Comprehensive AP World History Review: 1200 to the 19th and 20th Centuries

Evidence Against Non-Violent Rule:     - King Leopold II of Belgium: The most prominent example of rule by force rather than consent. Belgium ruled the Congo through forced exploitation of rubber for their industrialized economy.     - The Congo Statistics: The extraction of rubber in the Congo is cited as the world's largest genocide, resulting in the deaths of approximately $10,000,000$ people. This death toll exceeds that of the Holocaust.     - Other Examples: Mention was made of violence occurring in Angola and the general colonization of African countries.

Berlin Conference: This event challenges the claim of consent and non-violence. African people and tribes were divided up without their consent under the threat of force. This was an explicit act of force against the populations involved.

Mamluk Claims in Egypt:     - One claim is that Mamluks went to Egypt to help the people, not hurt them.     - According to historical passages, Mamluks were devout Muslims and supporters of the Islamic faith.     - Origin of Mamluks: They were originally slaves of the Mongols. They were sold as slaves to Egypt, rose to military power, created the Mamluk dynasty, and eventually defeated the Mongols who had formerly enslaved them.     - Uniqueness of Mamluk Slavery: Unlike most forms of slavery, Mamluks were trained as soldiers, taught to read, studied religious texts, and could eventually be appointed as rulers. This allowed for high social and political mobility.

The Political Situation of the Islamic World (Pre-$1450$):     - The Islamic world was characterized by fragmentation and division.     - The Abbasid Caliphate had collapsed, leading to a fragmented state of Islamic territories.     - The Ottoman Empire: Rise is dated to $1453$ with the fall of Constantinople. Before this date, the region was not unified.

Causes for the Increase in Enslaved Labor:     - Demographic Collapse: European diseases killed the indigenous Native American populations, leading to a labor shortage.     - Plantation Economy: The development of large-scale plantations (especially for sugar) required a massive influx of labor, which Europeans sourced from Africa.

Social and Cultural Changes:     - Syncretic Religions: African people brought their own religions (like animism) which mixed with Christianity in the Americas.     - New Social Groups: The emergence of the Mulattoes (a mix of African and European ancestry).     - The Casta System: A racial hierarchy created by the Spanish in the Americas where African slaves were at the bottom and Mulattoes were a step higher.

Impact on African Populations:     - Total Number: Approximately $12,000,000$ African slaves were taken out of Africa.     - Gender Imbalance: The majority of those taken were young men ($10$ to $11,000,000$), leading to a demographic shift where women significantly outnumbered men in many African societies.     - Social Adaptation: The gender imbalance led to the practice of polygyny (men marrying multiple wives).     - Internal Warfare: African tribes and kingdoms went to war with each other to capture slaves to sell to Europeans at the "slave coast," weakening kingdoms like the Congo.     - Recovery: The introduction of new foods via the Columbian Exchange eventually allowed African populations to recover from the loss.

Environmental Contributions in Britain:     - Access to Coal (natural fuel for factories and machines).     - Access to natural rivers, harbors, and canals (though canals are man-made and should be used cautiously as an "environmental" factor).

Reactions to Industrialization:     - Social/Urban Reforms: Creation of labor unions to fight for better pay, safety regulations, and shorter hours.     - Legislative Changes: Factory acts were created to end child labor and establish the 8-hour workday.     - State Responses: The Meiji Restoration in Japan was motivated by the fear that if they did not industrialize, they would be colonized by Western powers.

Environmental Changes ($20^{th}$ Century):     - Increased use of fossil fuels (petroleum) leading to pollution.     - Deforestation for commercial farming and urban growth.     - The Green Revolution: The use of advanced technology, fertilizers, and seeds to improve farming. This primarily benefited wealthy farmers who could afford the equipment, while leaving poor farmers behind.

Empire Expansion: Mongols conquered large territories throughout Eurasia (Europe and Asia), including the Kyivian Rus (Russia) and the Abbasid Caliphate.

Pax Mongolica: A period of Mongol peace that made trade along the Silk Road safer and more efficient.

Changes Brought by Mongols:     - Trade and Technology: Expansion of the Silk Road led to the spread of the compass, astrolabe, printing technology, and gunpowder (which eventually transformed European warfare and colonization).     - Diffusion of Religion: Facilitated the spread of Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism across Eurasia.     - Social Impact in Russia: The Mongols forced people to pay heavy tributes. In Russia, this led to the development of serfdom as peasants could no longer afford the payments.     - Disease: The safety of trade routes facilitated the spread of the Bubonic Plague (Black Death). In Europe, this caused a decline in feudalism as the death toll allowed surviving serfs to move to cities for work.

