Recent Stuff

Recent Stuff

1914-Present

In 1914 began the war that many would call the Great war, the war to end all wars, but to most it is called WW1
Germany and Italy at the time had joined together so there were many power hungry people in Europe at the time
All of the Countries in Europe were getting ready for a possible war because all of the treaties that other countries were making so they were making alliances with other countries to prepare for going to war
The war started when Serbia and Austria-Hungry declared war on each other and then Russia got into it, it all went down hill from there
America was neutral at first but then a ship was sank by Germany and there were American passengers on board this sparked America to join in on the war
8 and a half million soldiers were killed, and 20 million civilians were killed during the war
After the war they made a treaty with Germany that said it had to downsize it's military and pay war reparations to the other countries like Britain and France
They almost made the League of Nations for peace but no one wanted to join not even the united states who voiced it in the first place
Russia had their revolution before WW1 ended, they gave territory to Germany, and there were mini skirmishes' all along Russia, but the government made the Red Army to put them down and have peace, they did just that
Mustafa Kemal got rid of the Ottoman Empire once and for all and was the Emperor of Turkey and the first, he showed the people of Turkey Western cultures and clothes but not all agreed to it, but he changed it none the less
In Russia it was terrible Stalin killed millions of people just so that his enemies would not be able to get to him and kill him
America was the major center of credit in the wold and after world war 1 it started sending money to Europe to pay off war debts
After the stock market crashed though Europe had almost no money and everything was terribly
Fascists parties popping up all over Europe but mostly in Italy, they had people called black shirts root out communist organizations
Mussolini came to power in 1922 he was in complete control of parliament, he then started to focus on expansion, and they began with Africa
Germany's economy collapsed after WW1 and the people did not like the ides that the Reichstag had to offer which was the elected body
1932 people in Germany were desperate and so was the government, so they elected Adolf Hitler to the head of government and he set his sights on taking over Europe
Germany thought that when democracy was destroyed in Spain it was the best idea ever
Germany took over Czechoslovakia and made a pact with Russia so that they would not interfere with Germany's plans
Japan after the stock market crash thought that the only way they would be able to come out of their slump was to have an Empire so they started to invade China
In 1940 Germany had taken over Poland and then a little after that had taken over much of Europe
Britain and America, and the Soviet Union were the only Allied armies still fighting by 1943
In 1944 they launched a massive invasion in France called D-Day, which landed thousands of Canadian, British and American soldiers
By 1945 it was all over and when the Allied troops reached Germany Hitler committed suicide
Japan continued to fight until two atomic bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
After the wars Germany was occupied by the allies and Japan became friendly to the west
Many women after the war continued working or went on to get better educations for themselves
But America and Russia started to try and contain each other on their own borders so that their influence wold not get to their country
The cold war lasted from 1945 to the 1990's, many people didn't even know that the cold war would happen
Russia made a wall in Germany so that it was divided into East and West half's, and that no one could come from the West and go into the East side
America said in 1947 that it would help any country that was taken over by Communists
Western Europe formed a military alliance known as NATO to stop any communism advance
China became the largest Communist nation in the world Taiwan and China both do not want to unify together but are still close in economics
In 1976 China began to reconstruct their economic policies so that they would not be in a slump
But people in China wanted Democratic reform and demonstrated, but the Government sent troops and opened fire, hundreds were killed
North Korea invaded South Korea tom make communist country, but the UN stepped in and it was brought to a stand still
A couple years later America joined in another war but this time they lost and the country was not even a world power
Cuba got nuclear missiles and was ready to use them but then did not because they said if America did not invade Cuba then they would not fire any missiles
Poland joined NATO in 1999 and then they joined the European Union in 2004, after being a communist country so long it shocked most countries
After the Berlin wall was torn down many Germans from the East went to the West, the West side was much more industrialized than the East side because they depended on the Soviets to help them
Germany has become since a leading economy in Europe after the last horrendous 90 years of it's countries history
the people of Russia were tired of communism and in 1991 most wanted to create their own country for their nationality, which some did, and America became the only superpower in the world
Modern Pakistan had a man named Gandhi who in 1920 led a peaceful movement against their British suppressors, but it was not to be, the Muslim nation named their country Pakistan
Many African nations thought it difficult to keep strong independent countries after they won their hard won independence
South Africa released a man named Mandela in 1990, then in 1994 he was elected in the first free open election in the countries history
Many Jews that had lived in Israel moved to go to Europe but some wanted to go back, generations of Muslim Palestinians had already moved there
During WW2 though many Jews flooded back to Israel and Palestine, around 500,000 Jews came
Israel and Palestine have been fighting ever since they became two different countries except Israel has won most of the wars that there have been
The United states is trying to make it so that Iran will not use it's nuclear weapons or trying to eliminate them altogether
The middle East has much of the worlds oil supply so the have a lot of power, they can make the price go up for gas and they will get more money
Kemal is a significant name because he got rid of the Ottoman empire, and brought Western influence to the Eastern Nations, he was also a amazing General for his time, he was also the first Emperor that Turkey ever had. An amazing event was when the world formed NATO, or the Western side of the world anyway, it formed a safe environment for countries that were close to the communist countries. An idea was that communism was evil, if you knew someone who was a communist then you were to report them to the government or you were a traitor to the country. The major trend was that there were no more steam ships they used coal, and there were submarines instead of iron clad ships. Another theme is that there were tanks that were used in WW1 but better one's were used in WW2. It relates to the period before it because Europe was always at war with each other and they could never settle their differences. What did they use for storage for food? What did they have for clothes? What did the cars look like?

