AP World History Study Guide

TOPIC 1.1 Developments in East Asia from c. 1200 to c. 1450

The Song Dynasty (960-1279) was a period of significance for China, marked by prosperity, political stability, and innovations in arts and intellect. It developed the world's largest manufacturing capacity and shifted to a commercialized society, moving from local to market production. Buddhism and Confucianism spread, and the bureaucracy expanded through meritocracy, increasing social mobility. Economic developments in postclassical China included the Grand Canal, an efficient waterway transportation system that made China the most populous trading area. Gunpowder spread from China to Eurasia via the Silk Roads. Agriculture advanced with irrigation systems and heavy plows, increasing food production and population growth. Tributes were an arrangement for income where other states paid money/goods to honor the Chinese emperor. China's social structure was hierarchical: Emperor → gentry/aristocrats/wealthy landowners/civil service → peasants/farmers/artisans → merchants. The Song government aided the poor and established public hospitals. Women were expected to defer to men, and foot binding was a common constraint. Religious diversity in China included Buddhism, which came from India via the Silk Roads in three forms: Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan Buddhism, each with different emphases, following the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Neo-Confucianism, a syncretic system, evolved between 770 and 840, combining rational thought with Daoism and Buddhism.

JAPAN

Japan had a feudal society without a centralized government for centuries. Landowning aristocrats (daimyo) battled for land control, while most people were rice farmers. In 1192, the Minamoto installed a shogun (military ruler). Regional rivalries among aristocrats persisted for four centuries until a strong central government unified the country in the 17th century.

KOREA

Korea had a direct tributary relationship with China due to its location. It centralized its government in the style of the Chinese and adopted Confucian and Buddhist beliefs. However, Korea maintained a more powerful landed aristocracy, limiting social mobility compared to China.

VIETNAM

Vietnamese women had greater independence in married lives than Chinese women. Vietnamese preferred nuclear families, and villages operated independently, with political centralization being nonexistent. They adopted a merit-based bureaucracy, but officials owed allegiance to the village peasants, not the emperor.

TOPIC 1.2 Developments in Dar al-Islam from c. 1200 to c. 1450

Innovations in Dar al-Islam included mathematics, where Nasir al-Din al-Tusi laid groundwork for trigonometry. ‘A’ishah al-Ba’uniyyah was a prolific female Muslim writer, describing her mystical illuminations, and medicine saw improved medical advances and hospital care in cities like Cairo, with doctors and pharmacists requiring licenses through examinations. Islamic society viewed merchants as more prestigious than in Europe and Asia, growing rich via Silk Roads trade. Muslim women enjoyed higher status than Christian/Jewish women, allowed to inherit property, retain ownership after marriage, remarry if widowed, receive a cash settlement if divorced, and practice birth control. Transfers included preservation and commentaries on Greek moral and natural philosophy, the House of Wisdom in Abbasid Baghdad, and scholarly and cultural transfers in Muslim and Christian Spain. In 711, Muslim forces invaded Spain, ruling for seven centuries and promoting toleration among Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Umayyad rulers in Córdoba, as well as trade introducing Chinese and Southeast Asian products.

TOPIC 1.3 Developments in South and Southeast Asia from c. 1200 to c. 1450

SOUTH ASIA

Political structures in South Asia included a more stable Southern India with the Chola Dynasty (850-1267), and a more tumultuous Northern India after the fall of the Gupta Empire, with Rajput kingdoms gradually forming. The Delhi Sultanate brought Islam to India, reigning for 300 years (13th-16th centuries). Before Islam, most practiced Hinduism, with key differences between Hinduism and Islam. Islam's arrival barely changed the basic structure of society, with most attempts to escape the caste system failing. The Bhakti Movement emphasized emotion in spiritual life over rituals/texts in the 12th century.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

South Asia influenced Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam). Sea-Based Kingdoms included the Srivijaya Empire (670-1025), a Hindu kingdom based on Sumatra, and the Majapahit Kingdom (1293-1520), based on Java and Buddhist. Land-Based Kingdoms included the Sinhala dynasties in Sri Lanka and the Khmer Empire (802-1431) near the Mekong River.

TOPIC 1.4 State Building in the Americas

The Mississippian Culture was the first large-scale civilization in North America, starting in the Mississippi River Valley with a rigid class structure and matrilineal society. The Maya City-States reached their height between 250 and 900 CE, stretched over southern Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala, ruled by kings claiming divine right and linking science and religion through astronomy. The Aztecs, originally hunter-gatherers, founded capital Tenochtitlan in 1325, built aqueducts and pyramids, developed a tributary system, and were a theocracy worshipping hundreds of deities. Women were important in the tribute system. The Inca Empire split into four provinces with a bureaucracy, subject to the mit'a system, and worshipped Inti (sun god). They developed terrace systems and were conquered by the Spanish in 1533.

TOPIC 1.5 State Building in Africa

Political structures in inland Africa were heavily influenced by Bantu-speaking people's migrations, forming kin-based networks. In West and East Africa, wealth, power, and cultural diversity came from the exchange of goods. Islam's spread added to religious diversity. Mali became the most powerful trading society, Zimbabwe prospered from agriculture and gold, and Ethiopia flourished from trade. Social structures were organized around kinship, age, and gender, with enslaved people impacting social status. Cultural life involved ancestor veneration, music, visual arts, and griots.

