CHINA
Geography isolated China
S/SW = Himalayas (separate India and China); N = Gobi Desert; E = Pacific Ocean
Rivers: Huang He (Yellow) River and Yangtze River
Middle Kingdom = Belief that China is center of the earth and the source of all civilization; ethnocentric
Dynasties and theMandate of Heaven (Divine Right)– belief that God(s) grants emperor right to rule
Qin Dynasty = Shi Huangdi, legalism, Great Wall
Han Dynasty = civil service system, Silk Roads
Tang and Song Dynasties = gunpowder, block printing, compass
Yuan Dynasty = Mongol control, Kublai Khan, Marco Polo’s visit increased European contact
Ming Dynasty = Zheng He’s 7 voyages (throughout Asia and East Africa)
Religion
Confucianism: Confucius, filial piety, patriarchal, social order, ethics and morality stressed
Taoism (Daoism): contemplation, harmony with nature, yin and yang
Buddhism: karma, dharma, reincarnation, nirvana, Four Noble Truths, Eight-Fold Path
Cultural diffusion
Confucianism and Buddhism (and other aspects of Chinese culture) spread to Korea, Japan, Vietnam because they were tributary states of China
Imperialism: Opium Wars (1839-1842)
British defeated China (Treaty of Nanjing: Britain took Hong Kong and other ports and forced Chinese to pay war costs; other unequal treaties followed)
Start of "spheres of influence" = areas under control of colonial powers
Open Door Policy = China open to imperialism by all
Reactions to imperialism
Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) = failed attempt to overthrow Qing dynasty; 20-30 milliondied
Boxer Rebellion (1900) = Chinese martial artists failed to get rid of foreigners
Sun Yat-sen = founded the Nationalist Party and Chinese Republic in 1911; died in 1925
Chiang Kai-shek took over until 1934
Chinese Civil War (Chinese Communist Revolution) Communist vs. Nationalists
Mao Zedong and the Communists won with the support of peasants and women,
Peoples Republic of China (Communist China) founded in 1949
Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists retreat to Formosa (Taiwan)
Mao’s programs
Great Leap Forward = attempt to industrialize / improve agriculture; resulted in mass famine
Cultural Revolution = attempt to revitalize communist support, schools shut down, Red Guards formed, books and cultural artifacts destroyed, the Little Red Book, attacked intellectuals and political opponents, result was chaos, army was called in to restore order, left a generation of Chinese uneducated;
Deng Xiaoping
Took over when Mao died (1976); moderate leader set aside many of Mao's programs
"Four Modernizations" brought some elements of capitalism (e.g., allowed limited privatization)
Tiananmen Square (June 1989) = pro-western democrats oppose government and call for human rights; Chinese government shoots and kills demonstrators; show they are willing to do whatever is necessary to keep Chinese people under control
Human Rights Abuses
Issues with legal system, use of torture/labor camps, treatment of ethnic minorities, censorship
JAPAN
Geography isolated Japan: it is a chain of islands (archipelago)
85% of area is mountainous = terrace farming
Japan has very few natural resources, soit had to import resources(imperialism)
Cultural diffusion from China has greatly influenced Japan
Religion
Shintoism = the way of the spirits (Kami); all living and nonliving things have a spirit
Buddhism = same as other nations except incorporates Shintoism
Feudalism (1185-1600) like European feudalism in the Middle Ages
Emperor = figurehead; Shogun had the real power; Daimyo= nobles; Samurai=warrior class like medieval knights, code of conduct = bushido(like chivalry in Europe); peasants were lowest class
Tokugawa Shogunate
Isolated Japan; restricted foreign influence and contact for 200 years until US Commodore Matthew Perry “opened” Japan
Meiji Restoration (1868-1912): End to feudalism and beginning of "enlightened rule", the emperor was
restored to power, period of westernization and modernization
Imperialism: Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and conquest of empire
that led to WWII
WWI (1914-1918) part of Triple Entente (Allies)
WWII (1937-1945 in Asia) Japanese invasion of China and Rape of Nanjing = fascist period; fought with Italy and Germany as Axis power (Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis)
Pearl Harbor brought US into war
Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end war
Post-War Japan: US occupation (1945-1952) created constitution todemocratizeJapan; Japan was forced
to limit its military so it invested in education and technology to develop its economy
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Geography
Monsoons= winds that carry heavy rains; good for rice but can destroy soil and minerals
Tropical rain forest
Colonialized by theBritish, French and Dutch