Not So Old Stuff

Not So Old Stuff

1750 to 1914

In Britain during the 19th century began the Industrial revolution
The reason for it was because people began to invent machines to help them do things better like plowing
Before this happened though people still used a system called the domestic system which was when they used labor intensive work to make the simplest things
In only 60 years Britain upped the way they made things and everything went from being made in someone's house to being made in mills
60 years later more advances were made in the industrial part of society
Also there were advances in medicine at the same time
Products that were being made in the factories were weapons, clothing, and toys, just a few of them
After Henry ford made the assembly line no one could be their own individual person because they had to do what they were asked or what they were making would not work
Children as young as 6 worked at the factories next to machinery, and they worked for 16 hour shifts
The factory conditions were terrible, air pollution and the machinery were constant dangers to the people
New social classes were formed, with the Rich people who owned the factories, the mangers, accountants, bankers ect., then the lower class which were the people who worked in the Factories and the peasant farmers
Men named Marx and Engles started something that would not go away for a long time, Marx laid the foundation for Communism which would get to Russia in the coming years
Many upper class men and women thought that the factory was not good for people to work in and they started to do something about it
Russia wanted to get rid of capitalism in factories entirely except America just wanted to change it a little bit
Britain passed a law that said that children were not allowed to work in factories so no more children got sick or died in factories in Britain
People started to go on strike because of the factory conditions, so factory managers made the factories better so their workers would stay
From 1900 to 1920 hundreds of thousands of immigrants came to the united states from Europe
During this time though Europe was using all the world's natural resources trying to make their products
Europeans took Darwin's idea to heart and thought they were the superior to all the other races and thought all other uncivilized
They also thought that they were supposed to make other people more civilized which meant that they were supposed to be more European
Britain and France fought each other finally after many years of bickering at each other back and forth
The British East India Trading Company fought along the edge of the French coast and hurt them terribly, in the end England won
Indians that were soldiers in the British army revolted against their leaders but failed horribly
England took over India immediately and Queen Victoria was the queen of 300 million Indians
Many Indians wanted freedom from their British suppressors, they were excepted to take up English attitudes and customs
China had quite the upset when British soldiers came into their country with guns and warships
Britain brought opium to china which in 30 years resulted in the first opium war, which china lost, then a decade or two later there was a second opium war, which China lost horribly
China lost a lot of land after that to other world powers, then America wanted to stay alive in the trade business made a deal with them
China had a rebellion but it was terribly and at the end they had to pay Europe and Japan for what had happened
Japan did not have anything to do with the outside world until an American came on a steam boat, the they started to trade with the rest of the world
Japan became a world power after they defeated the Russians in the Russo-Japanese war
Slaves in America went to Liberia and created their own nation after being slaves for hundreds of year
Africa wanted to get away from British rule so they made the African National Congress to End the rule
France after Napoleon got out of Africa stayed relatively quiet, but England and Italy raced to gain control of Africa
Britain came out on top and started to put Christian schools and Western business buildings, it changed the culture of Africa, after that it started to decline rapidly
The French and Indian war resulted in the French losing territory, and the British gained more territory to add to there large empire
England was not happy with the results because they lost so much money, so they started taxing the colonists which made the colonists made them unhappy
England sent in troops to America to take care of it but fighting broke out and 400 Americans and British died, the war began soon after
America lost many battles in the war until the French stepped in to help them then they soon took out the British army and won the war soon after
The French King had to call a meeting together because they were so much in debt after all of the wars they had been in
The estates of France meet at different times do decide different things, but never had they all meet at the same time
The third estate of France rebelled against the other two and eventually made the first modern nation state in 1789
Prussia and Austria invaded France but they held them back, but a new constitution was made because of it and the King was beheaded
In 1795 they made another constitution and got rid of the old one, and kept this one
Napoleon made the Napoleonic laws which was more towards men and not for women and children
There are still in use today they just have been changed due to the time period
France had a very large Empire, Napoleon made himself emperor and attacked Russia soon after
He was defeated and went back to france getting attacked along the way, he was forced into exile soon after by the leaders of the countries he had fought
The congress of Vienna as they were known then tried to wipe all history of Napoleon and the French revolution from the minds of the people
In Latin America slaves revolted against their French suppressors and won after a very bloody revolt and declared themselves the first independent nation of latin America
Spain kicked out the governor that Napoleon put on the throne and put a new one in that got the freedom for modern day Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela
But by 1820 it declared it self a nation without Spain
Mexico declared it's independence and executed the Spanish emperor and declared it self free from Spain
The countries of Latin America even though they were free were still dependent on Europe for trade
The Germanic countries and Italy were always in the center of wars but could do nothing about them until the second half of the 19th century
The only part of Italy that the Italians controlled was the kingdom of Sardinia
In 1870 Italy finally unified as one country after being separated for so long and being many little kingdoms
Germany united in 1871 and industrialized itself and began making weapons and steamships ect., by 1914 Germany was up to full strength
Russia over 50 years used secret police to squash rebellions but in the ned it did not matter the people of Russia revolted and the Romanov Dynasty came to an end
Britain and France kept the Ottoman Empire going because they didn't want Russia to control the territory and it eventually lead to so that England controlled Egypt
America did not want to be used for European aggression so they made a document that said that they could not when Monroe was President
Theodore Roosevelt made the Panama canal after Panama declared it's independence, and then defeated the Spanish in the Spanish-American war, then it was declared a world power
Some significant names are Henry Ford who made the first production line and arguably the first car, and got rid of individuality in the factories. But he started what would be the longest running car company in history. Napoleon furthered France's borders and made the first laws that France kept for more than 3 decades, they are still in effect today, because of his insights France is what it is today. Marx created communism which would led to Russia and would eventually start the cold war in later centuries, and would lay the foundations for many things to come. An significant event in history was when they invented better ways to plow and get seed, so people did not need to be in the sun and get heatstroke like they used to and there could be more people doing other things instead of just plowing or just seeding, it took less people to do the things that had taken tens of people to do in earlier years. Another is when England and France started the Hundred Years war, it lasted over one hundred years, it was very bloody and violent. But France finally won the war out and booted England out of their country, and finally declared independence. An idea of the period was that there were three classes Upper class, middle class, and lower class. Upper was always the richest while lower class was the poorest. There was also the idea that if your country did not trade then it would fall apart and wither away to nothing, if they kept to themselves then they would not be exposed to things that they might need to continue something, like research, or weapons, or industrialize. A major trend was that you had to be industrialized, if you weren't then you were not modern like the rest of the world was, every country went through a industrial age. It relates to the Period before because the countries thought if they had more power or more land then they would be better and unstoppable against the world. What was there most advanced technology? What did the wear? What did they use for transportation?

