AP World History. Full Coverage test
bank. 100% Accurate, rated A+
Mesopotamia - ✔✔-A region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that developed the first urban
societies. In the Bronze Age this area included Sum
...
AP World History. Full Coverage test
bank. 100% Accurate, rated A+
Mesopotamia - ✔✔-A region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that developed the first urban
societies. In the Bronze Age this area included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian
empires, In the Iron Age, it was ruled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires.
Fertile Crescent - ✔✔-The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers gave life to the first known agricultural villages in
this area about 10,000 years ago and the first known cities about 5,000 years ago. Includes
Mesopotamia, Palestine, and the Nile.
ziggurat - ✔✔-A temple tower of ancient Mesopotamia, constructed of square or rectangular terraces of
diminishing size, usually with a shrine made of blue enamel bricks on the top
pictograms - ✔✔-A pictorial symbol or sign representing an object or concept. Used by many nonalphabetic written scripts.
cuneiform - ✔✔-The earliest known form of writing, which was used by the Sumerians. The name
derives from the wedge shaped marks made with a stylus into soft clay. Used from the 3000s BCE to the
100s BCE.
ideograms - ✔✔-A character or figure in a writing system in which the idea of a thing is represented
rather than it's name (example: Chinese)
Sumer - ✔✔-The world's first civilization, founded in Mesopotamia, which existed for over 3,000 years.
Xia - ✔✔-A legendary Chinese dynasty that was not believed to exist until relatively recently. Walled
towns ruled by area-specific kings assembled armies, built cities, and worked bronze. Created
pictograms which would evolve in to the first Chinese script.
Shang - ✔✔-An early Chinese dynasty. Not a unified Chinese state. Instead rulers and their relatives gave
orders through a network of cities. Earliest evidence of Chinese writing comes from this period.
Zhou - ✔✔-Succeeded the Shang dynasty. Similar to the Shang And Xia dynastic periods in that China
was fragmented politically. Yet, despite the lack of true centralization, this was one of the longest
Chinese dynasties, lasting about 600 years. It left substantial written records, unlike the preceding
dynasties.
Yellow River - ✔✔-Also known as the Huang-He. The second longest river in China. The majority of
ancient Chinese civilizations originated in its valley.
Oracle Bones - ✔✔-The earliest known Chinese writing is found on these from ritual activity of the Shang
period.
Teotihuacan - ✔✔-A large central city in the Mesoamerican region. Located about 25 miles Northeast of
present day Mexico City. Exhibited city planning and unprecedented size for its time. Reached its peak
around the year 450.
Jenne-Jeno - ✔✔-One of the first urbanized centers in western Africa. A walled community home to
approximately 50,000 people at its height. Evidence suggests domestication of agriculture and trade
with nearby regions.
Great Zimbabwe - ✔✔-A stone-walled enclosure found in Southeast Africa. Have been associated with
trade, farming, and mining.
Code of Hammurabi - ✔✔-A collection of 282 laws. One of the first (but not THE first) examples of
written law in the ancient world.
Hittites - ✔✔-An ancient Anatolian group whose empire at largest extent consisted of most of the
Middle East. Some of the first two-wheeled chariots and iron.
Zoroastrianism - ✔✔-One of the first monotheistic religions, particularly one with a wide following. It
was central to the political and religious culture of ancient Persia.
Zoroaster - ✔✔-The founder of Persia's classical pre-Islamic religion, Zoroastrianism.
Hellenistic - ✔✔-Of or influenced by the Greek Empire. A type of culture typically referred to after the
conquests of Alexander the Great.
Trireme - ✔✔-Greek ships built specifically for ramming enemy ships.
Minoans - ✔✔-One of the early proto-Greek peoples from 2600 BCE to 1500 BCE. Inhabitants of the
island of Crete. Their site of Knossos is pictured above.
Acropolis - ✔✔-Greek for "high city". The chief temples of the city were located here.
Plato - ✔✔-Socrates' most well known pupil. Founded an academy in Athens.
Pax Romana - ✔✔-The "Roman Peace", that is, the state of comparative concord prevailing within the
boundaries of the Roman Empire from the reign of Augustus (27 B.C.E.-14 C.E.) to that of Marcus
Aurelius (161-180 C.E.)
Republic - ✔✔-A state that is not ruled by a hereditary leader (a monarchy) but by a person or persons
appointed under a constitution and in some way claims to be "of the people."
Century - ✔✔-The smallest unit of the Roman army, each composed of some 100 foot soldiers and
commanded by a centurion. A legion was made up of 60 of these. They also formed political divisions of
Roman citizens.
Consul - ✔✔-Under the Roman Republic, one of the two magistrates holding supreme civil and military
authority. Nominated by the Senate and elected by citizens in the Comitia Centuriata, the consuls held
office for one year and each had power of veto over the other.
Patricians - ✔✔-The land-owning noblemen in Ancient Rome
Plebeians - ✔✔-All non-land-owning, free men in Ancient Rome
Paterfamilias - ✔✔-the head of the family or household in Roman law -always male- and the only
member to have full legal rights. This person had absolute power over his family, which extended to life
and death.
Twelve Tables - ✔✔-Completed in 449 BCE, these civil laws developed by the Roman Republic following
demands by plebeians.
Triumvirate - ✔✔-An unofficial coalition between Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus was formed in 60
B.C.E. Eventually results in civil war that brings down the republic and results in the Roman Empire.
Monophysites - ✔✔-The supporters of a doctrine in the early Christian Church that held that the
incarnate Christ possessed a single, wholly divine nature. they opposed the orthodox view that Christ
had a double nature, one divine and one human, and emphasized his divinity at the expense of his
capacity to experience real human suffering.