TOPIC 1.6 Developments in Europe from c. 1200 to c. 1450

Feudalism provided security for peasants, equipment for warriors, and land for workers, with wealth measured in land. The manorial system provided self-sufficiency and defense. Monarchies grew more powerful, using bureaucracy and military. The Estates-General advised the king in France, and the Hundred Years’ War stimulated unity. The Roman Catholic Church split during the Great Schism, established universities, and held great power, but faced corruption. The Crusades were attempts to reclaim the Holy Land. The middle class grew, leading to larger cities and markets. Anti-Semitism was widespread, and women lost rights. The Renaissance brought a revival of interest in classical literature and humanism, with Gutenberg’s printing press enabling mass production of manuscripts.

TOPIC 1.7 Comparisons in the Period from c. 1200 to c. 1450

State-Building and New Empires saw the Song Dynasty continue progressing, the Abbasid Caliphate fragmenting, Mali creating a more centralized government, the Aztecs using a tributary system, the Incas using the mit’a system, feudal ties reducing in England and France, and Japan becoming more decentralized. Four Types of State-Building included the emergence of new states, revival of former empires, synthesis of different traditions, and expansion in scope. State-Building occurred through Trade, increasing cross-cultural exchanges of technology and innovation. Social organization remained patriarchal, but cultures varied.

Unit 2: Network of Exchange: 8%-10% of the AP test (c. 1200 to c. 1450) TOPIC 2.1 The Silk Roads

The growth of exchange networks was caused by the Crusades, the rise of the Mongol Empire, and improvements in transportation. Cities along the routes became centers of trade, and China developed new financial systems. The growing demand for luxury goods led to expanded production and the expansion of iron and steel manufactured in China.

TOPIC 2.2 The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World

Genghis Khan attacked the Jin Empire in 1210 and conquered the Kara Khitai and Khwarazm Empires by 1227. The Mongolian soldiers were strong riders and proficient with the short bow. He instituted religious tolerance and established new trade channels. Three of Genghis Khan's grandsons expanded the empire further. Batu led the Golden Horde into Russia, conquering kingdoms and forcing tributes, which created the foundation for a future modern Russian state. The Mongolian invasions resulted in the largest continuous land empire in history, a system of roads, the transfer of Greco-Islamic medical knowledge and the Arabic numbering system to Western Europe, the continuation or copying of centralizing power, and the end of Western Europe’s use of knights in armor.

TOPIC 2.3 Exchange in the Indian Ocean

The expansion of Islam connected more cities than ever before in the Indian Ocean, increasing the demand for specialized products and the trade of enslaved people. Advances in maritime technology and the growth of states also contributed. Diasporic communities, increased demand for products, Swahili City-States, and trade brought considerable wealth to the cities on the East African coast.

TOPIC 2.4 Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

By the end of the 8th century C.E., the trans-Saharan trade had become famous, with gold as the most precious commodity traded. For over 700 years, it brought wealth to West Africa and spread Islam. The government of Mali profited from the gold trade and taxed nearly all other trade. Timbuktu and Gao became centers of Muslim life. Empires in Western Eurasia and Africa in the 13th Century included Mali, Al-Andalus, the Byzantine Empire, and Kievan Rus.

TOPIC 2.5 Cultural Consequences of Connectivity

Buddhism came to China via the Silk Roads and was adopted by Japan and Korea. Through trade, Hinduism and Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia. Islam spread over Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Scientific and technological innovations traveled the trade routes, with Islamic scholars translating Greek classics and bringing back mathematics texts and papermaking techniques.

TOPIC 2.6 Environmental Consequences of Connectivity

As the population of China grew, people migrated southward to the Champa rice growing region. Increases in population put pressure on resources, leading to environmental degradation. The Mongol conquests helped transmit the Bubonic Plague, impacting Europe and Asia significantly.

TOPIC 2.7 Comparison of Economic Exchange

The Silk Roads, Indian Ocean trade routes, and trans-Saharan trade routes all served as networks of exchange. The trade routes all gave rise to trading cities and centralization. Trading cities used their wealth to keep the routes and cities safe. A standardized currency was desired to speed up transactions and measure the value of products.

Unit 3: Land-Based Empires: 12%-15% of the AP test (c. 1200 to c. 1450) TOPIC 3.1 Empires Expand

The Gunpowder Empires, including the Russian, Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires, relied on firearms to conquer and control territories. Europe saw the end of plagues and the Hundred Years’ War, and the invention of the printing press. Russia remained linked to Europe and expanded eastward under Ivan IV. China's Yuan Dynasty was overthrown by the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty was established by the Manchu. The warrior leaders of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires shared traits as Muslims descended from Turkic nomads, speaking a Turkic language, taking advantage of Mongol khanate breakups, and relying on gunpowder weapons.

TOPIC 3.2 Empires: Administration

England’s King James believed in the divine right of kings, and the Tudors relied on justices of the peace. The French government became more absolute. The noble landowning class, the boyars, stood at the top of the Russian social pyramid. Peter the Great reorganized the Russian government, creating provinces. Askia the Great of Songhai made Islam Songhai’s official religion and supported an efficient bureaucracy. Ottoman cultural contributions included the restoration of buildings in Constantinople.

TOPIC 3.3 Empires: Belief Systems

Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism emerged during the Protestant Reformation. The Church increased the use of the Inquisition, and the Jesuits opposed the spread of Protestantism during the Counter-Reformation. The Council of Trent corrected some abuses and reaffirmed rituals. Religious conflicts culminated in the Thirty Years’ War, resulting in the Peace of Westphalia. Scientific thinking gained popularity, with figures like Francis Bacon and Sir Isaac Newton making significant contributions.

TOPIC 3.4 Comparison in Land-Based Empires

Both the Ottoman sultan and Safavid shah used slave soldiers. The Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire went to war over territorial claims. Taxation policies varied among the Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal, and Ming Empires.

Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections: 12%-15% of the AP test (c. 1200 to c. 1450) TOPIC 4.