Old Stuff

Old Stuff

1450 to 1750
Many merchants and bankers came to be in Europe when the black death went away
Every one stopped caring just about the after life and began to live their life instead of wait till they will die
Painters started to created paintings with a technique called realism, instead of having stiff flat faces for paintings
When people printed books it took a very long time, and they could do it in only latin, so most people didn't read it or couldn't
After the printing press was invented books poured out of them, their was such a high demand people started to make their own
Most of the first books were about politics and were focused on the lives of normal people
Many thought in the renaissance period if the pope blessed your kingdom and reign then you gained more power
The church sold little pieces of paper that people thought would get to heaven faster when they died
People started to resent the church after that because they were taking all of the money in the towns to make churches
A man named Martin Luther was very frustrated with the church because they were selling salvation for profit
He told people that they didn't need the church to get right with god and get salvation
They could ask him their self, instead of being dependent on the church
People who listened to Luther started to call themselves Lutherans
There is a time period called the catholic reformation which was a time when the catholic church gained some of it's power back and some of it's supporters
By the 17th century almost all of Southern Europe was Catholic again and some of Germany and France
As universities grew people started look at the world around and started to ask questions
Galileo was one of the first, and began to prove that the Earth was not the center of the universe
The catholic put him on trial and put him under house arrest
Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, Newton, all proved through many years of work and patience the scientific method
They also made many scientific inquires
This eventually led to the industrial revolution
A time called the Enlightenment was when people started to work more on government and people in relation to the government
In the renaissance period Monarchs told people told them that God given them power on purpose so that the peasants had to obey them
People wrote books on how the government should be, and how it could help the people instead of going against them
Portugal began to discover other parts of the world because it had good relations with the Muslim countries in Africa
The royal family supported exploration which helped fund the exploration teams
Portugal and Spain made a treaty for how much land of North america they would each have
Many started to travel because of the inventions of the time helped them build better ships so that the could sail farther
When the Spaniards came they almost completely destroyed the Aztecs, they went form 20 million people to 2 million in only 50 years
They still had African American slaves back then who worked for the people of the “New Spain” and they were at the bottom of the social ladder
The slaves, when they had children, would be put into slavery when they were old enough and so were their children
The trade routes expanded because all the supplies needed to get to the America's
Since Europe was sending over so many resources they needed money to counter-act it so they started to put a tax on the supplies they brought over to the America's
Asia had not been colonized like the rest of the Europe was until the 18th century
The Dutch, envious of Portugal's trade with Asia and all of the spices that it was gaining from it, attacked their ships getting much from it
China and Japan kept away from the rest of the world for quite some time, deciding to keep to themselves
Men/Women with power guarded the scientific discovery that they made so that no one would take the credit of their discovery
Peasants did not do anything to help the scientific research because they did not have enough money to get any supplies
Spain at the time was the world's largest and most powerful nation
Portugal gained much of Africa, Indian ocean, and the Spice islands. but England and dutch nay ships took them with their stronger ships
The Spanish King could not control the great Empire that he had so he gave it to the two of his son's
Spain made much wealth but spent it on wars, and missionary activities, and it navy fleet, so in the end they did not have a lot of wealth
England did not have a male Heir to get the throne after the King died but they had a daughter instead who's name was Elizabeth
Colonization began in the New world after she took over
Charles I signed a document that said he would lower taxes and such but when he got the funds he didn't have another meeting for parliament
England signed another paper later that said that the next monarchs would have limited power and that they would be Anglican
France started to unify after the hundred year's war but then civil unrest caused fighting but then was stopped by the signing of the Edict of Nantes
The French King started to criticize the Catholic Roman Empire so that France would gain more power and they would not be so weak
Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes which made people leave to the New world
England and the German tribes united against France and Spain so they would not gain any more power and wipe them off the face of the earth
The Holy Roman Empire was very weak so the other ruling countries started to think of getting rid of it
Fighting erupted in the Germany areas and millions of people lost their lives in the fighting between the European countries
France, after the fighting became a super power once more after it got out of it's weakened state
Russia gained back their country from Mongols and their country became much larger
The Russian emperors killed each other for who would get the throne and finally a Romanov man came to the throne and the stayed their for 300 years
European came to Russia so that it would be more Westernized, scientists, engineers, architects, and artists came to Russia
The Ottoman Empire came up after the Mongols were destroyed, and they came to challenge the Byzantine Empire for power
In the Ottoman Empire Christians were persecuted and their children were put into their army at a young age and made into warriors
But the Ottoman empire never got farther than Austria, then they were held by the Byzantine Empire, but they stayed until 1922
India changed how women were treated so that they were not meant to jump onto their husband's body when it was burned when he died
Hindus and Muslims lived together but it was unsettling and soon Muslims destroyed Hindu temples and and the Hindus started to organize against the Muslims
Many strong states sprung up because of Africa's amazing wealth and they became strong very quickly
Portugal invaded part's of Africa but they could not stop it for very long because of their great power
China got rid of the Mongols and made a strong navy and went to Africa but they didn't go farther, if they had they would have gained much power
China made silver coins instead of paper money they got from Portugal but with so much silver it led to inflation in Chinese markets
They held off the Europeans but there was civil unrest and the ruling emperor brought in warriors to stop it, but they booted him out and they took over instead
In Japan Christian missionaries had come from America, so most of Japan became Christians and it began to become Westernized
But then 50 years later it all changed
Japan did not want anything to do with the rest of the world, so when Portuguese people came to negotiate they were executed immediately
Japanese people though stayed Buddhist and Shinto even though there was Western influence nearby in China
Martin Luther was one of the most important people of his age, he showed everybody in Europe that the Catholic church was not what everyone thought it was. Because of what he did he founded an entirely new set of people called Lutherans. But he could still not keep people from becoming Catholic so he did not entirely stop them. Another was Galileo who gave the world information about the galaxy that no one knew about, he showed that the world was not flat like every one thought it was and had 100 years before. He was tried by the Catholic church who sought to tell everyone that he was wrong instead of fueling more ideas for the universe and as they said more “crazies” would do what he did. A significant event in history was when the printing press was invented, it helped so that books did not take as long to make and the church was not the only place that had books. When the spanish destroyed the Aztecs it began a time when the Aztecs, the Maya, and the inca no longer controlled Mexico. Men with guns and greed for gold would take over their land and call their own and destroy anyone in their way. Japan had the idea if they stayed away from the outside world then the ideas would not get to them and corrupt the ways they had been doing things for hundreds of years. A them of the time was that if people bought little pieces of paper form the church then they would be able to get into heaven easier. It relates to the period before it because they still thought the church as the greatest thing that had happened in the history of man, the catholic church anyway. What did they do for fun? What were the schools like? What did the soldiers at the time do for training?

