Domain One - World History Flashcards
Four river valley civilizations
- Mesopotamia
- Egypt
- India
- China
Mesopotamia
Southwest Asia
Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Development:
- Writing (cuneiform)
- organized govt
- Written law code (Hammurabi’s code)
- systematized religion (Zoroastrianism)
- astronomy/astrology
Egypt
Northeastern Africa
Banks of nile river
Meditterranean and red seas
Development:
- complex religion of gods, rituals, and governance (pharaoh)
- writing (heiroglypnics)
- Engineering and building (pyramids)
- Mathematics
India
Southern Asia
Indus and ganges rivers
Arabian Sea
Developments:
- Urban culture
- Planned cities ( ie. Citywide sanitation systems)
- Metallurgy (gold, copper, bronze, tin)
- measurement (weight, time, length, mass)
China
East Asia
Yellow river
Developments:
- writing
- Commerce
- Government
Ancient Greece
4000 - 323 b.c.
Minoan, Mycenaean, hellenic, and hellinistic civilizations
Organized warfare : mycenae ; sparta - phalanx
Literature : epic poetry (the lliad ; the odyssey), plays (drama, tragedy, comedy)
History : herodotus (the persian wars), thucydides (the peloponnesian war)
Architecture : columns and colonnades, parthenon
Arts: : theatre, sculpture, decorative pottery
Government: democracy (athens), oligarchy (sparta), bureaucracy (Alexander the great)
Roman world
Contributions:
- roman law: rule of law/equality before the law, civil and contract law codes
- Engineering and architecture: concrete, arch, roman roads, aqueducts and cisterns, monumental buildings
- Culture: history, literature (virgil, the aeneid); (ovid, metamorphoses), rhetoric
The rise of christianity
6 BC in Roman province of Judea: Jesus was born
Paul of Tarsus brought the teaching of Jesus to non-Jews in the Mediterranean world
Constantine (AD 313) adopted this as the official religion
Basic Doctrines:
- began with teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (compassion for poor and downtrodden)
- emphasized the Holy Bible as the word of god, sacraments as the instruments of god’s grace, and the importance of a moral life for salvation
- Paul the Apostle was responsible for the spread and response of the Roman Empire
- St. Augustine (AD 354-430): first great Christian philosopher, wrote Confessions and City of God
Reasons for Spread:
- Individual conviction in one’s beliefs grew during the Roman persecution period
- Efficiency and organization of early church administration
- Doctrines stressed equality and immortality
- Conversion of Constantine to Christianity (AD 313)
- Christianity est. as official Roman religion in AD 380
- Supremacy of pope est. at the time imperial Rome was disintegrating
Early byzantine civilization
Where Europe and Asia meet
Constantine established “New Rome” at Constantinople in AD 330 on the ruins of ancient Byzantium
Heart of the Roman imperial system in AD 476, lasted until AD 1453
Lasted for 1,000 years
Accomplishments:
- Greek language and cultural accomplishments preserved
- Center for world trade and exchange of culture
- Codification of Roman law (“Justinian Code”)
- Eastern church (“Greek Orthodox”) converted Slavic people to Christianity
- New focus for art; glorification of Christianity
Reasons for Success:
- domination of commercial trade routes and a monopoly of the silk trade
- excellent use of diplomacy to avoid invasions
- geographically distant from tribes who sacked Rome
- Justinian Code strengthened bureaucracy
- Constantinople was a fortress city with excellent defensible borders
Reasons for Decline:
- geographic proximity to several groups of growing power (Arabs, Slavs, Seljuk Turks)
- loss of commercial dominance over the Italians
- religious controversy with the West and the subsequent split with the Roman Catholic Church
- sack of Constantinople during the fourth Crusade
- fall of Constantinople (AD 1453) marked the end of the Byzantine Empire
Achievements:
- preserved the heritage of Greco-Roman civilization while the West was culturally stagnant
- spread civilization to all of Eastern Europe
- preserved the Eastern Orthodox Church
- economic strength was based on the stability of its money economy
