GLOBAL STUDIES

REVIEWFrom the Aztecs to Zheng He

(A to Z)

AUGUST 13th, 2013 REGENTS EXAM

When historians reconstruct a record of a society, they use multiple

perspectives (points of view):1. They use a variety of evidence2. Analyze primary documents3. Compare societies and regions

The Declaration of Independence is an

example of a “primary document”

Geography is the study of the Earth and its

physical features (land, sea, and air) and how it affects life on the planet

GEOGRAPHY

The Neolithic Revolution is when humans learned how to farm; farming

changed the way humans lived:People no longer had to

be roaming nomads Food surpluses led to population increases

Farming villages became established along river valleys; the rivers offered good soil, irrigation,

and sources of drinking water

The world’s first four civilizations all began in river valleys

The first civilization began in an area known

as Mesopotamia

ChinaIndus Valley

Ancient Egypt

Sumerians, Mayans, and

Egyptians all had writing systems

Mountains covered about 75% of Greece; these barriers divided the Greek people into

separate mountain valleys and made

unifying Greece nearly impossible

Because of this division, the Greeks were divided into independent city-states

Mountains covered about 75% of Greece; these barriers divided the Greek people into

separate mountain valleys and made

unifying Greece nearly impossible

Because of this division, the Greeks were divided into independent city-states

At the height of its power, the Roman Empire

controlled every bit of the coastal region on the Mediterranean Sea

There is no single Hindu text (like the

Christians’ Bible), but rather several written

works that explore Hindu philosophy

The most sacred of these texts are Vedas

Beliefs of Judaism, Christianity, Islam

All three religions are monotheistic (worshipping

only ONE god); Jews, Christians, and Muslims all

worship the SAME God

To Muslims, the holiest city is Mecca in Saudi Arabia

The Byzantines controlled the trade routes between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea

When the Roman Empire was divided, the eastern half

became the Byzantine Empire

Roman Emperor Constantine made

Christianity the official religion of the Roman

Empire; this is an example of a leader

using religion to unify his empire

During the Middle Ages, the manorial system was the way in which people of Europe survived

The people would work on the lord’s land (the manor) in exchange for protection and some money

Some Facts About Japanese Feudalism

There was a rigid social structure, which led to limited social mobility

Samurai followed a code of conduct called “bushido” (the way of

the warrior)The shogun was the

supreme military leader

GOLD-SALT TRADING STATES OF WEST AFRICA

The kingdoms of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai were the

three major gold-salt trading states of

West Africa

King Mansa Musa of Mali was a devout Muslim who spread Islam and

Islamic culture throughout Africa

With the Act of Supremacy, King Henry VIII cut all ties to the Catholic Church and became head of his own Church of England; this was a direct challenge to the religious and political authority of the Catholic Church

The Black Death

The Bubonic Plague (aka the “Black Death”)

spread in the mid-1400s, mostly

devastating cities and crowded urban areas

Christopher Columbus’ ship

Zheng He’s ship

Working for China’s Ming Dynasty, Chinese admiral Zheng He led several voyages that increased trade with Africa and Southeast Asia

Spain sponsored Christopher Columbus’ first voyage because he was trying to find a more direct water route to Asia; instead, he accidentally sailed to what we now call the Americas (lands not previously known to Europeans)

The Aztecs had an unusual method of farming, building “floating gardens” called chinampas in lakes; this is an

example of adapting to the environment

Spain’s large cash crop farms were

called encomiendas, which required

forcing the Natives to work for the Spanish

During the Middle Ages, English nobles revolted against a cruel king who

overtaxed them

In 1215, the nobles forced King John to sign a

document called the Magna Carta which limited

the king’s power and protected citizens’ rights

English philosopher John Locke believed that people are born with natural rights,

including life, liberty, and property

Political Ideas of the Enlightenment Thinkers

John Locke opposed political Absolutism,

a type of government where

kings have unlimited power

The English Bill of Rights

(1689)•The king cannot tax or overturn Parliament’s laws

•Protected freedom of speech

•The army cannot be used as a police force

•No excessive bail

The Mughal Empire’s Akbar the Great and the Ottoman Empire’s Suleyman the Magnificent

controlled large empires at the height of their power

SULEYMAN

AKBAR

Great thinkers of the Scientific Revolution

(such as Gailileo, Copernicus, and Newton)

used logic and the scientific method to find

answers to questions; they all practiced observation and

experiments in their work

The Russian Empire was difficult to unite because it was made up of many diverse ethnic groups