Really Old Stuff

Really Old Stuff

600 C.E to 1450 C.E
A new faith came to be in the seventh century, it is called Islam
They recorded the words that Mohammad told them were from God and named the book the Qu’ran
Muslims believe you can get to heaven if you follow the Five pillars of Islam
They are guided by the concept of jihad, it means they struggle to be a better Muslim, and struggle against nonbelievers of their faith
Muslims believe that before God everyone is equal, and that every one should be converted to their faith
Islam split into two groups after Mohammad died because they could not agree on who was to be the leader of their faith after Mohammad died
Mohammad grew up in Mecca but then fled when he was going to die because he preaching the Islam faith
He later came back with his followers and burned all of Mecca’s shrines to the ground
Islam spread to the middle East and to Africa, and then towards Europe
After Mohammad died another took his place Abu Bakr, he was in a sense the Emperor because he was all of the leaders rolled into one man
When the fourth “Emperor” died his son succeeded him but then another family took the throne instead of him
The capitol was later moved after that, gold and silver became the currency for the Islam empire
The Islamic Empire never became big in Europe like it did the other Eastern countries
When they split into two groups many of the family that had been ruling were killed
In the ninth century the arts and sciences flourished in the Islamic empire
The empire was built around trade and without it they would wither down to nothing
Muslims let the customs in their conquered areas continued to thrive, but not the Christians and Jews
Women did not have property right and if a women had a baby girl then they were sometimes killed instead of baby boys
Men were allowed to have four wives if they could support them all, but the women could only have one wife
The Islam empire had more civil was than they had wars with other countries
Christianity and Islam fought for religious control in the middle ages
The Byzantine empire ruled by authority, over the economy too
The Byzantines churches in the East contended with the Christian churches which lead to the Crusades
Western Europe followed one religious path while Eastern Europe lead a different religious path
Franks were German people who were untied under King Clovis, his empire was magnificent
But Europe united to fight against the Muslims
Powerful invaders called Vikings continued to fight the Romans and later the Viking were converted to Christianity
Feudalism was the government in the middle ages and it was ruled by a King who had nobles and then their were vassal and then peasants
Knights that worked for the king were given manors and were named lords of them
They came to help only if the king called for them in times of war
When Europe started to trade with other countries very wealthy towns started up next to the manors of the lords
In the middle ages the architecture was amazing, especially the cathedrals
The church started to get more powerful in wealth and in government
Many people wanted the church to go back to what it had used to be
There was also the founding of the universities, only men were allowed in it If they could afford it
The Church started persecuting Jews and some were tortured or put to death by the Christian churches
Europe was broken up into Feudal kingdoms not countries like it is today
Germany went through a period when they did not have a King and could not decide on one
England passed a document which made it have two parties the ones who dealt with laws and the ones who dealt with taxes and trade
the French revolted against it England conquerors and claimed its statehood
Joan of Arc led the French against the English, the gained their independence 100 years later, but not after she was burned at the stake after being captured
Spain sided with the Catholic church and began to get rid of all Muslims and Jews that would not become Christians
Russia pushed out the Mongol invaders in the 15 century and had the first Czar or Caesar come to the throne
In China they were at the height of art, they began doing great things like art, science, philosophy, and in the T'ang dynasty they made expectational poetry
The Song dynasty did the exact same things as the T'ang dynasty except what they were great at was printing presses
T''ang was based on military power, they had many garrisons stationed all along their border
But the Song dynasty moved their capitol because of northern Nomads coming into their country
The Song dynasty then started to use gun powder in weapons and started to use steel more and more
Chinese women were inferior to men, men thought that anyway, there has only been one women Emperor in China
Buddhism was a major religion in China but then the government destroyed many of it's monasteries, which greatly reduced Buddhism influence in China
The first dynasty in Japan was the Yamato clan, the current Emperor of Japan is a descendent of the Yamato clan
What helped the Yamato clan helped stay in power was that they said the Emperor was a descendent of the sun goddess