Julius Caesar - ✔✔-Part of the first triumvirate who eventually became "emperor for life". Chose not to
conquer Germany. Was assassinated by fellow senators in 44 B.C.E.
Octavian - ✔✔-Part of the second triumvirate whom the power eventually shifted to. Assumed the
name Augustus Caesar, and became emperor. Was the end of the Roman Republic and the start of the
Pax Romana.
Diocletian - ✔✔-Roman emperor of 284 C.E. Attempted to deal with fall of Roman Empire by splitting
the empire into two regions run by co-emperors. Also brought armies back under imperial control, and
attempted to deal with the economic problems by strengthening the imperial currency, forcing a budget
on the government, and capping prices to deal with inflation. Civil war erupted upon his retirement.
Bread and Circuses - ✔✔-A Roman bribery method of coping with class difference. Entertainment and
food was offered to keep plebeians quiet without actually solving unemployment problems.
Goths - ✔✔-An array of Germanic peoples, pushed further westward by nomads from central Asia. They
in turn migrated west into Rome, upsetting the rough balance of power that existed between Rome and
these people.
legalism - ✔✔-A school of Chinese philosophy. Prominent during Warring States Period. Had great
influence on the policies of the Qin dynasty. Based on a pessimistic view of human nature. Social
harmony could only be attained through strong government control and the imposition of strict laws,
enforced absolutely.
assimilation - ✔✔-The process by which people are gradually absorbed and integrated into another
culture.
Huns - ✔✔-large nomadic group from northern Asia who invaded territories extending from China to
Eastern Europe. They virtually lived on their horses, herding cattle, sheep, and horses as well as hunting.
Tang - ✔✔-Continuing the imperial revival started by the Sui Dynasty this dynasty that followed restored
the Chinese imperial impulse four centuries after the decline of the Han, extending control along the silk
route. Trade flourished and China finally reached its western limits when its forces were defeated by the
imperial armies of the Muslim Abbasid Empire at the Talas River--which stopped future expansion by
both empires.
Yellow Turban Revolt - ✔✔-A 184 C.E. peasant revolt against emperor Ling of Han. Led by Daoists who
proclaimed that a new era would be3ing with the fall of the Han. Although this specific revolt was
suppressed, it triggered a continuous string of additional outbreaks.
Liu Bang - ✔✔-First emperor of the Han dynasty under which a new social and political hierarchy
emerged. Scholars were on top, followed by farmers, artisans, and merchants. He chose his ministers
from educated men with Confucian principals.
Aryans - ✔✔-immigrants who arrived at the Ganges river valley by the year 1000 BC
Vedas - ✔✔-compilations of hymns, religious reflections, and Aryan conquests
Mahabharata - ✔✔-the longest single poem in the world, about a war fought between two branches of
the same family. One of India's greatest epics written between 1000 and 700 BC
Janapadas - ✔✔-Political units in India in the years 700-600 BC. They are the major realms or kingdoms
of Vedic (Iron Age) India. They are the earliest kingdoms set up by the Indo-Aryans migrants to India.
Guilds - ✔✔-Pre-industiral associations of businessmen and producers two work for their collective
interest.
Dharma - ✔✔-the fulfillment of one's social and religious duties in Hinduism
Arthashastra - ✔✔-The famous ancient Indian book on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy.
Written by Kautilya.
Siddhartha Gautama - ✔✔-The prince who is said to have founded Buddhism.
Rigveda - ✔✔-One of the worlds oldest religious texts. It is a book composed by Vedic Brahman priests
that contains hymns and Sanskrit poetry.
Caste system - ✔✔-India's traditional social hierarchy.
Samsara - ✔✔-the cycle of life and rebirth in Hinduism
Nirvana - ✔✔-Within several Indian religious this is the peace of mind that comes from ending the cycle
of rebirth. For some it is from overcoming suffering while for others it comes from joining with Brahman.
Four Noble Truths - ✔✔-1. Suffering is always present in life
2. Desire is the cause of suffering
3. Freedom from suffering can be achieved in nirvana
4. The Eightfold Path leads to nirvana
Mahayana - ✔✔-The name of the more mystical and larger of the two main Buddhist sects. This one
originated in India in the 400s CE and gradually found its way north to the Silk road and into Central and
East Asia.
Jainism - ✔✔-An ancient religion of India with a small following today of only about 10 million followers.
Originated in the 800s BCE. They prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its
philosophy and practice rely mainly on self-effort to progress the soul up the spiritual ladder to divine
consciousness. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state of supreme
being is called jina (Conqueror or Victor).
Silk Road - ✔✔-Connected China, India, and the Middle East. Traded goods and helped to spread
culture.
Empress Wu - ✔✔-the only woman to rule China in her own name, expanded the empire and supported
Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty.
mantra - ✔✔-The repetition of mystic incantations in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Mentuhotep I - ✔✔-Egyptian pharaoh who founded the Middle Kingdom by REUNITING Upper and
Lower Egypt in 2134 BCE.
Olmec - ✔✔-Mesoamerican civilization in lower Mexico around 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE focused.
Most remembered for their large stone heads.
Maya - ✔✔-Never an empire but an extensive and culturally advanced Mesoamerican society with many
cities in the Yucatan.
Nazca - ✔✔-South American civilization famous for its massive aerial-viewable formations
Neo-Assyrian - ✔✔-The agressive Mesopotamian empire created after an Assyrian resurgence, which
initiated a series of conquests until a combined attack by Medes and Babylon defeated them resulting in
the Persian Empire.
