WEST-E 028: World History

• this started because Emperor Diocletian split it into two four regions, while still maintaining emperorship over all

• a century later, formally split into two, each with its own emperor, the West and East - Byzantine Empire (based in Constantinople)

• ended with Germanic tribes conquering disconnected areas before reaching the capital

• 4th century BCE -1453AD

• capital in Constantinople/Byzantium

• blend of Roman, Greek, and Christian traditions, with Greek becoming the primary language and Orthodox Christianity the state religion.

• Hagia Sophia.

• Ultimately fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453, marking the end of the medieval period and the beginning of the Renaissance.

• Period in European history, roughly spanning from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE to the beginning of the Renaissance in the 15th century CE.

• decentralized, feudal system

• control by Catholic Church

• Crusades

• Black Death

• Often divided into Early Middle Ages (also known as the Dark Ages), High Middle Ages, and Late Middle Ages, each with distinct social, political, and cultural developments.

• Europe, 476 CE to 1050 CE

• As the security of the roads declined due to the lack of a strong empire to protect the roads, merchants began to fear being robbed of their goods while traveling.

• markets to cease trading

• economies suffered.

• Cities began to decline, and money fell into disuse.

• Medieval social, economic, and political system prevalent in Europe from the 9th to the 15th century.

• Based on a hierarchical structure of land ownership and obligations, with the king granting land (fiefs) to nobles (lords) in exchange for loyalty, military service, and protection.

• Nobles, in turn, granted land to vassals (knights) who pledged loyalty and military service to them.

• Peasants (serfs) worked the land in exchange for protection and a portion of the crops, bound to the land and owing labor and tribute to the lord.

• Declined with the rise of centralized monarchies, urbanization, and the growth of a money-based economy in the late Middle Ages.

• lord <> knights <> serfs

refers to the house and land owned by a local lord and worked by serfs (peasants) — raising crops, cooking, tanning leather, shoeing horses, cutting lumber, making furniture, and doing anything else determined by the lord of the manor

Japanese warrior

local feudal lords in Japan

Japanese military leader/dictator put in place by emperor to rule the empire

• 1868

• restoration of imperial Japan and the power of the emperor

• created vast nationalism and loyalty to the Japanese emperor

• led to colonization of neighboring nations

• 1603 to 1868

• brought stability to Japan

• influenced by Confucianism, which divided society into four classes: warrior, farmer, artisan, and merchant

• suspicious of foreign intervention and colonialism, and eventually banned Christianity in Japan

• adopted a policy of national seclusion, which forbade Japanese subjects from traveling abroad

• 1853

• led a fleet of four US Navy ships into Tokyo Bay to establish trade and diplomatic relations with Japan

• shocked Japan, which had been resistant to Western contact and had restricted trade since 1639

• ended Japan's isolationism and forced the country to open its doors to trade with the United States

• 313 CE

• passed by Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire

• Gave the Roman bishops more power

• Solidified the influence and importance of Christianity in European thinking

• Established the Roman Catholic Church as an important governing body

• signed by Emperor Theodosius I in 380 CE

• established Nicene Christianity as the official religion

• after the Roman Empire divided into two parts

• reunited western and central Europe in 800 CE (not including Spain)

• founder and first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

• encouraged education and the building of libraries

• forced people to convert to Christianity

• invaded Great Britain in 1066 and brought with him Roman Catholicism

• most powerful institution in medieval Europe

• supreme in religious matters

• extended its notable influence into the affairs of the nobility

• power came from ex-communicating members for breaking the rules

  • Once excommunicated, a person would not receive the sacraments of the Church, thereby being damned to hell for eternity

• operated schools, hospitals, gave aid to the poor, and forbade usury or the loaning of money with interest

  • they used jews for loaning money

• Non-believers convicted of heresy could be tried by inquisition and punished by death

• lack of support for sciences led to much superstition

• primarily uses Latin

one tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the Church and clergy

• created after the Great Schism in 1054

• centered in Constantinople

• primarily used/uses Greek

• desire by the Pope to unite Europe under a single leader

• sold as a religious pilgrimage

• mostly peasants

• goal of retaking Jerusalem for the Europeans

• required defeating Egyptians and Turks

• increased trade because they brought back Arabic and East Asian items, which created a demand for Eastern goods throughout Europe

• revived settlements along the route and gave opportunity to lower class people

• ultimately failed to retake any holy lands

person who called on Western European Christians to support the Byzantines in repelling invading Turks who sought to control Byzantine territory. This call for arms was quickly supported by the people of Western Europe and evolved into the Crusades

• A network of ancient trade routes spanning over 6,000 miles

• connected East Asia with the Mediterranean world.

• Established around the 2nd century BCE,

• exchanged goods, ideas, and cultures between China, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Arabia, and Europe.

