Comprehensive Semester Study Guide for AP World History (Units 1-9)

Developments in East Asia (c. $1200$-$1450$)

• China was the most powerful state in East Asia during this period, led by the Song Dynasty (beginning in the $1200 ext{s}$).
• The Song Dynasty maintained and justified its power through several cultural and bureaucratic mechanisms:     - Revival of Confucianism: This philosophy, originating in the Han Dynasty and revived during the Tang Dynasty, served as the official state ideology.     - Hierarchical Nature: Confucianism taught that human society was composed of unequal relationships (men over women, rulers over subjects). Greater entities were expected to treat lesser entities with concern and empathy.     - Filial Piety: A core tenet emphasizing the honoring of one's parents and ancestors.     - Neo-Confucianism: The Song's version of the revival, which incorporated new influences from Buddhist and Daoist ideals, demonstrating continuity with ancient China alongside innovation.
• Status and Role of Women:     - Women were relegated to subordinate positions with limited legal and property rights.     - Foot Binding: A practice of binding women's feet to disable them, serving as a status symbol for wealthy men. A husband's ability to have a disabled wife signified enough wealth to afford servants for all labor.
• Imperial Bureaucracy:     - A governmental entity consisting of tens of thousands of officials spread across the country to enforce the emperor's will.     - Civil Service Examination: Recruitment was based on knowledge of Confucian classics, ensuring jobs were awarded by merit to qualified men. This increased the competency and efficiency of bureaucratic acts.
• International Influence:     - Korea: Respected the Chinese emperor's power through court visits. Korea adopted the civil service exam and Confucian principles, leading to the further marginalization of women compared to China.     - Japan: Voluntarily adopted cultural traits, including an organized power structure based on China's bureaucracy and the adoption of Buddhism among elites.     - Kingdom of Vietnam: Participated in the Chinese tributary system and adopted Confucianism, Buddhism, and literary techniques. However, women remained less marginalized than in China, and some deities, including versions of the Buddha, were female. Vietnam never adopted foot binding.
• Buddhism in China:     - Origin: South Asia; spread to China by the Han Dynasty.     - The Four Noble Truths: Life is suffering; we suffer because we crave; suffering stops when craving stops; the Eightfold Path leads to the end of craving.     - Eightfold Path: Outlines moral lifestyle practices and meditation.     - Branches:         - Theravada: Focused on monks escaping the cycle of birth and death (common in Sri Lanka).         - Mahayana: Teachings available to all, emphasizing compassion and the Buddha as a deity (common in East Asia).         - Tibetan: Involved mystical practices like lying prostrate and elaborate imaginings.     - Chan Buddhism: A specifically Chinese version of Buddhism.
• Economy of the Song Dynasty:     - Commercialization: Production of goods for the world market rather than just local consumption. Moved toward paper money, credit, and promissory notes.     - Iron and Steel: Produced armor for war, coins for trade, and agricultural tools.     - Agricultural Innovation: Introduction of iron plows, rakes, and Champa Rice from Vietnam. Champa Rice was drought-resistant and allowed for a double harvest, causing a population explosion.     - Transportation and Navigation: Expanded the Grand Canal for cheap regional trade. Innovations included the magnetic compass and improved shipbuilding using stern-mounted rudders on "junks."

Developments in Dar-al-Islam (c. $1200 ext{s}$)

• The Three Major Monotheistic Religions:     - Judaism: Monotheistic, belief in one God.     - Christianity: Established by Jesus Christ; focused on salvation by grace.     - Islam: Founded by Muhammad, the final prophet; characterized by prayer, fasting, and rituals. Unlike Christianity (where Jesus avoided money), Muhammad was a merchant, and Islamic states became very prosperous through trade.
• Political Shifts:     - Abbasid Caliphate: An ethnically Arab empire in power during the Golden Age of Islam. By $1200$, it was fracturing due to internal conflicts (including battles against the previous Umayyad Caliphates).     - Rise of Turkic Islamic Empires: As Arab power declined, new empires led by Turkic Muslims arose:         - Seljuk Empire: Central Asian pastoralists who became a professional military force and held significant political power.         - Mamluk Sultanate: Located in Egypt; founded by enslaved Turkic Mamluks who seized power from rulers like Saladin.         - Delhi Sultanate: Ruled over the Indian population in South Asia.
• Continuities in Islamic Governance:     - Military control over administration and adherence to Sharia Laws (legal code from the Qur'an).
• Spread of Islam:     - Achieved through military expansion (Delhi Sultanate), merchant activity (Mali in North Africa), and Sufi Missionaries. Sufism emphasized mystical experiences and appealed across class and gender lines.
• Innovations and Transfers:     - Mathematics: Nasir al-Din al-Tusi invented trigonometry.     - House of Wisdom: A world-famous library in Baghdad that preserved Greek works by Plato and Aristotle by translating them into Arabic.

