S., Canada, and Western European states against Soviet threat.

European Union: Political and economic union of European states promoting trade, cooperation, and shared institutions.

Climate Change: Long-term changes in Earth’s climate, especially modern warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.