When Buddhists monks came to Japan many people became Buddhist but were still of the Shinto belief
Japan modeled their new capitol on the T'ang dynasty's capitol
In the twelfth century Japan had turned into many little feudal systems like the one in Europe because the noble families fought over who should have what land
The Shogun not the Emperor held the power, the Emperor was just for show
Women had harsh and very demeaning lives in this period of the Japans history
Korea gave China many gifts so they would not attack them, but Vietnam held their own against the Chinese many times
Islam took over much of India and set up capitol in Delhi
The Sultans that were Islam made not Islamic people pay a tax if they were not converted to Islam
Many people were killed and many Hindu temples were destroyed in the mayhem
Even though this happened, colleges were built in India and irrigation systems were improved under the sultans
The Mongols were master horsemen and archers
Under Genghis Kan the Mongols formed an empire that went from the Pacific ocean to Europe
They came to bring the cultures of the cities and people they had conquered into their own country
But After Genghis Kan died they left quickly and in India Islam grew, but Hinduism stayed even as it happened
The Mongols could go 90 miles a day on horse back, they were organized and were very highly trained in what they did
They would know what the terrain of the battle was from their spies before you knew what it was
When the Mongols took China they didn't take Chinese cultures into their own country they kept them from them
When the Chinese took back control of their country later they still had their own cultures and not the Mongols
The two great civilizations of the day in Africa was Egypt and Carthage
The Kush civilization rose up at the same time ass Egypt and conquered it some time later
But then it backed out of Egypt and went down south and made Iron and continued trading
Axum came to be as Kush fell and traded very frequently with other countries
Axum converted to Christianity and then 100 years later some converted to Islam instead
The Swahili lived on the East coast of Africa and most all of them were fishermen, merchants, and farmers
Thanks to the wealth that the traders had given to people of other civilizations helped get buildings form wood to stone
When Muslims came through the Sahara desert and got to sub-Saharan they set up many camps
The Islamic traders came to Africa because of how much gold there was in Egypt and the rest of Africa at the time
Islamic invaders cam e and tried to destroy the civilization of Ghana and converting it, but was not successful, Ghana fell into decline anyway
A Islamic man named Muse formed a pilgrimage that went to Mecca which is one of the five pillars of Islam
Benin culture made some of the greatest bronze pottery of their time and they put stories into them so that they could be passed down from generation to generation
The Maya cities had from 10,000 to 40,000 people which is a lot for that time period
When they had war it was for the slaves not for territory
The Aztecs had an amazing military, their warriors were the best of the best
Thousands died when being sacrificed for new temples that had been built
The Incas had an army but not like the Aztecs, but their cities had as much as 300,000 people in it compared to the Mayan cities with 10,000 people in them
Incas usually sacrificed animals and other goods instead of people
They were very good stone builders, cutters and miners
The black death spread from China all the way to Ireland
The Mongols relied heavily on trade to get weapons and supplies
Women still did not have much social status, just the same as the ancient civilizations had women status
Mohammad was one of the greatest names in the time period, because he made the religion Islam. It has one of the largest group of supporters in the world. He helped create the five pillars of Islam, he created the concept that you should be a better Muslim and to get more converted to their faith. A great event that happened was when the black death swept across the European and Asian continent, it brought the world together and cultures united even after the black death was no more. One idea was that bronze was no more it was steel that was needed, the only thing that bronze was used for was pottery and that was to write stories on. A major trend or theme was that every person was apart of a major religion, either Christianity or Islam, one of the big one's. Another was that you must always had trade, because they thought that with out tared then their civilization would crumble to the ground and no one would be the wiser or no one would simply care. It relates to the ancient times because women still did not have a lot of power and were not allowed to have land, they were also expected to be veiled in public. If they divorced the women would not be allowed to own land she would have to move in with her son if she had one. What did the buildings look like? What did they have for weapons? Did they know that the health conditions were terrible for their health?

