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AP World History Comprehensive Study Guide

May 7, 2025

AP World History Study Guide

Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (c. 1200 to c. 1450)

  • East Asia:

    • Song Dynasty: Wealth, stability, innovations, expanded bureaucracy.
    • Economic developments: Grand Canal, gunpowder, agriculture, tributes.
    • Social structures: Aid to poor, foot binding.
    • Religion: Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism.
  • Japan:

    • Feudal society, landowning aristocrats, shogunate established.
  • Korea:

    • Tributary relationship with China, centralized government, powerful aristocracy.
  • Vietnam:

    • Independence of women, merit-based bureaucracy loyal to villagers.

Unit 1.2: Developments in Dar al-Islam (c. 1200 to c. 1450)

  • Innovations: Advances in math, literature, medicine.
  • Social structures: Prestige of merchants, status of women.
  • Transfers: Greek philosophy, cultural exchanges with Spain.

Unit 1.3: South and Southeast Asia

  • South Asia:

    • Political instability in North vs. stability in South, Delhi Sultanate.
    • Religion: Hinduism vs. Islam differences, Bhakti Movement.
  • Southeast Asia:

    • Influence of South Asia, sea-based and land-based kingdoms.

Unit 1.4: State Building in the Americas

  • Mississippian Culture: Class structure, matrilineal society.
  • Maya City-States: City-states structure, divine right kings, science linked to religion.
  • Aztecs: Hunter-gatherers turned empire, Tenochtitlan, tributary system, rituals and human sacrifices.
  • Inca: Provinces with bureaucracies, mita system, sun worship.

Unit 1.5: State Building in Africa

  • Political structures:
    • Kin-based networks, village chiefs, trade-based wealth.
  • Social structures:
    • Kinship, age, gender roles, slavery.
  • Cultural life: Music, visual arts, griots as historians.

Unit 1.6: Developments in Europe (c. 1200 to c. 1450)

  • Feudalism: Land-based wealth, manorial system.
  • Political trends: Growing monarchy power, Hundred Years' War.
  • Church: Great Schism, universities, power in feudal system.
  • Crusades: Religious, economic, social pressures.

Unit 2: Network of Exchange (c. 1200 to c. 1450)

  • Silk Roads: Crusades and Mongols facilitated exchange, led to new financial systems.
  • Mongol Empire: Expansion, trade routes, religious tolerance.
  • Indian Ocean Exchange: Spread of Islam, growth of states.
  • Trans-Saharan Trade: Gold trade, spread of Islam, rise of Mali.
  • Cultural Consequences: Spread of religions, scientific advances.
  • Environmental Consequences: Agricultural impacts, spread of epidemics.

Unit 3: Land-Based Empires (c. 1450 to c. 1750)

  • Empires Expand: Gunpowder Empires, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
  • Empires Administration: Centralizing control, legitimizing power through religion and art.
  • Belief Systems: Protestant Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Scientific Revolution.

Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections (c. 1450 to c. 1750)

  • Technological Innovations: Transoceanic travel, European explorations.
  • Columbian Exchange: Diseases, crops, forced labor.
  • Empires Established: European colonial expansions, state-building.

Unit 5: Revolutions (c. 1750 to c. 1900)

  • Enlightenment: Intellectual movement, feminism, Zionism.
  • Nationalism and Revolutions: French, Haitian, Italian, German revolutions.
  • Industrial Revolution: Technological innovations, industrial spread, government roles.

Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization (c. 1750 to c. 1900)

  • Imperialism Rationales: Nationalism, cultural motives, economic interests.
  • State Expansions: Scramble for Africa, imperialism in East Asia.
  • Indigenous Responses: Rebellions, resistance movements.

Unit 7: Global Conflict (c. 1900 to c. 1945)

  • World War I: Causes (MANIA), warfare changes, U.S. entry, treaties.
  • Interwar Economies: Great Depression, political revolutions, rise of right-wing governments.
  • World War II: Causes, conduct, home fronts, victory for Allies.

Unit 8: Cold War and Decolonization (c. 1945 to c. 1989)

  • Cold War: Superpower tensions, spread of communism.
  • Decolonization: Africa, Asia, Middle East.

Unit 9: Globalization (c. 1989 to present)

  • Technology and Exchange: Green Revolution, energy innovations, medical advancements.
  • Environmental Issues: Causes and effects, resource use.
  • Global Economies: Free-market economies, trade organizations.
  • Social and Cultural Changes: Movements for equality, resistance to globalization.