Conflicts
Vietnam: Franceoccupied Vietnam, lost war, Vietnam was divided, north was communist (led by Ho Chi Minh)and south was noncommunist; U.S. entered war after Gulf of Tonkin incident and because of the domino theory, communist North versus noncommunist South; Viet Minh (communists in the north) and Viet Cong (communists in south) try to overthrow American-supported government in South; US lost and country was reunited under communism
Cambodia: destabilized by US bombings and the war in Vietnam; government was taken over by Communists (Khmer Rouge) led by Pol Pot; killed over 1 million of their own people, later to be called Killing Fields
MIDDLE EAST (SOUTHWEST ASIA)
Early History
Neolithic Revolution (10,000 - 3500 BCE): development farming, new tools, and domestication of animals
Mesopotamia (3500 - 612 BCE) = Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (present-day Iraq)
Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations
Cuneiform writing, the wheel, ziggurats, Hammurabi’s Code
Egypt (3500 - 1090 BCE), Nile River; Pharaoh = absolute leader; polytheistic; hieroglyphics; pyramids
Hebrews (1230 - 586 BCE)
Judaism (monotheistic), 10 Commandments, Torah = Holy book; spread to other areas after Solomon's Temple destroyed (diaspora); Zionism = creation of Jewish national state in Palestine
Roman Empirecontrolled Middle East around 120 CE, spread Christianity throughout Middle East
ByzantineEmpire = Eastern Roman Empire (476 -1453 CE), capital was Constantinople
Islam
Key Beliefs: Muhammad (570-632 CE) = prophet; God = Allah; Mecca = Holy City; Quran = Holy book
Five Pillars of Islam (no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet, pray 5 times a day to Mecca, give alms to poor, fast during Ramadan, pilgrimage to Mecca)
Sunnis = largest group, believe that caliph (spiritual leader) should be chosen by the community
Shiites = believe caliph should be a descendant of Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law); majority inIran and Iraq
Empires
Umayyad Caliphate(661-750) expansion of Islam, capital at Damascus
Abbasid Caliphate(750-1258) continued expansion, capital at Baghdad
Golden age: calligraphy, mathematics (algebra), astronomy, medicine, philosophy, mosques
Seljuk Turks conquered Middle East around 1000; fought Christians in the Crusades
Ottomans - 1300s created Ottoman Empire; conquered Byzantine Empire (1453); lasted until end of WWII
Kemal Ataturk in 1923 overthrew the Sultan and westernized and modernized Turkey
Political Movements
PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) = called for an Arab state in Palestine; Leader = Yasser Arafat
Intifada = uprising to protest and terrorize Israeli population; called for a Palestinian State
Iranian Revolution (1979) = Islamic fundamentalists led by Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew U.S.-backed
Reza Shah Pahlevi; created an Islamic republic with anti-western & anti-American policies
Iraq Invasion of Kuwait led to the Persian Gulf War = military action by UN/US to “liberate” Kuwait
US invasion of Iraq in 2003 because of alleged WMD; Saddam Hussein captured and executed
Islamic fundamentalism
Kurds want separate state / self-determination
Israeli - Arab Relations
Zionism = desire for a Jewish national state
Balfour Declaration (1917) Britain made conflicting statements to Arabs and Jews over land in Palestine
Holocaust during WWII increased Jewish migration to Palestine
Partition of Palestine: British handed mandate over to UN who created 2 states, one for Jews and one for
Arabs in 1947, Arabs rejected this, Jews accepted it
Wars= Arabs invaded Israel (1948), Israel won war with U.S. help, gained land; more Palestinians become
refugees; other conflicts followed, including Six Day War (1967) and Yom Kippur War (1973)
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cut oil production which led to an oil crisis
(Remember: the majority of world’s oil reserves are found in the PersianGulf)
SOUTH ASIA
Early History
Indus River Valley
Major cities = Mohenjo-Daro / Harrapa
Organized government: cities laid out in grid pattern, standardized bricks, sewer system
Empires
Maurya Empire(326 – 180 BC)
Bureaucracy, Asoka brought Buddhism, religious tolerance
Gupta Empire (320 – 550 CE)
Advances in math, science, arts, literature, strengthened Hinduism and caste system
Mughal Empire(1526 – 1857)
Muslim empire, Akbar allowed religious tolerance, later weakened and allowed French and British to take over
Imperialism
British East India Company= established trade in India/Indian Ocean in 1600s, slowly gained control over subcontinent
Sepoy Rebellion= attempt in 1857 by Indian troops (sepoys) to rebel against British control; failed, result was that India came under control of Britain crown
