World History in Review Where Have We Been?

World History in Review – Where have we been? In the Beginning:  One factor that allowed civilization to grow was the ability to create a stable food source.  During the “Neolithic Period,” man domesticated plants and animals, used stone tools for farming and building, and began to develop permanent settlements.  These settlements began along rivers where a stable water supply allowed them to thrive. These first ancient river valley civilizations were in Mesopotamia, Egypt, The Indus River Valley (India), and China.  In the Indus River Valley, Indo-Aryans developed early farming systems that led to the “Caste System” which was a social class system in early India. Classical Age:  The Greeks achieved great advancements in science and literature thru great philosophers and teachers such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle.  Greece was made up of “City-States” with their own independent gov’ts. Examples are Athens and Sparta.  Sparta was a militaristic society in which all men were members of the military.  Athens focused more on the arts and sciences. Democracy was created in Athens.  The Roman Empire fell, in part, because of poor political decisions that contributed to internal conflicts.  In China, the Grand Canal was dug during the Tang and Song Dynasties to connect North and South China and provide a route to ship rice from rural farms into urban areas.  In China, the classical period saw new developments in the arts and sciences such as the compass, porcelain, and gunpowder. All of which would eventually make its way to Europe along the “Silk Road.”  A Chinese philosophy of government was legalism. This was based on the idea that people need harsh rules in order to behave.  Confucius was a Chinese philosopher. He taught the golden rule of do unto others as you wish done unto you and to honor your parents and ancestors (obligation to family). He taught civil obedience and government was a service to the people. World Religions:  Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have their roots in a monotheistic God, a holy book based on righteous living practices, and originate in the Middle East.  Both Christianity and Islam was spread along trade routes: o Christianity along the silk road o Islam along the trans-saharan trade routes of North Africa Middle Ages:  Feudalism in Europe was based on inter-dependence. Example: The lord grants land to a vassal, the vassal provides military service to the lord. Example: The lord provides the serf with protection, and the serf works the land of the lord.  The “Black Death” was a plague that wiped out over 25% of the population in Europe. This dramatically reduced the workforce and caused economic instability, reduced trade because people were afraid of contact with outside peoples and led to a lower standard of living for people for another 100 yrs.  The opening of trade routes during the Crusades increases Asian goods in Europe and brings about economic growth  With Europe weakened by the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Muslims (Ottoman Empire) expanded into Europe by conquering Constantinople in the East and parts of Spain in the West.  This is the time of the “Guild System” in which your village would have a master craftsman who took on an “apprentice.” An example might be metallurgy (working with a type of metal to create art, or weaponry). The Master Blacksmith would teach a young person his trade.  In England, the Magna Carta was a document signed by King John. This gave the English nobility a representative government and took SOME of the King’s power away. Renaissance:  The “re-birth” of learning in Europe. Much was a rediscovering of art, knowledge and culture that had been lost after the fall of the Roman Empire.  The Arts re-developed during this time period as people were again able to specialize.  Literature, Such as that of Shakespeare, was based on the political leaders of the time. The writings would be based on Greek ideas of comedy, drama, tragedy.  Martin Luther led the “protestant reformation” which began a decline in the authority of the Catholic Church in Europe.  New architectureal designs of the time were characterized by large churches with spires and buttresses called “Gothic.” Mongol Empire:  Genghis Khan united the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia and grew the largest empire in history in central Asia. It reached from China in the east to Europe in the west.  The Mongol Empire helped increase trade and connections between Europe and Asia along the “Silk Road” thru free trade agreements called “Pax Mongolica.” Age of Discovery:  A favorable balance of trade is the belief that a nation’s wealth is based on the amount of gold it has in comparison to other countries. In Europe, colonization spread to gain greater amounts of natural resources, and wealth to create this “favorable balance of trade” between other European countries as a way to protect against the other countries becoming too powerful.  