AP World Comprehensive Overview Units 1-9

Unit 1 (1200-1450)

Key religions overview:

• Islam: Monotheistic (Middle East, Southeast Asia)

• Christianity: Monotheistic (after Great Schism)

  • Eastern Orthodox (Eastern Europe/Russia)

  • Roman Catholicism (Western Europe)

• Judaism: Monotheistic (Middle East)

• Confucianism: Ideals/values rather than Gods (China, some values in Japan and Korea)

• Buddhism: 4 Noble Truths, less God-based (China, Japan, Korea, India)

• Daoism: Polytheistic, nature-based (China, Japan)

• Hinduism: Polytheistic, caste system (India/South Asia)

  Empires:

  China:

  • Japan, Vietnam, and Korea are tributary states (China has much influence on these states → adoption of Chinese culture, religion, bureaucratic system in Korea…)

  • China is main global power and trading hub (Silk Road)

  • Commodities included: porcelain, silk, rice, tea

  • Confucianism is main religion; Buddhism and Daoism are still present

    • Confucian principles: Filial piety (juniors submit to elders, children submit to parents), citizens submit to the state, women are inferior and submit to men

    • Women had very limited rights and freedoms: Foot binding for women until 1949 (Rise of communism)

  • Confucianism was revived during the Song Dynasty (Neo-Confucianism)

  • Dynasties (in order): Han Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Sixteen Kingdoms, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and lastly Qing Dynasty

  • Dynasties justified their rule through Mandate of Heaven and Confucian principles

  • Dynasties maintained their rule through a bureaucratic system (merit exams to join)

  • Inventions: Gunpowder, the compass, paper currency, and printing

  • Immense economic prosperity in Tang and Song Dynasties led to population explosion (ex. Champa rice)

  Middle East:

  • Dar al-Islam = all the places in the world where Islamic faith was the organizing principle of civilizations

  • Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all present in Middle East

  • Islam

    • Sunni Muslims: the larger branch of Islam, believes that the leader of the Muslim community should be chosen based on consensus or election, believes first 3 caliphs after Muhammad were legitimate, and emphasizes the teachings of the Quran and Hadith

    • Shia Muslims: the smaller branch of Islam, believes that the leadership should remain within the Prophet Muhammad's family, believes his cousin and son-in-law (Ali) were rightful successors, and places greater emphasis on the interpretations of religious leaders

  • Abbasid Caliphate (750 - 1258): Descended from Muhammad’s uncle, established Baghdad as capital, ruled during Islamic Golden Age, advancements in science, math, literature, and art, expansion of Islam, embraced ideas/tech of other cultures (Greek and Chinese), destroyed by Mongol invasion, eventually replaced by Turkik-led Muslims (Ottomans)

  • Expansive trade facilitated by Muslim merchants across North Africa (Trans-Saharan Trade Network) and Silk Road

  • Sufi missionaries spread Islam throughout trade

  South & Southeast Asia:

  • Hinduism is dominant religion (origin in India), Islam is present due to Delhi Sultanate’s rule (Muslim leaders), Buddhism is present in Sri Lanka and Thailand (started in India but lost traction and spread)

  • Khmer Empire (802 - 1431): Present-day Cambodia, Hindu-Buddhist state, Angkor Wat

  • Delhi Sultanate (1206 - 1525): A series of Muslim dynasties that ruled over large parts of the Indian subcontinent, notable for its cultural blending and significant influence on architecture and administration in the region, small ruling Muslim elite, large Hindu population

  The Americas:

  • Aztec Empire (1325 - 1521): founded by Mexica, located in Mesoamerica (central Mexico), Tenochtitlan is capital, tribute system w/ neighboring tribes, decentralized state structure, lots of human sacrifice as part of native religion, chanampas

  • Inca Empire (1438 - 1533): located in the Andean region of South America (Chile), capital in Cusco, known for advanced agricultural practices (terrace farming & complex road system), centralized state structure (bureaucratic control), Mita system for labor on state projects (building of roads, etc), very little human sacrifice

