AP World History - Ultimate Guide

AP World History - Ultimate Guide Unit 1: The Global Tapestry

Review of History Within Civilizations

  • Key Developments:
    • Rise from collapse of classical civilizations.
    • Interactions developing between new states.
    • Growth of long-distance trade.

Overview of World’s Major Religions in 1200

  • Key Points:
    • Most events connected to religion.
    • Belief systems still impact history.
    • Major religions have divisions (subgroups and sects).
    • Focus on overall religion.
    • Understand theological basis and impact on social, political, cultural, military developments.
    • Origin and spread of belief systems - cultural interactions.
  • Religious Mysticism: Adherents focusing on mystical experiences to get closer to the divine through prayer and meditation.

Buddhism

  • Cultures: India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan
  • Context:
    • Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (young Hindu prince).
    • Lived in Nepal from 563-483 BCE.
    • Rejected wealth and became Buddha (Enlightened One).
    • No supreme being.
    • Four Noble Truths:
      1. All life is suffering.
      2. Suffering is caused by desire.
      3. Suffering can be freed of desire.
      4. Freed of desire by following a prescribed path.
  • Death of Buddha (483 BCE): Buddhism split into Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.
  • Theravada Buddhism:
    • Meditation, simplicity.
    • Nirvana as renunciation of consciousness and self.
  • Mahayana Buddhism:
    • Great ritual, spiritual comfort.
    • More complex but with greater spread.
  • Impact:
    • Rejects caste system - appealed to those of lower rank.
    • India: reabsorbed into Hinduism.
    • China, Japan, Southeast Asia: Buddhism thrived and spread via trade routes.

Christianity

  • Cultures: Started as a group of Jews, expanded through Europe, northeastern Africa, Middle East
  • Context:
    • Based around Jesus of Nazareth (claimed to be the Messiah).
    • Teachings of devotion to God and love for others.
    • Crucified by Roman and Jewish leaders in 30 CE.
    • Followers believe he rose from the dead into heaven.
    • Based on Bible teachings.
    • Jesus is the Son of God - forgiveness of sins, everlasting life achievable through him.
    • World created by God but has fallen from God.
    • Believers should seek God and care for him and others.
  • Impact:
    • Compassion, grace through faith appealed to lower classes and women.
    • Became most influential religion in Mediterranean basin by 3rd century.
    • Became official religion of Roman Empire, branching north and west.
    • Connection with Roman Empire had profound impact on global culture.

Confucianism

  • Cultures: China (400 BCE+)
  • Context:
    • Founded by Confucius (educator and political advisor).
    • Thoughts and sayings collected in the Analects.
    • Deals with how to restore political and social order.
    • Not focused on philosophical or religious topics.
    • Five fundamental relations build society and make it orderly:
      1. Ruler and subject.
      2. Parent and child.
      3. Husband and wife.
      4. Older sibling and younger sibling.
      5. Friend and friend.
  • Impact:
    • Compatible with other religions, causing it to flourish.
    • Led to distinctive Chinese culture of tight-knit communities.
    • Stayed within Chinese culture.

Hinduism

  • Cultures: India
  • Context:
    • Belief in one supreme force called Brahma who created everything - gods are manifestations of Brahma (Vishnu = preserver, Shiva = destroyer).
    • Goal is to merge with Brahma - takes multiple lives.
    • Believers live to determine next life.
    • Following the dharma (rules and obligations of caste) will move you towards Brahma.
    • Moksha is highest stake of being (internal peace and release of soul).
    • No sacred text - Vedas and Upanishads guide Hindus.
  • Impact:
    • Religion and social caste system.
    • Prevented global acceptance of religion.
    • Recently, Hindus are rebelling against the caste system.
    • Spawned Buddhism.

Islam

  • Cultures: Caliphates (Islamic kingdoms), North Africa, Central Asia, Europe
  • Context:
    • 7th century.
    • Muslims are believers of Allah.
    • Allah presented words through prophet Muhammad, whose words were recorded in the Qur’an.
    • Salvation is won through submission to God.
    • Five Pillars of Islam:
      1. Confession.
      2. Prayer 5 times a day.
      3. Charity.
      4. Fasting during Ramadan.
      5. Pilgrimage to Mecca.
    • Two groups: Shia and Sunni (disagreed who should succeed Muhammad).
  • Impact: Rapidly spread to Middle East.