• promoted cultural diffusion and economic development across Eurasia.

• Islamic empire that emerged after the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE, lasting from 661 to 750 CE.

• Expanded rapidly, conquering territories from Spain to Central Asia,

• established Arabic as the lingua franca, and promoting Islam as the dominant religion.

• Centered in Damascus, Syria, it was marked by a centralized government, lavish palaces, and a strong military.

• Eventually overthrown by the Abbasid Revolution in 750 CE, leading to the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate.

• religious texts of Muslims

• followed by ~ 25% of the world’s population

• official church of the Byzantine Empire

• Greek

• created after the Great Schism of 1054

• invaded by Ottomans (muslims) in 1453

• assisted by the large cannons and gunpowder

• Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque, but other churches were allowed to stay as is

• ended the Byzantine Empire, end of Medieval period

  • transition into Renaissance

  • increased contact between European and Islamic culture

• started Islamic Golden Age

• name for lands ruled by Frankish and German kings

• 800-1806

• started with Charlemagne, coronated by Pope Leo III

• parts of Germany, France, and Italy

• operated feudal system, which caused its demise as regions became more independent

• created by unsafe water supply and unsanitary conditions due to inadequate sewer system

• rapid spread of disease

• started by disease carrying fleas in 1350 on a ship coming from Asia

• killed ~ 33-75% of population depending on the area

• loss of trust in church

• less workers = negotiating power for higher wages and better quality of life

• city states in southern Mexico area

• monumental architecture and temples

• complex system of trade

• advanced agricultural system

• one of the first writing systems

• decline is most unknown why

  • city states survived, but empire fell apart

  • easily conquerable by the Spanish

• early 1400s-1572

• western South America

• capital in Cusco (Peru)

• most conquest was peaceful

  • conquered areas paid tribute to the capital

  • were allowed to keep local customs

• areas communicated through vast messenger system

• conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1532

  • smallpox

• Spanish conquistadors did seize gold from these civilizations, they never found the fabled cities of gold that they sought

• created after the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed a triple alliance to rule the valley

• covered most of central Mexico

• military might

• administration was loose, feudal-like system

• conquered by Hernan Cortes in 1521

  • Spanish brought smallpox, killing many

used by the Inca for collecting data and keeping records, for monitoring tax obligations and other important info

conquered the Aztec

conquered the Inca

• silver mountain in Andes Mountains

• mining started after Spanish colonization of of South America

• over mining led to mass inflation

• city on rivers

• excellent ship builders and sailors

• center of trade on Mediterranean

• super rich, which led to Renaissance

• ruled by a sultan

• empire from 1300-1919

• founded by Osman Ghazi

• created Slave Aristocracy system

• military and bureaucrats were uniqs

• great mariners

the Turkish system of buying people as slaves and raising them to become government officials

• ability to walk

• growth in brain size

• language skills

• use of tools

• developed into Homo Sapiens 300,000 years ago

• current time period

• began 12,000-11,500 years ago

• following the Paleolithic Ice Age

• broken into 2 periods

  • Paleolithic Era

    • humans evolved

    • developed into nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyles

  • New Stone Age/Neolithic Era

    • start of agricultural, sedentary lifestyles

    • Agricultural Revolution

• nomadic, hunter-gatherer societies > farming, sedentary societies

• long life, bigger populations

• settled near rivers, in hospitable climates

• ~3100-1200 BCE

• start of the use of bronze tools

• began in Mesopotamia, on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in northern-Middle East

• development of writing systems

  • hieroglyphics

  • cuneiform

• loosely connected clans > large cities

• development of formal government, nations, empires

• building big, elaborate architectural projects

• earliest learning of sciences, astronomy, mathematics

• ~500-800 BCE

• followed after the Bronze Age

• development of iron & steel tools

• more intricate and powerful weapons

• term for regional area, geographic term (not political)

• southeast corner of the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, into which the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates Rivers all flow.

• today’s Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and some of Iraq

• mild climate, regular precipitation, predictable flooding

  • good for farming

• home to Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Period)

• region between the Euphrates & Tigris rivers, near the Persian Gulf

• not a civilization in itself, tho it did encompass some civilizations

• harsh religions

  • cruel, vengeful gods

  • dark afterlife

  • strong connection to war, winning was attributed to deities

  • gods asked them to conquer others

  • polytheistic

• wedge shaped marks

• developed by Sumerians in Mesopotamia 3500-3000 years ago

• needed because of increasingly complex economy

• developed the alphabet, model for Greek and Latin alphabets

• discovered how to use metals to make tools and weapons

• developed cuneiform

• developed bronze by mixing copper and tin

• conquered by the Amorites

• first wheeled vehicles and potter’s wheels

• first codes of law

• first city-states

the first emperor in Mesopotamia as he conquered and controlled many city-states, placing a large area under one rule to create the Akkadian Empire