Mycenae - ✔✔-Sea-faring Greek kingdom. A major center of Greek Civilization in the 1000s BCE,
centuries before Greek's "Golden Age" of Athenian influence. It's center was located about 90 km
southwest of Athens.
Persian Empire - ✔✔-Mesopotamian empire that conquered the existing Median, Lydian, and
Babylonian empires, as well as Egypt and many others. Also known as the Achaemenid Empire.
Polis - ✔✔-Form of government in which power is centralized into a local city-state.
Solon - ✔✔-Early Greek leader who brought democratic reforms such as his formation of the Council of
Four Hundred
Pericles - ✔✔-Ruler of Athens who zealously sought to spread Athenian democracy through imperial
force
Peloponnesian War - ✔✔-Conflict between Athens and Sparta
Macedonia - ✔✔-Area between the Greek and Slavic regions; conquered Greece and Mesopotamia
under the leadership of Philip II and Alexander the Great
Philip II - ✔✔-Macedonian king who sought to unite Greece under his banner until his death or murder.
He was succeeded by his son Alexander.
Ptolemy - ✔✔-His ideas on science influenced Muslim and European scholars from Roman times until
the Scientific Revolution. He was a Greco-Roman writer famous as a mathematician, astronomer,
geographer, astrologer, and poet. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt,
wrote in Greek, and held Roman citizenship.
Qin - ✔✔-1st unified imperial Chinese dynasty
Shinto - ✔✔-"Way of the Kami"; Japanese worship of nature spirits
Rama - ✔✔-Incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu made famous in the Ramayana
Buddha - ✔✔-Means "Enlightened One." He is said to have renounced his worldly possessions and
taught of a way to overcome suffering.
Apostle Paul - ✔✔-The man who was instrumental in its spreading Christianity beyond its early Jewish
roots, particularly to the Greeks.
Epic of Gilgamesh - ✔✔-An epic poem from Mesopotamia, and among the earliest known works of
literary writing.
Hieroglyphics - ✔✔-designating or pertaining to a pictographic script, particularly that of the ancient
Egyptians, in which many of the symbols are conventionalized, recognizable pictures of the things
represented
Hegemony - ✔✔-leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, as in a
confederation.
Hoplite - ✔✔-A citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek City-states. They were primarily armed as spearmen.
Iconoclasm - ✔✔-Opposing or even destroying images, especially those set up for religious veneration in
the belief that such images represent idol worship.
Diaspora - ✔✔-any group migration or flight from a country or region; dispersion. Particularly used in
relation to Jews scattered by Romans in 70 CE or to Africans spread to new places during the Atlantic
Slave Trade.
Realpolitik - ✔✔-Political realism or practical politics, especially policy based on power rather than on
ideals.
Stoicism - ✔✔-An ancient Greek philosophy that became popular amongst many notable Romans.
Emphasis on ethics. They considered destructive emotions to be the result of errors in judgment, and
that a wise person would repress emotions, especially negative ones and that "virtue is sufficient for
happiness." They were also concerned with the conflict between free will and determinism. They were
also non-dualists and naturalists.
Satrapy - ✔✔-A province and/or the title of a client kings of the Persian Empire. Based on the system
where conquered territory would maintain much of their identity and sovereignty within the Persian
Empire.
Buddhism - ✔✔-a religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China,
Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeast Asia, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and
that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless
sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject.
Mandate of Heaven - ✔✔-A political theory developed during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China in
which those in power were believed to have the the right to rule from divine authority.
Sanskrit - ✔✔-an Indo-European, Indic language, in use since c1200 b.c. as the religious and classical
literary language of India.
Diffusion - ✔✔-The spread of ideas, objects, or traits from one culture to another
Imperialism - ✔✔-The extension of political rule by one people over other, different peoples. First done
by Sargon of Akkad to the Sumerian city states.
Cyrus - ✔✔-Created the Persian Empire by defeating the Medes, Lydians, and Babylonians; was known
for his allowance of existing governments to continue governing under his name
Darius - ✔✔-The third king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. He ruled the empire at its peak. He
organized the empire by dividing it into provinces and placing satraps to govern it. He organized a new
uniform money system, along with making Aramaic the official language of the empire. He also worked
on construction projects throughout the empire.
Alexander the Great - ✔✔-King of Macedonia who conquered Greece, Egypt, and Persia
Constantinople - ✔✔-City founded as the second capital of the Roman Empire; later became the capital
of the Byzantine Empire
Confucianism - ✔✔-Chinese ethical and philosophical teachings of Confucius which emphasized
education, family, peace, and justice
Daoism - ✔✔-Philosophy that teaches that everything should be left to the natural order; rejects many
of the Confucian ideas but coexisted with Confucianism in China
Babylonian Empire - ✔✔-Empire in Mesopotamia which was formed by Hammurabi, the sixth ruler of
the invading Amorites
Delian League - ✔✔-Alliance between Athens and many of its allied cities following the first attempted
invasion of Perisa into Greece. Caused a lot of wealth to flow into Athens and thus contributed to the
Athenian "golden age."
Carthage - ✔✔-This city has existed for nearly 3,000 years, developing from a Phoenician colony of the
1st millennium BC into the capital of the Carthaginian Empire. The expanding Roman Republic took
control of many of its outposts after the two Punic Wars.
Constantine - ✔✔-Roman emperor who adopted Christianity for the Roman Empire and who founded
Constantinople as a second capital
Byzantine Empire - ✔✔-Eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived the fall of the Western half.
Talmud - ✔✔-The collection of Jewish rabbinic discussion pertaining to law, ethics, and tradition
consisting of the Mishnah and the Gemara.
Warring States Period - ✔✔-the period from 475 BC until the unification of China under the Qin dynasty,
characterized by lack of centralized government in China. It followed the Zhou dynasty.