  • Maya Civilization (2000 BCE - 1500 CE): Located in present-day Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, known for its significant achievements in mathematics, astronomy, and writing; built impressive city-states featuring pyramids, palaces, and plazas; developed a complex social structure and practiced ritualistic ball games; had a polytheistic religion with elaborate ceremonies

  • Did not interact/trade with each other much because of distance

  Africa:

  • East Africa: Swahili city-states - series of trade cities influenced by Islamic traders, led to emergence of Swahili language (combo of Arabic and native languages)

    • Kingdom of Ethiopia - Christian state amid Islamic territories, hierarchical monarchy structure

  • West Africa: Ghana, Mali (Mansa Musa), Songhai empires - trade-driven civilizations, elites adopted Islam while general population retained native religion, contributed to the trans-Saharan trade network, traded gold, salt, and cultural ideas across the region

    • Hausa Kingdoms: city-states facilitating the trans-Saharan trade network

  • South Africa: Great Zimbabwe - flourished through trade, maintained native religions

  • North Africa: a collection of Islamic kingdoms

  Europe:

  • Great Schism (1054): End of the Roman Empire, resulted in the split of the Christian church into Eastern Orthodoxy (Eastern Europe) and Roman Catholicism (Western Europe)

  • Byzantine Empire (330 AD - 1453): Eastern Orthodox is main religion, centered around Constantinople, led by empower (no separation of church in state, empower has absolute power), traded with other European nations, Asia, & North Africa, eventually fell to Ottoman Turks

  • Western Europe: Collection of feudal states post-Schism; feudalism structured around lords and vassals, decentralized political system, land ownership concentrated in nobility, serfs tied to land under manorialism, gradual centralization of power in monarchs post-Schism, insulated trade, tensions w/ Byzantine Empire

Unit 2 (1200-1450)

Networks of Exchange

• Merchants carried goods for sale, and also brought their religion, languages, and technologies (sharing/spreading of cultures)

• Each network (Silk Road, Trans-Saharan, Indian Ocean) increased in geographic scale → further connections among states

• Range of networks expanded due to innovation in commercial practices amid technological innovations

• Increased connectivity between places caused various states to grow wealthy and powerful due to their participation in the trade networks

• Increased connectivity caused the rise of powerful trading cities while also causing the collapse of other cities

Silk Road:

• Located across Eurasia

• Trade of luxury goods (Chinese silk and porcelain)

• Growing demand for luxury goods caused an increase in production of these goods by Chinese, Indian, and Persian artists

• Transportation technologies:

  • Caravanserai: series of inns and guest houses a days journey apart, provided safety along the routes, brought merchants of different cultures together (cultural and technological transfers)

• Commercial practices:

  • Money economies: Use paper money to facilitate exchange, unlike a barter economy, which uses goods as currency (first developed in China)

  • Credit: Chinese pioneered, banking houses, easier to trade, thus increase in trade

• Increase in trade led to the rise of powerful trading cities that grew because they were located on these routes

  • Ex. Kashgar

Indian Ocean Network:

Unit 6 (1750 - 1900)

Consequences of industrialization:

• New wave of empire building (mainly by Europeans):

  • cultural ideologies drove imperialism: social Darwinism, white man’s burden, desire to spread Christiantiy

  • nationalist motives for imperialism: growing desire for powerful states to declare themselves as the greatest on the world stage and that is done by building hige empires (Ex. Britain taking over India) (Japan modernized military then colonized Korea)

  • Economic motives: industrialized nations wanted more colonies for new markets and for more raw materials

• Ways to consodilidate and expand:

  • Non-state (leopold) to state (Belgain state gov) control: the Congo, began as a private Belgian colony (Leopold the second), because of brututal policies he enacted, there was international pressure to give authority to eh belgian state

  • newimperial powers replace old imperial powers: Spanish and protuguese lose power in Asia and Southeast Asia, are replaced by the U.S (expanded into philipines which used to be a Spanish colony), Britain, Japan (Expanded into Korea), Russia (Expanded into Poland)