State Building in South and Southeast Asia

• Belief Systems in South Asia:     - Hinduism: Polytheistic; goal of reuniting souls with Brahman through death and rebirth. It unified culture via the Caste System, a rigid social hierarchy.     - Buddhism: Shared beliefs in reincarnation with Hinduism but rejected the caste system, advocating for the equality of all people.     - Islam: Introduced by Turkic invaders who established the Delhi Sultanate. It became the religion of the elite but struggled to convert the general population due to the entrenchment of Hinduism.
• State Formation in South Asia:     - Rajput Kingdoms: Warring Hindu kingdoms that resisted Muslim control.     - Vijayanagara Empire: Formed in the South when two emissaries from the Delhi Sultanate betrayed their masters to re-establish a Hindu empire.
• Southeast Asian States:     - Srivijaya Empire ($7 ext{th}$-$11 ext{th}$ Century): Sea-based, controlled the Strait of Malacca, and grew wealthy by taxing ships.     - Majapahit Empire: Java-based, Buddhist influence, exerted power through a tributary system.     - Sinhala Dynasty: Land-based Buddhist state in Sri Lanka.     - Khmer Empire: Land-based Hindu empire known for the Angkor Wat temple; later converted to Buddhism through syncretism.     - Bhakti Movement: A Hindu reform movement emphasizing devotion to one god and rejecting social hierarchy.

State Building in the Americas

• Maya Civilization ($250$-$900$ C.E.):     - Characterized by huge urban centers, a sophisticated writing system, and the development of the concept of zero.     - Politically a decentralized collection of city-states frequently at war to create tributary networks. Practiced human sacrifice to energize the sun deity.
• Aztec Empire ($1345$-$1528$):     - Formed by the Mexica people through strategic marriages and alliances with two other states. Capital city: Tenochtitlan, features elaborate palaces and pyramids.     - Decentralized power using tributary states. Religious motivation involved blood sacrifice for the sun god.
• Inca Empire:     - Centralized power in the Andes (modern-day Chile) with a massive bureaucracy.     - Mit'a System: A mandatory labor system where all people provided services to the state.
• North American Societies:     - Mississippian Culture: First large-scale civilization; featured powerful chiefs called the "Great Sun" and hierarchical mound-building (e.g., Cahokia).     - Chaco and Mesa Verde: Located in the West; built massive sandstone housing structures in cliffs and developed innovative water transport and storage.

State Building in Africa

• Swahili Civilization: East African coast; composed of independent city-states. Thrived on Indian Ocean trade (gold, ivory, slaves). Islam was adopted voluntarily by elites, and the Swahili language mixed Bantu and Arabic.
• Great Zimbabwe: Inland state that exported gold to the coast; featured the largest structures in the region.
• Hausa Kingdoms: West African city-states that served as middlemen in the Trans-Saharan trade; rulers converted to Islam.
• Ethiopia: A centralized Christian state that remained isolated through mountainous trade in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean; known for massive stone churches.

Developments in Europe

• Christianity: Official religion since Constantine. Split into Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine Empire) and Roman Catholic (West).
• Byzantine Empire: Experienced losses to Islamic powers, culminating in the sack of Constantinople in $1453$ by the Ottoman Empire (renamed Istanbul).
• Western Europe: Characterized by Feudalism—a system of land exchange for loyalty between monarchs, lords, and lesser lords.
• Manorialism: Peasants called Serfs were bound to the land, providing labor to lords in exchange for protection. They were legally tied to the physical land.
• State Centralization: Beginning around $1200$, monarchs began building bureaucracies and militaries to centralize power, leading to increased conflict.

The Silk Roads (c. $1200$-$1450$)

• Commercial Innovations:     - Money Economies: Paper money facilitated trade; "Flying money" allowed merchants to deposit at one location and withdraw at another.     - Banking: Use of Bills of Exchange (similar to checks).
• Transportation Innovations:     - Caravanserai: Guesthouses along routes providing safety and cultural exchange.     - Saddles: Frame and mattress styles made riding over distances easier.
• Trading Cities:     - Kashgar: Convergence point of routes in eastern China; featured great markets and Islamic scholarship.     - Samarkand: Center of cultural exchange in Central Asia.
• Consequences:     - Proto-industrialization: China scaled back food production to manufacture luxury goods like silk and porcelain for export.     - Plague: Merchants unintentionally spread the Bubonic Plague.