Independence and Partition of India
Amritsar Massacre 1919
Passive resistance led by Mohandas Gandhi (boycott of British cloth with homespun movement, Salt March)
Mohammed Ali Jinnah of Muslim League wanted separate state for Muslims
At independence, creation of West and East Pakistan, separated by 1000 miles
Jawaharlal Nehru = first prime minister of India
East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971
Religious / Ethnic Conflict
Sikh Separatism
Sikhs in Punjab want separate state
Assassination of Indira Gandhi because of assault on Golden Temple (1984)
Civil war in Sri Lanka
Buddhist Singhalese majority vs. Hindu Tamil minority (led by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)
Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi (1991)
Tensions between India and Pakistan
Modern issues
Treatment of women (poverty, threat of violence, overwork, poor health)
Overpopulation
Pollution
Modernization vs. Tradition
Hindu fundamentalism
EUROPE
Classical Period (2000 BCE - 476 CE)
Greece
Humanism=belief in individual achievement; focus on the present; (Renaissance)study of Greek and
Roman classics
Direct democracy = male citizens had a direct role in the day-to-day workings of the government
Limited democracy = only certain male citizens (property owners) could participate in the government
City-states: mountainous topography / islands led to creation of different city-states
Athens and Sparta = two strongest city-states
Athens allowed many different beliefs;Philosophers = Socrates, Plato, Aristotle; Pericles = leader during Golden Age
Sparta = militaristic
Alexander the Great= spread Greek culture (Hellenistic = mix of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Indian)
Rome
Law of the Twelve Tables
Roman Republic = representative government / Roman Empire = dictator
Advances in architecture = dome, arch, Coliseum, aqueducts
Pax Romana = 200 year period of peace, began with Augustus
Empire divided:
East = Byzantine Empire (lasted until 1453 CE)
West (fell to invaders in 476 CE), led into Medieval Period (Middle Ages / feudalism)
Medieval Period (500 - 1350 CE)
Catholic Church = most powerful institution, Pope had a lot of influence
Feudalism = economic, social, political system based on land for protection; King (weak), lords, knights,
vassals, serfs (similar to Japanese feudalism); decentralized system / self-sufficient system, very little cultural diffusion, rigid class system; chivalry = code of behavior
Manorialism = economic system that revolved around the lord’s manor
Crusades (1095-1291) = Holy wars against Muslims in and around Jerusalem (the Holy Land); Pope Urban
II started Crusades with speech at the Council of Clermont; resulted in the end of feudalism, the rise of towns and trade; cultural diffusion = sharing of products / ideas between cultures; Crusades were a major cause of the Renaissance; new ideas challenged the role of the Catholic Church
Byzantine Empire (500 – 1453CE)
Western part of Roman Empirefell in476 CE, but eastern part survived and became Byzantine Empire
Constantinople = capital of Byzantine Empire; at crossroads of Europe Asia (and close to Africa)
Eastern Orthodox= religion/ Hagia Sophia = famous church in Constantinople
Greek = dominant language and culture
Justinian Code = system of laws created by Emperor Justinian, based on Roman laws, later influenced
European and international law
Preserved Greek and Roman Culture
Influenced Russia: Eastern Orthodox religion, Cyrillic alphabet, and architecture (onion domes)
Conquered by Ottomans in 1453
Renaissance/Reformation Period (1350 - 1650)
Black Death= bubonic plague, spread by trade in mid-1300s
Renaissance = rebirth; began in Italy because of wealth (from trade after the Crusades)especially along
coastal trading cities (Venice, Florence, Genoa), then spread north
Humanism = revival of Greek and Roman classics, individual achievement, secularism (non-religious)
Artists and authors sponsored by wealthy merchants, popes, and nobility
Artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael
Authors: Machiavelli wrote The Prince(the ends justify the means / it’s better to be feared than loved), Cervantes, Dante, Johan Gutenberg’s movable type printing press helped spread ideas
Commercial Revolution = new business practices (banking, joint stock companies, insurance, capitalism)
Age of Exploration(1400s-1600s)
Ottomans conquered Byzantine Empire in 1453; because of this Christians looked for new routes to Asian spice trade; Columbus and other Spanish explorers went to the New World (the Encounter) motivated by gold, god, and glory; this began the Columbian Exchangeand Mercantilism
Protestant Reformation (1517)
Call for reform of the Catholic Church by Martin Luther (95 Theses), John Calvin, Henry VIII