Ancient stuff

Ancient Stuff

8000 B.C.E to 600 C.E
Early nomadic people had not built cities yet
They did not know how to farm
The sole focus of the nomadic people was food and shelter
There were no advanced tools that had been invented yet so they could not farm
The only way that they could get food was to follow it
The only way they could get shelter was to find it
There were also a group of people called foraging societies
They were made up of small groups of people
Who were at the mercy of the elements so had to keep moving as the climates changed
These people had few belongings with them, just what they could carry on their back
There were also pastoral societies, which were people who domesticated animals
They usually lived in the mountain regions
They usually lived in areas where there was not a lot of rain fall so had to find other means of settlement
They used agriculture for there main food supply of animal products like eggs and milk
Milk and eggs were easier to easier to produce than meat was
Women had few rights at the time, but they were more towards the belief in human equality than later civilizations
Social status was based on one’s herd size
Just like foraging societies they had few personal possessions
Even when they had domesticated animals they could not settle down because they had to always keep moving to find grazing spots and watering holes for their herds
Civilizations started to form after that
After a couple thousand years people went from nomadic and agriculture life to town and city life
This period is called the Neolithic or New stone revolution
It was not a full blown civilization yet, people still lived in small groups or communities
But the towns that they built were bigger than what had been before them
Around 3000 B.C.E people figured out how to cultivate plants so they didn't need to move to a different place as long as they had a good source of water and the soil was good
As more people stayed in the same place it changed things dramatically
people in the community stayed close together so that is how they formed a unity and cultural traditions were made
That is also when people started looking at property in terms of ownership
Over the years agriculture societies got more complex so they had to a make a government system and religious groups to keeps things orderly
Which only helped the agriculture get more complex and society grew from that
As towns and villages got bigger and more permanent they built roads to connect them which changed the landscape of the continent
This also changed the animal landscape because instead of being just used for food and clothing they started to be used for labor.
So farmers could now increase their land size because they didn't need to turn the soil just by hand
During the Neolithic Era stones started to be formed and sharpened into tools such as hoes and plows
Pottery was invented so it could be used for cooking
Weaving was invented so that they could have baskets and nets, following that more comfortable clothing was made
But it was also the time when the knowledge of metal was large, so the development of tools and weapons was great
People finally figured out how to combine copper and tin together to form the substance bronze
The discovery was so significant that they called the ending of the Neolithic age, the Bronze age
The early civilizations were almost always located near a river valley because it was a good source of water that was continuous
The soil around it was also good because it had a high content of minerals, it was also a means of transportation
Early civilizations were almost always connected by city states but would not agree sometimes and compete with each other
The dominant civilizations were in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China
In Mesopotamia there were two great rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates
The greatest civilizations that lived there were the Sumer, Babylon, and Persia empires
But since both river were unpredictable, most civilizations were quickly washed away
The major city states of Sumer were Ur, Kish, and Erech
Sumer created the first form of writing which was called cuneiform
They also made a twelve month calender
The Sumerians were polytheistic, when the built their temples when something bad happened they thought the gods were mad at them
Finally though the temples did not help and they were destroyed by invaders
The civilization of Akkad rose as Sumer fell, it then dominated the region
It created the first form of law known to man
But just as quickly they were destroyed by the new rulers of Mesopotamia, Babylon
The Babylonians continued the laws that Akkad wrote but wrote for every part of daily life
Then Babylon fell to the Hittites who were gaining much military strength at the time
The Hittites also made their weapons with iron instead of bronze
The Assyrians learned this and started doing it making them very powerful, their military was cruel also and was hated by it's enemies
In a couple hundred years though like other civilizations it was defeated by the Medes and Chaldeans
Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean king rebuilt Babylon soon after to show culture and architecture
The new Babylon though fell also like other civilizations to the growing Persian Empire
The Persian Empire was very large connecting from Greece to India
The Lydians came up with the concept of coined money for trade instead of using the barter system
The Phoenicians are important because they developed very powerful military states
The Hebrews are great because they had the belief of Judaism
The Egyptian cities were along the Nile which was were the soil was very good for crops
Egyptian people lived in relative small towns
Egyptians were polytheistic, they focused mainly on life after death
They thought that they would be able to use their bodies in the after life so that is how they began to mummify the bodies
The first Egyptian Queen was Queen Hatshepsut, she ruled for 22 years, she expanded the Egyptian trades
The social structure of Egypt was like a pyramid, the Pharaoh, the priests, the nobles, then the merchants, then finally the peasants
Egypt fell into a decline after 1100 B.C.E and never recovered and was destroyed by invaders
The Indus civilization sprung up and was enormous for its cities, they held 100,000 people in just two cities
Their government was lead by a priest-king
There were very advanced, they had potter's wheels, farmers grew cotton, they made cloth, which helped with trade
But then suddenly they abandoned their cities and were never seen again
The Aryans were nomadic people, they were masters of horses and weapons and destroyed anyone who opposed them
But they established their religion and it is what is now called today as Hinduism
Shang China rose up in the Yellow river valley and built a trade centered civilization
But they did not have any contact with the outside world so they thought that they were most powerful
Then they were thrown out by the Wu wang, and so began the Zhou dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty lasted over 1200 years
They had a fedual system which then led some nobles to break off and make city states
Farmers from Niger valley started to migrate south and East bringing their languages
They migrated because of climate change, because it was to hot to live where they had been
Two great civilizations lived in the Americas, the Olmec:Mexico, and the Chavin:Andes
Olmec were an urban civilization and lived on a surplus of corn, beans, and squash
The Chavin were on the coast and lived on fish and beans and corn, and they were also polytheistic
