AP World History: Modern Speed Review

Overview

• Comprehensive coverage of the AP World History: Modern course.
• Focus on understanding major themes, events, and regions from 1200 to the present.
• Use a checklist to track what topics need reviewing and which are understood.

Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (1200-1450)

• East Asia: Dominated by the Song Dynasty, using Neo-Confucianism and civil service exams.
  • Buddhism prevalent; agricultural innovations like Champa rice.
• Dar al-Islam: Post-Abbasids, focus on sultanates, contributions to math, science, and medicine.
• South/Southeast Asia: Impact of Buddhism and Hinduism; growth of Sufism.
• The Americas: Inca and Aztec empires; centralized power via roads and human sacrifice.
• Africa and Europe: State building, Mali, trans-Saharan trade, and European feudalism.

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (1200-1450)

• Trade Routes: Silk Road, Indian Ocean, and Trans-Saharan.
  • Emphasis on luxury goods, economic innovations like banking.
• Cultural and Environmental Exchange: Spread of religions, technologies, and diseases.
• Mongols: Influence through khanates and expedited exchanges.

Unit 3: Land-Based Empires (1450-1750)

• Gunpowder Empires: Manchus, Ottomans, Mughals, and Safavids.
  • Key concepts: Devshirme, tax farming, religious tolerance.
• Europe: Protestant Reformation and emergence of Sikhism.

Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections (1450-1750)

• Maritime Empires: Portuguese, Spanish, British, Dutch.
  • Technologies like caravels, compasses; Columbian Exchange.
• Impact on Social Systems: Hierarchies, coerced labor systems.

Unit 5: Revolutions (1750-1900)

• Political Revolutions: Influenced by Enlightenment ideas.
  • American, French, Haitian, and Latin American revolutions.
• Industrial Revolution: Origin in Britain, technological and social changes.
  • Rise of capitalism, challenges like Marxism.

Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization (1750-1900)

• Imperialism: Economic motives, settler colonies, Berlin Conference.
• Resistance Movements: Sepoy Mutiny, African and Indian resistance.
• Migrations: Driven by economic opportunities and forced conditions.

Unit 7: Global Conflict (1900-present)

• World Wars: Causes, total war concept, propaganda.
• Interwar Period: Great Depression, rise of dictatorships.
• Mass Atrocities: Holocaust, Armenian genocide.

Unit 8: Cold War & Decolonization (1945-present)

• Cold War Dynamics: US vs USSR, proxy wars, ideological conflicts.
• Decolonization: Non-violent and violent paths to independence.

Unit 9: Globalization (1900-present)

• Technological Advances: Global connectivity, environmental impacts.
• Cultural and Economic Globalization: Free-market policies, regional trade networks.
• International Organizations: UN, regional cooperation.

Study Tips

• Use a checklist to keep track of the areas you need to review.
• Focus on understanding the overarching themes and connections between periods.