Most Protestants believed in ending church abuses: especially the sale of indulgences (payments to go to heaven); result wasend of religious unity in Europe
Counter-Reformation
Catholic Church responded to attacks; cleaned up abuses, led to more religious aspects (like the Jesuits, founded by Ignatius Loyola)
Age of Absolutism (1500-1789)
Divine Right = idea thatGod gave absolute monarchs the right to rule (like Mandate of Heaven in China)
Absolute Monarchs (examples: Henry VIII in England; Louis XIV andLouis XVI in France;Peter the
Great and Catherine the Great in Russia; Suleiman in the Ottoman Empire)
Democracy in England
Magna Carta = signed in 1215, it limited the power of the king (alimited monarchy or a parliamentary monarchy)
Parliament = representatives of the peoplewho help make laws
King was supposed to meet with Parliament regularly; Charles I refused to comply,causing the Puritan Revolution; Oliver Cromwell defeated Charles’ forces, Cromwell becameLord Protector
Glorious Revolution(1688)andtheEnglish Bill of Rights (1689) signed by William and Mary; created a limited monarchy
Scientific Revolution = changes in science challenged the ideas of the Church; Copernicus, Galileo,
Newton, Bacon, Descartes, Kepler; Scientific method; heliocentric model replaced geocentric one
Enlightenment - Age of Reason (1650 - 1800)
Focused on purpose of government, apply logic of Scientific Revolution to society, laissez-faire
John Locke: government’s role is to protect natural rights (life, liberty, property); if govt doesn’t
protect these rights, people have right to overthrow it (government by consent of the people)
Voltaire: fought against injustice; used wit and sarcasm to criticize Church/government/nobility; freedom
of speech, freedom of religion
Rousseau: Social Contract - people give up some freedoms in order to have a better life
Montesquieu: separation of powers (3 branches: executive, judicial, legislative), checks and balances
Adam Smith: Wealth of Nations = Laissez-faire (hands off) economics; privatization
French Revolution and Napoleon (1789 - 1815)
Causesabsolutism, rigid class system (1st Estate – Clergy, 2nd Estate – Nobles, 3rd Estate – the rest),
unfair taxation, Enlightenment ideas (liberty, equality, fraternity), inspired by American Revolution
Resultsincrease in nationalism, rise of the middle class (Bourgeoisie)
Phases
- Meeting of Estates General, 3rd Estate protested voting method (by estate, not by individual); 3rd Estate left and declared itself National Assembly with Tennis Court Oath and vowed to write new constitution; people stormed the Bastille, starting Revolution; National Assembly adopted Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen
- Other countries invaded France to stop the revolution from spreading
- Reign of Terror: government controlled by radicals (led by Maximilien Robespierre); killed King and all political opponents, ended when Robespierre himself was sent to the guillotine
- Directory (5 men) came to power but it was weak and inefficient
- Napoleon took power ina coup d’état
- Napoleon conquered much of Europe but was eventually defeated (downfall began with loss in Russia)
- Congress of Vienna tried to return France to the way it was before the revolution
Napoleon (1799-1815)
Enlightened despot; took over most of Europe (except Britain and Russia); increased nationalism (which led to unification of German and Italian states),centralized the government, reformed education, created Napoleonic Code (basis of European law today), lost many troops in Russia because of harsh winter; final defeat at Waterloo, then sent into exile
Congress of Vienna
Meeting heldafter Napoleon's defeat; tried to stop nationalism and liberalism; made France pay for damages after Napoleonic Wars; return to past leaders and boundaries (pre-1789); created abalance of power (no single country strong enough to dominate the others) until 1914
Nationalism
Unification of Germany
Led by Otto von Bismarck; usedmilitarism / wars (blood and iron)to unite German states; Germany then industrialized rapidly; upset balance of power in Europe
Unification of Italy
Led by Cavour (brains), Mazzini (heart), Garibaldi (sword)
Industrial Revolution (1750-1914)
Started in England because of resources (coal, iron ore), rivers natural harbors, inventors, capital ($)
from overseas empire, strong navy, stable government, and England had gone through Agrarian Revolution (plenty food and labor)
Economic results: factory system, urbanization, poor working conditions, pollution, need for raw
materials, markets, cheap labor, mercantilism and capitalism increased
Social results: poor living conditions (though standard of living eventually improved), White Man's Burden,
crime, migrations, more complex class system, middle class gained power, Marxism / socialism