Theodosius - ✔✔-Emperor of the Roman Empire who made Christianity the official religion of the
empire.
urbanization - ✔✔-the movement of people to Urban areas in search of work.
Wheel of Life - ✔✔-An important symbol of Buddhism. It represents the endless cycle of life through
reincarnation.
Tao-te Ching - ✔✔-the central text of Daoism.
Zhou dynasty - ✔✔-the longest lasting Chinese dynasty, during which the use of iron was introduced.
Teotihuacan - ✔✔-The most significant pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city.
Tanakh - ✔✔-a term for the books of the Bible that make up the Hebrew canon.
ulama - ✔✔-The theologians and legal experts of Islam. Best known as the arbiters of sharia law.
ummah - ✔✔-The collective community of Islamic peoples, which is thought to transcend ethnic and
political boundaries.
Yurt - ✔✔-a portable dwelling used by the nomadic people of Centa Asia such as Mongols, consisting of
a tentlike structure of skin, felt or hand-woven textiles arranged over wooden poles.
Akbar - ✔✔-The greatest of the Mughald Emperors. Second half of 1500s. Descendant of Timur.
Consolidated power over northern India. Religiously tolerant. Patron of arts, including large mural
paintings.
Safavid - ✔✔-The _________ Empire that ruled Persia (Iran) between 1502-1736.
Jizya - ✔✔-Poll tax that non-Muslims had to pay when living within a Muslim empire
syncretism - ✔✔-The unification or blending of opposing people, ideas, or practices, frequently in the
realm of religion. For example, when Christianity was adopted by people in a new land, they often
incorporate it into their existing culture and traditions.
Sikh - ✔✔-A member of a religious community founded in the Punjab region of India. Developed in the
15th century. They believe in One Immortal Being and the teachings of ten Gurus, starting with Guru
Nanak.
Isfahan - ✔✔-Persian capital from the 16th to 18th centuries under the Safavid Empire. Still a major
cultural center of Iran today.
Constantinople - ✔✔-A large and wealthy city that was the imperial capital of the Byzantine empire and
later the Ottoman empire, now known as Istanbul
Mestizo - ✔✔-A new racial concept that develops in Latin America following the intermixing that
occurred between European colonists and the native American population.
Divine Right of Kings - ✔✔-Doctrine that states that the right of ruling comes from God and not people's
consent
Glorious Revolution - ✔✔-Following the English Civil War, this event involve the British Parliament once
again overthrowing their monarch in 1688-1689. James II was expelled and William and Mary were
made king and queen. Marks the point at which Parliament made the monarchy powerless, gave
themselves all the power, and wrote a bill of Rights. The whole thing was relatively peaceful and thus
glorious.
King Charles I - ✔✔-The English monarch who was beheaded by Puritans (see English Civil War) who
then established their own short-lived government ruled by Oliver Cromwell (1650s).
Tennis Court Oath - ✔✔-A pledge signed by all but one of the members of the Third Estate in France.
Marks the first time the French formally opposed Louis XVI.
Bourgeoisie - ✔✔-A social class that derives social and economic power from employment, education,
and wealth, as opposed to the inherited power of aristocratic family of titled land owners or feudal
privileges. It's a term for the middle class common in the 19th century. It's characterized by their
ownership of property and their related culture.
Kepler - ✔✔-German astronomer and mathematician of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known
as the founder of celestial mechanics
John Locke - ✔✔-17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who
asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property.
Shakespeare - ✔✔-A popular English playwright and poet in the 16th century.
Deism - ✔✔-A popular Enlightenment era belief that there is a God, but that God isn't involved in
people's lives or in revealing truths to prophets.
95 Theses - ✔✔-It was nailed to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517 and is widely seen as
being the catalyst that started the Protestant Reformation. It contained Luther's list of accusations
against the Roman Catholic Church.
Indulgence - ✔✔-Within the Catholic Church, this is the remission punishment for ones sins. Such as for
a sin that has already been forgiven by God but which still carries with it some kind of punishment.
Centuries ago the Church would sell certificates that would get a person out of purgatory. This practice
contributed to the Protestant reformation.
Bartholomew Dias - ✔✔-Portuguese navigator that discovered the Cape of Good Hope in Southern
Afica.
Cortes - ✔✔-The Spanish conqueror of Mexico.
Enconmienda - ✔✔-A labor system set up by the Spanish government where Spanish colonists could
work the native Americans on their land while compensating them and agreeing to educate some of
them and teach them about Christianity. The system was meant to curb exploitation but actually made
the exploitation of Native Americans worse.
Mita - ✔✔-When colonists were allowed to use Indians for forced labor in colonial South America as a
form of taxation. The Inca had previously used a similar practice.
Hacienda - ✔✔-Spanish estates in the Americas that were often plantations. They often represent the
gradual removal of land from peasant ownership and a type of feudalistic order where the owners of
Haciendas would have agreements of loyalty to the capital but would retain control over the actual land.
This continued even into the 20th century.
Mercantilism - ✔✔-Economic policy common to many absolute monarchies. Government control of
foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the military security of the country. In particular,
it demands a positive balance of trade and desires new sources of gold and silver bullion, thus fueling
more colonialism.
Laissez Faire - ✔✔-The belief that the government shouldn't intervene much in the economy and should
instead let the people do what they want with their property.
Capitalism - ✔✔-Economic system with private and corporate ownership of property and competitive
markets. However, since its origins in the 18th and 19th century it was also often correlated to largescale collusion between governments and private industries such as through establishing royal charters,
copyrights and patents, corporate law, and eventually even subsidies of taxpayer money to private
industries.