Consolidation of Power:     - Used gunpowder technology and military size to maintain control.     - Religious Legitimacy: The Ottoman ruler acted as the Caliph to legitimize his rule over Muslims.     - The Janissaries: A specialized military and bureaucratic class in the Ottoman Empire composed of former slaves from the Balkans.     - Treatment of Non-Muslims: Use of the Jizya tax on non-Muslim subjects to show administrative dominance.

Historical Thinking and Thesis Formulation:     - Success in the AP Long Essay Question (LEQ) requires a laser-focused thesis that responds to historical thinking skills (changes, causes, effects).     - The word "affected" is synonymous with "change" in historical prompts.

Russian Revolution ($1917$):     - Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks rose to power with the slogan "Bread, Land, Peace."     - Peace: Withdrawal from World War I via the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, giving up land to Germany.

Russian Civil War ($1918$–$1921$):     - Reds (Bolsheviks/Communists) vs. Whites (Anti-communists supported by the USA and Western Europe).     - The Reds won, leading to the execution of Czar Nicholas II and the Romanov family.

Economic Policies:     - New Economic Policy (NEP): Introduced by Lenin in $1921$ as a form of "limited capitalism" to fix the failing economy. It allowed private farms and small factories ($20$ workers or less). This created a class of successful peasants known as Kulaks.     - Five-Year Plans: Under Joseph Stalin, focused on heavy industry (steel and machinery) to prepare for world power and invasion.     - Collectivization: Stalin ended private farming and forced people into government-owned farms. The Kulaks resisted by burning land and killing animals, leading to a famine that killed approximately $7,000,000$ people.

The Great Purge: Stalin arrested or killed anyone questioning his authority, sending millions to the Gulags in Siberia. Approximately $750,000$ people were killed and $1,500,000$ imprisoned.

Communist Revolution: Mao Zedong (CCP) defeated Chiang Kai-shek (Nationalist Party/Kuomintang) in $1949$. The Nationalists fled to Taiwan.

Mao’s Social and Cultural Changes:     - Promoted gender equality (women in factories/leadership).     - Rejected Confucianism (honoring state over family).     - Great Leap Forward: Disastrous plan for communes and "backyard furnaces" that produced low-quality steel.     - Cultural Revolution: Closing of schools and the rise of the Red Guard to enforce communist ideology using the "Red Books."

Deng Xiaoping and Reform:     - Shifted China toward capitalism through "Four Modernizations."     - Closed communes, allowed private property, and invited foreign investment.     - Tiananmen Square ($1989$): A student-led protest for political rights and democracy was violently crushed by the government using tanks.

World War I ($1914$–$1918$):     - Causes (MANIA): Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, and the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.     - US Entry: The sinking of the Lusitania (killing US citizens) and the Zimmerman Telegram.     - Treaty of Versailles: Forced Germany to pay $33,000,000,000$ in reparations, reduced their military, and took their colonies. This led to hyperinflation and the rise of the Weimar Republic (later overthrown by the Nazis).

World War II ($1939$–$1945$):     - Causes: Failure of the League of Nations, Treaty size of Versailles, rise of fascism (Adolf Hitler in Germany, Benito Mussolini in Italy), and the policy of appeasement at the Munich Conference.     - Total War: Use of propaganda, recruitment of women for factory labor, and government control over private industry.     - Turning Points: Battle of Britain (Air war/radar), Invasion of Russia (Hitler's failure due to winter/scorched earth), D-Day (Allied landing at Normandy), and Battle of Midway (Turning point in the Pacific).

Conclusion of WWII: The use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan's surrender.

Causes: A war of ideologies—Capitalism/Democracy (USA) vs. Communism (USSR). An "Iron Curtain" divided Europe.

Alliances: NATO (Western nations) vs. Warsaw Pact (Soviet satellite states).

Proxy Wars: Conflicts in Korea (North vs. South/UN), Vietnam (North/Communists won), and the Cuban Missile Crisis ($1962$).

Fall of the Soviet Union ($1991$):     - Caused by excessive military spending ($35\%$ of the budget), the failed invasion of Afghanistan ($1979$), and the internal reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev (Perestroika for capitalism and Glasnost for political openness).

Independence Movements:     - India: Mahatma Gandhi used non-violence and boycotts (Salt March, cottage industries). India gained independence in $1947$ but was partitioned into India and Pakistan (Muslim state), leading to the deaths of $300,000$ people during migration.     - Iran: The Iranian Revolution ($1979$) replaced the US-backed Shah (Bautista-like figure) with Ayatollah Khomeini, establishing an Islamic theocracy.     - South Africa: The struggle against Apartheid (segregation) led by Nelson Mandela.