Judaism

  • Cultures: Hebrews
  • Context:
    • God selected holy people to follow his laws and worship him.
    • Unique relationship with God.
    • World is for them to enjoy, free will - destiny of world is paradise.
    • Hebrew Bible - Torah, miracles, laws, historical chronicles, poetry, prophecies.
  • Impact: First of major monotheistic faiths.

Developments in the Middle East

Abbasid Dynasty
  • Golden Age from 750-1258 CE (early mid-9th century).
  • Capital in Baghdad (modern-day Iraq).
  • Centre for arts and sciences - mathematics (Nasir al-Din al-Tusi), medicine, writings (House of Wisdom library).
  • Built around trade - receipt and bill system.
Decline of Islamic Caliphates
  • Internal Rivalries and Mongol Invasions.
  • Challenged by revolt of enslaved Turkish warriors, new Shia dynasty in Iran, Seljuk Turk Sunni group, Persians, Europeans, Byzantines, and Mongols.
  • Mongols overtook and destroyed Baghdad in 1258.
  • Ottoman Turks reunited Egypt, Syria, and Arabia in new Islamic state until 1918.
  • Mamluks: Egyptian group defeated Mongols in Nazareth, helping preserve Islam in Near East.

Developments in Europe

Middle Ages
  • Fall of Rome before Renaissance - complicated time.
  • Eastern Roman Empire became Byzantine Empire.
  • Western Europe: collapsed entirely - Christianity remained strong.
European Feudalism
  • Land Divided.
  • Hierarchy:
    • King: power over whole kingdom
    • Nobles: power over sections of kingdom in exchange for loyalty to king and military service
    • Vassals: lesser lords with sections of Noble land who could divide it further - estates were called fiefs or manors (self-sufficient).
    • Three-field system: 3 fields for fall, spring, and empty one to replenish nutrients
    • Conflict regulated with code of chivalry - condemned betrayal and promoted mutual respect.
    • Male dominated: women could not own land and land was passed down to eldest son (primogeniture), their education was limited to domestic skills.
    • Peasants or Serfs: worked the land, few rights or freedoms outside of manor. Skilled in trades, which helped them break out of feudal mode as global trade increased - led to middle class emergence of craftsmen and merchants.
Emergence of Nation-States
  • End of Middle Ages, people began moving from feudal kingdom organization to linguistic and cultural organization - emergence of modern countries.
  • Achievement of statehood in 13th century took different paths:
    • Germany: reigning family of emperorship died out, entering a period of interregnum (time between kings) - merchants and tradespeople became more powerful.
    • England: English nobles rebelled against King John and forced him to sign the Magna Carta - reinstated the nobles, laid foundation for Parliament.
      • Divided into House of Lords (nobles and clergy - legal issues) and House of Commons (knights and wealth burghers - trade and taxation).
    • France: in 12th century, England began to occupy many parts of France which spurred revolts - Joan of Arc fought back English out of Orleans. The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) unified France, leading to England’s withdrawal.
    • Spain: Queen Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon married to unite Spain in a single monarchy and forced all residents to convert to Christianity - Spanish Inquisition.
    • Russia: taken over by Tartars (group of eastern Mongols) under Genghis Kahn in 1242 until Russian prince Ivan III expanded his power in 1400s and became czar - Ivan the Terrible became a ruthless ruler utilizing secret police in 1500s.