Nation-State - ✔✔-A modern concept of a government that controls an area and represents the people
of that area, often idealized as a homogeneous people that share a common language and feeling of
nationality.
Leonardo da Vinci - ✔✔-A well known Italian Renaissance artist, architect, musician, mathemetician,
engineer, and scientist. Known for the Mona Lisa.
Huguenot - ✔✔-A French Protestant
Shogun - ✔✔-In feudal Japan, a noble similar to a duke. They were the military commanders and the
actual rulers of Japan for many centuries while the Emperor was a powerless spiritual figure.
Samurai - ✔✔-A member of the warrior class in premodern feudal Japan
Aborigine - ✔✔-The general named often used to describe the original inhabitants of Australia.
Janissary - ✔✔-A slave soldier of the Ottoman Army
Dar al-Islam - ✔✔-a term used by Muslims to refer to those countries where Muslims can practice their
religion freely.
Sufi - ✔✔-A member of the more mystical third sect of Islam famous for their dance and their poetry.
Martin Luther - ✔✔-The german monk who is widely regarded as the leader of the Protestnat
Reformation. He was excommunicated by the Catholic church due to his opposition to certain practices
and he began his own sect of Christianity in the 16th century.
Enlightenment - ✔✔-A popular philosophical movement of the 1700s that focused on human reasoning,
natural science, political and ethical philosophy.
Jamestown - ✔✔-The first permanent English settlement in North America, found in East Virginia
Hundred Years War - ✔✔-War between France and Britain, lasted 116 years, mostly a time of peace, but
it was punctuated by times of brutal violence (1337 to 1453)
Colombian Exchange - ✔✔-The trading of various animals, diseases, and crops between the Eastern and
Western hemispheres
triangle - ✔✔-From the 16th to 19th centuries, the flow of goods between the Americas, Europe in
Africa is often described with what geometric shape?
Colonization - ✔✔-The expansion of countries into other countries where they establish settlements and
control the people
Scientific Revolution - ✔✔-period in the 16th and 17th centuries where many thinkers rejected
doctrines of the past dealing with the natural world in favor of new scientific ideas.
Copernicus - ✔✔-Devised a model of the universe with the Sun at the center, and not earth.
Ming - ✔✔-Chinese dynasty between 1368-1644. Economy flourished and the government even
explored the Indian Ocean through many expeditions led by Zheng He. Ultimately they were taken over
by the Manchurians from the North in 1644.
Gunpowder - ✔✔-Invented within China during the 9th century, this substance was became the
dominate military technology used to expand European and Asian empires by the 15th century.
Christopher Columbus - ✔✔-He mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster
route to India.
Empiricism - ✔✔-theory that all knowledge originates from experience. It emphasizes experimentation
and observation in order to truly know things.
Philosophes - ✔✔-Writers during the Enlightenment and who popularized the new ideas of the time.
Concordat - ✔✔-the peace agreement made between Napoleon and the Pope following the chaos of the
French Revolution.
Marie Curie - ✔✔-Notable female Polish/French chemist and physicist around the turn of the 20th
century. Won two nobel prizes. Did pioneering work in radioactivity.
Albert Einstein - ✔✔-German physicist, father of modern quantum physics.
Sigmund Freud - ✔✔-Austrian neurologist known for his work on the unconscious mind. Father of
psychoanalysis.
Cixi - ✔✔-Ultraconservative empress in Qing (Manchu) dynasty China. Ruled china in the turbulent late
19th century, not as a true Empress but as an Empress Dowager.
Guomindang - ✔✔-Political party that ruled China from 1911 to 1949; enemy of the Communists. Often
abbreviated at GMD.
creole - ✔✔-Descendants of the Europeans in Latin America, usually implies an upper class status.
Porfirio Diaz - ✔✔-Dictator in Mexico from 1876 to 1911. Overthrown by the Mexican Revolution of
1910.
Pancho Villa - ✔✔-This military leader dominated Northern Mexico during the Mexican Revolution
between 1910 and 1915. His supporters seized hacienda land for distribution to peasants and soldiers.
He robbed and commandeered trains. Allied with Zapata. He was eventually defeated though before the
revolution ended in 1920.
Zapata - ✔✔-Revolutionary Leader in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution who originated from the
lower classes and was especially appealing to the peasants because he wanted to take land from the
haciendas and return it to them.
Young Turks - ✔✔-A coalition starting in the late 1870s of various groups favoring modernist liberal
reform of the Ottoman Empire. It was against monarchy of Ottoman Sultan and instead favored a
constitution. In 1908 they succeed in establishing a new constitutional era.
Franz Ferdinand - ✔✔-Archduke of Austria-Hungary assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. A major
catalyst for WWI.
Bolsheviks - ✔✔-The Marxist revolutionaries who eventually gain control of Russia in 1917.
Vladimir Lenin - ✔✔-Leader Russia's Bolshevik movement.
Lusitania - ✔✔-British passenger ship holding Americans that sunk off the coast of Ireland in 1915 by
German U-Boats killing 1,198 people. It was decisive in turning public favor against Germany and
bringing America into WWI.
Zimmerman telegram - ✔✔-This was sent by Germans to encourage a Mexican attack against the United
States. Intercepted by the US in 1917.
Fourteen Points - ✔✔-Woodrow Wilson's post WWI plan, most of which was rejected by European
leaders following the war.
Treaty of Versailles - ✔✔-Treaty particularly known for its harsh reparations towards the Germans after
World War I.
League of Nations - ✔✔-Diplomatic organization created after World War I. Proposed by Wilson but the
US did not join. The organization is widely regarded as a huge failure.
Joseph Stalin - ✔✔-Leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Vladimir Lenin.