The Mongol Empire

• Genghis Khan (born Temujin): United pastoral nomads in $1206$. Conquered Northern China, Central Asia, and Southern Russia.
• Military: Organized in groups of $10$; used superior bows and horsemanship. Brutal reputation: slaughtered entire cities.
• Pax Mongolica: A century of peace. Mongols reorganized land into Khanates.
• Governance and Exchange:     - Yuan Dynasty: Kublai Khan (Genghis's grandson) ruled China as a Confucian-style emperor.     - Yam System: A communication network using ambassadors and military intelligence.     - Intellectual Transfers: Mongols relocated skilled people; transferred Greek and Islamic medical knowledge to Western Europe and adopted the Uyghur Script.

Indian Ocean Trade Network

• Growth Factors: Shifted focus toward maritime trade after the Mongol collapse in the $14 ext{th}$ century.
• Technologies: Magnetic compass, astrolabe, Lateen Sails (triangular sails to take wind in any direction), and stern-mounted rudders on Junks and Dhows.
• Key Locations: Sultanate of Malacca (controlled major straits) and Gujarat (Western India, traded indigo and cotton).
• Diasporic Communities: Arab, Persian, and Chinese merchants settled in foreign lands, spreading their customs.
• Admiral Zheng He: Led $300$ massive ships armed with gunpowder cannons to explore and project Ming Dynasty power.

Trans-Saharan Trade

• Causes: Use of Arabian camels and saddles; establishment of caravanserai.
• Goods: Gold, salt, horses, and Kola nuts.
• Empire of Mali: Established in $1200$. Controlled gold exports and became very wealthy.
• Mansa Musa: Wealthy Mali ruler who performed the Hajj. He injected so much gold into the Egyptian economy that he caused significant inflation.

Land-Based Gunpowder Empires ($1450$-$1750$)

• Ottoman Empire: Captured Constantinople in $1453$ using gunpowder. Controlled the Dardanelles chokepoint.
• Safavid Empire: Shia Muslim state under rulers like Shah Abbas. Maintained religious conflict with the Sunni Ottomans.
• Mughal Empire: Replaced the Delhi Sultanate; reached prosperity under Akbar the Great, who was religiously tolerant.
• Qing Dynasty: Established by the Manchu people (outsiders). Expanded into Taiwan and Mongolia through a $40 ext{-year}$ campaign.
• Administration and Legitimacy:     - Devshirme System (Ottomans): Enslaved Christian boys from the Balkans were trained as bureaucrats and elite soldiers (Janissaries).     - Zamindar System (Mughals): Local landowners collected taxes for the empire.     - Tax Farming: Ottomans used bidders to collect taxes from specific groups.     - Art and Architecture: Rulers built grand structures like the Palace of Versailles (France) and the Inca Sun Temple to demonstrate power.
• Belief Systems:     - Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther's $95$ Theses ($1517$) challenged the Catholic Church's corruption (indulgences/simony).     - Catholic Reformation: Council of Trent reaffirmed faith and works but split Christianity permanently.     - Sikhism: Emerged in South Asia, discarding the caste system and blending elements of Hinduism and Islam.

Exploration and Sea-Based Empires

• Maritime Technologies: Adopted by Europeans from Arabs and Chinese: Magnetic compass, Astrolabe, Lateen Sail, and Astronomical charts.
• Ship Types: Caravel (nimble/fast), Carrack (large cargo/guns), Fluyt (exclusively for trade, cheap, massive holds).
• Causes of Exploration: Need for Asian spices (pepper), the desire to spread Christianity (Reconquista), and state-sponsored competition (Gold, God, Glory).     - Portugal: Prince Henry the Navigator and Vasco de Gama established a "Trading Post Empire."     - Spain: Sponsored Columbus ($1492$) and established colonies in the Philippines and Americas.     - Dutch: Dominated Indian Ocean trade with the Dutch East India Company.
• Columbian Exchange:     - Diseases: The "Great Dying" saw indigenous populations decimated by Smallpox, Measles, and Malaria ($50$% to $90$% fatality rates).     - Foods: Wheat, olives, and sugar entered the Americas. Potatoes and Maize entered Europe, increasing the population.     - Animals: Horses, pigs, and cattle were introduced to the Americas. Horses changed indigenous hunting societies.
• Economic Systems:     - Mercantilism: State-driven system seeking a favorable balance of trade and gold/silver buildup.     - Joint-Stock Companies: Limited liability businesses granted trade monopolies by states.     - Labor Systems: Chattel slavery (hereditary), indentured servitude ($7 ext{-year}$ contracts), Encomienda system (labor for food/protection), and Spanish adoption of the Mit'a system for silver mines.