Developments in Asia

China and Nearby Regions
  • Song Dynasty (960-1279)
    • Confucianism justified subordination of women - foot binding: women’s feet bound after birth to keep them small.
    • Neo-Confucianism: Buddhist ideas about soul, filial piety, maintenance of proper roles, loyalty to superiors.
  • Ming Dynasty (1368-1644): after brief period of Mongol dominance.
  • Religion: influenced by Nestorianism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and Buddhism in two of its forms.
    • Mahayana: peaceful and quiet existence apart from worldly values.
    • Chan or Zen: meditation and appreciation of beauty.
Japan
  • Relatively isolated from external influences outside Asia for many years.
  • Feudal Japan (1192):
    • Emperor
    • Shogun (chief general)
    • Daimyo: owners of larger pieces of land, powerful samurai (like knights) - followed Code of Bushido code of conduct (loyalty, courage, honour)
    • Lesser samurai (like vassals)
    • Peasants and artisans
    • Women had little rights and esteem
India
  • Delhi Sultanate: Islamic invader kingdom in Delhi.
  • Islam took over Northern India - clash between Islam monotheism and Hinduism polytheism.
  • Islam rulership brought in colleges and farming improvements.
  • Rajput Kingdoms: several Hindu principalities united to resist Muslim forces from 1191 until eventual takeover in 1527.
Southeast Asia
  • Religion spread and established different states.
  • Khmer Empire (9th-15th century): Hindu Empire in modern-day Cambodia, Laos, Thailand.
  • Beliefs carried through Indian Ocean trade network.
  • Crafted the Angkor Wat temple.

Developments in Africa

Islamic Influence
  • Islamic Empire spread to North Africa in the 7th to 8th centuries - travelled through Sahara Desert and reached the wealthy sub-Saharan.
  • An explosion of trade began.
Hausa Kingdoms
  • Off Niger River, series of state system kingdoms.
  • Islamic region, achieved economic stability and religious influence though long trade (salt and leather) - notably city of Kano.
  • Political and economic downturn in 18th century due to internal wars.

Developments in Americas

Great Civilizations
  • 3 great civilization in Central and South America: Maya, Incas, Aztecs.
  • Aztecs: Trade and Sacrifice:
    • Arrived in Mexico in mid 1200s.
    • Tenochtitlan: capital city (modern Mexico City).
    • Expansionist policy and professional, strict army
    • Empire of 12 million people with flourishing trade, many of people enslaved
    • Women were subordinate, but could inherit property.
  • Inca: My Land is Your Land:
    • Andes Mountains in Peru.
    • Expansionist - army, established bureaucracy, unified language, system of roads and tunnels.
    • Many people were peasants.
    • Capital of Cuzco had almost 300000 people in late 1400s.
    • Women were more important and could pass property to their daughters.
    • Polytheistic religion with human sacrifice - Sun god was most important.
    • People were mummified after death.
    • Military was very important.
    • Temple of the Sun and Machu Picchu architecture.
  • The Mayans (textbook does not go into detail).

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange

Height of the Middle Ages: Trading and Crusading

  • Merchants emerged in towns - referred to as Burghers, became politically powerful.
  • Towns often formed alliances with each other.
  • Hanseatic League (1358): trade alliance though northern Europe to drive toward nationhood, increase social mobility and flexibility.
  • Architecture: Romanesque to Gothic - especially reflected in cathedrals.
  • Flying buttresses: tall windows and vaulted ceilings.
  • Often had art and sculpture, music
  • Scholasticism: growth of education and knowledge - founding of universities for men; philosophy, law, medicine study; ideas of Muslims and Greeks - came in conflict with religion.
  • Crusades (11-14th century): military campaigns by European Christians to convert Muslims and non-Christians, combat religious questioning.
  • Combat Heresies: religious practices/beliefs not conforming to traditional church doctrine.
  • Pope Innocent III: issued strict decrees on church doctrine - frequently persecuted heretics and Jews, unsuccessful 4th crusade.
  • Pope Gregory IX: Inquisition (formal interrogation and prosecution of perceived heretics with punishments like excommunication, torture, execution) - church often referred to as Universal Church or Church Militant.
  • Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274): Christian theologian who made advancements in Christian thought - faith and reason aren’t in conflict.

Urbanization

  • Trade led to the growth of urban culture - cities usually were around trade routes.
  • Silk Route cities were the most populous - Baghdad, Merv, Chang’an.
  • Constantinople before 1400 and Paris and Italian city-states after 1400 were big European cities.