Collectivization - ✔✔-The process seen in the Soviet Union and Communist China to form communal
work units for agriculture and manufacturing--from private hands to large, collective, government
operations.
Franklin D. Roosevelt - ✔✔-President of the United States during most of the Depression and most of
World War II.
Civilian Conservation Corps - ✔✔-A major public works program in the United States during the Great
Depression.
Fascism - ✔✔-A political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical ultra-nationalist government.
Favors nationalizing economic elites rather than promoting egalitarian socialist collectivization.
Benito Mussolini - ✔✔-Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and created Fascism
Adolf Hitler - ✔✔-German leader of the Nazi Party.
Nazism - ✔✔-National socialism. In practice a far-right wing ideology (with some left-wing influences)
that was based largely on racism and ultra-nationalism.
Weimar Republic - ✔✔-German republic founded after the WWI and the downfall of the German
Empire's monarchy.
Mein Kampf - ✔✔-Influential book Written by Adolf Hitler describing his life and ideology.
Totalitarianism - ✔✔-Government ruled by a single party and/or person that exerts unlimited control
over its citizen's lives.
Zaibatsu - ✔✔-Large conglomerate corporations through which key elite families exerted a great deal of
political and economic power in Imperial Japan. By WWII, four of them controlled most of the economy
of Japan.
Francisco Franco - ✔✔-Spanish general whose armies took control of Spain in 1939 and who ruled as a
dictator until his death
Sudetenland - ✔✔-Land that Germany thought was rightfully theirs due to the large German speaking
population
Winston Churchill - ✔✔-British statesman and leader during World War II; received Nobel prize for
literature in 1953
Suez Canal - ✔✔-A ship canal in northeastern Egypt linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea
Tito - ✔✔-Yugoslav statesman who led the resistance to German occupation during World War II and
established a communist state after the war
Holocaust - ✔✔-Mass murder of Jews under the Nazi Regime
Comfort girls - ✔✔-Women forced into prostitution by the Japanese during WWII. The women came
from countries in East and Southeast Asia as Japan's empire expanded.
Nuremberg Trials - ✔✔-One key set of trials held for certain Germans accused of war crimes.
Berlin Blockade - ✔✔-Soviet blocking of Berlin from allies; Causing the Berlin Airlift
NATO - ✔✔-Alliance of the allied powers against the Soviets
Warsaw Pact - ✔✔-Alliance against democracy, supporting communism
McCarthyism - ✔✔-The act of accusing people of disloyalty and communism
Hydrogen bomb - ✔✔-A thermonuclear bomb which uses the fusion of isotopes of hydrogen
Nikita Khrushchev - ✔✔-A Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also famous for denouncing
Stalin and allowed criticism of Stalin within Russia.
gulag - ✔✔-Russian prison camp for political prisoners
Leonid Brezhnev - ✔✔-Soviet leader from 1962 to 1984 who is most known internationally for actions
such as his hard-line stance against the pro-democracy Prague Spring protesters in 1968 and well as
overseeing Russia's long, costly, and futile war in Afghanistan.
Proxy war - ✔✔-A war instigated by a major power that does not itself participate
Fidel Castro - ✔✔-Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist
socialist state in Cuba
John F. Kennedy - ✔✔-President of the US during the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Gamal Abdel Nasser - ✔✔-He led the coup which toppled the monarchy of King Farouk and started a
new period of modernization and socialist reform in Egypt
Aswan High Dam - ✔✔-One of the world's largest dams on the Nile River in southern Egypt. A key
project under Gama Abdel Nasser.
Charles de Gaulle - ✔✔-French General who founded the French Fifth Republicn in 1958 and served as
its first President from 1959 to 1969
Khomeini - ✔✔-leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution
OPEC - ✔✔-An international oil cartel originally formed in 1960. Represents the majority of all oil
produced in the world. Attempts to limit production to raise prices. It's long name is the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Sandinista - ✔✔-Rebel forces in Nicaragua who struggled against what they saw as US occupation of
their nation and US backed puppet rulers in their nation's government. Particularly active in the 1970s
and 1980s. The US frequently arranged groups to fight against these rebels, sometimes covertly as in the
case of the Iran-Contra Affair.
Zionism - ✔✔-A Jewish movement starting in the 1800s that resulted in the migration of Jews to
Palestine and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
Delhi Sultanate - ✔✔-The first Islamic government established within India from 1206-1520. Controled a
small area of northern India and was centered in Delhi.
Timur - ✔✔-Sometimes known as Tamerlane, this was the Central Asian leader of a Mongol tribe who
attempted to re-establish the Mongol Empire in the late 1300's. His empire included Persia (Iran) and
many surrounding lands. He is the great great grandfather of Babur. who later founds the Mughal
Empire in India.
Khmer Empire - ✔✔-Aggressive empire in Cambodia and Laos that collapsed in the 1400's when
Thailand conquered Cambodia
Maori - ✔✔-New Zealand indigenous culture established around 800 CE
Pax Mongolica - ✔✔-The period of approximately 150 years of relative peace and stability created by
the Mongol Empire.
Ghana - ✔✔-West African state that supplied the majority of the world's gold from 500 CE-1400's
Habsburg - ✔✔-German princely family who ruled in alliance with the Holy Roman Empire and
controlled most of Central Europe
Witchcraft - ✔✔-Many people (mostly women) were accused of this and burned at the stake in
medieval and early modern Europe.
Humanism - ✔✔-Philosophy that celebrates human cultural achievements and emphasizes human
reason and ethics.
Hadith - ✔✔-Traditional records of the deeds of Muhammad, and his quotations
Marco Polo - ✔✔-Italian explorer who wrote about his travels to Central Asia and China.
