AP World History Study Guide Notes

Introduction

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Unit One: The Global Tapestry (1200-1450)

Developments in Asia

• Song Dynasty, China
  • Maintained rule through Neo-Confucian principles, Buddhism, and bureaucracy.
  • Influenced surrounding regions through cultural and trade expansion.
  • Economy remained dependent on peasants and artisans.
• South and Southeast Asia
  • Influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.
  • Hindu caste system in India.
  • Emergence of Muslim Delhi Sultanate.
  • Khmer Empire and Angkor Wat in Southeast Asia.

Developments in Dar al-Islam

• Abbasid Caliphate decline.
• Emergence of Mamluk Sultanate and Seljuk Turks.
• Intellectual advancements in mathematics and medicine.

Developments in Europe

• Dominated by Christianity.
• Political decentralization and feudalism.
• Development of British Parliament and French Estates General.

State Building in the Americas and Africa

• Americas
  • Tribal and clan-based political systems.
  • Aztec and Inca Empires with complex social hierarchies.
• Africa
  • Tribal and clan-based societies.
  • Mali Empire and Mansa Musa.
  • Swahili language and trade.

Unit Two: Networks of Exchange (1200-1450)

The Silk Roads

• Increased trade volume post-1200.
• Business innovations like credit and caravanserai.
• Major trading cities: Samarkand, Kashgar.

The Mongol Empire

• Established vast land-based empire.
• Pax Mongolica facilitated trade and cultural exchange.

Exchange in the Indian Ocean

• Expansion of Indian Ocean trade routes.
• Rise of new trading cities like Gujarat and Sultanate of Malacca.
• Cultural intermingling and technological innovations.

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

• Growth due to improved transportation technology.
• Trade of gold, salt, and slaves.
• Spread of Islam and generation of wealth.

Cultural and Environmental Consequences

• Spread of religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam.
• Spread of technology: gunpowder, paper.
• Dispersal of crops and diseases like bubonic plague.

Unit Three: Land-Based Empires (1450-1750)

Empires Expand

• Use of gunpowder and cannons in expansion.
• Major empires: Qing, Mughal, Safavid, Ottoman.
• Religious and political conflicts.

Empires: Administration

• Methods of legitimizing power.
• Monumental structures and recruitment of soldiers.

Empires: Belief Systems

• Continuation of major religions and emergence of Sikhism.
• Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation.

Unit Four: Transoceanic Interconnections (1450-1750)

Technological Innovations and Exploration

• Spread of navigation technologies from Islamic and Asian worlds.
• European exploration motivated by wealth, Christianity, and rivalry.

Columbian Exchange

• Exchange of crops, animals, and diseases between hemispheres.
• Devastating effects on native populations in the Americas.

Maritime Empires

• Establishment of profitable European trading empires.
• Isolationist policies in China and Japan.

Challenges to State Power

• Indigenous resistance to European occupation.
• Internal challenges like Cossack uprisings.

Changing Social Hierarchies

• Cultural synthesis and diversity management.
• Policies against ethnic groups like Han Chinese and Jews.

Unit Five: Revolutions (1750-1900)

The Enlightenment

• Empiricist thinking challenged traditional structures.
• Reform movements for women's suffrage, abolition of slavery.

Nationalism and Revolutions

• Nationalistic ideologies and independence movements.
• American, Haitian, French, and Latin American revolutions.

The Industrial Revolutions

• Growth in industrial production and urbanization.
• Innovations like steam engine and reliance on fossil fuels.

Economic Developments

• Shift towards capitalism and free markets.
• Rise of stock markets and transnational businesses.
• Intellectual opposition to capitalism.

Societal Changes

• Emergence of new social classes and harmful effects of industrialization.

Unit Six: Consequences of Industrialization (1750-1900)

Rationales for Imperialism

• Ideologies like Social Darwinism justified imperialism.
• Civilizing mission ideology.

State Expansion and Indigenous Responses

• Global territorial acquisition and anti-colonial movements.

Global Economic Developments

• Growth of export economies in raw materials.

Migration

• Impact of transportation advancements on global migration.
• Cultural intermixing and xenophobic attitudes.

Unit Seven: Global Conflict (c. 1750 to c. 1900)

Causes of World War I

• Flawed alliance systems and total war concept.

Economy and Interwar Tensions

• Post-war economic challenges and colonial acquisitions.

Causes of World War II

• Nationalism and totalitarian regimes.
• Total war and new military technologies.

Mass Atrocities

• Holocaust and targeting of minorities.

Unit Eight: Cold War and Decolonization (c. 1900 to Present)

The Cold War

• Division between capitalist and communist nations.
• Proxy wars and ideological battles.

Decolonization

• Emergence of newly independent states.
• Nonviolent resistance movements.

End of the Cold War

• Internal and external challenges leading to the Cold War's end.

Unit Nine: Globalization (c. 1900 to Present)

Technological Advances

• Positive and negative impacts of technology.

Calls for Reform

• Social movements challenging cultural norms.

Globalized Culture

• Development of a shared global culture.

Institutions

• United Nations and its role in international politics.

These notes encapsulate the key points and themes across the units of the AP World History study guide, focusing on developments in various regions, trade networks, revolutions, and global conflicts throughout history.