The Enlightenment and Revolutions

• Enlightenment Ideals: Rationalism, Empiricism, and Individualism.     - John Locke: Concepts of Natural Rights (Life, Liberty, Property).     - Social Contract: People can overthrow a government that fails to protect their rights.
• Revolutions:     - American ($1776$): Against British taxes and freedoms curtailment.     - French ($1789$): Established a republic and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.     - Haitian ($1791$): Led by Toussaint L'Ouverture; first black government/second republic in the Americas.     - Latin American: Influenced by Simon Bolivar and his "Letter from Jamaica," seeking popular sovereignty.
• Social Movements: Calls for women's suffrage (Seneca Falls Convention $1848$) and the abolition of slavery and serfdom.

Industrialization ($1750$-$1900$)

• England's Prerequisites: Access to waterways, coal/iron deposits, capital from the slave trade, and legal protection of private property.
• Technological Progress:     - 1st Revolution: Steam engine (James Watt), spinning jenny, and water frame. Coal-based.     - 2nd Revolution: Steel (Bessemer Process), Oil/Gasoline, Internal Combustion Engine, Electricity (Thomas Edison), and Telegraph.
• Shifting Economies:     - States like the US and Russia industrialized rapidly (Trans-Siberian Railroad). Japan underwent the Meiji Restoration to modernize and avoid Western dominance.     - Wealth gap grew between industrialized and non-industrialized states (e.g., decline of Indian textile and shipbuilding industries).
• Reactions:     - Labor Unions: Bargained for better wages and hours.     - Karl Marx: Published the "Communist Manifesto," predicting a violent revolution of the working class (Proletariat) against owners (Bourgeoisie).     - Tanzimat Reforms: Ottoman attempts at defensive industrialization/modernization.

New Imperialism and Mass Atrocities

• Justifications: Nationalism, Scientific Racism (Phrenology), and Social Darwinism.
• Conflicts and Expansion:     - Berlin Conference: Carved up Africa among European powers.     - Belgian Congo: King Leopold II's personal exploitative rubber colony (taken over by the Belgian government in $1908$).     - American Manifest Destiny: Expelled indigenous people (Trail of Tears/Indian Removal Act).     - Economic Imperialism: The Opium Wars forced China to open trade through unequal treaties (Treaty of Nanjing).
• Resistance:     - Yaa Asantewaa War: West African resistance against the British.     - Cherokee Nation: Attempted semi-autonomous government before incorporation into the US.     - Xhosa Cattle Killing: Religious response to British land claims in South Africa.
• Mass Atrocities in the $20 ext{th}$ Century:     - Armenian Genocide ($1915$-$1916$): Young Turks slaughtered/relocated up to $1 ext{ million}$ Armenian Christians.     - Holocaust: The Nazis' "Final Solution" killed $6 ext{ million}$ Jews and $5 ext{ million}$ others using industrial technologies like Auschwitz ($12,000$ killed daily).     - Cambodian Genocide: Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge killed roughly $25$% of Cambodia's population.

World Wars and the Cold War

• WWI ($1914$-$1918$): Caused by Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism (MAIN). Sparked by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Featured trench warfare and total war mobilization. Germany faced Hyperinflation in Nov $1923$ ($1 ext{ dollar} = 4.2 ext{ trillion marks}$).
• WWII ($1939$-$1945$): Caused by unsustainable peace from WWI, the Great Depression, and the rise of Fascism (Hitler/Mussolini). Featured blitzkrieg, firebombing, and atomic bombs (Hiroshima/Nagasaki).
• Cold War ($1945$-$1991$): Ideological struggle between the US (Capitalism) and USSR (Communism).     - Alliances: NATO vs. Warsaw Pact.     - Proxy Wars: Conflicts in Korea, Angola, and Nicaragua.     - Nuclear Proliferation: Cuban Missile Crisis and the space-based Strategic Defense Initiative.     - End: Gorbachev's policies of Perestroika and Glasnost led to the Soviet collapse in $1991$.

Globalization and the Modern World

• Technology: Radios, Television, and the Internet (WWW in the $1990 ext{s}$) solved geographical distance. Air travel and shipping containers facilitated trade.
• Medicine: Antibiotics (Penicillin $1928$) and vaccines (Polio) increased life spans.
• Environment: Urban sprawl (deforestation), desertification, and climate change debates centered on greenhouse gas use.
• Economics: Rise of Neoliberalism (Reagan/Thatcher), multinational corporations (Nestle/Coca-Cola), and institutions like the WTO, IMF, and World Bank.
• The United Nations: Formed post-WWII for global cooperation. Consists of a General Assembly and a Security Council with five permanent members ($US, China, France, UK, Russia$) holding veto power.
• Cultural Globalization: American "Cultural Imperialism" alongside global rises in K-Pop, Reggae, and Bollywood. Resistance includes social media censorship in states like China (use of Weibo).