The Rise and Fall of the Mongols

  • Set of tribes and clans that were superb horseman and archers.
  • Genghis Kahn: unified the tribes in Mongolia in the early 1200s to expand their authority over other societies - first invaded China in 1234.
  • Mongol Empire: spanned from Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe - spit into hordes after death of Genghis Kahn, ruthless warriors destroying cities but remained peaceful after settling into cities.
  • Golden Horde: conquered modern-day Russia.
  • Kublai Khan: Genghis Kahn’s successor - ruled China.
  • Didn’t really have a set culture - didn’t enforce religion or way of life on conquered nations, but did make any cultural advancements.
  • Timur Lang: Mongol leader who took over India and destroyed everything - grew Islam in the nation.
  • If any residents of society the Mongols took over resisted, they would immediately kill them, so most had no choice but to give in - they were ruthless fighters, organized and mobile.
  • Impact: Great diffusers of culture.
  • Prevented Russia from culturally developing.
  • World trade, cultural diffusion, global awareness grew as they spread through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Mali and Songhai

  • Mali had a lot of gold that Islamic traders were interested in.
  • Mansa Musa: Malian ruler who built the capital of Timbuktu and expended the kingdom beyond Ghana.
  • Sonni Ali: Songhai ruler that conquered region of west Africa in 15th century - became a major cultural centre until 1600.

Chinese Technology

  • Song Dynasty: bureaucratic system built on merit and civil service examination creating a lot of loyal government workers, improved transportation and communication and business practices.
  • Concentrated on creating an industrial society - improved literacy with printed books which increased productivity and growth.

Review of Interactions Among Cultures

  • Trade exploded from 1200-1450.
  • Improved with better transportation and monetary systems.
Main Global Trade Routes
  1. The Hanseatic League
  2. The Silk Road
  3. The land routes of the Mongols
  4. Trade between China and Japan
  5. Trade between India and Persia
  6. The Trans-Saharan trade routes between west Africa and the Islamic Empire
  • Cultural diffusion: spread religions, languages, literature, art, idea, disease, plague.
  • Bubonic Plague: started in Asia in the 14th century and carried by merchants - killed about 1/3 people
Indian Ocean Trade
  • Dominated by Persians and Arabs - western India to Persian Gulf to eastern Africa
  • Great Zimbabwe: trading empire in Africa from 11th to 15th centuries
  • Vibrant Indian Ocean Communities
  • Sailors marrying local women created cultural intermixing
Silk Road
  • China to Mediterranean cultures in early days of Roman Empire and from 1200 to 1600.
  • Cultural exchange through travellers stopping at trade towns - Kashgar, Samarkand
  • Silk, porcelain, paper, religion, food, military technologies
Hanseatic League
  • Made up of over 100 cities.
  • Created substantial middle class in northern Europe.
  • Set precedent for large, European trading operations.

Expansion of Religion and Empire: Cultural Clash

  • Both natural spread of religion through contact over trade and intentional diffusion through missionary work or religious war.
Other Reasons People Were on the Move
  • Ran out of room in certain places, but cities were always increasing in size as opportunities grew in them
  • New cities and empires drew people in
  • Muslim pilgrimages
Notable Global Travellers
  1. Xuanzang: Chinese Buddhist monk - through T’ang Dynasty to India to explore Buddhism
  2. Marco Polo: merchant from Venice, to China and Europe
  3. Ibn Battuta: Islamic traveler, through Islamic world to India to China
  4. Margery Kempe: English Christian, through Europe and Holy Land

Unit 3: Land-Based Empires

  • Nobles and peasants began getting increasingly frustrated by the church’s exploitation and