Triangular trade was an economic system that expanded slavery to the Americas, raw materials to Europe and goods for sale to Africa and the Americas. The Americas:  The Aztecs (Central Mexico) were influenced by groups before them. Their myths and religion grew from the Toltec people who ruled the region before them.  The Aztecs were conquered by Cortes, the Spanish Conquistadores. This was possible because of the myths of their Gods being similar to the white Spaniards from the east who came on great ships and had powers like guns and cannons.  Native American populations would drop by more than 80% over the first 100 yrs. Of Europeans arriving due to lack of immunity to European diseases. Revolutions:  The success of the American Revolution led others to believe that they could win independence from Monarchs  Both American and French Revolutions shared grievances over unfair taxation and lack of representation.  The Napoleonic Wars weakened other European countries. This allowed colonies in Latin America the opportunity to rise up and win independence from European control.  Large numbers of people moved from rural areas to the cities (Urban) for work in factories.  The industrial revolution grew in England because of the discovery of iron and coal deposits in the country.  During the industrial revolution of the late 19th century, Socialism grew as a political idea with the emergence of industrial laborers (factory workers) as a separate economic class.  Latin American Revolutions (led by Simon Bolivar) came from the same “enlightenment” ideas that led to revolution in the English Colonies.  Most revolutions came out of imperialism (snatching up foreign lands for use and benefit of the home country… colonies). The Berlin Conference was held so that European countries could split up Africa into colonies. It was called a “sphere of influence.” This is a reason that many African countries speak English. WWI:  WWI 1914-1919 “The Great War”  Secret alliances were made in Europe in an attempt to maintain a balance of power between the countries. Unfortunately it caused one conflict to explode into a world war like a “powder keg.”  The Russians pull out of WWI because of a revolution started by the communist “Bolsheviks.” The Bolsheviks gained support on a platform of peace (get out of the war), land (all should be able to own their own land), and bread (many were hungry).  The stock market crash in 1929 led to U.S. Banks recalling loans to European Countries. This caused a regional depression to become a worldwide depression.  Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was blamed for the War and forced to pay France “war reparations” for rebuilding. This caused Germany to increase their supply of money and hyper-inflate their currency (causing inflation). WWII:  WWII 1939-1945  Adolf Hitler rose to power thru appointment. He was successful because of the extreme hardships the people of Germany were experiencing from the economic decline of the 1920-1930’s.  The depression of the 1930’s led to a drop in trade worldwide. This caused the small island country of Japan to seek new ways to obtain raw materials for their industrialization. Industrialization was important to Japan as a way to protect itself from European countries taking over. Their solution (imperialism) caused friction with the US.  The US remained neutral until the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The bombing was the result of continued tensions of Japanese imperialism.  The creation of Soviet controlled regimes in Eastern Europe caused fear in the US that Communism would spread throughout the world. This “red scare” was part of the cause of the “Cold War” between the US and the USSR. Post World War Era:  The Cold War: o The Soviet Union vs The US o Communism vs. Democracy o Censorship/gov’t control/religious persecution vs. Freedom o Joseph Stalin vs. FDR / Truman/ Eisenhower o Krushchev vs. JFK/LBJ/Nixon  Major events of the Cold War that were discussed include the Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Vietnam War and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  The United Nations (UN) was developed to encourage democratic principles throughout the world and to avoid conflict turning into war.  The Panama Canal was opened by the US and used to dramatically decrease the time it took to ship supplies from the east coast to the west coast of the US. The US has now turned the Canal over to Panama.  South Africa = Nelson Mandela leads Africans against Apartheid oppression. He was imprisoned for 28 years, but supporters helped free him and he eventually became the President of a democratic South Africa.  Genocide in Rwanda = tensions between the Hutu and the Tutsis led to mass killings of the minority group by the majority group (Hutu).  Conflict in Northern Ireland stem from differences between the protestant Christians and the catholic christians  The 1990’s saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and Communism under Mikhail Gorbachev because of its economic system’s inability to keep pace with the US and it’s Free Market economy.