• developed by the king of Babylon

• first complete, centralized legal codes

• Sumerian - cuneiform, Epic of Gilgamesh, the wheel, trade ships, complex economy, Ziggurats

• Akkadian - King Sargon, early Semitic language

• Babylonian - Hammurabi’s Code

• Assyrian - war tech, cavalry, siege, iron, conquest

• Hittite - iron and chariot warfare

• Bronze Age

• helped by the predictable nature of the Nile River

• fortified by desert on 3 sides and the Mediterranean

• governed by a pharaoh

  • a god-king

  • buried in pyramids

• polytheistic

• hieroglyphics

• papyrus

• mathematics

• agricultural tech - more food, less labor

• war tech - chariot, fewer casualties

• Library of Alexandria

• believed to be the first place of human evolution

• as early as 10,000 BCE, people started to cultivate wheat, barley, or other wild grains and raise sheep and cattle for food

• Bantu migrations, kingdom of Axum, Sudanic kingdom, ghana, mali, songhai, swahili

ethnic group from south-west Africa moving along east and south Africa led to civilizations along eastern and southern regions of Africa affecting the languages, agricultural techniques, and cultural practices

• east Africa, near Ethiopia and Eritrea, Red Sea

• earliest written script in Africa

• granite obelisks

• first to accept Christianity

• key center of trade - ivory, spices, gold, frankincense

• fell apart due to changing trade routes and rising Islamic power

• semi-arid area of west-Africa

• south of Saharan desert, north of Sudannian savanna

• Islamic

• encompassed Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, Songhai Empire

• near Senegal River

• ~601 - 1240 AD

• wealth came from gold, ivory, and slave trade

• ruled thru feudal system - allowing local leaders to stay in charge by paying tribute

• eventually absorbed into Mali empire

• ~1000-1600 AD

• near the Niger river

• took over the Ghana Empire

• spread culture and language and customs far

• first ruler Sundiata Keita, freed people from Sosso Empire

• survived by allowing villages to govern themselves with their own customs

• rich from gold mines and tax on trade

• Islamic King of Mali

• His pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca in 1324 brought attention to Mali and its wealth

• extravagant spending during the pilgrimage reportedly caused inflation in the regions he passed through

• spread Islam all over West Africa

• Moroccan explorer who traveled extensively across the medieval world, covering over 75,000 miles

• documented his journeys in the famous travelogue "Rihla," providing valuable insights into the cultures, societies, and geography of the 14th century

• ~1464 - 1591

• last of the great west-African empires

• gained independence from prior empire

• centered in Gao

• expanded and conquered Timbuktu and Jenne

• prospered due to trade of gold, salt, slaved, textiles, and metal goods

• defeated by Moroccan army because of guns

• culture and language of east-Africa around the African Great lakes

• not a kingdom or empire, just a culture and language from the original Bantu people

• mostly Islamic

• exported salt, slaves, ebony, ivory, gold, sandalwood

• fell due to the Portuguese setting up their own ports for trade

• characterized by advanced Bronze Age cities

• ancient India

• started ~ 2500 BCE

• had a writing system

• carefully engineered centers

• drainage/sewer system

• helped by predictable monsoons

• influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism

• individuals are born into a socio-economic class and are required to stay in that class the length of their lives.

• Individuals can move up or down in a class in their next lives, based on the actions in their current lives.

• ~320-550 CE

• brought political stability to India

• the “Golden Age of India”

• scientific and social advancements

• decline led to re-organized city-states

• birthed along Yellow River

• mix of nomadic and farming socieities

• eventually settled in Yellow River Valley

• silk, tea, paper, block printing, gun powder, compass

• Confucianism

• isolated society due to natural barriers - mountains and deserts

  • Mongols are the exception

• his ideas about conduct focus on five basic virtues: seriousness, generosity, sincerity, diligence, and kindness.

• his ideas became the basis of  civil service education in  imperial China

• reinforced certain societal injustices

• a Chinese philosopher who had lived from 551 to 479 BCE

• filial piety - the son must respect for the father

• the only female emperor of Imperial China

• reigned during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)

• first official dynasty of China

• only a legend, not real

• a series of uprisings in China between 1351 and 1368 that were fought by peasants against the Yuan dynasty, a ruling Mongolian dynasty.

