World History Review

Mughal Empire and British India

• Muslims invaded India in the 11th century and established sultanates.
• In the 16th century, descendants of Mongols founded the Mughal Empire in India.
• Akbar the Great united India and reconciled Hindus and Muslims.
• Shah Jahan ended religious toleration and built the Taj Mahal.
• Britain's East India Company gained control of most of India by the late 1800s.

Ottoman Empire (1300 - 1918)

• The Ottomans, a nomadic Turkish group, emerged as rulers of most of the Islamic world.
• They captured Constantinople in 1453, renaming it Istanbul, which cut off European trade with Asia for some time.
• The Sultan ruled the Ottoman Empire from Istanbul.
• Christians and Jews were tolerated and given some limited means of self-government.
• The Ottoman Empire reached its height in the 1500s.

China: Qing Dynasty

• Qing (Manchu) Dynasty.
• Conquerors from Manchuria overthrew the Ming Dynasty in the 1640s and established the Qing Dynasty.
• The Manchus mainly adopted Chinese ways.
• In the late 1700s, China's technology fell behind Western Europe.
• The dynasty was overthrown in 1922.

Japan - Shogunate (1200-1868)

• During the Shogunate period in Japan (1200-1868):
  • Shoguns were military governors who controlled Japan with landowners called Daimyo.
  • The Emperor became a figurehead with no real power; the Shogun became the real ruler.
  • Social organization was similar to feudalism in Europe.
  • Samurai were warriors who swore allegiance to their local daimyo and followed a strict code of honor known as Bushido.

Enlightenment (1700s)

• The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that began in France, England, Scotland, and Germany, sometimes referred to as the Age of Reason.
• Enlightenment thinkers tried to apply scientific reasoning to understand people and to improve society through reform.
• They challenged the divine right of kings, noble privilege, and the power of the Catholic Church.
• Key People: John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau.

Scientific Revolution

• The Scientific Revolution first began in Europe during the Renaissance and continued into the 1700s.
• It was based on the scientific method: observe nature, make hypotheses, and test hypotheses through experiments.
• Mathematics was applied to science to reveal laws of nature, for example, Isaac Newton's law of gravity.
• Key People: Copernicus, Galileo, Newton.

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Napoleon Bonaparte was a general during the French Revolution who seized power in 1799 and became emperor in 1804.
• Napoleonic Code: Combined traditional codified law with principles of the revolution; most legal systems in Europe today are based on the Code.
• He introduced French Revolutionary ideas to other Western European countries.
• Napoleon's armies conquered most of Europe; his attack on Russia ended in catastrophe; his army was defeated by a coalition of European rulers, and the French king was restored to the throne.

French Revolution

• Causes: Inequality among the estates (social classes), unfair taxes, bankrupt government, and the spread of Enlightenment ideas.
• Louis XVI summoned the Estates General (clergy, nobles, commoners) to vote on new taxes.
• The Third Estate declared itself a National Assembly and issued the Declaration of Rights of Man.
• Citizens seized the Bastille prison, and the revolution began; noble privileges ended.
• Maximilien Robespierre launched a Reign of Terror against all dissenters.

Mexican Revolution of 1910

• Mexico's dictator was overthrown in 1910.
• A civil war followed as different factions within Mexico competed for power.
• After the civil war, the Mexican government adopted a constitution establishing public education, universal voting, an 8-hour workday, and the right of workers to strike.
• Large estates in Mexico were broken up, while Church lands were seized and given to peasants.
• Mexico became more democratic.

Restoration of Europe (1815-1848)

• After Napoleon's defeat, Europe's Great Powers met in Vienna to restore old rulers and cooperated in fighting any future revolutionary ideas.
• Congress of Vienna (1814-1815): Statesmen established a "balance of power" to keep any one country from becoming dominant in Europe.
• Prince Metternich encouraged kings to prevent nationalism and revolution.
• Revolutions of 1848: Broke out in France, Italy, Germany, Central Europe; all failed except in France, which declared itself a republic.

American Independence (Revolutions)

• During the Napoleonic Wars, Latin America was self-governing. After Napoleon's defeat, the Spanish king was restored to the throne.
• He tried to reimpose colonial rule on Latin Americans, but they wanted to govern themselves.
• Colonists resented economic restrictions and exploitation; ideas of the American and French Revolutions influenced Latin American leaders such as Simón Bolívar.
• By the early 1800s, most of Latin America had won the struggle for independence from Spain.

Colonial Latin America, 1700s

• Native American cultures were decimated by conquest and European diseases.
• Effects:
  • Spain and Portugal divided up South America in 1494.
  • Spain sent governors to rule in the name of the king.
  • Spanish divided lands into estates (encomiendas); Native Americans were forced to work as slaves on the land or in mines; the death rate was very high.

European Absolutism, 1700s

• Absolutism
  • Starting in the 1500s and continuing through the 1700s, monarchs triumphed over nobles and built powerful central governments through taxation, establishing standing armies. Monarchs justified their absolute power by claiming they ruled by Divine Right.
  • Louis XIV: built Versailles, patronized the arts, engaged in constant warfare.
  • Peter the Great and Catherine the Great were absolute rulers of Russia; sought to expand and "Westernize" their nation.

African Kingdoms & the Slave Trade

• African Kingdoms:
  • Benin, Ashanti, Dahomey: West African trading kingdoms dealt in gold, ivory, and slaves; traded with Europeans.
• Demand for labor in the "New World" led to the growth of the slave trade. Africans were captured by other tribes and shipped to the Americas under horrendous conditions. Many Africans died during the "Middle Passage."
• Effects:
  • Disrupted African cultures and delayed growth of populations.
  • Encouraged warfare between African tribes.
  • Introduced African cultural influences throughout the Americas.