The Maya like the Egyptians built pyramids but a little bit different
they had a very complex calender
Maya warfare was very unique, it was very religious
The priests and the king took part in the battles
They gained slaves not land from the wars
Maya had several ball courts where they played a ritual sport
Their calender was the most accurate of the time
the largest empire in India was the Mauryan empire, it spread from the Indus River valley to the Deccan Plateau
It grew so big because of trade, they traded silk, cotton, and elephants
The military was very powerful also, and blood thirsty
They conquered South East India and their leader Ashoka because of the bloody violence of the battles, he converted to Buddhism
After he died the Gupta Empire took over and it was the golden age because it was a time of peace
Hinduism took over as the dominant religion in the country
The Qin dynasty was very short but it made the great wall of china, it also had a very powerful military
In the Han dynasty the Huns attacked China all the way to Eastern Europe
There were more victorious in Europe than they were in China
They had a civil service system that was based on the teachings of Confucius
Those involved in government were highly educated and excellent communicators which helped when the Huns conquered another town
They made a civil service examination for the one's who wanted to be in the government, only the wealthy could afford it
Ancient Greece was located between the two bodies of water Aegean and the Mediterranean sea
There was many mountains in Greece so they could not have farms like other civilizations
The made harbors so that they could trade with other nations because they were next to the coast and the weather was mild they could do that
To help with over population they made a very strong military to conquer other nations to gain more land
Greece was composed of city states instead of being a unified country
There were debates that all citizens were expected to participate in
Only men though were allowed
It was the first democracy
The slaves were allowed to buy their freedom
The Greeks had many gods
They thought that the gods had human feelings like getting mad, arguing, and being happy
Greece was in a war called the Persian wars which they of course were against Persia, all of the city states banded together to defeat Persia
After the war they entered the golden age, and Athens became very powerful
The Arts and science skyrocketed during this time and Athens became very wealthy from it
Athens and Sparta then had a dispute that lasted several years, Sparta destroyed the Athenian country side, but they stayed behind their walls
But Sparta defeated Athens but did not destroy them out of respect
Then the Macedon's came and and attacked and defeated the Spartan's in only a couple of years
But they were not destroyed they flourished afterward
Alexander the Great was the Macedon King so he continued what his father had done and expanded their land greatly
And soon after that happened Hellenism was born
After he died the empire started to crumble, in the East Rome was born
Rome was very well put off, the mountains kept out land invasions and the sea kept out invasion except if it was a large armada
They had the Greek gods just different name to meet their culture and language
Their government was more stable than the Greeks
Women were thought to be inferior to men
One third of the population in Rome was slaves
Rome's first war was against Carthage
The wars were called the Punic Wars
Rome won the first, but was almost destroyed in the Second because of the Carthage General Hannibal
The third Punic war brought about the end of Carthage it was burned to the ground by Roman soldiers
Rome made many road networks, aqueducts, and expanded their navy to maintain their empire
Rome's senate started to fail and their currency value dropped, three men were given the task of rebuilding Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus
Caesar took Pompey and Crassus out of the picture and became Emperor for life, but tragically angry senators assassinated him
After he died the days of the Roman Republic ended, an Emperor ruled the whole empire
But the Roman culture flourished, science expanded, astrology was greater and Rome became the arts center of the world
Christianity became the Roman Empire's main religion after Emperor Constantine wrote the Edict of Milan
During the ninth century Maya deserted their cities and then the Maya were no more
China became in ruins after Wang Mang came into power there was disaster after disaster until finally he was killed in battle, the Chinese then separated into different regions for 400 years
The white Huns brought about the destruction of the Gupta Empire,they had armies in the North and East and brought them in the Empire at the same time and the Gupta could not stop them and were destroyed
Rome was in decay so they divided the empire up into two smaller empires but only in a couple of decades civil war erupted after he retired
The Western half of Rome was sacked by the Visigoths and then was destroyed by the Huns later
The Eastern half would be later called the Byzantine Empire
As Rome collapsed the trade routes flourished
But then plagues of small pox and measles helped end Rome, while China and Eastern Europe faced the black death from the invading Huns
The majority of ancient civilizations were Polytheistic, which means they worshiped many gods
In 600 C.E the only empires that were not Polytheistic were the Hebrews and Christians
Greeks and Romans thought that the Gods had human qualities, the Egyptians though that they were kind, but the Sumerians thought they were to be feared
Polytheism was the center of art and architecture for most great civilizations
Confucianism was made just for the Chinese, and the Chinese culture
It is a political and social philosophy, it was not a religion
Confucianism made women have a secondary status, but the Chinese children were told to honer the father and mother
Daoism was a religion when one was to disengage themselves from worldly affairs and to have a simple life living in harmony with nature
It was only to be part of small communities
Daoists were great astronomers, chemist, and botanists
The people that practiced Legalism the most were the Chinese
They didn't trust human nature, so they made hard laws
The two best thought professions that the people who practiced of Legalism were farming and military
The cultures of Indians practiced Hinduism
Hinduism was not just a religion it was also a a social system so if you did not want to be a part of Hinduism you were banished by your family and they did not talk to you for the rest of their lives
Hinduism started another religion Buddhism
People in India, China, and South East Asia practiced Buddhism
It was good for the lower ranks of people because it rejected the higher ranks of society
Hebrews practiced Judaism
It was the first of two of the major monotheist faiths which were Christianity and Islam
It says that God selected a group of people the Hebrews and told them that he would preserve them for all time if they followed his rules
Almost the whole of the Roman empire were Christians
It is based on the Old and New testaments in the bible
It was the dominate religion in the Roman empire
In only a couple of thousands of years many told that the Nomads had used were made obsolete by new discoveries such as bronze and iron
Women were still not allowed to be of high rank like men were and they were made to stay home and work around the house and cook for the men

Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Attila the Hun, Nebuchadnezzar all are great names in history that will never be forgotten, some were military genius, another was a great King while others took the quieter route to inner peace. Alexander the Great expanded the Greece borders ten fold, he was one of the greatest generals of the ancient world but he could not even save himself from his drinking problems. Julius Caesar sent the barbaric Gauls into the mountains while he also took over power in Rome. Buddha created the form of religion which is now called Buddhism, he taught that there are four truths in life: All life is suffering, Suffering is caused by desire, One can be freed of this desire, One is freed of desire by following what is called the Eightfold path. Attila the Hun was a murderer, he killed thousands of people, women and children too. But his tactics were amazing. Nebuchadnezzar kept the Babylonians city intact so that their culture would flourish and that it would not just die out. The event when man settled down was great because it started the moment when man would never again follow his food. The building of the Pyramid showed how great the power of Egypt really was to the world. The splitting of Rome brought an end to the once great civilization and brought into it the many cultures that are there now. The ideas of the age were that there was no stronger metal than iron, all the armies of the world thought that they had the best military, and military culture. Women had no rights during this time, they were not allowed to have land, men thought that they were inferior to them. The trends of the time were that animal fur for clothes was the big thing, but if you were of royalty then you could afford to wear silk. Every peasant did farming no matter who you were, except for the women they were expected to work in the house and prepare the meals and clean the house. Men were expected to come and participate in the government meetings of the city. What did the wear on their feet?Just sandals? What did they do fro fun during the day? What did they have for schools?

Multiple Choice

When doing the multiple choice essay you must always show what you know, which means that finishing is not the goal, accuracy is. Do not guess; think about your answer, 4 out of 5 of the answers that are for each question are wrong. You must guess, and go on to the next question if you don’t know the answer. If you stay to long on one question you will not have time to finish the other questions in time to finish. Process o elimination, eliminate all the wrong answers then find the right answer. Read the question and put it into your own words, then use process of elimination, then finally guess and go. When you come to a question you have no idea what it is, skip it. So you don’t waste your time on a question you don’t know. When you come to a question with an illustration answer it like any other question, don’t try to figure the picture out, then you will just get confused.

Essay

As you start an essay you must tell the reader, what it is about before you start, so they know that you are talking about. You must have comprehensive thesis and it must be acceptable. You must have a clear description of why the central claim of your essay is correct. You have to state your claim clearly, and you must define terms, context, and the chronology of the events you write about. Then you have to describe why your claim is true. Make sure the rest of your essay supports the ideas your thesis speak of. To write a solid thesis for your essay, give them what they want, show them where you got it, and finally, help them get there. To analyze you have to explain how and why something happens. Also compare and contrast in your essay. It means that you have to see the similarities and the differences, but you must nit just point out what is similar and what is different. You must explain what caused the similarities and the differences or explain why. Use a question to make a thesis that has key phrases from the question and sets up the structure of your argument.

DBQ

When you take the DBQ you must be prepared to analyze many documents. The documents you will see can range from maps of trade routes, trading practices before and during the middle age, and codified laws regarding particular trade agreements. You will have to work through the documents and check what how they relate to each other, changes that can be seen over time, and how the authors background could have influenced the documents contents. The graders will grade you on the 6 core elements of the paper with a total of 7 core points. Remember to meet all of the requirements or you will not get max points. Make sure you are prepared for your essay before you began so when you get ten minutes to get organized you have ab idea how you are going to write your essay. Do not try and think about the documents until you know what is being , always read the questions carefully. Once you have a feel for the question use the question to create the framework for processsing the questions you are going to read.

Free-Response Questions

When taking this particular essay you must always continuities as well as changes over time, which will help maximize your scoring. You have to write the essay that has a thesis that identifies change over time for each country and time period required. To have a good change-over-time essay you must talk about the events leading up to the change, and why things changed. You have to cover the historical development in your essay. If you do not know the subject very well most of change-over-time essays will give you choices. Most of the issues will be about global issues such as technology, trade, demographic change, and culture. Be ready to discuss any of these subjects in the essay. The basic core of the essay places a very heavy emphasis on answering every part of the question. When you have pulled apart the question you then begin to build the framework of the essay. As in the DBQ the thesis is a critical part of the essay, and it must be supported by facts. As you progress through your essay you must address each portion of the question in turn. Remember the sooner that the person who is grading your essay finds your examples for the topic the sooner you get points.