Mongol Empire - ✔✔-Largest land empire in the history of the world, spanning from Eastern Europe
across Asia.
Henry The Navigator - ✔✔-This Portuguese prince who lead an extensive effort to promote seafaring
expertise in the 14th century. Sent many expedition to the coast of West Africa in the 15th century,
leading Portugal to discover a route around Africa, ultimately to India.
Abbasid Caliphate - ✔✔-Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's uncle, al-Abbas, they overthrew the
Umayyad Caliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from their capital in Baghdad (founded 762) from 750 to
1258.
Adolf Hitler - ✔✔-Born in Austria, became a radical German nationalist during World War I. He became
dictator of Germany in 1933. He led Europe into World War II.
African National Congress - ✔✔-An organization dedicated to obtaining equal voting and civil rights for
black inhabitants of South Africa. Founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress, it
changed its name in 1923. Eventually brought greater equality.
Afrikaners - ✔✔-South Africans descended from Dutch and French settlers of the seventeenth century.
Their Great Trek founded new settler colonies in the nineteenth century. Though a minority among
South Africans, they held political power after 1910.
Agricultural Revolution - ✔✔-The change from food gathering to food production that occurred
between around 8000 and 2000 B.C.E. Also known as the Neolithic Revolution.
Akbar - ✔✔-Most illustrious sultan of the Mughal Empire in India (r. 1556-1605). He expanded the
empire and pursued a policy of conciliation with Hindus.
Akhenaten - ✔✔-Egyptian pharaoh (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.). He built a new capital at Amarna, fostered a
new style of naturalistic art, and created a religious revolution by imposing worship of the sun-disk.
Albert Einstein - ✔✔-German physicist who developed the theory of relativity, which states that time,
space, and mass are relative to each other and not fixed.
Alexandria - ✔✔-City on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt founded by Alexander. It became the capital
of the Hellenistic kingdom of Ptolemy. It contained the famous Library and the Museum and was a
center for leading scientific and literary figures in the classical and postclassical eras.
Alexander the Great - ✔✔-Between 334 and 323 B.C.E. he conquered the Persian Empire, reached the
Indus Valley, founded many Greek-style cities, and spread Greek culture across the Middle East.
All-India Muslim League - ✔✔-Political organization founded in India in 1906 to defend the interests of
India's Muslim minority. Led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, it attempted to negotiate with the Indian
National Congress. Demanded the partition of a Muslim Pakistan.
Enclosure Movement - ✔✔-The 18th century privatization of common lands in England, which
contributed to the increase in population and the rise of industrialization.
aqueduct - ✔✔-A conduit, either elevated or under ground, using gravity to carry water from a source to
a location-usually a city-that needed it. The Romans built many of these in a period of substantial
urbanization.
Armenia - ✔✔-One of the earliest Christian kingdoms, situated in eastern Anatolia (east of Turkey today)
and the western Caucasus and occupied by speakers of the Armenian language. The Ottoman Empire is
accused of systematic mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century.
Asante - ✔✔-African kingdom on the Gold Coast that expanded rapidly after 1680. A major participant in
the Atlantic economy, trading gold, slaves, and ivory. It resisted British imperial ambitions for a quarter
century before being absorbed into Britain.
Asoka - ✔✔-Third ruler of the Mauryan Empire in India (r. 270-232 B.C.E.). He converted to Buddhism
and broadcast his precepts on inscribed stones and pillars, the earliest surviving Indian writing.
Asian Tigers - ✔✔-Collective name for South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore-nations that
became economic powers in the 1970s and 1980s.
Atahualpa - ✔✔-Last ruling Inca emperor of Peru. He was executed by the Spanish.
Atlantic - ✔✔-After 1500, world economic activity gradually began to shift toward this body of water,
noncontributing to the rise of Western European colonialism and economic dominance in the world.
Caesar Augustus - ✔✔-He established his rule after the death of Julius Caesar and he is considered the
first Roman Emperor.
Auschwitz - ✔✔-Nazi extermination camp in Poland, the largest center of mass murder during the
Holocaust. Close to a million Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and others were killed there. (p. 800)
Ayatollah Khomeini - ✔✔-Shi'ite philosopher and cleric who led the overthrow of the shah of Iran in
1979 and created an Islamic Republic of Iran.
Aztecs - ✔✔-Also known as Mexica, they created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325-1521 C.E.).
They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax.
Babylon - ✔✔-The largest and most important city in Mesopotamia. It achieved particular eminence as
the capital of the king Hammurabi in the eighteenth century B.C.E. and the Neo-Babylonian king
Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century B.C.E. (p. 29)
Balfour Declaration - ✔✔-Statement issued by Britain's Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in 1917 favoring
the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine.
Bantu - ✔✔-A major African language family. Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African
languages and of the peoples speaking these languages. Famous for migrations throughout central and
southern Africa.
Bartolome de Las Casas - ✔✔-First bishop of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. He devoted most of his life to
protecting Amerindian peoples from exploitation. His major achievement was the New Laws of 1542,
which limited the ability of Spanish settlers to compel Amerindians to labor.
Bartolomeu Dias - ✔✔-Portuguese explorer who in 1488 led the first expedition to sail around the
southern tip of Africa from the Atlantic and sight the Indian Ocean.
Battle of Midway - ✔✔-U.S. naval victory over the Japanese fleet in June 1942, in which the Japanese
lost four of their best aircraft carriers. It marked a turning point in the pacific theater of World War II.
Beijing - ✔✔-China's northern capital, first used as an imperial capital in 906 and now the capital of the
People's Republic of China.
