Milk them brain cows

Concise AP World History Notes (Based on Heimler's Review)

UNIT 1: THE GLOBAL TAPESTRY (1200–1450)

UNIT 1: THE GLOBAL TAPESTRY (1200–1450)

Song Dynasty (China):
- Revived Confucianism and established Neo-Confucianism.
- Used imperial bureaucracy and civil service exams.
- Foot binding reflected women’s low status.

East Asian Influence:
- Korea, Japan, and Vietnam adopted Chinese elements (bureaucracy, Confucianism, Buddhism).
- Vietnam had more gender equality.

Buddhism in China:
- Coexisted with Confucianism.
- Theravada (strict), Mahayana (accessible), and Tibetan (mystical).
- Core teachings: Four Noble Truths & Eightfold Path.

Song Economy:
- Champa rice increased population.
- Commercialization, iron/steel production, and transportation innovations (canals, compass, junk ships).

Dar-al-Islam:
- Islam spread via military, trade, and Sufi missionaries.
- Abbasid Caliphate weakened; Seljuks, Mamluks, Delhi Sultanate rose.
- Intellectual centers like Baghdad’s House of Wisdom preserved global knowledge.

South/Southeast Asia:
- Hinduism dominated India; caste system enforced social order.
- Bhakti Movement rejected hierarchy; Sufism promoted mystical Islam.
- States: Delhi Sultanate, Vijayanagara Empire, Srivijaya, Majapahit, Khmer.

Americas:
- Maya: city-states, human sacrifice.
- Aztec: tributary system, Tenochtitlan, blood rituals.
- Inca: centralized, used mit’a labor system.
- North America: Mississippian, Chaco, and Mesa Verde adapted to environment.

Africa:
- Swahili coast city-states thrived on Indian Ocean trade.
- Great Zimbabwe: inland trade power.
- Hausa Kingdoms and Ethiopia: trade and religious centers (Islam/Christianity).

Europe:
- Feudalism, manorialism structured society.
- Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.
- Crusades and anti-Semitism shaped interactions.
- Political centralization began as monarchs gained power.

UNIT 2: NETWORKS OF EXCHANGE (1200–1450)

UNIT 2: NETWORKS OF EXCHANGE (1200–1450)

Silk Roads:
- Traded luxury goods (silk, porcelain).
- Innovations: credit, banking, caravanserai, saddles.
- Cities like Kashgar and Samarkand flourished.
- Spread Buddhism, Islam; increased demand led to proto-industrialization.

Mongol Empire:
- Genghis Khan united Mongols; empire split into khanates.
- Brutality + organization enabled conquest.
- Pax Mongolica stabilized trade.
- Promoted cultural/tech exchange (Uyghur script, Greek learning, medicine).

Indian Ocean Trade:
- Grew after Mongol decline; relied on monsoons.
- Technologies: compass, astrolabe, lateen sail.
- Diasporic communities (Muslim, Chinese) promoted cultural blending.
- Cities: Malacca, Swahili states, Calicut.
- Zheng He led Ming expeditions to expand tributary system.

Trans-Saharan Trade:
- Used camels and saddles for desert travel.
- Goods: gold, salt, horses.
- Mali Empire (Mansa Musa) gained wealth through trade.

Cultural Effects:
- Islam spread via trade and conversion of rulers.
- Syncretism: Chan (China), Zen (Japan), Sikhism (India).
- Literary/scientific transfer (House of Wisdom, paper, gunpowder).
- Cities grew (Hangzhou); others declined (Baghdad, Constantinople).

Travelers:
- Ibn Battuta (Islamic world), Marco Polo (China), Margery Kempe (Christian sites).

Environmental Effects:
- Crops: Bananas (Africa), Champa rice (China), Citrus (Mediterranean).
- Disease: Black Death killed millions in Asia, ME, Europe.

UNIT 3: LAND-BASED EMPIRES (1450–1750)

UNIT 3: LAND-BASED EMPIRES (1450–1750)

Gunpowder Empires:
- Ottomans (Sunni), Safavids (Shi’a), Mughals (tolerant), Qing (Manchu).
- Expanded with firearms; religious rivalries (Safavid-Mughal, Ottoman-Safavid).

Administration:
- Bureaucracies and militaries (Devshirme → Janissaries).
- Used religion, art, and architecture to legitimize power (Versailles, Aztec sacrifice, Qing portraits).
- Taxation: Zamindars (Mughal), Tax farming (Ottoman).

Belief Systems:
- Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther challenged Catholic corruption.
- Counter-Reformation: Council of Trent.
- Sikhism: blend of Islam and Hindu beliefs.

Religious tolerance varied:
- Mughal (Akbar) encouraged it.
- Safavids enforced Shi’a Islam.

UNIT 4: TRANSOCEANIC INTERACTIONS (1450–1750)

UNIT 4: TRANSOCEANIC INTERACTIONS (1450–1750)

Maritime Tech:
- Adopted compass, astrolabe, lateen sail, caravel.
- European states sponsored exploration (Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, England, France).

Empires:
- Portugal: Trading-post empire in Indian Ocean.
- Spain: Colonies in Americas; Columbus, Magellan.
- England, France, Dutch: established colonies and trade dominance.

Columbian Exchange:
- Plants: Potatoes, maize (to Europe); sugar, wheat (to Americas).
- Animals: Horses, pigs, cattle.
- Diseases: Smallpox, measles → high native mortality.

Labor Systems:
- Encomienda, Hacienda, Mit’a, Chattel slavery, Indentured servitude.
- Transatlantic slave trade expanded, shifted demographics.

