World History Periods and Systems Review

Overview of Chinese Dynasties and Historical Foundations

• Key Dynasties Mentioned: The Tang dynasty, the Wang dynasty, the Ming dynasty, and the Qing dynasty (referred to as the five dynasties in this specific context).

• Period 1 Innovation: This period (prior to China's Ming isolationism) features the folks "ahead of the ballgame" regarding innovation.

• Isolationism: Developed as China transitioned into the Ming dynasty and subsequent periods, moving away from global interaction.

AP World History Chronology and Significant Eras

• Period 1: Datable from $1200$ to $1450$.

• Period 2: Defined by the rise of Europe and the Industrial Revolution (though Industrialization specifically peaks later), and massive global changes like the Columbian Exchange.

• Period 3: Datable from $1750$ to $1900$.     * Significant Events: The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the end of the Renaissance are major features.     * Rise of Western Europe: Maritime empires accumulate wealth and power during this window.     * Empire Decline: Corresponding decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Qing dynasty, and the Mughal Empire. The elimination of states like the Aztec and Inca occurs earlier but leads to Western dominance here.

• Period 4: Characterized by the World Wars, the Great Depression, the Cold War, decolonization, and globalization.

Global Trade Systems and Processes

• Distinction Between System and Process:     * The Columbian Exchange: Defined as a process, not a trade network. It refers to the exchange of biological materials, food, and disease between the Old World and the New World.     * The Atlantic System: This is the actual trade network.     * Triangular Trade: Also defined as a process within the Atlantic System (New World to Europe; Europe to Africa; Africa to the New World).

• The Five Major Trade Networks:     1. The Atlantic System.     2. The Indian Ocean System.     3. Trans-Saharan Trade.     4. The Silk Road.     5. The Mediterranean (Often surpassed by other networks by the start of the course focus).

Shifts in European Power and Unification

• Maritime Empires: Wealth from colonies fueled the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment in Western Europe.

• German Unification: Occurred for the first time in $1870$. Germany quickly became the military and industrial power Great Britain feared most (more than France or Russia).

• Italian Unification: Occurred in the $1860s$.

• The "Sick Man of Europe": A term for the declining Ottoman Empire, which lost most of North Africa and Southeastern Europe by World War I.

• The Austro-Hungarian Empire: Described as a "Dual Monarchy."     * Context: Austria created this to hold onto its empire in Southeastern Europe.     * The Magyars: The native Hungarians and largest ethnic group besides Austrians. To keep them happy, they were given the capital, part of the flag, and the name, but lacked true military or monetary power. This is categorized as an attempt to keep an empire together rather than a "partition."

Global Conflict and Modern Processes

• Decolonization: A process that expanded the UN from approximately $64$ member nations in $1948$ to about $200$ today.

• Partitioning: A common solution to ethnic or political conflict that creates new borders.     * Examples: Vietnam, Korea, India, Germany, and Sudan (split into two nations approximately $20$ years ago).

• Rebellion against Empires:     * Sepoy Rebellion: Threatened British control in India.     * Tanzimat Reforms: Efforts by the Ottoman Empire to modernize.     * Zulu Rebellion: Resistance against colonial power in Africa.

• Globalization: The spread of global culture (e.g., the introduction of Muslim Barbie dolls or "Muslim women's BBQ").

AP Exam Structure and Essay Strategy

• SAQ (Short Answer Question):     * Students choose between SAQ $3$ or $4$.     * SAQ $4$ focus: Revolutions from $1750$ to $1900$.     * Structure: Approximately $2$ to $3$ sentences per part. Answer the specific question asked (state the noun, what it did, and why).

• DBQ (Document-Based Question):     * Timing: Recommended $60$ to $65$ minutes.     * Requirements: Use all $7$ documents; provide Historical Context; provide a thesis; include Evidence Beyond the Documents (EBD) — shoot for $2$ pieces; source at least $4$ documents (Point of View, Purpose, Context).

• LEQ (Long Essay Question):     * Timing: Recommended $35$ to $40$ minutes.     * Structure: Thesis, Context, Reasoning (Comparison, Causation, or Continuity/Change), and Complexity (using multiple reasoning skills).

• General Tips:     * The exam is administered online via the Blue Book platform.     * Students should check the LEQ prompts first; if they are experts on one, they can write it first, otherwise, proceed with the DBQ first.

Source Analysis: Trade and Victimization

• Wealth Shift: The discovery of silver and gold in the Americas (e.g., Potosi Silver Mine) caused the West African gold market to crash.