The “Enlightened Despots” were

rulers who favored religious

tolerance, tax reform, and saw themselves as

servants of their nations

“Absolute Rulers” were

kings who abused their

power and their people; kings like

Louis XIV (the 14th) had

unlimited power in their nations

Writers like Marx, Engels, and Dickens wrote about the struggles

and problems faced by industrial workers in the 1800s

In the “laissez faire” (hands off) capitalist economic system, the emphasis is on private property and profit incentives

In 1884, fourteen European nations met at the Berlin Conference to “set the rules” for colonizing in Africa; basically, the Europeans divided Africa

up among themselves at the Berlin Conference

Long-term results of the Berlin Conference:

by 1914, Europeans controlled 90% of

Africa

Title Japan’s annexation of Korea and victories in the Russo-

Japanese War and Sino-Japanese War made Japan a rising imperialistic country in

the early 1900s

As this poster illustrates, many

nations were concerned over the

threats of spying during World War I

After WWI, Germany was forced to sign the “war guilt” clause, accepting all blame for the war and

paying $33 billion in reparations to the Allies “Reparations” are payments for war damages

In 1922, Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal (a.k.a. Ataturk: “Father of the

Turks”) overthrew the last Ottoman sultan and created

the Republic of Turkey

Ataturk westernized Turkey and created a secular (non-religious) government

Fascism was a type of government favored by

Germany’s Adolf Hitler and Italy’s Benito Mussolini

With fascism, there is extreme nationalism, use of force and terror, censorship

of information, and devotion to a single ruler

From 1930 to 1949, Nationalists and Communists fought in a bloody civil war for control of China

During the “Long March”, Mao Zedong emerged as a revolutionary leader of the

Chinese Communists

Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”

Mao began a massive program to increase agriculture and industry called the “Great Leap Forward”

With this program, Chinese peasants were forced to join

communes, working and living together

The primary goal of the Indian

National Congress in India was to remove foreign

controlIndia had been under British

control for nearly a hundred years

In 1960, the oil-producing nations of the world formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

OPEC’s purpose was to influence the price of oil and set production levels

The Zionist Movement had the goal of creating a country for the world’s Jewish people

The country of Israel was the result of the

Zionist Movement

The system of “apartheid” created strict racial segregation (total separation of races) between Blacks and Whites in South Africa;

apartheid laws were unfair to Blacks

Censorship is the practice of examining books, TV programs, news stories, etc. and removing or changing things in them

one does not want people to see or know

Deforestation is the act of cutting down or burning all trees in a certain area or region

Deforestation is the greatest threat to the biodiversity in the Amazon, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia

Amnesty International and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights both are associated with protecting the dignity and rights of individuals

CULTURAL DIFFUSIONCultural diffusion is the exchange of ideas, goods, and technology

between two societiesIt increased desires for luxury goods like silk,

cotton, sugar, and spices

It introduced technologies like compass, astrolabe,

ship designs, and gunpowder

It introduced ideas like Arabic numbers, chemistry,

algebra, and telescopes

Trade on the “Silk Road”

brought about much

cultural diffusion between

Europe and Asia

Justinian Code and Napoleonic Code

French Emperor

Napoleon’s “Napoleonic Code” and Byzantine Emperor

Justinian’s “Justinian

Code” were similar in that

they gave their people a set of rules to follow

The Renaissance began in Italy

because of the Italians’ great

wealth (they paid artists to create)

Italian city-states such as Florence

gained wealth through their

trade with Constantinople

In 1949, the United States formed the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (NATO): a bloc (military alliance)

among democratic countries in Western Europe and North

America

The countries of NATO would defend each other against

the Communist threat of the Soviet Union

When the Soviet Union began to pressure Greece and Turkey to turn communist, the U.S. created the Truman Doctrine, promising economic and military

help to any nation threatened by communism

T =

Celebrating East Germans and West Germans tore down the hated Berlin Wall; this was the symbolic collapse of

communism and the end of the Cold War

Porfirio Diaz, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, and Emiliano

Zapata are associated with the Mexican Revolution (when

Mexico broke free from Spain)