Bengal - ✔✔-Region of northeastern India. It was the first part of India to be conquered by the British in
the eighteenth century and remained the political and economic center of British India throughout the
nineteenth century. Today this region includes part of Eastern India and all of Bangladesh.
Benito Mussolini - ✔✔-Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935),
joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was
overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy.
Benjamin Franklin - ✔✔-American intellectual, inventor, and politician He helped to negotiate French
support for the American Revolution.
Berlin Conference - ✔✔-Conference that German chancellor Otto von Bismarck called to set rules for the
partition of Africa. It led to the creation of the Congo Free State under King Leopold II of Belgium.
Bhagavad-Gita - ✔✔-The most important work of Indian sacred literature, a dialogue between the great
warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna on duty and the fate of the spirit.
Black Death - ✔✔-The common name for a major outbreak of plague that spread across Asia, North
Africa, and Europe in the mid-fourteenth century, carrying off vast numbers of persons.
Bolsheviks - ✔✔-Radical Marxist political party founded by Vladimir Lenin in 1903. They eventually
seized power in Russia in 1917.
bourgeoisie - ✔✔-In early modern Europe, the class of well-off town dwellers whose wealth came from
manufacturing, finance, commerce, and allied professions.
Byzantine Empire - ✔✔-Historians' name for the eastern portion of the Roman Empire from the fourth
century until its downfall to the Ottomans in 1453. Famous for being a center of Orthodox Christianity
and Greek-based culture.
caliphate - ✔✔-Islamic empire ruled by those believed to be the successors to the Prophet Muhammad.
capitalism - ✔✔-The economic system of large financial institutions-banks, stock exchanges, investment
companies-that first developed in early modern Europe. The belief that all people should seek their own
profit gain and that doing so is beneficial to society. See Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations (1776).
caravel - ✔✔-A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in
the exploration of the Atlantic.
Carthage - ✔✔-City located in present-day Tunisia, founded by Phoenicians ca. 800 B.C.E. It became a
major commercial center and naval power in the western Mediterranean until defeated by the
expanding Roman Republic in the third century B.C.E.
Catholic Reformation - ✔✔-Religious reform movement within the Latin Christian Church, begun in
response to the Protestant Reformation. It clarified Catholic theology and reformed clerical training and
discipline.
Cecil Rhodes - ✔✔-British entrepreneur and politician involved in the expansion of the British Empire
from South Africa into Central Africa. The colonies of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Northern
Rhodesia (now Zambia) were named after him. (p. 736)
Celts - ✔✔-Peoples sharing a common language and culture that originated in Central Europe in the first
half of the first millennium B.C.E.. After 500 B.C.E. they spread as far as Anatolia in the east, Spain and
the British Isles in the west. Conquered by Romans and displaced by Germans and other groups, today
they are found in some corners of the British Isles.
Champa Rice - ✔✔-Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Originally
introduced into Champa from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state (as
part of the tributary system.)
Charlemagne - ✔✔-King of the Franks (r. 768-814); emperor (r. 800-814). Through a series of military
conquests he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany
and Italy. Illiterate, though started an intellectual revival.
Charles Darwin - ✔✔-English naturalist. He studied the plants and animals of South America and the
Pacific islands, and in his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) set forth
his theory of evolution.
Chavin - ✔✔-The first major urban civilization in South America (900-250 B.C.E.). Its capital was located
high in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Chavin became politically and economically dominant in a densely
populated region.
Chiang Kai-Shek - ✔✔-General and leader of Nationalist China after 1925. Although he succeeded Sun
Yat-sen as head of the Guomindang, he became a military dictator whose major goal was to crush the
communist movement led by Mao Zedong. In 1949 the Guomingdang was defeated by the CCP and
transplanted to Taiwan.
chiefdom - ✔✔-Form of political organization with rule by a hereditary leader who held power over a
collection of villages and towns. Less powerful than kingdoms and empires, they were based on gift
giving and commercial links.
chinampas - ✔✔-Raised fields constructed along lake shores in Mesoamerica to increase agricultural
yields.
Christopher Columbus - ✔✔-Genoese mariner who in the service of Spain led expeditions across the
Atlantic, reestablishing contact between the peoples of the Americas and the Old World and opening
the way to Spanish conquest and colonization.
city state - ✔✔-A small independent state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding agricultural
territory. A characteristic political form in early Mesopotamia, Archaic and Classical Greece, Phoenicia,
and early Italy.
Cold War - ✔✔-The ideological struggle between communism (Soviet Union) and capitalism (United
States) for world influence. The Soviet Union and the United States came to the brink of actual war
during the Cuban missile crisis but never attacked one another.
colonialism - ✔✔-Policy by which a nation administers a foreign territory and develops its resources for
the benefit of the colonial power.
Columbian Exchange - ✔✔-The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the
Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.
Confucius - ✔✔-His doctrine of duty and public service had a great influence on subsequent Chinese
thought and served as a code of conduct for government officials. Although his real name was Kongzi
(551-479 B.C.E.).
Congress of Vienna - ✔✔-Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old
order and establish a plan for a new balance of power after the defeat of Napoleon.
conquistadors - ✔✔-Early-sixteenth-century Spanish adventurers who conquered Mexico, Central
America, and Peru. (Examples Cortez, Pizarro, Francisco.)
Constantine - ✔✔-Roman emperor (r. 312-337). After reuniting the Roman Empire, he moved the capital
to Constantinople and made Christianity a tolerated/favored religion.
Constitutional Convention - ✔✔-Meeting in 1787 of the elected representatives of the thirteen original
states to write the Constitution of the United States.
constitutionalism - ✔✔-The theory developed in early modern England and spread elsewhere that royal
power should be subject to legal and legislative che
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