The rise of islam
Mohammed appeared as a messenger of Allah (god) and a prophet of Allah’s monotheistic faith; conquered and united most of the Arabian Peninsula by the time he died in AD 632; led to the conquest of Mesopotamia, Persia, all of North Africa, and southwestern Asia
Contributions
- Institutions: hospitals, medical schools, libraries, universities
- Globalization: exploration, work of scholars, trade (Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, China Sea)
- Agriculture: cash crops, crop rotation, irrigation
- Science: methodology (theory/experimentation), astrolabe, alchemy
- Mathematics: algebra, algorithms, Arabic numerals, decimal point
- Arts: calligraphy, illuminated manuscripts, glazed pottery, Persian and Arabian mythology
- Medicine: forceps, bone saw, scalpel, surgical needle
- Technology: mechanical clocks, pointed arch, stained glass, windmill
Islam: based on the teachings of Mohammed (AD 570-632)
- spread started in seventh century AD
- Koran: center for moral and ethical conduct
Muslim empire: ruled by Arab caliphs
- conquered much of the Byzantine and Persian empires (North Africa, Spain, etc)
- Battle of Tours (AD 732) resulted in Franks halting Muslim expansion in Europe
- Muslim Spain (AD 711-1031)
-Umayyad dynasty increased Arab lands (AD 661-750)
Muslim Empire Divided: Abbasids overthrew the Umayyad’s, capital moved to Baghdad; Iberian and North African Muslims broke with Baghdad’s control
Turks assumed leadership of Muslim world
- Seljuks fought the crusaders and regained the lost land - Mongols invaded the eastern Muslim Empire - Ottoman Empire expanded and lasted for centuries - Constantinople was the center of the Ottoman Empire
Islamic Civilization:
- Arabs preserved the cultures of the peoples they conquered
- Religious pilgrimages led to the spread of new ideas
- Caliphs improved farming methods and crop yields
- trade and commerce led to high standard of living in cities
- no taxation and strong banking practices helped trade expand
- Muslim trade spread Islamic culture to foreign lands
- Ibn Battuta (AD 1305-1368): spread Islamic culture through traveling
- military expansion led to cultural exchange between Arab and western worlds
- highly advanced in medicine, astronomy, and math; architecture and literature flourished; poetry and philosophy were common themes in books
The early middle ages (AD 500-1000)
Feudalism Political hierarchical and interdependent church lords/nobles vassals/lesser lords knights peasants grants of land given by lords in exchange for oaths of loyalty private armies of vassals and their knights protected lords and their lands peasants owed labor and obedience all owed loyalty and obedience to the church
Economic manor estates owned by lords peasant serfs given land to work in exchange for percentage of crop free peasants worked as skilled laborers dues and fees charged for tenancy, use of roads, bridges, etc Outcomes Political stability leading lords emerged as kings foundation for nation-states Economic self-sufficiency foundation for urbanization productive surpluses and specialization of skills would lead to trade trade would lead to growth of towns and cities Christian value system institutionalized by the church
The later middle ages (c. 1000-1500)
rise of feudal monarchs —> development of the nation-states of France
Hundred Years War (1337-1453) between England and France —> English being driven out of most of France
Norman Conquest **important to development of culture, language, and judicial system of England
The Battle of Hastings (1066) ended Anglo-Saxon rule in England
by 12th century — English common law established
Magna Carta (1215) limited power of the king
by 14th century — English Parliament established
gained power at expense of the king
House of Lords (titled nobility), House of Commons (gentry/middle classes)
Spain & Portugal
Reconquista reestablished Christian control over Muslim Spain in 1492
Spanish state — strong, absolutist rule
monarch —> inquisitions & expelled Jews
The renaissance (c. 1350- 1600)
The reformation
The age of enlightenment (1700-1789)