  • Scramble for Africa: Africa was highly desibre for European imperial powers (lots of raw materials), led to tensions and bickering, thus they had the Berlin Conference to divide Africa up peacefully

• Methods of resistance from colonial people:

  • Direct resistance: Peru - Tupac Amarou led a rebellion against Spanish authorities (failed), Sepoy/Indian Rebellion/Mutany → may result in the creation of new states (Balkans: wave of nationalism swept across ethnicities and inspired them to fight for independence from Ottomans and we get Greece, Bulgaria)

  • Religiously inspired rebellions: The Ghost Dance from Native Americans in the U.S

• Transofrmation of global economy:

  • Change from subsistence farming to cash-crop farming (rubber, sugar, cotton, cattle ranching) → economy is now serving the imperial powers

• Economic imperialism in Asia and Latin America:

  • One country weilds significant economic power over another country, more indirect control

  • Britain and China relationship: Opium Wars due to trade deficit w/ China and Britain (Britain was mad), so Britain smuggled opium into China, getting Chinese population hooked on the drug solved the trade deficit, British win opium wars because of their superior industrial capacity (better military and tech), result of opium wars is British force China to open trading ports and forced a free trade agreement among them (Britain took over China economically but not really politically) → china is carved up into spheres of influence by European/imperial powers (Japan, France, Germany, Russia, U.S)

• Migration:

  • As a result of globalization and industrialization, there was massive migrations:

  • For work/economic opportunity (ex. Britain bringing in Chinese and Indian laborers to do work in other colonies, Australia)

  • Bad home conditions (Lots of poverty in India led to mass migration out of India, Irish potato famine led to mass migration out fo Ireland to America)

  • Migration contributed to urbanization → made ethnic enclaves → cultural diffusion

  • Many migrants faced discrimination in new places/not received well → some led to racist legislation aimed to press them (Chinese Exclusion Act in U.S)

Unit 7 (1900 - Present)

Decline of Ottoman Empire:

• Defensive industrialization

  • Tanzimat reforms aimed to welcome europeans to speed up industrialization, backfired as nationalist movements gained momentum, leading to increased tensions and ultimately contributing to the empire's fragmentation.

• Emergence of the Young Ottomans: Western education, liberal political reforms, sultan agreed with them and made a parliament in constitution but later turned back to an authoritarian rule

• Emergence of the Young Turks: Arose due to the sultain regaining an authoritarian way of ruling, wanted complete modernization of ottoman empire, wanted to exclude ethnic minority, overthrew sultan

• Ottoman Reforms: (led to fragmentation and eventually end of empire)

  • secularization of schools and law codes

  • establishment of political elections

  • imposition of Turkish language as official language of Empire

Russian Empire:

• Russian Revolution (1917): overthrew Romanov Dynasty, rise of Bolsheviks and Communism

China:

• Decline of Qing Dynasty

  • Taiping Rebellion: cost a lot of money and Qing was dependent on foreign support to regain stability, ultimately contributing to its fall.

Internal and external factors contribute to change in various states:

• Russian Rev: Russia is lagginging behind W. Europe (internal) led to loss of Crimean War, Bolshviks seize power and make a communist gov

• China: Encroaching industrialization and external pressure, rebellions (internal)

• Mexican Rev: internally there is a huge wealth gap w/ regard to land, result is a rev that sought to correct internal and external problems (some success)

WWI Causes:

• Long-term causes:

  • MILITARISM: Advanced weaponry due to industrialization
    ALLIANCES:
    INDUSTRIALIZATION:
    IMPERIALISM: More land and bigger empires = more power on world stage
    NATIONALISM: Pride towards one’s own country, can lead to hate/spite towards other countries

• Short-term causes:

  • Assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

• Strategies to fight WWI

  • Total war = each country fighting leveraged all domestic assets to fight

  • Govs used propaganda to keep morale up for both soldiers and citizens; demonized other countries they were fighting and encouraged intense nationalism of their own countries

  • WWI was the most deadly war up to this point due to new and advanced tech: trench warfare