Major European Developments

  • After 300 years of development, Europe become the dominant world power.
Revolutions in European Thought and Expression:
  • 1300s: Europe had been Christian for over a thousand years.
  • As countries began to unify and connect more, especially with countries who had preserved their history, Europe expanded its worldview and explored its past and 4 cultural movements happened.
The Renaissance
  • As trade increased, people moved to the cities and an influx of money was experienced - a lot of money went to studying the past
  • Humanism: focus on personal accomplishment, happiness, and life on earth instead of living for the goal of salvation
  • Afterlife remained dominant in the Catholic Church
  • Arts have a comeback
  • People could afford art again - Medici family patrons of Michelangelo and Brunelleschi
  • Artists focused on realism - Leonardo da Vinci and Donatello
  • Western writers have an audience
  • mid-1400s: Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press - made books easy to produce and affordable, and accessible to everyone led to more literate people
The Protestant Reformation
  • Catholic Church was one of the most powerful organizations in the Middle Ages - power in politics and society - undisputed authority
  • Church capitalized off its many followers with indulgences: paper faithful could purchase to reduce time in purgatory
  • noticed its corrupt nature
  • Martin Luther: German monk who published his list of complaints against the church - most significantly proposed salvation was given directly through God, not through the church, which significantly reduced the church’s influence
  • Pope Leo X: excommunicated Luther when he refused to recount his idea
  • Christianity split - Luther’s ideas led to many others to come forward
Lutherans
  • Luther’s followers - separated from Catholic Church
Calvinism - John Calvin
  • predestination - only a few people would be saved by God, great influence in Scotland and France
  • When the pope refused to annul King Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon because a heir wasn’t produced, he declared himself the head of religious affairs - presided over Church of England/Anglican Church
Jesuits
  • Ignatius Loyola: prayer and good works leads to salvation
Catholic Reformation (16th century)
  • Catholic church attempts to remedy some of their controversies and regains some of its credibility - still wanted authority and control
  • Council of Trent: reinstated pope authority, punished heretics, reestablished Latin as only language in worship
  • Caused wars
Scientific Revolution
  • Expanded education led to world discoveries
  • Copernican Revolution: Nicolaus Copernicus - discovered earth and other celestial bodies revolved around the sun and the earth rotated on its axis
  • Galileo: built off Copernicus’s theories and proved them - forced to recant by the Catholic Church and put under house arrest
  • Scientific Method: shift from reasoning being most reliable means of scientific meaning to scientific method (theory, documentation, repetition, others experimenting)
  • Tycho Brahe, Francis Bacon, Johannes Kepler, Sir Isaac Newton
  • Led to Industrial Revolution, and many rejecting the church - atheists (believe no god exists), deists (believe God exists, but is passive)
Deism
  • became popular in 1700s - God created the earth but doesn’t interfere in its workings