Economic Systems:
- Mercantilism: wealth = power, exports > imports.
- Joint-stock companies: privately funded exploration and colonization (Dutch/British East India Cos.).

Resistance:
- Local: Ana Nzinga, Pueblo Revolt, Fronde.
- Enslaved: Maroon communities, Stono Rebellion.
- Social hierarchies: Casta System, Boyars vs Tsars, Timars revoked by Ottomans.

Tolerance:
- Jews expelled (Spain), protected (Ottomans).
- Mughal religious tolerance, Qing ethnic divisions.

UNIT 5: REVOLUTIONS (1750–1900)

UNIT 5: REVOLUTIONS (1750–1900)

Enlightenment:
- Emphasized reason, natural rights (Locke), individualism, social contracts.
- Inspired revolutions: American, French, Haitian, Latin American.

Political Ideologies:
- Nationalism, Liberalism, Popular Sovereignty.
- Expanded suffrage, abolition of slavery and serfdom.
- Women's rights: Olympe de Gouges, Seneca Falls.

Revolutions:
- American (1776): independence from British taxes/control.
- French (1789): monarchy overthrown, republic formed.
- Haitian (1791): enslaved people overthrew French rule.
- Latin American: Creole revolts, led by Bolivar.

Nationalist Movements:
- Italy & Germany unified through military and diplomacy.
- Propaganda movement (Philippines): education led to rebellion.

UNIT 6: CONSEQUENCES OF INDUSTRIALIZATION (1750–1900)

UNIT 6: CONSEQUENCES OF INDUSTRIALIZATION (1750–1900)

Industrial Revolution:
- Began in Britain due to coal, waterways, capital, and legal protection of property.
- Spread to U.S., Japan (Meiji Restoration), Russia, and parts of Europe.
- Led to urbanization, factory systems, and new class structures.

Technology:
- 1st Rev: Steam engine, coal, textiles.
- 2nd Rev: Steel (Bessemer), chemicals, electricity, oil, telegraph.

Global Impact:
- Non-industrial states like India/Egypt declined in manufacturing.
- Industrial powers dominated global trade and politics.

Reactions:
- Workers formed unions, demanded reforms (education, sanitation, labor laws).
- Socialism/Marxism: Critique of capitalism, class struggle (proletariat vs bourgeoisie).
- Reforms passed (e.g., education laws, minimum wage).

State-Sponsored Industrialization:
- Meiji Japan modernized rapidly.
- Muhammad Ali's Egypt tried industrialization but was blocked by British.

China/Ottoman Responses:
- Qing Self-Strengthening Movement and Tanzimat Reforms failed to fully industrialize.
- European interference weakened both empires.

Economic Systems:
- Capitalism replaced mercantilism (Smith’s free market ideas).
- Transnational corporations (HSBC, Unilever) rose.
- Stock markets and limited liability encouraged investment.

UNIT 7: GLOBAL CONFLICT (1900–Present)

UNIT 7: GLOBAL CONFLICT (1900–Present)

Causes of World Wars:
- MAIN causes: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism.
- WWI triggered by assassination of Archduke Ferdinand; trench warfare, total war.
- Treaty of Versailles blamed Germany → economic hardship, resentment.

Interwar Period:
- Great Depression led to global economic collapse.
- Rise of authoritarian regimes: Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Stalin (USSR).
- Appeasement failed to stop aggression (e.g., Hitler in Czechoslovakia).

WWII:
- Began with German invasion of Poland (1939); Axis vs Allies.
- Total war: civilian bombing, propaganda, mass mobilization.
- Holocaust: Genocide of 6 million Jews.
- Ended with atomic bombings of Hiroshima/Nagasaki.

Decolonization:
- Colonies demanded independence post-WWII.
- India (Gandhi, civil disobedience), Africa (negotiations/conflict), Vietnam/Algeria (wars).
- New states faced challenges: political instability, Cold War interference.

Cold War:
- U.S. vs USSR (capitalism vs communism).
- Proxy wars: Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan.
- Arms race, space race, NATO vs Warsaw Pact.
- Ended with Soviet collapse (1991).

UNIT 8: COLD WAR AND DECOLONIZATION (1900–Present)

UNIT 8: COLD WAR AND DECOLONIZATION (1900–Present)

Cold War Ideologies:
- U.S. promoted capitalism and democracy; USSR promoted communism.
- Strategies: proxy wars, nuclear arms race, propaganda, alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact).

Major Conflicts:
- Korean War (1950–1953): ended in stalemate.
- Vietnam War: U.S. failed to stop communist North Vietnam.
- Soviet-Afghan War: USSR bogged down, contributing to its collapse.

Non-Aligned Movement:
- Led by countries like India and Egypt; avoided alignment with superpowers.

Decolonization:
- India: Gandhi’s nonviolence led to independence (1947).
- Africa: independence through negotiation (Ghana) or conflict (Algeria, Kenya).
- Israel: Jewish state formed in 1948; regional conflict with Arab neighbors.

Resistance to Power Structures:
- Civil Rights Movements (U.S., South Africa).
- Feminism: demanded gender equality, legal reforms.
- Environmental movements arose due to industrial pollution.

UNIT 9: GLOBALIZATION (1900–Present)

UNIT 9: GLOBALIZATION (1900–Present)

Technology and Innovation:
- Computers, internet, green revolution (agriculture), medical advancements.

Global Economy:
- Shift to free-market economies (China under Deng Xiaoping, Chile).
- International organizations: WTO, IMF, World Bank.

Migr