Download Study Guide for World History * First Semester

Study Guide for World History Honors Final – First Semester 2012-13
This study guide is just that – a GUIDE. It is designed to prompt your memory for further study
of topics from your notes, my website, the textbook, etc.
Rise and Fall of Civilizations
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Prerequisites of civilization (FOOD SURPLUS!)
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Three means of food acquisition
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What was the Neolithic Revolution?
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Five characteristics of civilization
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Ways to farm – why was irrigation associated with the rise of civilization?
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Clash of Civilization: Greeks vs. Persia and the Persian Wars – What caused the First Persian War?
How were Persia and Greece different? What happened at Marathon? What caused the Second Persian
War? What happened at Thermopylae?
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Fall of the Roman Republic (causes); who was Julius Caesar? Who were the Gracchus brothers? What
was the First Triumverate?
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Fall of the Roman Empire (causes); What was the only institution to survive the fall of the Roman
Empire?
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What were several important legacies of the Byzantine Empire?
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Why did Charlemagne fail to establish a lasting Empire?
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What was the basis for empires in Sub-Saharan West Africa?
Political Structures and Forms of Governance
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What is a city-state? Where were the first ones found? What is a polis? Where was it found?
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What is a dynasty?
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Empire: what is the definition? How are residents of an empire defined? What are ways that an empire
maintains its control and influence over its territory and people, despite the number of cultures involved?
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What is a theocracy? A monarchy? The Dynastic Cycle (China)? The Mandate of Heaven?
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Significance of Hammurabi’s code – what was one of its guiding principles (ex. “an ___ for an ___”)?
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What is an oligarchy? Democracy? Aristocracy? Tyrant?
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Athenian democracy vs. Spartan government (compare / contrast form)
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What is a matriarchy? What is a patriarchy?
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What was significant about the Persian Empire? What was the Royal Road? What was a Satrap?
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What was significant about the Mauryan Empire? Who was Ashoka?
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What was significant about the Gupta Empire? Who was Chandragupta?
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What is a civil service? In the Han Dynasty, how was it applied?
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What was the Caliphate? Who was the Caliph? What is jihad?
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What is political centralization? What is an example? What is political decentralization? Example?
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What is Medieval European feudalism? How is it similar to / different than Japanese Feudalism?
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What was the Holy Roman Empire? Why was it not holy, Roman or an empire?
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What was the significance of Genghis Khan? What is a clan?
Belief Systems and Philosophies
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Polytheism
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Hinduism – key characteristics and beliefs (dharma, karma, moksha, reincarnation)
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Buddhism – key characteristics and beliefs (the 4 noble truths, the 8 fold path, the middle way, nirvana)
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Judaism – key characteristics and beliefs (the bases for Jewish beliefs and practices, for example)
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Christianity – key characteristics and beliefs (what beliefs would early Christians die for, for example)
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Islam – key characteristics and beliefs (Five Pillars, Qur’an, Sharia, for example)
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What is the relationship between the three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)?
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Who was Confucius? What were the Analects? What were the key characteristics of Confucianism?
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Who founded Daoism? What were the key characteristics of Daoism? What was yin and yang?
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What was Legalism? In what dynasty was it applied? Who was Shi Huang Di?
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What was the Hagia Sophia? What was the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch?
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What did the Shia Muslims believe? What did the Sunni Muslims believe?
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What was a mosque?
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What were monasteries?
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What was simony? What were indulgences? How did these practices hurt the Medieval Church?
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What was the reconquista?
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What was lay investiture and why was it such a big deal?
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What was the Aztec belief in the need for human sacrifice?
Science and Technology
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Cuneiform as first written language
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Stone / Bronze / Iron ages – characteristics
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What drove technological development in the ancient world? FOOD SURPLUS (Agriculture)
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What drove technological development in the classical and medieval worlds? NECESSITY
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Important inventions…… plow, irrigation, harnessing, wheel, metallurgy, sail
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Mesoamerican advances in astronomy
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Tang & Song technological achievements, especially the Song “industrial revolution”
Movement of People and Ideas
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Cultural diffusion – what are ways that cultural diffusion works to move ideas between cultures?
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Indo-European Migrations: Aryan invasion theory in India; Hittite invasion of Mesopotamia
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Buddhism’s spread to China
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What was Hellenization? How did Alexander the Great assist Hellenization in Asia?
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What was the significance of the Silk Road?
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What was the significance of the Pax Romana?
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Why did Germanic tribes move into the Western Roman Empire? What was the effect of this?