European Rivals

Spain and Portugal
  • Spain became very powerful, supporting exploration, expansion of Spanish language and culture, and having a large naval fleet
  • Under Charles V, Spain controlled parts of France, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Spain, America
  • Under Charles’s son Philip, the Spanish Inquisition to oust heretics was continued, the Dutch Protestants under Spain revolted to form independent the Netherlands - lost a lot of money in mid-17th century and was poised to be defeated by England and France
  • Portugal focused on dominating costal Africa, Indian Ocean, Spice Islands - lost control to Dutch and British
England
  • Henry VIII never succeeded in having a male heir - his daughter Elizabeth I became Queen
Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)
  • expansion, exploration, colonization in New World - golden age
  • Muscovy Company: first joint-stock company - British East India Company
  • James I: succeeded Elizabeth in 1607 - England and Scotland under one rulership, reforms to accommodate Catholics and Puritans failed
  • Charles I: succeeded James in 1625 - signed Petition of Rights (limiting taxes and forbidding unlawful imprisonment) - ignored it for the next 11 years
  • Scottish invaded England out of resentment for Charles in 1640 - called the Long Parliament into session (sat for 20 years), which limited the powers of the monarchy
  • Parliament raised an army, under Oliver Cromwell, to fight the King after he tried to arrest the Parliament defeats the king and executes him - began the English Commonwealth (Oliver Cromwell known as the first Lord Protector)
  • Oliver Cromwell: intolerant of religion, violent against Catholics and Irish - highly resented
  • Charles II: exiled son of Charles I invited by Parliament to reclaim the throne as a limited monarchy after Cromwell died (Stuart Restoration)
  • Agreed to Habeas Corpus Act: prevents people from arrests without due process
  • James II: succeeded Charles II after his death - highly disliked, fear he would make England a Catholic county - driven from power by Parliament (Glorious Revolution)
  • Succeeded by his daughter Mary and her husband William - signed English Bill of Rights (1689)
France
  • Unified and centralized under strong monarchy after Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)
  • Largely Catholic, but French Protestants started to emerge (Huguenots) and fought with the Catholics
  • Henry IV: issued Edict of Nantes (1598) (environment of tolerance between religions) - first of Bourbon kings who ruled until 1792
  • Cardinal Richelieu: chief advisor to the Bourbons who compromised with Protestants instead of fighting with them
  • Created the bureaucratic class noblesse de la robe, succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin
  • Louis XIV: reigned from 1642-1715 - highly self-important and grandiose, condemned many Huguenots, never summoned the French lawmakers, appointed Jean Baptiste Colbert to manage royal funds - France almost constantly at war to increase empire
  • War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714): Louis’s grandson was to inherit the Spanish throne, so England, Roman Empire, and German princes united to prevent France and Spain from combining
German Areas (Holy Roman Empire?)
  • Holy Empire was in present day Austria/Germany - weak due to the mixed dynamics, rulership, and religion of the surrounding area
  • Lost parts of Hungary to Ottoman Turks in early 16th century
  • Devastated by Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
  • German states were gaining power by 18th century
  • Peace of Augsburg (1555): intended to bring end to conflicts between Catholics and Protestants
  • Thirty Years’ War: began when protestants in Bohemia challenged Catholics - violent and destructive
  • Peace of Westphalia (1648): German states affirmed to keep the peace
Russia
  • Russian leaders were overthrowing reigning Mongols in late 15th century
  • Moscow became centre of Orthodox Christianity
  • Ivan III refused to pay tribute to Mongols and declared them free from their rule - lead Russians, later Ivan IV did too
  • Recruited peasants freedom from boyars (their feudal lords) if they conquered their own land themselves
  • Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible): strong leader feared by many - executing people who were threats to his power
  • Battle for throne after Ivan IV died without an heir - Time of Troubles (1604 to 1613): killing those who tried to rise to the throne
  • Michael Romanov was elected by feudal lords until 1917 - Romanovs consolidated power and ruled ruthlessly
  • Peter the Great: ruled from 1682-1725 - redesigned and adapted Russia in to westernized fashion
  • Catherine the Great: ruled from 1762-1796 - education and Western culture - serf conditions were of no importance to her

Islamic Gunpowder Empires

Ottoman Empire
  • precedes 1450 - founded by Osman Bey as the Mongol Empire fell
  • Eventually invaded Constantinople in 1453 and ended Byzantine Empire (Constantinople now named Istanbul)
  • Ottomans were Islamic and solidified rule over territory from Greece to Persia to around Mediterranean into Egypt and northern Africa by giving land (timars) to Ottoman aristocrats to control
  • Employed practice called devshirme: enslaved Christian children and turned them into warriors called Janissaries
  • Selim I: came into power in 1512, led much of the empire growth, made Istanbul centre of Islamic civilization
  • Suleiman I: succeeded Selim I in 1520, build Ottoman military and arts - golden age from 1520-1566
  • Took over parts of Hungary, but could not successfully take over Vienna
Mughal Empire
  • Babur: Mongol leader who invaded northern India in 1526 - Mughal Empire (dominated for next 300 years)
  • United entire subcontinent
  • Akbar: succeeded Babur from 1556 to 1605 - united India further with religious toleration, did give Muslim landowners (zamindars) power to tax Hinuds
  • Muslims lived side by side in a golden age of art and thought - under Shah Jahan, the Taj Mahal was built
  • Aurangzeb: emperor who ended religious toleration and waged wars to conquer rest of India - Hindus were persecuted
  • Europeans arrived in early 17th century to trade and spread ideas - after 1750 is when Britain turned into an imperial superpower

Africa

  • Starting in 10th century, wealth accumulated from trade - Songhai, Kongo, and Angola became powerful kingdoms
Songhai
  • Islamic state
  • Sunni Ali: ruler 1464-1493 - navy, central administration, financed Timbuktu - fell to Moroccans
Asanti Empire
  • arose in 1670 - avoided invasion and expanded its territory
Kongo
  • King Alfonso I: Catholic, and converted his people