• Economic Consequences for Africa: With gold routes bypassed (Timbuktu/Songhai decline), the primary commodity remaining that Europeans wanted was human labor (slaves).

• Native American Victimization:     * Causes: Disease (smallpox, measles), displacement, warfare, and forced labor (slavery/Encomienda).     * Labor Trials: Native Americans were used in mines but proved less effective for plantation agriculture, leading to the use of indentured servants and eventually enslaved Africans.

• Cash Crops: Early major crops included Sugar and Tobacco (Rice and Indigo in the Carolinas). Cotton became major in the late $1700s$/early $1800s$.

World Regions Geography Review

• South Asia: Includes India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

• East Asia: Includes China, Korea, and Japan.

• Southeast Asia: Includes Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

• Southwest Asia: Often referred to as the Middle East.

Belief Systems and Philosophies

• Buddhism:     * Founder: Siddhartha Gautama.     * Core Beliefs: The Four Noble Truths (Life is suffering; suffering is caused by selfishness/desire). Goal is Enlightenment and Nirvana (ending reincarnation).     * Appeal: Attractive to women and the poor because it offers more freedom than Hinduism and does not require priests/complex rituals.

• Hinduism:     * Caste System: A rigid social hierarchy (the Varnas) used to rule society. No upward mobility in a single lifetime; progress only occurs through reincarnation.     * Brahmin Group: The priestly class at the top of the hierarchy.

• Confucianism:     * Core Principle: Order and Philial Piety ($Filial \, Piety$) — honor to parents and ancestors.     * Five Relationships: Hierarchical structure keeping society in order.     * Civil Service Exam: Based on Confucian classics; used by dynasties (Han, Song, Ming) to create a scholar-bureaucracy.     * Mandate of Heaven: The belief that a ruler's legitimacy depends on their virtue; used to justify both rule and rebellion.

Governance and Legal Terms

• Bureaucracy: The system of government officials who enforce rules and manage the state.

• Feudalism: European political system based on land. The King gives land to Vassals.

• Serfs: Workers legally tied to the land (different from chattel slavery, but functioned similarly regarding forced labor).

• Divine Right: The belief that God gave the king the authority to rule.

• Caliphate: An Islamic empire; the Caliph is the political and religious leader.

• Mita System: Inca system of forced labor for public works (roads, terraces).

• Encomienda System: Spanish labor system in the Americas adapted from the Mita.

• Theocracy: Government based on religious law.

• Centralized vs. Decentralized:     * Inca: Highly centralized; no money needed as the state provided all goods via warehouses.     * Aztec: More decentralized via a tribute system; featured large outdoor markets/bazaars.

Technology and Trade Innovation

• Caravansary: A "truck stop" or hotel for camel caravans on the Silk Road.

• Paper Money: Developed by the Chinese/Mongols.

• Pax Mongolica: A period of relative peace under Mongol rule that facilitated Silk Road trade.

• Astrolabe: Navigation tool using the stars; created by the Arabs.

• Lateen Sail: Triangular sail allowing ships to sail against the wind (tacking); used in the Indian Ocean.

• Travelers: Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta (noted for their extensive records of the medieval world).

• Treasure Fleets: Commanded by Zheng He for the Chinese (Ming dynasty) across the Indian Ocean.

Key African Empires

• Mali: Capital city Timbuktu; famous ruler Mansa Musa.

• Songhai: Succeeded Mali as the dominant West African power.

Audience Questions & Discussion

• Question: Does Austria-Hungary count as a partition?

• Response: No, it was a Dual Monarchy designed to keep the empire together by giving the Magyars enough status (national flag/name inclusion) to remain loyal without giving them real military power.

• Question: What is decolonization?

• Response: The process of colonies becoming independent nations, moving from roughly $64$ countries in the UN in $1948$ to about $200$ today.

• Question: What is a common way to evaluate an LEQ for complexity?

• Response: Use multiple historical reasoning skills (e.g., using Comparison as the primary skill but also providing another Comparison, Causation, or Continuity and Change point).

• Question: What is the difference between a serf and a slave?

• Response: Serfs belonged to the land, not the owner. If the land changed hands, the serfs stayed on the property, whereas a slave would be moved with the property owner.

• Question: What is the "Mita" system?

• Response: An Inca system of forced labor where province members were required to build roads and terraces for the empire.

• Question: How does the Civil Service Exam work?

• Response: People would stay in shacks for days, taking tests on Confucian philosophy to get into the government bureaucracy; some even committed suicide if they failed repeatedly.