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Who were Cyril and Methodius? What was the importance of the Cyrillic Alphabet?
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What was the significance of the Pax Mongolica?
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How were the Crusades an example of cultural diffusion?
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What were the Bantu migrations? What are push-pull factors?
Economic Systems
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Importance of trade…… Barter economy? Currency based economy?
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Phoenicians as the first great trading and colonizing culture
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Slave based economies and their negative impact on technological innovation – why?
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Why was the development of currency such an important innovation?
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What impact did the Silk Road have on international trade?
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What was the Commercial Revolution (aka the Peaceful Revolution)?
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What were guilds?
Social Structures and How They Change
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Indian (Hindu) caste system
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Social hierarchy = social pyramid; how are they usually organized?
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What effect did class conflict have in the Roman Republic? Who were patricians? Who were
plebeians?
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Compare and contrast Japanese feudalism against European feudalism. Who were samurai? Daimyo?
Shogun? What was bushido?
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Who were lords? What was a vassal? What was a fief? Who were serfs? What was chivalry?
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What effect did the bubonic plague have on Europe?
Art and Culture
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Epic of Gilgamesh as the first epic
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Importance of record keeping for priests, merchants, government officials (what did it allow each to
do?)
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What was the significance of the Athenian “Golden Age” in sculpture? Architecture? Philosophy? Who
was Socrates? Plato? Aristotle? What was the Academy? The Lyceum?
Geography
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Consider how important Southwest Asia has been as a crossroads of history
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What are some effects of geographic isolation on a civilization? (Strong culture, absorption of periodic
invaders) – examples of isolated civilizations?
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How did man adapt the environment to his needs, in the ancient world? Classical world? Medieval
world?
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Places to know
o Fertile Crescent; Tigris; Euphrates; Caucasus Mountains (where Indo Europeans migrated from)
o Indus River Valley (home of Harappans); Ganges River Valley (home of Gupta dynasty);
Himalayas Mountains; China – Yangtze and Huang-He Rivers
o Ancient Western World: Upper and Lower Egypt, Greece (including Sparta and Athens),
Turkey / Anatolia, Italy (including Rome), Mediterranean Sea; Carthage (in modern day Libya)
o Islam and Byzantine Empire: Constantinople; Bosphorus Straits; Black Sea; Mecca and Medina
(in modern Saudi Arabia); Damascus, in modern Syria; Baghdad, in modern Iraq
o Western Medieval Period: Scandinavia (Vikings!); England, Ireland; France; Spain;
Charlemagne’s domain; Tours (the site of the 732 battle); Normandy; Holy Roman Empire, once
it establishes itself in roughly modern day Germany
o The Western and Eastern Steppe; Russia
o Sahara Desert; Niger River (in southwestern Africa); Zimbabwe
o Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City); Yucatan Peninsula
World History Skills
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Critical thinking – making inferences (example = how do we know anything about Harappan)?
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Recognizing the difference between a primary and secondary source document
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Analyzing a primary source document (what is Time / Place? Bias? Audience?)
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Reading comprehension / Answering questions from a text
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Map skills
Important Events & Dates (this is a non-exhaustive list!)
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Agricultural Revolution
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3500 BC and emergence of first distinct civilization (Sumeria)
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Circa 1700 BC – Fall of Harrapan Society
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First Persian War, 490 BC (Battle of Marathon)
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Second Persian War 480 BC (Battle of Thermopylae; Battle of Salamis)
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Caesar’s rise to power (The First Triumverate; the Gallic Wars; “crossing the Rubicon”): 58-44 BC
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Fall of Western Roman Empire, 476 AD
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The “Dark Ages” of post Roman Europe, 500-1400 AD
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Battle of Tours, 732 AD, as a halt to Islamic expansion into Europe
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Crusades (1097-1300s)
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Rise of Temujin / Genghis Khan, 1206 AD
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Fall of Constantinople, 1453 AD
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Conquest of the Aztec Empire, 1517-19
Important People (non-exhaustive!)
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Gilgamesh
- Genghis Khan
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Hammurabi
- Montezuma
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Shi Huangdi
- Hernando Cortez
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Alexander the Great
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Liu Bang
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Chandragupta
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Ashoka the Great
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Julius Caesar
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Octavian
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Constantine
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Justinian I
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Heraklius
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Abraham
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Mahatama Guatama / Buddha
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Jesus
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Muhammad
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Justinian
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Charlemagne
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William the Conqueror