• The rebellion was motivated by economic inequality, government corruption, and the hardships caused by famine and flooding

• nomadic people

• migrated on horseback

• conquered land from China to Eastern Europe

• Genghis Khan

• invented saddles with stirrups

  • allowed them to better control the horse

  • use of crossbow

• courageous fighters

• religious freedom, intl trade

• meticulous record keepers

• military leader of the Mongols

• promoted people based on skill, not heritage

• incorporated lower class people of other tribes, while killing the leaders

• managed to conquer everything from the pacific ocean to the caspian sea

• overthrew Mongols

• Great Wall

• Forbidden City

• created during Zhang dynasty

• dynasties end because the rulers act in an improper manner that the gods disapprove of

• result of China’s attempt to suppress the illegal opium trade from British, which had led to widespread addiction in China

• marked the start of the era of unequal treaties and other inroads on Qing sovereignty that helped weaken and ultimately topple the dynasty in favour of republican China in the early 20th century

• ended with the Treaty of Nanjing - gave Hong Kong and other territories to the British

• inhabited ~ 30,000BC

• got there from a land bridge by modern day Korea

• Buddhism takes over ~ 600CE

• Taika Reforms nationalized and redistributed land

• culture came from acculturation from Chinese

• started ~ 1184-1868

• system of regional powers and paying tribute

• Emperor had little power compared to regional Shogun (military dictator), the daimyo (feudal warlords), and the samurai (military nobility and officers)

• stability came during Tokugawa Shogunate, through a code of Bushido (code of conduct)

• 800-300BCE (500 YEARS)

• prominent sea traders, which helped spread their Hellenistic culture

• mostly city-states

• direct democracy, started in Athens, possible because of lower populations

• most notable contributions are in the fields of mathematics, government, philosophy, architecture, athletics, and naval technology

• Conflict (431-404 BCE) between Athens and Sparta, along with their respective allies, which reshaped the balance of power in ancient Greece.

• Fought primarily over rivalries for dominance in the Greek world, involving land, resources, and spheres of influence.

• Ended with Sparta emerging victorious, but Greece weakened and vulnerable to further conquests by outside powers.

• 5-4th centuries BCE

• influenced the Roman Empire

• intellectual life, including arts, politics, and philosophy

Author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two famous Greek epic poems that are still part of the literature canon and instruction today.

A playwright of tragedies still performed today

The "Father of Western Philosophy"

Pupil of Socrates; author of The Republic; influential political scientist

Authored accounts about the Peloponnesian War and the battles between Athens and Sparta

Architect of geometry; known for establishing the Pythagorean Theorem

Mathematician, geographer, and astronomer that made the first measurement of the circumference of the Earth

Macedonian military leader who conquered much of the known world in twelve years; responsible for spreading Hellenistic (Greek) culture throughout the known world, which gave common cultural characteristics and language throughout modern-day Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor, the entire Middle East, and parts of India

• formed ~8th century BCE

• rose to power through a series of violent civil wars

• heavily influenced by their Greek neighbors in the fields of philosophy, science, and religion

• strong due to geography

  • Alps to protect from northern invaders

  • Po and Tiber River Valleys made for fertile soil

  • access to mediterranean sea allowed for trade

• military tech - catapult, highways, large standing army

• politics - define citizenship, republicanism

• architecture - aqueducts, colleseum

• language - latin

• religion - christianity

• Roman peace

• The roughly 200 years following the transition from a Republic

• a period of economic growth through commerce and territory expansion without violent internal conflicts.

• named consul and dictator of Rome. In 44 BCE,

• he was assassinated by a group of Roman Senators who feared he was attempting to consolidate too much power. 

Julius Caesar's nephew and heir, filled Caesar's seat of power after his assassination. In 27 BCE he established the Roman Empire which began the Pax Romana.

• established official religious tolerance of Christianity in the Roman Empire with the Edict of Milan. '

• The Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official religion with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE.

• This solidified the influence and importance of Christianity in European thinking and established the Catholic Church as an important governing body and powerful cultural force through the Middle Ages.

• tend to live near settled people

• more egalitarian (equal society, less classes)

• migrate according to climates to feed flocks

• tougher people, more aggressive

• "House of Islam"

• refers to regions where Islamic law (Sharia) is observed and Muslims can practice their faith freely

• encompassed areas under Muslim rule and influence, fostering Islamic culture, governance, and societal norms

• contrasts with Dar al-Harb ("House of War"), representing regions not under Islamic rule where Muslims may face challenges practicing their faith

Center and capital of Islamic caliphate

• first settlement to create Russia

• founded in 882 AD by Viking warrior-traders from Scandinavia

• first ruler was Prince Oleg

• Byzantine Christians (Eastern Orthodox)

• also known as Appanage Russia

• lasted from the collapse of Kievan Russia in the 11th century to the rise of the Grand Principality of Moscow in the 14th century

• many autonomous fiefdoms, independent dynasties of princes

• cut Russians off from Europe, Byzantines, and others - thereby making Russians unique

• between the Russian forces of Grand Prince Dmitry of Moscow and the army of Emir Mamai of the Jochid ulus

• September 8, 1380

• battle between Russians and Mongols

• resulted in a Russian victory

• helped unify Russians